On 6/2/19 3:39 PM, Ben Hutchings wrote: > On Fri, 2019-05-31 at 21:04 +0000, Luca Filipozzi wrote: > [...] >> However, without an HPE donation or discount, we are much more likely to >> follow a less expensive approach: pairs of 2U servers with local >> storage, etc. Still not cheap but not multiples of 100k. >> >> If a hardware vendor happens to offer a discounts, then we can stretch >> the dollars further. > [...] > > As I understand it, list prices for "enterprise" hardware are set with > the assumption that customers will negotiate a 50% or higher discount. > If that's right, we should expect and ask for discounts, regardless of > whether the vendor is interested in being a sponsor. > > Ben. >
Oh, Ben... You don't know how much that's truth. We got had a vendor (that I will not name) to lower his quote some N amount of network cards from 13k to 5k, just because we told him we would buy more and that we felt it was too expensive (sorry, I don't think my employer would be happy if I was disclosing more details of who and what...). So very much, when purchasing hardware, negotiating is mandatory. Asking 2 vendors at once, comparing, let them know one has quoted for less, is also super important. This is secret to no-one doing hardware purchase. Cheers, Thomas Goirand (zigo)