Some suggest that your company should insist the contract include language to protect you in the event of a 'rebranding', repackaging, or simple name change. I hear it can and has been done.
My $0.02 -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Timothy Sipples Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 10:14 PM To: IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU Subject: Re: State of the Mainframe - Part II: The Capacity Conundrum >It can be risky. *NOW* most Linux software is priced >per processor, regardless of processor type. Maybe "next >version" will be priced differently. No warranty. >AFAIR some time ago Oracle did "bad trick" - they >"repackaged" the software, so most of upgrade contracts >were not applicable - customers had to buy full versions. >IMHO it is better to negotiate with software vendor >showing him the possibilities, especially competitive >products. Sometimes it helps, it is possible to get >similar prices WITHOUT migration. Obviously YMMV, >sometimes RAS can be important, maybe even floor space, >etc. I don't think that's a particularly compelling argument, that a software vendor might do something in the future that causes a reassessment. If that is a concern then there's an easy answer: a long-term contract. It's also something not unique to mainframes and probably a much more severe phenomenon with distributed platform software. We're also talking about Linux software here. You get to change your mind, and you own at least current versions forever. (It's "one-time charge" software.) So enjoy the savings. - - - - - Timothy F. Sipples Consulting Enterprise Software Architect, z9/zSeries IBM Japan, Ltd. E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
