Nice post Kevin.
On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 5:20 AM, Kevin Keane <subscript...@kkeane.com> wrote: > I've got to defend management here. IME, they DO ask for evaluations, > reports, executive summaries, the works. But they only ask it for the > short list of products after an initial culling, often only between the > two or three finalists. How many commercial enterprise backup systems > are there on the market? More than that, I'm sure. > > That's where marketing matters. Marketing isn't about selling. It's > about getting on the short list. THEN you can let the product sell > itself on the merits. > > Bacula has strengths and weaknesses in that area. > > Strength: viral marketing. Those "in the know" - us - appreciate the > quality, and can work to get it onto the short list. > Strength: reasonable visibility within the Open Source community. I > discovered it because it had administration modules in webmin. > Weakness: the name and tag line. It doesn't matter when selling on the > merits, but it's a huge issue with getting on the short list. > Weakness: little known outside Open Source. That's a double-whammy since > many managers still tend to be skeptical of Open Source to begin with. > Weakness: no slick brochures, white papers, etc. When a manager asks his > employee "give me a short list of backup solutions", the employee will > start with google and download whitepapers and executive summaries. And, > no, the "What is Bacula" page does not count. > > And let's also not forget: (most) managers aren't in the business of > promoting Open Source. They are in the business of solving their > business problems. Sometimes, Open Source is the answer, sometimes it isn't. > > As a consultant, I advise many customers to buy Microsoft servers. I > personally prefer Linux servers, but for many situations, Windows really > is the better solution. I'm running a mix of both in my own office. > > And I warn my customers of using OpenOffice. > > But I point them to the Gimp for image manipulation. > > I host their Web sites on LAMP. > > etc. etc. > > Ultimately, solving the problem matters - and licensing cost is only one > factor in the equation. Very often a minor one. > > Ryan Novosielski wrote: >> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >> Hash: SHA1 >> >> Trouble is management these days in a lot of places doesn't know enough >> to make a decision other than on a cost or name basis. You'd expect if a >> person was unsure, they'd ask for a walkthrough or a synopsis, maybe >> with an extended trial period -- not just reject outright. >> >> Mag Gam wrote: >> >>> I have got a lot of convincing to do. >>> >>> :-( >>> >>> Will try my best. >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 2:16 AM, Jon Ingason <jon.inga...@sentor.se> wrote: >>> Scott Lambert skrev: >>> >>>>>> On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 08:00:21PM -0500, Mag Gam wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> I agree for the most part of what you said but when *we* (our team) is >>>>>>> competing with other teams in the firm to design and implement our >>>>>>> solution we also want management to take us seriously. Most of our MBA >>>>>>> management like names with acronyms..TSM **cough, cough**, versus >>>>>>> something a 10 year old would say to his sister, "baaaa-cula" . In >>>>>>> addition, choosing a produce named "Baucla" -- virtually unknown to >>>>>>> management -- against a known BUT expensive product could be a risky >>>>>>> move on their part, therefore I asked the initial question. >>>>>>> >>>>>> Make up an acronym using the letters B, A, U, C, L, and A again. Then >>>>>> spell it all in uppercase BACULA. It's a longer acronym than TSM so it >>>>>> must have more features and be a better product. :-) >>>>>> >>>>>> >>> What about >>> >>> B - Backing up data with >>> A - Advacned >>> C - Control >>> U - Utilities over >>> L - Lagre >>> A - Area or Areas >>> >>> ;-) >>> > > > -- > Kevin Keane > Owner > The NetTech > Find the Uncommon: Expert Solutions for a Network You Never Have to Think > About > > Office: 866-642-7116 > http://www.4nettech.com > > This e-mail and attachments, if any, may contain confidential and/or > proprietary information. Please be advised that the unauthorized use or > disclosure of the information is strictly prohibited. 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If you > have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender > immediately and permanently delete the e-mail and any copies, printouts or > attachments thereof. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This SF.net email is sponsored by: > SourcForge Community > SourceForge wants to tell your story. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/sf-spreadtheword > _______________________________________________ > Bacula-users mailing list > Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by: SourcForge Community SourceForge wants to tell your story. http://p.sf.net/sfu/sf-spreadtheword _______________________________________________ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
