RSS
|
||||||||||||||
  Product Purchase Life Cycle February 22, 1999
More than four years ago, in our January 15, 1995, issue, we wrote about frame relay SVCs, and noted: "The implication for network managers is that they will have more flexibility in designing the network at a cheaper price." Business opportunity. Once you see opportunity, learning begins. You follow the news, read tutorials, learn about the players, visit their Web sites. (Your boss, meanwhile, learns from TV and waves an "I AM" sign at you one morning; you quietly spend the rest of the day at your desk completing the sentence.) In our February 15, 1997, issue we talked again of frame relay SVCs, showing how "SVCs extend frame relay application types, increase network density and complement PVCs nicely. They provide better support for any-to-any connectivity, which may be a plus for voice service." Opportunity and research. Armed with business justification and research, you're ready to purchase. Risk lays here. You spend months creating RFPs, sorting through hype, evaluating products, reluctantly accepting perks from vendors who want to win your business--after all, what better place to do technology research than the golf course? This critical part of the buying process is where we think we shine brightest, because we're willing to get our hands dirty. In this issue, for instance, technology editor David Willis used MCI WorldCom's frame relay SVC service to measure the data-carrying capacity of SVCs (p. 114), in addition to exploring pricing, performance and network design issues. David understands the key issues not because he employed investigative journalism skills. He used to design networks for the American Red Cross, so he knows what matters. Opportunity, knowledge, real-world testing, real-world perspective. Let me take you through it again. In December 1996, Dave Molta, Syracuse University's director of network systems and services (real-world perspective), wrote about the upcoming IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN standard (research). In this issue, Dave's Buyer's Guide (p. 128) addresses wireless networking's payoff (business value) and takes you through some new developments (more research). Dave also tests Aironet's wireless LAN product (p. 32)--the fastest he's ever seen. Meanwhile, he's working on a wireless network review, which should run in April (real-world testing). I could go on about how we've implemented complex directory services across our multi-lab production network, but I think you get the point. This was just my very long way of saying that if you're involved in directory service implementation or purchase decisions, turn to page 39. -Fritz Nelson, fnelson@nwc.com |
Here
Here
While every purchase is different, each assumes that a technology will provide value by solving a business problem. When even UPS vendors tout business value as a product feature, I cringe. I'm more comfortable with the notion that technology creates business opportunity, rather than reacts to business problems, because I feel better with you in control, intolerant of your boss shouting "Where do you want to go today?" as you dash down the hallway. "To the bathroom," you mutter under your breath.
