There are many differences between OEM, Approved
Optics and Internet “Manufacturers” of optical transceivers. As one of the
oldest third party distributors of optical transceivers, the three areas our
clients always focus on are: price, availability and compatibility. At Approved
Optics we believe quality is the backbone of our success and that quality
permeates evenly between price, compatibility and availability.
The truth is Price is always an issue; whether you are buying a car or skateboard price is
always on the forefront of your buying decision. So why is there such a price
difference between the OEM (Cisco, Juniper, HP, IBM), Approved Optics and other
Internet Distributors?
Lets
look at Approved Optics in comparison to the OEMs. Lets take Cisco for this discussion. By purchasing Approved Optics part
number: GLC-SX-MM-A compared to Cisco’s GLC-SX-MM you would save 90% off of
Cisco’s Best Customer Pricing. Why is that? Is Cisco’s manufacturing process
that much different than Approved Optics? Well no, actually Approved Optics
doesn’t manufacturer optical transceivers, never has…. but neither does Cisco. The
truth is Cisco has never built its own Optical Transceivers (Or memory or
cables either). A designated Contract Manufacturer builds the transceivers for
Cisco. Cisco purchases the transceivers preprogrammed with their code on
them and ships for fulfillment, sometimes straight from these factories.
Approved Optics has a unique relationship with the exact
same Contract Manufacturers that build for the OEM’s such as Cisco. We purchase
the same MSA Spec, OEM quality optical transceivers that Cisco does. So why the
price difference if both Approved Optics and Cisco are buying from Contract
Manufacturers? Is it because of testing? No (and we will get into that a little
later). Are we buying them that much Cheaper? No, We actually purchase our
product for much more than a huge OEM like Cisco does. So, why? It is quite
simple.
Cisco charges 1000% more because it can. The
ridiculous amount Cisco charges for its optical transceivers are well
documented (read: Cisco Secret Franchise). Cisco’s profit margin and
stock price are directly related to a product accessory they did not design,
develop or manufacture. In a sense, there’s nothing truly wrong with this, they have
done an excellent job of taking their strong Ethernet position and extracting
value out of what is a commodity device. They
threaten with the loss of SmartNet (Illegal – because of the Magnuson-Moss Act)
and even go so far as putting anti-competitive coding on standard transceivers
(Illegal – see Your Rights) in what has been an incredible retention of
their margins.
So now we know Approved Optics’ transceiver line carries the highest level of quality in discrete
hardware, algorithm/firmware, serial number sequence, packet integrity, and
light strength… for all intensive purposes the same exact product as the OEM at
a fraction of the cost. What separates Approved from the other online “manufacturers”
out there? Everything.
Approved Optics is unique in our industry, we are
priced affordably but program and test our product more extensively than the
actual OEM’s (Remember: They purchase pre-programmed from their Contract
Manufacturer) and certainly more than online resellers, refurb broker or memory
manufacturers that have added the line to their offerings. No company has the
extensive programming experience and test facilities like we do at Approved.
Why is programming so important? As we mentioned
before, it is because Cisco and other manufacturers have placed specific
attributes and firmware on the EEProm of the transceivers for it to function
properly in their particular switch platform. It’s part of their margin
retention efforts! They take a standard MSA Spec part and code it so they can
charge 10x’s more than a part by a third party supplier. It’s great for them
and bad for you! What Approved does is engineer the unique, independent code to
work within their unique platforms. It’s engineering and it’s what we do! No
other transceiver vendor does this to the extent of our capabilities, not the
CM’s, they can’t; they are under contract with the Network OEM’s that they
build for.
Being a programmer of transceivers leads us to the
most important part in Approved’s Quality Process: testing. Since Approved
purchases transceivers from Tier One Contract Manufacturers then programs them
in-house, the only way to make sure they are 100% compatible in the platform
they are intended for is to test them in the actual switch or router they are
intended for. What this means, is that Approved has one of the largest multi-environmental
testing labs that facilitates the testing and operation of hundreds of switches
and routers spanning over 40 Network Equipment Manufactures, including: Cisco,
Juniper, Force 10, IBM, HP, Brocade and on. It’s a huge expenditure for us and
an incredible benefit for you. Purchasing an Approved Optical transceiver means
you are purchasing a product that is Guaranteed Compatible in the system you
intend to use it in. We aren’t a middleman like most of the other suppliers out
there who depend on overseas distribution from China for programming and
testing. We are an engineering and test house - it’s what we do! It’s why we
are the fastest growing transceiver vendor in the industry, and why we might
not be as cheap as some of the Internet Brokers but offer Tier One Quality
Transceivers at a fraction of the cost of the OEMs.
Lastly, and for many of our high-end Telco and Data
Center Engineers who have purchased and evaluated our
product over the years, most importantly is availability. Approved carries a
huge amount of inventory. Since we program in-house, we must stock a large
amount of product; this means we can offer same day shipping on almost our
entire product line, as well as offer expedited shipments for constrained DWDM
and CWDM transceivers that take the OEM sometimes 12 weeks to ship. We ship in
days what many OEMs ship in months.
Quality. Compatibility. Availability. Price. They
are the cornerstone of what have made us successful. Although we would never
call ourselves smart, we sure make the Data Centers/Telco Engineers and
Purchasing Departments that use us look smart. After all, that is our goal. Give
us a call; we are more than just a pretty site. Approved Optics, For the Smart
Data Center!
