Adrian Chadd wrote:
It seems to me that NANOG should be concerned with the following:
1) How to design/install/operate a multi-service network
2) How to achieve efficient network operation through the use of network
protocols
3) What is/How to peer, and why settlement free peering is a good thing
4) How to protect your network assets from the bad guys
These topics however seem "altrustic" ; why would someone talk about what
gives them an edge over their competitors?
If nobody ever talked about the above topics, then we would not have an
Internet today. Despite what CxOs may think, the very essence of the
Internet is the free sharing of technology and ideas. Intellectual
Property means nothing to the Internet, which just sees it as a series
of 1s and 0s.
Not all companies will appeal to all customers. We need multiple
companies provide the service to the customers, as the customers all
want to connect to each other. It is in our best interest to ensure
that the end-to-end experience is as positive as possible, as even if
the problem is not on our network, our call center is still going to get
the call. How can we ensure that the customer's experience is as good
as possible? Well, we have to help the rest of the network providers
improve their network, which in turn causes us to improve our own.
Competition is all about trying to make your customers happy. If you
are selling the best car in the world, it does the customer little good
if they can't even leave their driveway, as the roads are not any good.
Edge is ultimately all about the service you are willing to give the
customer to make them feel good about paying you. There really is no
other edge that matter. I used to work for a company that charged
$29.95 a month for 33.6 dial up service, and we took business away from
the $7.95 provider. Why? We made our customers feel more important.
We were open about the problems we had, and how we planned to fix them.
And, we always answered the phone when they called. Even when they
left and signed up for a year prepaid with the other guy, we knew they'd
be back in 2 months.
Don't try to make your network look better by talking down your
neighbors. It only makes you look bad in the long run.
-Sean
(Please respond through the list)
