Comments on: Network hardware purchasing: Biggest hurdles http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/itanswers/network-hardware-purchasing-biggest-hurdles/ Thu, 23 May 2013 13:24:46 +0000 hourly 1 By: mrdenny http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/itanswers/network-hardware-purchasing-biggest-hurdles/#comment-66803 mrdenny Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:09:59 +0000 #comment-66803 Hardware selection is always easy. Approvals are always the hard part.

]]> By: blankreg http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/itanswers/network-hardware-purchasing-biggest-hurdles/#comment-66788 blankreg Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:10:29 +0000 #comment-66788 I usually find that selection is the easy part. Having worked with many vendors, over waaay too many years, you get very familiar with the capabilities of the equipment, and you generally stick to what you know will work.

The approvals process is a real pain.

You are passing the project over to bean-counters who have no technical knowledge, and have some idiot saying things like ‘but this manufacturer also makes routers and they are $200 cheaper than these’. Then you have to explain that although they are cheaper, you may as well have a toaster, because it doesn’t do what you need it to. And do all of that without sounding too patronising.

Eventually they give in, and the purchase goes through, but you know they think you are wasting the company’s valuable cash reserves ;-)

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