RE: Selecting a business partner for an upgrade

Thanks Andy.  And thanks to everyone else who replied to this posting I sent
last week!  All the replies were very insightful and valuable.

I love this list.  I was just wondering how many years it would have taken
me gain some of the knowledge that is in the replies on my own, if this list
did not exist.
    
-----Original Message-----
From: Andy Nolen-Parkhouse [mailto:aparkhouse@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 11:15 AM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: RE: Selecting a business partner for an upgrade


Brian,

I have no specific suggestions on BPs, but I do have some thoughts on your
question.

First, prices can and do vary.  IBM publishes list prices which reflect a
margin for the Business Partner.  Partners in a competitive situation will
discount within this margin.  The margins vary within iSeries hardware,
software, service contracts, and peripherals.  You should not have to pay
list price.

What will you be asking of your partner?  If you are looking for services
after delivery, then their competence to deliver such services would be a
factor in your selection.  Frequently customers would like to have their
cake and eat it too.  You can expect a certain amount of pre-sales analysis
but should also expect to pay for it in somewhat higher margins.

I've been on both sides of that fence and I think that there are some
honorable ways to go.  1) Do enough homework so that you understand some of
the basics about SAN, LPAR, and whatever other issues are new.  Then hire a
consultant to work out your configuration in detail.  Then shop the
configuration for the lowest price.  2)  Find a business partner whom you
trust and give them the business and expect cost of the analysis to be
bundled into the margin.  You should still get a discount, but not as much
as in 1 above.  3)  Ask for proposals from a small number of vendors (two or
three) and select one based on your intuitive feel for the relationship.
Don't expect detailed analysis of your situation (assuming you want to
examine SANs).  Then select a vendor for a final proposal.

You will probably end up paying less under plan 1 above, but if you feel
that your company would benefit from having an ongoing relationship with a
competent partner, then plan 2 or 3 might be better.

There are some obvious middle grounds, but only the ethically deficient will
expect lots of analysis from a number of vendors and then shop the resulting
configuration for the lowest price.

If you think that you might be interested in SANs, you should probably make
that decision before selecting a vendor or asking for proposals.  That's a
rather specialized area and your selection of partners would be limited.

Regards,
Andy Nolen-Parkhouse

> Let's say that, hypothetically, a company is thinking about upgrading
> their
> 820 to an 810 and that this company does not have a business partner of
> choice.   Let's say that this company is not exactly sure what should go
> into the 810 as they are wondering if LPARs on the box and a SAN for data
> center might be beneficial.
> 
> How would this company select the right business partner to buy the
> upgrade
> from?  The last upgrade was configured over the phone with a partner out
> of
> state.  Perhaps this Chicago area company would prefer to work with a
> local
> business partner.
> 
> The pricing for an upgrade is set by IBM and should be the same from all
> business partners, correct?  Should this company pick several business
> partners out the phone book, ask them for proposals, and then go with
> whomever has the best attitude? How much effort should this company expect
> a
> business partner to put into a proposal given that they may need help from
> the partner with respect to analyzing LPAR and SAN issues and that they
> are
> soliciting several proposals?