From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Wayne T. Smith > I recently spent a little time trying to compare *SM and Netbackup > costs, but ended very frustrated because each is very difficult to > calculate usability, let alone present and future needs. I will > suggest that you be *very* wary of IBM and Veritas proposals, since > each will try to "win", and thus perhaps not provide the resources you > need to restore what your business expects in a timely fashion.
I disagree. Do business with a reputable (and competent) dealer who can offer post-sales support (implementation, on-going support, administration, etc.). If you've been straightforward with your vendor about your business needs, there's no way that a rep can "win" a bid without giving you exactly what you need. Get everything in writing, including business needs, required SLAs, scopes of work, a timetable of installation and rollout of clients. The stumbling blocks here are threefold: One, you have to know and communicate your business needs (unless you're willing to have a business assessment done by the vendor). Two, your vendor must know what she/he is doing. Three, you have to either learn TSM well, get along with TSM support (you now get a year of 24x7 support when you buy it), or buy services to either teach you or give ongoing support. You can learn TSM by doing, but you're *way* better off taking a good class. If I had to break down the percentage of causes for screwed-up TSM sites by the three items above, I'd say lack of #1 causes 33%, lack of #2 causes 25%, and lack of #3 causes 40%. (The remaining 2% are caused by use of buggy/old versions of TSM, misconfigured networks/hardware, and other miscellaneous stuff.) -- Mark Stapleton ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Certified TSM consultant Certified AIX system engineer MCSE Berbee Information Networks
