Workshop

Beware of Vendor
Your vendor probably does have your best interests at heart. However, remember that in addition to
wanting to help you out, your vendor also has a schedule, doesn’t like to pay people to do more than
necessary to get the job done, and has a vested interest in selling you new stuff. Also, because your
vendor probably has various projects scheduled, this can mean that someone might show up on your
doorstep at a random time (not necessarily when it’s convenient for you). You have a right to insist that
changes to your network—no matter how necessary—must be scheduled according to your needs. You
wouldn’t let your plumber walk into your house at any time and fiddle with your water heater, would
you?
For larger projects, you should also insist on a rollback plan (also known as bailout plan) in case of
problems. A rollback plan is executed when things go seriously wrong—that is, when you’re worse off
when you finish than when you started. You’ll have to decide how much this is worth to you: Sometimes,
rolling a change back can cost a lot in terms of time and money. For example, if you’re converting from a
Windows NT server to an IntranetWare or UNIX server, a technician might need to go around to each
workstation. Rolling this back can be time intensive and therefore costly. Because a vendor might ask
you to eat the cost of rollback, it pays to negotiate this up front for a major project. The cost for “making
it work and putting it back if it doesn’t” might be a different price than “throwing it in and then dealing
with it if it’s a problem.” It pays to look out for yourself, and if you’re dealing with a reputable vendor,
he or she won’t mind if you bring these types of things up during project negotiation.
Don’t be a pushover, but don’t be a pit bull either. Having a good relationship with your vendor is really
important; your vendor can either be a cause of trouble or a troubleshooting partner—you want to shoot
for the latter.
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