I finally had it out with a vendor at a conference last month

I was at the ComNet Expo in Chicago, walking the floor, and this guy from a big switch distributor stops me. He starts pitching their latest gear, going on about 'cloud-managed' this and 'zero-touch' that. I asked him a simple question about VLAN tagging across their stack, just a basic setup question. He looked at me like I had two heads and said, 'You don't need to worry about that, our system handles everything.' I told him that's exactly the problem, when a sales guy doesn't even know how their own gear works. He just shrugged and handed me a brochure. Why even show up if you can't answer real questions?

2 comments

2 Comments

sage_lewis1014d ago

The ComNet Expo in Chicago? That vendor with the 'zero-touch' crap? I would have lost it right there. VLAN tagging is like networking 101 stuff. If a sales guy can't explain how their gear handles something that basic, they don't deserve to be on the floor. They probably think VLAN stands for something trendy they read on a blog. You did the right thing calling them out. That shrug and brochure move is just insulting.

tylerw9214d agoTop Commenter

Ha yeah @sage_lewis10, I read somewhere that some of these "zero-touch" vendors are outsourcing their floor staff from a marketing agency, not even hiring actual engineers. Brochure and a shrug sounds about right for that crowd.