Q. Can anyone tell me if the direct sales model that DELL has established can compete/dominate the server business?
Bob: Maybe in the lowest part of the market, i.e. the "Whistle" style (www.whistle.com) server appliance where you take a machine out of the box and plug it in and do minimal configuration.
If a customer needs a partner rather than a glorified order-taker, Dell's model doesn't fit. Today, Dell isn't anybody's partner. They take your order, ship you a box, then they have a guy on the phone to give you a RMA if the machine is broken, or to be sympathetic if the talking paper-clip scares you, or you put a diskette in upside-down. They don't want to know about your business or your application, not under this model.
Heavy-duty IT departments need computer vendors to be partners. One way to guarantee reliability is to get the bugs out of your operating system. However, a more important way is to make sure the customer's installation is the right one for their job, that it is maintained correctly, that it avoids most problems through anticipation, that the customer gets immediate around-the-clock assistance when an unanticipated one shows up, etc. This can't be done unless the vendor actually goes in and gets heavily involved by thoroughly understanding your business, and then stays that way. Lucinos was correct in his ravings about what a computer vendor at that level has to provide...he was just wrong about whether Sun can provide it (although they can indeed not yet provide it as well as IBM).
Dell's model is the diametrical opposite of that. They could build up their service capability, but it would take them a lot of investment and time. Their crazy stock valuation is based entirely on their model's lack of that kind of overhead.
IMHO.
Regards,
--QwikSand |
