The razorblade model of enterprise computing

Somehow a mail from Jonathan reached the public at Cringelys Pulpit. Internet Financial News comments the mail and Cringelys article:

Changing the rules will mean dropping the prices of Sun's hardware products for customers who agree to subscribe to one of Sun's service plans. It's something they have tested with the Niagara line of servers, and Schwartz noted that nearly a third of Niagara buyers agreed to also purchase a Mercury service plan.

The negative stance of Cringelys article ignores an important fact. Sales Reps are managed by they objectives. The more they fullfil their objectives, the more money they see. Well, Sales Reps are people who have to pay their dues, the college for their children and their Harley-Davidsons when they get old …. Knowing this it´s easy to do an cultural change: Change the goals, and they will sell services in conjunction with hardware like hell. Sometimes the world can be a really simple one.