Dear Mr Sanhord [Actually, I'm not Sanhord, but hey...]

With so much on your mind, it's easy to let data protection slide 
farther down on your list of priorities. [Um, WTF? No it isn't. That's 
pretty much priority #1, constantly.] Until you lose data, that is. Then 
you not only think about the loss of data, but worry about the loss of 
business. [And loss of our license to operate, for that matter...]

If your company is risking revenue by having insufficient data 
protection, it's time to consider making a call to Dell. [Uh, no, it's 
time somebody was fired! Hence we have multiple systems in place 
precisely to prevent data loss...] We offer many simple solutions for 
keeping data safe and secure, increasing efficiency, and reducing 
downtime, all while cutting costs. [So... you're going to sell us stuff 
and it will cut our costs? How do you work that out? Last time I 
checked, buying things costs money. :-P ] This means your IT people will 
have more time to focus on driving your business. [I *am* the "IT 
people". And driving the business is BD's job, not mine.]

For more detailed information about Dell solutions, take a look at the 
articles and case studies in the enclosed Connection catelog. This 
month's issue contains valuable information on how to simplify your job 
so you can get more done for less. [Um, OK...]

As a potential Dell customer, [Wait - we're getting this junkmail 
because we *are* a Dell customer! That's how you got my collegue's name, 
FFS!] you are entitled to personalized service from our team of trained 
account managers and advisers. [I.e., salesman.] So pick up the phone 
and call us. By assessing your company's particular needs and 
challenges, we can help you improve the way your company manages its IT 
right now. [That would be Corporate IT's job, not yours.]



Ah, but the "catelog" they sent us is pure gold.

I often get flyers and catelogues sent to me. I mean, our suppliers want 
to encourage us to buy stuff, right? It _is_ their job. So you can 
understand that. Insight UK typically sents me publications of varying 
sizes that contain page after page of product pictures together with 
brief specifications and prices.

This Dell thing, however, is very special indeed. Most pages just 
contain lots of pictures of shiny server hardware, plus a lot of text 
that rambles on about "empowering your business", "improving efficiency" 
and "effortless management". There are no technical details. There are 
no prices. Just unsubstantiated claims of "superior stability", 
"next-generation performance" and "worry-free business". THE ENTIRE 
PUBLICATION IS HOT AIR. There is NO substance to any of it!

Wow, I really wasted 20 minutes of my life on this... I don't know who 
this thing is aimed at. The PHB, I'm guessing, because it's definitely 
*not* aimed at me! ;-)

Post a reply to this message

> We offer many simple solutions for keeping data safe and secure, 
> increasing efficiency, and reducing downtime, all while cutting costs. 
> [So... you're going to sell us stuff and it will cut our costs? How do you 
> work that out? Last time I checked, buying things costs money. :-P ]

Don't worry you're not alone, it seems that even quite important people in 
high-up places can't grasp the concept that spending some money could save 
you more overall.

At the moment I'm struggling to persuade IT at our HQ they should link our 
independent phone systems together (this is what, at most a Cisco box and a 
day's setup at each end?) even though after only a few months it would be 
saving us money - they don't seem interested.

Post a reply to this message

>> We offer many simple solutions for keeping data safe and secure, 
>> increasing efficiency, and reducing downtime, all while cutting costs. 
>> [So... you're going to sell us stuff and it will cut our costs? How do 
>> you work that out? Last time I checked, buying things costs money. :-P ]
> 
> Don't worry you're not alone, it seems that even quite important people 
> in high-up places can't grasp the concept that spending some money could 
> save you more overall.

While it is true that investing money now can save you huge amounts of 
money later, I very much doubt that buying a truckload of shiny 
equipment from the most over-priced supplier in the marketplace is 
actually going to help your costs. ;-)

> At the moment I'm struggling to persuade IT at our HQ they should link 
> our independent phone systems together (this is what, at most a Cisco 
> box and a day's setup at each end?) even though after only a few months 
> it would be saving us money - they don't seem interested.

I guess a phone system just isn't "exciting" enough for them? Who knows.

Post a reply to this message

> While it is true that investing money now can save you huge amounts of 
> money later, I very much doubt that buying a truckload of shiny equipment 
> from the most over-priced supplier in the marketplace is actually going to 
> help your costs. ;-)

Well sure, you need to check out if it will save you money or not (sometimes 
this can be a very quick calculation and then it's obvious one way or the 
other).  But too many people just say "no" because they only consider the 
money spent and not the money saved.

>> At the moment I'm struggling to persuade IT at our HQ they should link 
>> our independent phone systems together (this is what, at most a Cisco box 
>> and a day's setup at each end?) even though after only a few months it 
>> would be saving us money - they don't seem interested.
>
> I guess a phone system just isn't "exciting" enough for them? Who knows.

I think it's because they don't know how to link them.  I suggested to my 
boss we simply pay a contractor to come and sort it out, but, sigh, 
everything like that has to go through IT.  This isn't the first time their 
incompetentness has come to the surface, only a few weeks ago they ran out 
of space on the server and randomly moved half of everyone's stuff.  I mean 
surely they should be looking at the graph of free space over time and do 
something appropriate long before the space *actually* runs out.  Also, 
rather amusingly, we can't access the public website of our own company from 
the office because there is some DNS issue :-)  They suggested going through 
a proxy server in Japan (which requires an account and you to log in) to get 
to the site!!!

Post a reply to this message

>> While it is true that investing money now can save you huge amounts of 
>> money later, I very much doubt that buying a truckload of shiny 
>> equipment from the most over-priced supplier in the marketplace is 
>> actually going to help your costs. ;-)
> 
> Well sure, you need to check out if it will save you money or not 
> (sometimes this can be a very quick calculation and then it's obvious 
> one way or the other).  But too many people just say "no" because they 
> only consider the money spent and not the money saved.

Indeed. But given a catelog full of pictures of shiny stuff and no 
prices... kinda hard to compute anything. ;-)

> I think it's because they don't know how to link them.  I suggested to 
> my boss we simply pay a contractor to come and sort it out, but, sigh, 
> everything like that has to go through IT.  This isn't the first time 
> their incompetentness has come to the surface, only a few weeks ago they 
> ran out of space on the server and randomly moved half of everyone's 
> stuff.  I mean surely they should be looking at the graph of free space 
> over time and do something appropriate long before the space *actually* 
> runs out.  Also, rather amusingly, we can't access the public website of 
> our own company from the office because there is some DNS issue :-)  
> They suggested going through a proxy server in Japan (which requires an 
> account and you to log in) to get to the site!!!

...suddenly the company I work for seems radically more professional. 
Thanks Scotty. :-D

Post a reply to this message