Negotiate Hard in Hard Times

vnunet.com echoes the advice of IT Business Edge's Dennis Byron to use all  your car-buying haggling skills to get the best deals on enterprise software.

Actually, the vnunet piece notes that hardware vendors are feeling just as much -- if not more -- pain than software vendors in this down economy, putting you, the buyer, in a great position. But it says many companies aren't doing all they can to take advantage of the situation, with vendors being veeeeery flexible these days to make the sale.

The story quotes Clive Longbottom, service director at analyst firm Quocirca, saying you might need to go beyond your comfort zone in negotiating:

My advice is that, if you just want equipment, and can either provide support yourself or can get it from the manufacturer rather than the channel, then go for it. Negotiate hard and get the best deal you can, and damn the consequences for the providing vendor. ... But if you need support, follow-up or value-added services, then by all means make sure that you get the best value deal that works for both sides, so the supplier stays in business long enough to give you the support you need.