My $0.02 is there are a number of very good consultants and service companies on this list that may or may not have a bias toward one hardware vendor or another but the good consultants and service companies whatever bias they have will generally tell you up front their bias and then proceed to do the best job they can and not let their bias cloud the facts of what is needed. They may try to influence you toward their bias (hence them warning you of that bias) but they will still recommend only what you need. Watching this list and seeing who answers questions and assists will help you a lot to find them.
Jon On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 9:38 PM, Bill Humphries <[email protected]>wrote: > Yeah, we never sell hardware. The closest I get to that is providing links > to CDW for what we recommend. That way the customer never thinks we are > going with a product just because we get a cut. The one exception would be > VoIP handsets. We did jump through the certification hoops to sell Polycom. > But that was because we could offer such a good deal to our existing > clients that run asterisk. > Bill > > Erik Goldoff wrote: > >> If you're going to entertain the manufacturer's 'consultant', then you >> should be fair and open up the request to other vendor's equipment and >> their >> 'consultants' too. >> >> In my freelance consulting, I try very hard to never, never sell hardware >> unless the client has an urgent need and no other avenue, that way I can >> remain vendor neutral even if I do have my personal favorites. >> >> >> Erik Goldoff >> IT Consultant >> Systems, Networks, & Security >> ' Security is an ongoing process, not a one time event ! ' >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: John Aldrich [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, >> September 29, 2010 1:50 PM >> To: NT System Admin Issues >> Subject: Consultants >> >> I got a call from an IBM reseller in the region wanting to sell me a SAN. >> I >> advised that I had decided to step back and look for a consultant to help >> me >> figure out what my needs are. At that point the sales droid advised that >> they were also consultants. My first instinct is to tell them to go jump, >> as >> it seems like it would be a huge conflict of interest and they are >> probably >> going to tell me I need to buy a SAN, specifically an IBM SAN. >> >> What is the opinion of you folks on the list about hiring consultants? Do >> you worry about conflict of interest such as this or do you just hire >> someone? I'm tempted to just hire one of the fellow list members (assuming >> I >> can get authorization) who offered their services, as they seem to be >> *just* >> D/R consultants and are not going to have an axe to grind. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ~ 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 >> >> >> > > > ~ 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
