21 Aug
2005
21 Aug
'05
6:13 p.m.
Ken Seefried wrote:
... Except the IBM rep. Paraphrased:
ME: Hi...I'm doing the architecture for the new network. I'm going to send you a
bunch of requirements, and I'm going to need the following things in return.
IBM Sales Drone: <long pause>...Why?
ME: Ummm....because we will be selecting a vendor for the routing elements based on this
evaluation.
ISD: <long pause>...No your not. You're going to buy the new 6611. You're
an IBM customer. <- direct quote
ME: <long pause>...Really?
ISD: Yes, you are. I don't understand why we are even having this conversation. <-
also a quote
ME: Thanks.
I sent the doco over, they didn't respond, then raised hell at the C-level that they
hadn't been given the chance to participate when we picked another vendor. My
mangement told them to pound sand, and my CIO got mad enoungh to say things that made an
IBM VP blush.
Wow! I recall hearing in the early-mid 80s when the university computing
services (long-time IBM shop) selected an Amdahl CPU instead of an IBM for
the next upgrade that a coterie of none-too-happy IBM reps paid a visit.
Probably not uncommon at the time as IBM started to lose their grip on such
shops, but I would have thought that by the 90s when your incident occurred
that IBM would have 'adjusted their attitude'. Maybe you got an old rep who was
still trying to live the days when "ibm" was " I B M ".