英语论文网

sed RBR Networks, Cisco's largest European distribution partner. Before getting its Cisco accreditation in October 1997, RBR was something of a thorn in Cisco's side. It was doing so much business in grey-market Cisco product that in the end the company had to be brought into the fold.

RBR marketing director, Jos White, takes a fairly pragmatic view of the subject. He does, however, prefer the term 'second sourcing' to grey market - he believes it doesn't sound so grubby. 'Using second sourcing, we could make a healthy margin and still sell cheaper than most of the competition,' says White.

'It has to be up to the manufacturer to make it worth everyone's while to use the authorised channels,' he adds.

'Manufacturers cannot simply try and ban this sort of thing and it is definitely not on for them to throw their weight around, threatening everyone by saying that their licences are invalid and they may be breaking the law.'

It comes as no surprise that a manufacturer such as Compaq is against the use of the grey market. It has nothing to gain from people bypassing the authorised Compaq reseller, and it messes up the company's marketing campaigns.

'I think users should always opt for the authorised channels,' says Petts.

'They are closer to the manufacturers and are better resourced, whereas the unauthorised channels miss out on things like special promotions.'

But in spite of this, he is still a carrot rather than stick man. 'I don't see this as a question of legality - it's more about the quality of service and support you can offer to your customers. And customers also have a part to play in this - they should be asking themselves if they are fostering the right sort of relationship with their supplier.'

Ultimately, there are two ways to buy IT goods: the authorised route and the unauthorised route. The former will cost you more but gives you lots of feel-good factor and after-sales support.

The latter will probably save you a considerable amount of money, but could leave you feeling mightily exposed in the event of a system failure.

Like most things in life, high rewards tend to go hand-in-hand with high risks. You pay your money and takes your choice.

WHY UK PLC IS SO PRICEY?

Computing spoke to Roger Alford, senior research associate of the Financial Markets Group at the London School of Economics, about why the UK is so expensive.

Several distinct factors can be identified.

- The UK is small and crowded, and planning applications are heavily regulated

- The UK's smallness makes it easier for one retailer to control more of the market in a particular area. Global commodities like fuel have very large suppliers which can keep prices artificially high in small or remote areas. The market for fuel affects the price of anything that needs to be distributed, so the knock-on effect can be significant. The tax on such goods is also a very significant inflating factor on high street prices given that the pr本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。