It depends where the diversity and specialty are going to be. Specializing in relational database platforms, CRM, ERP or enterprise messaging makes a lot of sense.
Specializing in AV or patch management or office productivity suites is less useful. Specializing in OS platforms is a mixed bag -- a case could be made for at least knowing 2 well enough. *ASB *(My XeeSM Profile) <http://XeeSM.com/AndrewBaker> *Exploiting Technology for Business Advantage...* * * On Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 12:13 PM, David Lum <[email protected]> wrote: > Scenario: Full time Systems Engineer by day, IT consultant by night (4 > clients 5 servers ~100 workstations). > > > > Does it make sense to have any diversity in products (AV, patch management, > etc) or is it better to leverage knowledge? I ask because I would think it > makes more sense to stick with one product and be pretty much the de-facto > expert, but I have found that having experience with different AV products > (McAfee, Trend, Vipre) at this point to be beneficial and doesn’t really add > any overhead vs. a single product. The catch is I had prior experience with > Trend Micro at %PriorDayjob% so one client got that, %Currentdayjob% has > McAfee so I learned that, and Vipre Enterprise came out so I tried that at > smaller clients. > > > > I say that to say this: Patching is my current dilemma and I have WSUS > everywhere and no 3rd party stuff anywhere. If I choose a tool for one > place does it make sense to use this same tool everywhere else if the price > is acceptable to each party involved? Some tools are cheaper than others and > can save a client money even though they could afford the more expensive > option, but the cheaper option means I am working with more than one tool > (which means it could be argued the client ends up spending more due to my > spool up time to learn a new app). I don’t see expanding my client base by > more than a client or two every other year in the forseeable future. > > > > Thoughts and comments? > > *David Lum** **// *SYSTEMS ENGINEER > NORTHWEST EVALUATION ASSOCIATION > (Desk) 971.222.1025 *// *(Cell) 503.267.9764 > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
