From: Marcus Lasarko (mlasarko@baltimorecountymd.gov)
Date: Fri Apr 13 2007 - 09:37:47 ART
Greetings Darby,
I believe most of us who do.
Though I do find the term "vendor" a bit vague...
And "nightmares" I believe are subject to interpretation.
For me, they range from large scale corporate "Oh-no-you-didn't's" to smaller support and/or consulting firms that usually resell or only (attempt_to) support other vendors products.
Keeping in mind the term 'vendors' can include sales-focused vendors as well.
Again - subject to interpretation to some extent IMO.
I define a "major vendor support nightmare" as having to deal with a company...
A company who developed/released/provided a product they never should have...
With features that did_not/do_not and never_will function as intended...
Often driven by time-to-market pressure or sales quotas...
With no intention of supporting 'it'.
Whatever "it" is.
Terms such as "denial" and "finger-pointing" also come to mind here.
I will not name names, but there two specific large hardware vendors.
One starts with a '3' and the other starts with 'C', before they broke into 4 pieces in '2K.
I also have had the misfortune to work with some smaller firms who have had maintenance agreements they performed on so poorly I will never consider them again for anything. Not to over-simplify, but when the printer tech cannot find the drum or toner on a device they are supposed to be "certified" in, well there may be a problem! In another recent example, when the low-bid winner comes out to your site to run CAT6 cable, installs power-plant sub-station trays instead of data-center-grade cable-tray/ladder_rack, and then asks you what a "punch-down" is, well that could be another hint of undesirable things to come.
Another angle is sales/procurement - when buying from a 'certified" partner. A partner who is supposed to know, but does not, and cannot help you find any answers to any pre or post sales/support questions. They just BS their way to the P.O. and forget the rest. I find this happens often in public sector.
To close from another perspective:
On occasion I see other forums, such as the Novell forum slamming Cisco.
Mostly from CCNA-to-be's who cannot grasp the concept of /univercd
But I have still heard the term "nightmare" used by them regardless.
I suppose ignorance can lead to fear, fear to nightmares?
I'll spare you further details unless you believe there is some CCIE R&S-relevant knowledge to be gained from them.
Best,
~M
>>> Darby Weaver <darbyweaver@yahoo.com> 4/13/2007 7:11 AM >>>
Just curious?
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