this is the home page of  StorageSearch.com Rackmount SSDs click for news and directory SSD news since 1998
leading the way to the new storage frontier ..... rackmount SSDs ..... SSD news
..
John McClane will rescue his wife.

Scrooge will avoid a bad end at Christmas.

And Dorothy will find her way back from Oz.

trust and services marketing related to enterprise SSD systems

by Zsolt Kerekes, editor - StorageSearch.com - July 20, 2016
12 years ago a survey by StorageSearch.com identified that service related guarantees for enterprise SSD systems could be among the pivotal market adoption disinhibitors. But compared to the fast moving backdrop of enterprise technology it's interesting to note that the way marketers behave has changed so slowly.

It takes a long time for marketers to understand and learn why their potential customers aren't buying.

Or why they aren't as excited by new products as their creators and investors.

I touched on the deep seated reasons for this kind of disconnect in my article - decloaking hidden and missing segments in the analysis of market opportunities for enterprise rackmount flash (2014).

Pricing is an area where we began to observe innovation in the SSD market at around the same time and I wrote about some of the ways in which vendors were starting to sidestep the issues of complexity (which arise from having to know too many things which are unknown by most customers or unknowable) in my article -exiting the astrological age of enterprise SSD pricing.

If you haven't read it an inexact analogy is that if you're buying a plane you don't have to know the physics about how it flies. Others who do know physics and how the bits fit all together will certify that it's safe. The more important aspects for you as a buyer are how it will fit into your business plans. It takes a long time to learn those plane vendor things and become trusted. That's why in mature markets where there are these high barriers to entry - you don't hear about hundreds of new companies entering the plane market. Unlike the wild west of SSD systems.

And if you're still with me at this point. Price is a marketing service.

If you thought it was anything else and if you work in SSD sales or marketing you've got a lot of reading or training courses to get through.

Which brings me to a recent services related press release from Kaminario.

Rackmount SSDs click for news and directory
rackmount SSDs
The message essence is their headline...

"Kaminario unveils storage industry's most comprehensive business assurance program."

How much of that claim you agree with or disagree with is up to you. And don't complain to me if you don't agree.

We've seen many similar sounding service related assurance offerings from other vendors too.

They can be summarized as - buy this stuff from us and we'll always look after your interests and make sure you don't regret it.

The promise of such service related offers reminds me of Christmas stories...

John McClane will rescue his wife. Scrooge will avoid a bad end by giving away a turkey. And Dorothy will find her way back from Oz.

But when it comes to long range service promises from any SSD company you need to use your common sense too.

Given what we've seen in the enterprise SSD market in recent years:- the acquisitions, the EOL product lines and the predictable EOL and obsolescence of most current platforms and architectures - it's worth reminding yourself that companies can only deliver on such long term promises if they are still in business, remain profitable and remain in control of their own destinies.
..
The above story first appeared in SSD news - July 2016

can memory systems do more?
what do enterprise SSD users want?
Decloaking hidden SSD segments in the enterprise
....
SSD ad - click for more info

..
storage search banner