>Anthony Kim continued,
>Intersting thread. I didn't know cisco defined a small business so
>strictly. Is that an exam question? :)
Historically, commercial data networking started with mainframes
interconnected with leased lines. These machines were either in
large enterprises or in academic/research institutions. SNA, for
example, gave extensive operational control, and needed a
considerable staff to support it.
I've seen a market research report that said:
in 1982, 86% of networking customers could build and support their
own networks
in 1996, 14% of customers could do so.
It's not necessarily that enterprises are more or less clueful --
it's that the enterprises that get into communications are much
smaller or more poorly budgeted. The distinction has been made that
networking began with the Fortune 500, but now has spread to the
Fortune 5,000,000.
As business dependence on networking grows, the smaller companies
have the alternatives:
Without internal or external network support staff,
wait for a major failure (hard downtime, or inability to service
their customers) and go into bankruptcy.
Hire from a scarce pool of qualified (certified?) people and watch
their margins go down, if they don't have enough networking activity
to keep these (expensive) people busy. Go into bankruptcy.
Buy networking products that are as turnkey as possible.
Buy support, which may or may not stay within their margins.
>
>Of course the bottom line is, you make technology recommendations on
>what the business can handle, what they require, and what they can
>afford. At some intersection of this triad, an answer may surface.
>
>I am fortunate in that my experience with networking people have all
>been with knowledgable and clever folks.
>
It has long been a valid assumption that no one ever went broke by
underestimating the intelligence or taste of the public.
_________________________________
FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
