Is this still true "you'll never get fired for buying the big brands" ?
Is this the magic formula to a successful corporate job ?
Does corporate IT still live and breath this cry, has nothing changed in 30 years ?
Linux in the corporate environment has caused some small cracks in the above Iron, but it seems not much. In my job I get questions like "are sure you are spending enough here", or "well that is only a AMD machine" Or "why don't we just buy all the machines now" . In general most managers just don't understand what a corporate machine should be, thus they want to fall back to someone to defined that for them (and expert), and big brand names are more then happy to do this. Big brands try to look at what they think the current corporate environment is and to drain as much cash from that environment, thus the model lines are developed and sold. Is there a way to fight/counter this madness ? Here are some steps that might help change the corporate environment.
1) To bring in hardware that is off brand it has to work, and work well for today and into the future.
2) You need to establish a track record of the above at least 2-3 years.
3) You must then sell this to your managers and underlings all the time.
4) Mangers must understand that this is not only saving money but is better for today and the future.
5) Underlings must work with you and not against.
Why fight this fight, here are some reasons :
1) Most big brand hardware is 1-2 years behind the technical hardware curve, thus you will spend more for less advanced hardware.
2) Fast and more up to date hardware will give you a 2-3 year advantage for performance and up time numbers.
3) You will be able to buy more hardware, faster and reliable because you can shop for the best/price point within each category .
Current examples:
1) SSD hard drives are changing everything about I/O, database access and reliability .
2) The fastest system memory is the best way to make applications run fast.
3) Mega multi core machines are creating main frames on 1U servers.
4) There are always 2-3 reasons to build your own machines, always.
Are there reason why you don't want to do this (Yes):
1) You just don't have the time.
2) You are scared of failing .
3) Non Linux software does not work well with new hardware.
4) MS licensing gives you a huge costs disadvantage to rolling your own.
As always what do you think ? Any more reasons to add to the list ? What ideas do you have ?
