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380

Make it better known that you sell Solaris.

380 points posted to Advertising and Marketing, Dell, Operating Systems by jmxz 11/13/07 **IN PROGRESS**

matt_d from Dell wrote this comment under another Idea

Dell does already sell Microsoft Windows versions, several Linux distributions, and yes, even Solaris to some customers.


Really? Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that Dell sells Linux workstations you can satisfy most any company's needs in the office/desktop/laptop space. The only reason we'd need to go to any other vendor is for some servers running Solaris (which Sun and IBM are both happy to sell us). At work the low end servers have Linux, but the high end ones are still Sun/Solaris/Oracle.

  1. Let us know which Dell Models support Solaris. Apparently some of them do, since you say that you sell Solaris.
  2. Get it into your advertising material that you sell not only Linux, but also Solaris, so our execs can see it and think of you when they're buying serious servers
  3. Let us know how to buy one -- I can't find it anywhere on your site.


Making it known that you sell Solaris could go a long way from changing your brand image from "that discount commodity wintel vendor" to "someone serious who can meet all IT needs".

Seriously -- while Dell counts for most of our servers (counted by number of servers) Dell probably isn't most of our server-budget because right now we only consider Dell for low-end, cheap servers. If our execs knew you had Solaris on your highest-end servers; that'd be an opportunity in a segment we don't even consider Dell for today.

jorge
11/13/07		 I suspect matt_d will soon lose his Dell logo.
jmxz
11/13/07		 @jorge:

Yeah - that was my thought when he posted the comment too.
Balmer probably already on his plane coming to throw chairs at Mr Dell.

cosh, or anyone else --- is anyone archiving IdeaStorm before they censor it? I'm making a screenshot of matt_d's posting now, for next time I try to order a Dell server by phone.
jorge
11/13/07		 I've backed up some, ,mainly my ideas, but trying for more if not all.
sugarbear
11/13/07		 jorge, jmxz tell me what I am missing here please.
kenjennings
11/13/07		 Where is one offered the choice of Solaris on a computer? Must be in one of those Big Business/Government account-with-password areas. A search for Solaris turned up 213 products on the Dell site, none of them complete computers -- there's a little software for Solaris, but mostly peripherals and printers claiming to be Solaris compatible.
premcv
11/14/07		 Neat idea, jmx, well phrased out. I think the Solaris is available as part of the OEM Solutions. When I searched for OEM solutions, this is what I found. Maybe the Solaris is offered as part of solutions for this Industry Solutions Group customers.
cosh
11/14/07		 Read this!

http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/11/14/dell.offers.solaris.pcs/

I love reading stories about Dell offering alternatives to Windows. Makes me jump around a lot! Not as much as this, though!
premcv
11/14/07		 LOL cosh!
jorge
11/14/07		 This will only make non-US educated students more Free even if they live in a totalitarian government:

I foresee these countries moving forward to a newly discovered type of government in the future as well. Too bad US kids won't be part of that

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/11/09/linux.v.windows.nigeria/
sugarbear
11/14/07		 Linux is the os on the computer for a child, that`s being sold for a little over $100.00
premcv
11/14/07		 Yes. Great isn't it?
sugarbear
11/14/07		 yes, it is.
matt_d
11/14/07		 http://www.dell.com/solaris
sugarbear
11/14/07		 Thanks Dell matt_d. Solaris wasn`t registering in my head. Sun solaris does.
jorge
11/14/07		 Where can one pick it in configuring a system?
jmxz
11/14/07		 I second jorge's question.
If it shows up anywhere on a relatively high-end Small Business server it's very very interesting to us.
But so far I can't find it.

At the very least - an you say on which of your servers is solaris supported.
dell_admin1
11/14/07		 @jmxz - note the Idea in Action from earlier today: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/11/14/33965.aspx
dell_admin1
11/14/07		 Changed status to **IN PROGRESS**.

Today, Michael Dell joined Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems onstage during Schwartz's keynote address at Oracle OpenWorld to announce a distribution agreement between Dell and Sun to offer Sun's Solaris operating system on select Dell PowerEdge servers.

Thanks for your idea jmxz - we're working on making it better known!
jorge
11/14/07		 *** SERVERS ONLY != IN PROGRESS ***

*** UNDER DEVELOPMENT *** is more like it.

Also, for the rest of us, it only took 250 points to get it going, good news for all our ideas over 250!
premcv
11/15/07		 Hooray!!! I have a couple that are around 250. So, I'll be waiting!
kenjennings
11/15/07		 Don't get your hopes up. I have several ideas with more then 250 points and one with 2600 points that still has no Dell admin acknowledgement.
premcv
11/16/07		 I was on ecsta*y that time. Short time emotional burst! LOL!
jmxz
11/16/07		 @dell_admin1:

VERY NICE! So this is real!
Hoping it's in Dell Small Business area at our next purchasing cycle.

@jorge: 250 points?

100 here: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/63051/Preinstalled_with_Solaris_10 ...
60 here: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/65431/Open_Solaris ...
120 here: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/66014/Solaris_10_or_OpenSolaris_support ...
40 here: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/73087 ...
50 here: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/65020/JBOD_Configuration_with_Solaris_1... ...
250 here: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/63006/Ship_Solaris
170 here: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/63262/Linux__Solaris_10_
-90 here: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/71323/Provide_Solaris_as_an_Option ...

Even with the negatives, it seems over 250.
premcv
11/16/07		 Lol, jmx!
jorge
11/16/07		 Well I would agree with you jmxz that those are all related and most likely dupes, but it seems Dell does not and only marked the one idea with a status tag so I would assume in their eyes they are not the same, not that I agree only that that is what they are assuming and the 250 point idea is the one that got the status update. So in conclusion, you need to point the whole thing at dell_admin1 not me.
jorge
11/16/07		 Forgot, OpenSolaris != Solaris.
jmxz
11/16/07		 Ah yes. Good point.
jorge
11/16/07		 Also, most of those ideas asked for Solaris in general not just on servers.
jmxz
11/16/07		 And to save you some work....
And probably not just in some countries.
And probably not priced above-and-beyond the cost of a Windows Server + a Solaris License.
:)
jorge
11/16/07		 Wow, you're reading my mind!
winoffice
11/17/07		 Luckily Dell still sells Windows on its servers. Some time ago, Dell would sell Windows but not Solaris, and Sun Solaris but not Windows. Now both seem to sell both (see phubert's comment on agreer's idea "No OS Preloaded")! I am really satisfied with this. Dell added choices (Solaris) but did not reomve the Windows options.
jmxz
11/17/07		 @winoffice:
Agreed. I like it when the hardware vendors sell a range of software. Even when I don't use the other software package I appreciate that the hardware vendor not depending on a sole-source-supplier for their software components, prevents any vendor from having too much power over them (just as having AMD chips prevents Intel from having too much power over Dell) and helps keep their prices more competitive.
cosh
11/17/07		 What about UNIX? Pope Benedict XVI uses a UNIX web server - why don't you?
winoffice
11/17/07		 @cosh:
Was Sun Solaris not forked from Unix?
winoffice
11/17/07		 @jmxz:
That is exactly what I wanted to say.

In the Intel versus AMD case, I use only Intel and I am glad that I can still get Intel and that I am not forced to get AMD. However, I am not against other customers getting AMD if they want to.

Likewise in the Microsoft Windows versus Sun Solaris case, I use only Windows and I am glad that I can still get Windows and that I am not forced to get Solaris. However, I am not against other customers getting Solaris if they want to.
premcv
11/19/07		 Solaris was developed from the UNIX SVR 4 series.
cosh
11/19/07		 What about Lotus Domino? The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea uses a Lotus Domino web server - why don't you?
winoffice
11/22/07		 @cosh: How do you know that these people use exactly that Web server software and not something else?
cosh
11/22/07		 Because I can see it in the HTTP response headers sent by the server. There are various ways to look at the response headers. I have the Web Developer plugin for Firefox for example.

You can also check something like Netcraft which will tell you what server a site is running (if they have cached it). E.g., http://searchdns.netcraft.com/?host=vatican.va (which actually says the Vatican uses Solaris, not UNIX. Oh well.)
sugarbear
11/22/07		 Cosh, that`s a really good find. I bookmarked it for later. There have been times when I needed info like this.
winoffice
11/22/07		 cosh, I just thought that all of this interrogation about Web server software would not be complete without mentioning Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) running under Microsoft Windows Server (unless you have other Web server software to mention). So here I am saying the following (as a joke of course).

What about Microsoft Internet Information Server running under Microsoft Windows Server? Microsoft Web sites use IIS 6 and IIS 7 Web servers running under Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 respectively - why don't you?
cosh
11/22/07		 There used to be an FTP server at egg.microsoft.com (now gone) which ran Linux. ^_^
winoffice
11/22/07		 By the way cosh, I use IIS 6 under Windows Server 2003 - I have not upgraded to 2008 yet. As to your previous questions, I use neither Web server because I am comfortable with IIS and not with them.
cosh
11/22/07		 Oh aye. I use Windows Server 2003 R2 on this PC. But I wouldn't touch IIS with a barge pole. Far too buggy and bloated. Apache for me. ^_^
winoffice
11/22/07		 cosh, if you use Apache then why don't you ask "What about Apache? ...uses an Apache web server - why don't you?"
aikiwolfie
Feb 13		 I think Dell needs to make a bigger noise about all of the alternative OSs it offers and not just Solaris. Dell are really letting the side down on this.
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