Today storage administrators are wondering:
Why do Seagate disks cost so much from NetApp?
Why do yearly software downloads from NetApp costs tens of thousands of dollars?
Why do I have to upgrade my underutilized equipment that is working perfectly fine?
How am I going to support my storage infrastructure when my budget is cut?
Storage administrators see the forced upgrades and ridiculous software download pricing as crazy. They recognize that their vendor’s support costs are out of control. And they are trying to rein in costs because their budgets are being locked down. Storage vendors are not working with their clients and can be patronizing to them when they are having some troubles.
“Daniel J. Warmenhoven, CEO of data storage company NetApp (NTAP) (formerly Network Appliance), counts himself lucky that neither Lehman nor AIG was a big customer (though Lehman did take the company public). He says tech spending is holding up so far—in part because it lowers operating costs. ‘The analysts are always ‘woe is me,’ because their industry is getting hammered,’ says Warmenhoven. ‘Well, go cry in your own beer. Don’t ruin mine.’ “
What happened to long term business commitment to create loyalty between customers and vendors? Why are so many vendors willing to throw their customers “under the bus” as the saying goes?
At Zerowait we have worked hard to build an indivdualized long-term relationship with each of our customers. We understand that companies go through rough patches, and we find creative ways to work things through with them. High availability storage is a long-term business. We all know that you can’t throw away your documents and records.
Who is standing by you in these times?