On Wed, 27 Sep 2006, Patrick Leary wrote:
WHAT I REALLY took from your detailed post Tom and the posts of
many others these past few days is that, quite simply, Alvarion is
doing an inadequate job of showing our value to WISPs. While we
often might yield the best total result (very time-saving <ergo
cost justifying> installation and solid performance with top
set'n'forget reliability), we are often the last thing tried by
many WISPs.
I think this is because there are a great many WISPs out there who
use the following equation:
COST = VALUE
Instead of taking into account that cost is only a portion of the
value proposition. I think that Alvarion's gear is (in many cases)
the best solution for many things. I can't say that it is ALWAYS
the best choice.
I think that if you want to change the impression that WISPs have of
Alvarion, you need to continue where you started a LONG time ago
(before you left this market place) and help them understand that
cost and value are NOT equivalent. I think, also, that you (as a
manufacturer) need to understand that, while it is true that you
offer a HUGE number of features, many people simply don't need all
the stuff you offer. In those cases, the cost of your equipment is
much too high for the value that they provide.
I think that Tom's original post pointed this out very well. I
don't know what the cost of the Alvarion gear Tom mentioned goes
for, but even if we assume that the link was a $4000 cost. He spent
2 days installing and tweaking this link. What he ended up with is
a perfect link with less than $1k in hard equipment cost. This
includes the AP that he needs for that location. You have $3k to
make up in value in that case. I know that SOME of that (maybe
half) would be made up by saving him 1 day's time. Either way, the
raw cost of the Alvarion solution would be still about $1k higher.
Having said it this way, would Alvarion be able to offer $1k in
value above what he already has in place now? Especially
considering that he has what he already needs, I doubt that you can.
Please don't take this the wrong way, because it is not intended as
a bash. I am no longer a WISP, but I DO offer advice to WISPs on
equipment selections and have (on several occasions) recommended
Alvarion as a potential solution. I will continue to do this when I
see it as an appropriate place in the network.
--
Butch Evans
Network Engineering and Security Consulting
573-276-2879
http://www.butchevans.com/
Mikrotik Certified Consultant
(http://www.mikrotik.com/consultants.html)
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