Re: [Idr] WG Last Call on draft-ietf-idr-as4bytes-11.txt

[Tony Li <[e-mail]>]

>>> Router vendors?  Code maintainers?
>>>
>> Customers?
>>
> Make it so!
>


I should have been somewhat less obtuse.

In the interests of being crystal clear and perhaps educating a few  
newcomers and some folks who are otherwise not directly involved in  
the sales process....

In the last 15 years, the dynamic between network equipment customers  
and vendors has changed.  In Ye Olden Days, we all sat together and  
then those of us who coded went off and did things and then those of  
us who ran things tested it and we iterated.  And all saw that it was  
good.

Today, since networking has become Big Business, the dynamic has  
changed drastically.  For the most part the customers who attend IETF  
no longer have  the influence over the purchasing decision that they  
once did.  Instead, there are casts of hundreds involved, lengthy  
RFPs and evaluation processes, and decisions about multiple millions  
of dollars that are handled at the 'C' level in the organization.   
Frequently, the technical considerations are the minority factor in  
the decision making, if they are included at all.

Similarly on the vendor side, the engineers who attend IETF no long  
have a significant say in product content.  Feature development is  
carefully controlled by the vendor's managers, and engineers who  
contribute features that are not a requested part of the PRD for the  
next release are gently excused.

The upshot of this change in the dynamic is that we all need to  
understand that the process for getting ideas translated into product  
has changed.  While talking to one another as part of the IETF  
process is still beneficial, it is no longer sufficient.  In fact, it  
is no longer even an effective mechanism for communicating to the  
vendor.  Instead, the *only* effective channel is via the formal  
sales process.  Even then, the normal account manager or product  
manager may not be sufficient.  You may well need to talk to the  
specific person who is managing the specific release of the specific  
operating system for the specific point product on a specific  
development train.  Sadly, they are far less likely to be up to speed  
on the issue technically or likely to be influenced by "big picture"  
thinking or doing the "right thing".  For them, it is very likely  
that the sales opportunity connected to the feature is the one and  
only factor that is a meaningful input.

I don't mean to defend this process, just to ensure that everyone  
understands that this is the reality that we live in today.  It is  
(sadly) unlikely to change: there is too much money involved.  The  
only thing that we can do at this point is to cooperate to influence  
those above us in our respective organizations, realizing that none  
of us are empowered to be the decision makers for our respective  
companies.  Forward progress on this issue will take influencing both  
customer and vendor executives and we should ensure that we do that,  
but first and foremost we should be responsible for influencing our  
own organizations.  It would be best if we coordinated our efforts,  
but we should at the very least understand that all involved are  
somewhat limited in their authority.

Newly yours on the customer side of street,
Tony



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