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Disaster Recovery
Post Katrina, you would think that software vendors would get the need for disaster recovery. I will keep the name of the offending vendor secret for the time being, but here is a story from a recent negotiating session that blew me away.
The client was ready to sign a fairly large contract to replace their aging software system. We were negotiating the final terms and conditions. It used to be that a copy of the software was allowed to be maintained for backup and disaster recovery purposes. Since the contract was silent on this point, we raised the issue.
Understand, the client was located on the gulf coast and had lost their computer to the storm surge. Recovery from a disaster is no longer a theoretical possibility, but a real life requirement.
As such, we wanted to have a duplicate system at one of the remote sales/warehouse locations to be ready to take over in case of any disaster. The software vendor said great, the cost will only be an extra “many thousands of dollars. Plus we will have to bill you for an extra maintenance agreement.”
The reaction was immediate. The deal was about to come unraveled. The vendor said, “Well, you could use this in production.” That is true, but since we were paying by the seat, what difference did it make?
“But you may need to purchase some site licenses for the operating system and data base manager.” That would not be a problem, although we would like to talk to them about the cost. You would have thought we asked to talk to the Queen of England.
I cannot understand the big deal. The customer has a valid need for a backup site. They are paying a very nice sum for the right to use the system with a specific number of users. All we want is the right to have a warm site that is continuously being backed up to the main site and ready to take over in an emergency.
It is my suggestion that all software vendors consider this question carefully. Software is the operating blood of companies today. Without it, most could not operate. To penalize a company for wanting to protect themselves is not right. As long as the software is being used under the terms of the agreement. As long as the number of users is not being exceeded. Even if the system is doing load sharing, other than site licenses, extra installation services, and any additional training, there should not be extra charges.
Disaster Recovery
August 20, 2007
Post Katrina, you would think that software vendors would get the need for disaster recovery. I will keep the name of the offending vendor secret for the time being, but here is a story from a recent negotiating session that blew me away. The client was ready to sign a fairly large contract to replace their aging software system. We were negotiating the final terms and conditions. It used to be that a copy of the software was allowed to be maintained for backup and disaster recovery purposes. Since the contract was silent on this point, we raised the issue.
Understand, the client was located on the gulf coast and had lost their computer to the storm surge. Recovery from a disaster is no longer a theoretical possibility, but a real life requirement.
As such, we wanted to have a duplicate system at one of the remote sales/warehouse locations to be ready to take over in case of any disaster. The software vendor said great, the cost will only be an extra “many thousands of dollars. Plus we will have to bill you for an extra maintenance agreement.”
The reaction was immediate. The deal was about to come unraveled. The vendor said, “Well, you could use this in production.” That is true, but since we were paying by the seat, what difference did it make?
“But you may need to purchase some site licenses for the operating system and data base manager.” That would not be a problem, although we would like to talk to them about the cost. You would have thought we asked to talk to the Queen of England.
I cannot understand the big deal. The customer has a valid need for a backup site. They are paying a very nice sum for the right to use the system with a specific number of users. All we want is the right to have a warm site that is continuously being backed up to the main site and ready to take over in an emergency.
It is my suggestion that all software vendors consider this question carefully. Software is the operating blood of companies today. Without it, most could not operate. To penalize a company for wanting to protect themselves is not right. As long as the software is being used under the terms of the agreement. As long as the number of users is not being exceeded. Even if the system is doing load sharing, other than site licenses, extra installation services, and any additional training, there should not be extra charges.
Posted by Steve Epner on August 20, 2007 | Comments (0)
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