I’ve been involved in IT sales for almost 10 years, and in ISP specifically for the past year. In that year, I have found that despite most businesses using ISP services, very few IT people seem to know much about: how much they’re spending | what they’re paying for | how long their contract runs for.

I reckon it’s a “cloak and dagger industry”, and some of the reasons are that :

• the definition of ‘broadband’ services is vague.
• shaped Vs unshaped bandwidth is a foreign concept to most.
• rate-based Vs volume-based bandwidth and connectivity is even more foreign.
• differences in Upload Vs Download speeds are not known or understood.
• Telkom doesn’t tell us how much contention they have on their ADSL lines.
• customers are unable to confirm the contention ratio they get on their internet links.
• ISPs sell solutions like an “ADSL MPLS network”.
• leased lines are bundled with bandwidth and we think it was “made that way”.
• they have this concept of a “rolling contract” which ties you in till eternity.
• my sales colleagues in this industry seem to be even less knowledgeable than I am.
• IT Manager/Directors believe whatever the ISP sales people are telling them !

“I don’t believe it” you say ?? Well, I could give you a few examples …. Recently I dealt with a JHB company who believed they were being serviced with 1:1 contention on their international bandwidth. The price seemed too good to me, so I encouraged them to do some investigation. Alas, they found that they had in fact been serviced with 1:4, despite what the ISP ( think ‘Golden Arches’ ) contract had stipulated.

So what’s my point ? Well, it’s that you get good at judging people; get good at developing trusting relationships with reputable suppliers. And… when you find a good one, that you stick with them !