Value and risk [was RE: [hobbit] Xymon Logo ?]

["Xymon User in Richmond" <hobbit (at) epperson.homelinux.net>]

On Mon, November 10, 2008 13:01, T.J. Yang wrote:
> But this bring up another issue/concern of mine(as an Unix admin)twoward
> Xymon.
>
> "Not able to pay for Xymon for support service from a company"
>
> This is feedback/comment I got from mangement (of mine).
>
> Trying to understand why, from their perspective and I think I got the
> answer as following.
>
> Management want to avoid the lock-in from admin also. They want your
> in-depth knowledge of the tool become a serivce that management can  get
> from other sources, not just in-house admins.
>

Well, of course you can pay for Xymon support from a company.  There are a
couple of specific sources noted in the Wikipedia article, and most any
high-competence Linux hired gun could do a strong job.  There are hordes
of them available on a part-time or retainer basis, from contracting firms
that have bench depth.  There may not be as many experienced resources as
with Nagios (which I see as the biggest open source functional
competitor), but then Xymon is not nearly as difficult to configure and
support as Nagios.

Now, if you're talking comprehensive vendor software support/maintenance
agreements, then you're pretty much limited to proprietary products like
HP OpenView.  And although you then have a vendor on the hook for product
quality and problem resolution, it's hard to get an SLA-based contract
that costs them money for non-performance unless you're a Fortune 500
company buying an enterprise solution.

And even when you've bought the high-end commercial solution and the
ironclad support contract, you're still faced with the strong possibility
that open source results in a higher quality product inherently.  As the
man said, "You pays your money and you takes your choice".

Just some ramblings from the bench by a 25-year+ practitioner....