揭穿思科的神话(三):思科是唯一安全的选择吗?(redux)

Kevin Jennings

2월 24, 2016

我不记得第一次听到FUD这个词是什么时候了但我一直觉得它的影响力是惊人的!

这是“Demythologizing Cisco"

我不记得第一次听到FUD这个词是什么时候了，它的意思是 Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt但我一直觉得它的影响力是惊人的! 如果供应商能够让客户或潜在客户怀有恐惧, uncertainty, or doubt about a competitor, it dramatically strengthens that vendor’s position and likelihood of prevailing in a competitive contest.

思科的销售代表是向思科的竞争对手散布FUD的高手, 这是以前由IBM代表享有的荣誉, 谁在古代的实践中是传奇人物 Bigblueous Mainframeous roamed the earth. 任何分散对各种替代方案的技术和价值评估的方法, typically by securing the actual or de facto elimination of competitors before these comparisons can be made, 大大提高了思科赢得或保住业务的可能性. Astonishingly, even when a competitor’s products are shown to be technically equivalent and a much better price value, 思科的FUD常常对目标产生一种神秘的控制. FUD strikes at the very heart of a fundamental pillar of an IT infrastructure decision; namely, is it safe?

What Does Safety Mean?

本系列的上一期题为“Cisco is the only ’Safe’ Choice” discussed that when it comes to networking infrastructure equipment and feeling ‘safe’ - it largely comes down to the expected viability of the manufacturer over the useful life of the products being considered, 一般是5年或更短. What is challenging about attempting to counter Cisco’s arguments about other vendors is that they are often ethereal. 这些微妙的播下的种子往往会导致潜在客户带着他们一起跑, 有时会发明各种各样的概念, 跟思科以外的公司合作的潜在风险. And perhaps it’s not simply fear of what might happen by placing one’s trust in another vendor, 但也有一定的FOMO(害怕错过)，因为不选择思科. Let’s face it, 思科保持着无敌的光环, of mastery, of dominance, 这是自我延续和自我滋养. it界就越相信, 公司的产品被选择的越多，而没有真正考虑替代品, 这样就导致了持续的主导地位，循环往复. I remind the reader that the fundamental beef that I have with this veneration of Cisco does not have to do with whether Cisco is a great company with very good products. 我承认这是不言而喻的. 我和IT界的许多人有什么不同, 当然还有思科本身, 跟不存在的概念有关吗 价格便宜得多的可行替代品 than what Cisco offers, which will serve just as well to fulfill the client’s networking needs.

你必须越过安全问题，才能真正看到外面有什么

The truly insidious thing about the pervasive genuflecting at Cisco’s altar is that so many are unaware of how much they are leaving on the table! The examples of vibrant, happy, successful, thriving companies using products from manufacturers other than Cisco should serve to put to rest any doubts about viability when one is considering their networking solutions. 以阿尔卡特-朗讯企业(ALE)为例, the company for which I work, 例如倡导医疗保健, 伊利诺伊州最大的医疗保健提供商, should allay any concerns about ALE – they have built their entire data and voice infrastructure on Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise solutions.

一旦供应商的安全这一基本问题得到解决, then the detailed work of comparing technical functionality (preferably by actually testing products head to head), along with evaluating price and TCO calculations will yield a true picture of how Cisco and other vendors measure up. Why am I confident that Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise solutions and perhaps others will fare well compared to Cisco if all of these steps are taken? 因为我一次又一次亲眼目睹了这一切! Because I have come to know the difference between projects in which a company essentially defaults to a Cisco selection (or simply flippantly goes through the motions) and ones in which they actually engage in a detailed evaluation, 包括很多情况下的烘焙比赛, of the various vendor offerings. In the first instance, our company virtually never wins—Cisco is already the foreordained chosen one. In the second, we very frequently win!

为什么决定安全本身很重要?

There is good reason to determine whether or not a vendor is ‘safe’ - independent of other considerations, 在评估过程的开始. 如果安全问题没有事先得到解决和充分的回答, it can disproportionately dominate the rest of the evaluation and discussion to the point of overriding other points of consideration that should also carry substantial weight. As an example, we experienced a case in which a bid was issued and various vendors responded. In this instance, Cisco’s offering was literally 500% the price of ALE’s offering (this is not a misprint—Cisco’s price was 5X ALE’s price—and it was considerably more expensive than every other vendor’s submission as well). In spite of this result, there were people at the organization actually arguing that they needed to go with Cisco because they felt more comfortable with them. 简而言之，他们认为思科是安全的，而其他供应商则不然. 我知道，我知道，这听起来对我来说也有点疯狂!

I continue to be astonished at the billions of dollars that are routinely left on the table as purchase orders are issued to Cisco for equipment and services when the purchaser could have secured a comparable and in some cases a superior solution at a much more attractive price point. By our estimates, companies overspent by nearly $6B in 2015 buying Cisco switches when comparable Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise switches would have been a much better value for them. Generally, these money-squandering decisions can be traced back to a key person or persons in the decision tree believing, 与确凿的证据相反, 思科是安全的，其他公司则不然. 你想要这样决定公司的资金使用方式吗?

Yes, Cisco is Safe, but is NOT the Only Safe Choice

Options are great. 与思科的信条相反，思科并不是唯一安全的选择. Thankfully, you are not faced with the dilemma of choosing between either safety or value. You can have both. 当然，前提是你不相信思科是唯一安全的选择.

And if you are wondering what happened in the situation that I referenced above when some were arguing that they must have Cisco instead of ALE or anyone else even though Cisco cost five times as much; well, rational heads prevailed, and the customer is successfully implementing its ALE network and saving over $100 million in the process.

俗话说:“没有人会因为收购思科而被解雇。.” Is it true?我们将在拆除思科神话系列的下一篇文章中研究这个概念.

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**你可以在这里阅读完整的系列:

思科是唯一“安全”的选择

Demythologizing Cisco