To Err Is Human

We Aim To Please

I enjoyed reading Tim Wilson's Affordable IT article "Let's Make a Deal" (Dec. 9, 2004). My company sells custom software, and though the article deals more with the buying side, I'd like to make a few comments in defense of the software seller.

"Most large companies," Wilson says, "have the advantage of a purchasing department that can help research alternatives, negotiate contracts and establish long-term relationships with vendors." But from the seller's standpoint, having to deal with an entire department can be bad, as internal office politics often prevent large organizations from making timely buying decisions. For example, no sooner will 50 people sign off on a given project than another 50 will come in and start the process from scratch, thereby putting everything on hold.

Wilson quotes one IT executive as saying, "The hardest part of negotiating a deal with an IT vendor is gaining assurance that the purchase will work as stated." But there are often mistakes and contradictions in the customer's requirements document. It's hard for a seller to verify something when the requirements were wrong in the first place.

I'd love to see an article on what both sides should do when requirements change after the contract has been signed. The problem I see is that the customer wants the project to change, but won't modify the time frame to let the seller comply.Sellers want to please their customers and solve their problems. The object is to meet, if not exceed, customer requirements.

Name withheld by request

Public Links

Kudos to Don MacVittie for his Sneak Preview "Affordable SOHO Storage" (Nov. 25, 2004), about Buffalo Technology's LinkStation Network Storage Center.I'd like to store files on the unit and have clients access and download them remotely over the Internet. Does the product work that way, or is it only for LAN clients?

Noah Kadner
Producer
High Road Productions
E-mail address withheld by request

Don MacVittie replies: Buffalo LinkStation supports FTP. If you give it a public IP and set up the FTP server, remote users can use a GUI-based FTP program like cuteFTP to download the shared files. This is more secure than opening up a share on the public IP, which you can also do if you want to configure the security more tightly.

Before giving the unit a public IP, you'd be well-advised to place it behind a firewall, if only because it's an appliance with an OS that can be compromised.

Tell Us How You Really Feel

Send e-mail to [email protected], fax to (516) 562-7293 or mail letters to Network Computing, 600 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030. Include your name, title, company name, e-mail address and phone number. All correspondence becomes the property of Network Computing.