* Appliances must be simple, just like your haikus
Today, we have a question about appliances. Daniel Fader of Fort Lee, N.J., writes: “What is an appliance? What is an appliance supposed to do? I have several kinds of appliance already – do I really need another just for storage? And when is an appliance not an appliance?”
Dear Mr. Fader,
Appliances are simple devices that typically do one thing really well. They are easy to install (a 15-minute installation is an excellent target for most storage devices), easy to use and easy to manage. Just like a toaster.
Software should come pre-loaded. Because appliances are integrated before they leave the factory, buyers have the right to expect them to be ready to use right out of the box. The management interface may or may not be crisp (Web-based ones are always best), but it must always be simple.
Appliances should, in every sense, be efficient. Users should incur no additional costs (added licenses, for example) when appliances are installed, and if they require agents on other machines, those installations should be completely automated.
Simplicity must be the order of the day.
Many companies build what they call “appliances” but, which in fact, are nothing of the sort. If a product is not easy to install, simple to use and easy to manage, then by my definition it is not an appliance, but a “bundle.”
Bundles are fine, but let’s understand what they are: a collection of products, hopefully integrated but often not, that appear as a single same line item in a vendor’s price book. For vendors that do any planning at all, bundles are also easy to ship because they appear on a common bill of materials.
Bundles are always good for the vendor (they move lots of product) and, if the price is right, may be good for the buyer as well.
But let’s get serious, folks, appliances they ain’t, and shame on the vendor that tries to pass them off as such. And double-shame on the uninformed manager who buys them.
On another topic:
IT’S ALMOST HERE!!!
THE GREAT 2005 STORAGE HAIKU CONTEST has been scheduled for the last half of March of this year. Start planning now if you want to participate.
Entrants are invited to submit original haikus – storage-related of course – during the two-week period beginning March 14 and ending March 25. The prize: Winning submissions will be printed in this newsletter during the second week in April.
The rules are simple:
1. Entrants may submit as many haikus as they want.
2. All submissions must be original.
3. All submissions must follow the accepted haiku format: a poem consisting of three lines, the lines having approximately five, seven and five syllables. Poems may have a maximum of 17 syllables. Many excellent guides to writing haiku are available on the Web.
4. All haikus must be, in some way, storage-related.
5. Authors should indicate with each submission whether they want their name to appear in this newsletter in the unlikely event they actually win.
6. The judge (that’s me, Mike Karp) will not entertain whiney notes from non-winners.
7. Preference will be given to haikus written in a language I understand.
8. Preference will be given to haikus that demonstrably were written on company time.
9. Invective will not be tolerated, except when justified.
Feel free to contact me with questions.
