IT Depends Networks

When doing a vendor evaluation it is never fun process, especially if it is a company you are working with the first time. First the vendor comes in with their sales guy, even though you specifically asked to have a technical resource to come instead, they insist they want to “get a feel” for you are looking for. You get the nice brochure, you have that waste of a meeting, and if you are like me, you partially torture the guy, in mostly good fun. Then they bring their “expert” who is still unable able to answer your questions you are asking. Now finally after 2 face to face meetings, you have a 3rd with someone on the phone who has most of your answers, with the normal normal dose of kool-aid.

After all that, it is not a few week’s or months later, you want to be sure you don’t waste your time evaluating products that don’t suit your needs. So over the years, I have come across this list of evaluation criteria, that was mostly not been put together by me, but I have been using as a template. This will cross between routers, switches and firewalls, so it is more a jack of all trades list, then an all inclusive list.

If you have anything to add, please leave it in the comments.