We all know software of all types is subject to various discounts, from
a quantity aspect or a concurrent purchase aspect, or whatever. And I
know that we will see the 'base', pre-discount prices when we get our
passport advantage renewal quote. There is absolutely no reason these
'base' prices cannot be posted for public perusal. 

Unless, of course, they're playing fast and loose with the base price,
setting it based on industry, customer grouping, or some other
consideration. I can't believe IBM/Tivoli would do that. (It could be
considered illegal in a number of contexts).


All I know is that the TSM prices were published in the announcement
letters -- until the product was moved over to the Tivoli group.

And I stand by my statement. I've got 32 years in software and software
support, and I will *not* contact vendors about a software product if I
can't find an indication of pricing first.

Tom Kauffman
NIBCO, Inc

-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of
Mark Stapleton
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 10:55 AM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: Re: Pricing model for 5.4

From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager on behalf of Kauffman, Tom
I second that.  In general, my approach is that any product the vendor
is too ashamed to post pricing for is a product not worth considering.


There is no issue of "shame" here. 

Buying software at the enterprise level is not like going to the grocery
store, where the price of apples is the same for everyone. Resellers
offer many levels of pricing to their customers, depending upon the
relationship with the customer, whether IBM auspices are involved, what
is being bought, and what kind of "deal" is in place.

I did a year's work for a customer that bought a tubload of Tivoli
software (reportedly $250,000USD at full retail price) for virtually
nothing--but the customer had to buy a year of my services to close the
deal.

If you post a "standard" price publicly, that sends a message (at least
in American culture) that the price is firm and not subject to dicker.
In the IT world, *nothing* is not subject to dicker.

--
Mark Stapleton (mark.s AT evolvingsol DOT com)
Senior consultant
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:  This email and any attachments are for the 
exclusive and confidential use of the intended recipient.  If you are not
the intended recipient, please do not read, distribute or take action in 
reliance upon this message. If you have received this in error, please 
notify us immediately by return email and promptly delete this message 
and its attachments from your computer system. We do not waive  
attorney-client or work product privilege by the transmission of this
message.