The "S" words for Server Based Computing

In my first post I asked the question what is the future role of SBC. Is it more of the same but with more added on? Or is there something different over the horizon?

In either case, there is a minimum set of values that should be addressed and displayed by the SBC and thin client vendors. These values are often implied, or lost, in the "techno mumbo jumbo" listings of their product features or mission statements. The buyers technical staff, in most cases, are the decision makers and they love the technical information and that is also their responsibility. But, somewhere up the decision tree, there may be someone that may not be as technically savvy as the IT staff and they have the responsibility to sign off on the project. If I were them, I would be asking some questions and they all have the letter "S" in common.

Safe and Secure

Is the proposed project solution safe and secure for the entire enterprise? Not enough that it meets the demands and specifications of the project objective, but it must be integrated into a larger IT infrastructure.

Sound

The 1913 Webster dictionary definition of "Sound" is " Whole, unbroken, unharmed, free from flaw, or decay, perfect of the kind...". Perhaps too much to ask of a vendor, but please do.

Scalable

It has been said that an organization is either growing or dying. Is the SBC vendors product solution able to grow with the needs of the organization? Are the barriers to achieving scalability a function of physical limitations of the hardware, software, architecture or a decision to segment a market as defined by the marketing group?


SIMPLE


How simple? No more complex than is required to meet the project solution and scalability requirements. For those of you that are very much into mastering the complexity of SBC, enjoy the possibilities if your organization approves. However, one only needs to visit a public or private help forum to realize that many organizations have over purchased a SBC solution or under planned for the implementation. Either case, there is a waste of resources and productivity.

Still waiting on a few vendors to respond to the survey, and hope fades with each sunset that they will respond. Therefore, I will evaluate those products that I am able to evaluate using my letter "S" criteria. Vendors that could not, or choose not to, respond to a generic request for information would not be as "Sound" as the vendor that hosted an hour long "one on one" webinar demonstrating how well their products meet the "S" criteria.

Until the next post,

Steve

Survey Results for Server Based Computing vendors

Preliminary results for the survey of Server Based Computing vendors are in and counted. The results are so mixed up I am going to do it over again with less thought. Forgot the acronym KISS. Keep It Simple Steve.

My requests for information confused many of the SBC vendors. I asked them where do they see themselves positioned in the Server Based Computing market. Do you have a road map for the future of your product(s)? I received no answers to either of those questions.

However, a request for general information through the vendors web site produced different results. In two cases, from the time I selected the Submit button until I was contacted, was UNDER 10 Minutes!!!! Not days, not hours, but minutes. And they provided more than enough quality information that conveyed to me they are capable of being a good technology partner. The rest of the results were as diverse as the colors in a rainbow.

The president of one company told me he did not have an evaluation copy of his product. If I wanted to see the capabilities of his product in my environment I had to purchase the product. And the web site looked like he had one of the best solutions on the market. I will never know if that is true.

Another vendor and I exchanged phone messages for about a week. Finally we connected and discussed the history of their product and their current offering. He promised the send me updated information as well as the FTP address to download their current product to test. Even told me that he HAD pressed the send button. Nothing. Still waiting for that email he sent five days ago. Perhaps not a good technology partner?

One of the best responses was from a vendor that contacted me within a day and provided me with a link to an on line web demonstration page not yet published. It will be, in my humble opinion, the new gold standard for an On Line SBC demonstration. Then, followed up with an offer to give me an on line tour of their management suit They have that much confidence in their product and I look forward to the interactive demonstration later this week.

I would like to find out if the good responses from vendors were the results of good actions by the vendors or just that I made a simple request for sales information. Will once again, with the goal to level the playing field, request via their web information page basic sales information. We then will have a better idea if it was the vendors good business practices or me asking the right questions that made for a good contact.

Until the next post,

Steve