When it seems too good to be true….

3 things to check

We hear the saying “That seems too good to be true” a lot and some may wonder what it really means. My quick search indicates the saying goes back before the 16th century. Mark Twain had a version that said; “Its too good for true” in Huckleberry Finn, 1884. So, the concept has been around a while, no surprise there.

Basically, the jest of it is, if it sounds too good, it may not be true. I am referring to low cost but high value/quality. Because we all want something so good to be true, the saying often has no effect. By the way, we should acknowledge that people have different perceptions of what is high value and quality and what is expensive and low cost. If you understand the difference in technologies and the impact of making a bad decision, you already get this.

Another saying that some overlook when making critical business solution choices, “You get what you pay for”. When the cost is low, you should not expect the quality to be high. I could not find the exact saying I heard recently, but it went something like this, “the sting of a bad purchase remains long after the thrill of a good deal”. A company providing a low-cost high value product is most likely losing money or at best has thin margins, which means they will not be able to sustain it and reinvest back into the product you just bought. Remember, high quality and latest technology has value, which in turn means it will be a premium. 

This topic came to me as I see a lot of 4G LTE offerings advertising “Unlimited data” and unbelievable data plan prices. For the record, someone is paying the overages and there really is no unlimited. Maybe unlimited data, but once you have your speeds throttled, isn’t that a limit? With no one wanting to have slower internet and less data usage, how is that a value? Another acknowledgement, some solutions like the IoT do not require much data or speed, so in those cases you should only care about the quality of the equipment, software and if the connection is reliable.

I am specifically talking about enterprise and commercial alternate internet use cases, although even consumer plans are usually throttled as well. What’s the other saying, “nothing is free, someone is paying”.

Three things to check in writing?

1.    What is included in the monthly fee? Equipment, install, 24/7 support, SLA?

2.    Who is providing the service and what is their expertise. Is it a carrier, a cellular technology provider? Or is it a bolt on service by a company that does not specialize in cellular services?

3.    Last, what happens when the service does not work, will they fix it, will they replace the equipment, change carriers, or provide advanced antennas?

To wrap it up, I heard a wise technology leader once say, “quality cost, and cheap cost even more.”

This article isn’t that good, so maybe its true?