Beware of Greeks bearing gifts (timeo Danaos et dona ferentis)
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts (timeo Danaos et dona ferentis)
by John H. Jones
I wrote the following article over a year ago entitled “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”. Today I was shown a real world example of what I was writing about, by reference to a law suit by one LIMS vendor against another. The law suit is a bit of a soap opera and really is quite sad to see the lengths that vendors will go to in attempts to disparage each other to clients. To read this entertaining but pathetic suit Click Here to read the whole story. Finally, check out this suit that a LIMS vendor initiated to thwart an employee from changing jobs: Click Here to read the whole story. There is a moral to these stories… read on.
The Moral of the Story:
If you find a LIMS vendor that would disparage another vendor, BEWARE. They are not doing it for your good no matter how crafty the words are presented.
There is an ancient saying that comes from the story of the Trojan horse: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. This saying is timeless and applies to many situations in life. For LIMS customers or most any person who would purchase anything, this saying is particularly good advice.
The LIMS industry like most any industry today is highly competitive. In today’s economic times you will start to see some unethical and desperate behavior by some vendors. This is directly applicable to that ancient phrase and applies to LIMS vendors who would disparage their competitors by spreading rumors and misinformation about anyone who is more competitive technically, financially or simply has a better performance record. They will “share” information with you as your friend to get you to reconsider their offering but consider the source and motives.
Don’t support such lame behavior and discourage competitors from talking about each other. Be wary of any vendor who would slur or disparage another vendor. It is a clear case of Greeks bearing gifts. These are clearly gifts with a barb and they will never serve you in any way. Your best solution to fight this sort of problem is to keep things competitive but private. Do not let vendors know who is directly competing and force them to focus on what makes them the best choice and ask the vendors to provide both their good and bad references. It is a sad state of affairs for the desperate vendor who can only sell their product by attempting to tear down other offerings that are clearly superior.
Remember… there is another ancient saying that is good to live by: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
