subject: Do You Suffer From Early Adopters Syndrome? [print this page] Do You Suffer From Early Adopters Syndrome?
Many of us want to be cool, we want to be first, we want to have the latest products to try, test and critique. It's fun to have things before everyone else. It conveys a sense of adventure, and willingness to try new things.
This may be surprising coming from a guy whose company makes part of its profits from new network equipment products; but, I must tell you to proceed with caution when evaluating whether to buy products which are new to market. You see, ordering products before they are tested and evaluated by customers like you is not always a good idea. In fact, it can sometimes be a very bad idea and cost your business numerous problems.
Being on the leading edge can sometimes actually cause your company to be on the bleeding edge. Most new products have technical problems, production problems, supply or customer service related problems. First release products of almost every type, and in almost every industry, have quick patches to fix bugs inherent in the first release; and often have upgrades or changes of some type made available to correct problems before the manufacturer can market its second release of the product.
In fact, initial releases frequently have problems for which there is no known solution at the time of release. The manufacturer simply had no idea the bug existed and has to scramble to find a quick fix, even if it is ultimately not the best fix just to make the product work properly, save its reputation and calm irate customers.
Over time many of these products change slightly from release or model year to the next yet they are constantly tweaked with improvements based on customer feedback and product failings within the user base.
For example, according to Cisco information issued in July 2010: An industry-wide vulnerability exists in the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol that could impact any Cisco product that uses any version of TLS and SSL. The vulnerability exists in how the protocol handles session renegotiation and exposes users to a potential man-in-the-middle attack. This advisory is posted at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20091109-tls.shtml. And, it effects such popular products as: Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances and Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco 7600 Series Firewall Services Module (FWSM).
Armed with this knowledge it seems wise that unless you absolutely must have the latest product release you should give these products time to be tested in real market conditions. Let your competitors be the guinea pigs and test the equipment in their networks to find out the reliability and functionality challenges of these products. Remember, the cost involved in potential problems with new, as yet untested products, can be substantial in both time and money.
At NetworkEquipment.net we deal in both new and used equipment so it's not a new vs. used thing we're considering here. If you must have a new in sealed box (or new opened box) product then at least make certain that the product you are ordering has had enough history in the market to give it a verifiable track record so you know what you're getting your company involved in.
