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Proprietary

  1. Definition of Proprietary
    1. Exclusively owned by a single vendor
    2. Closed technology - noone but the vendor knows how it works
    3. Protected by Law - The technology is either Patented, Copyrighted, or is a Trade Secret
    4. Usually not standards-compliant (despite marketing material to the contrary). For something to become a standard, it must be well known, well distributed and freely available--none of which are usually true of proprietary solutions.
    5. Requires negotiation or binding legal agreement designed to restrict the user's freedoms when using the technology (Microsoft's EULA, for instance)
  2. Vendors of Proprietary solutions
    1. IBM
    2. Apple
    3. Microsoft
    4. Dell
    5. Compaq
    6. HP
    7. Sun
  3. Benefits of Proprietary solutions
    1. Bleeding edge technologies--sometimes vendors actually come up with something that works.
    2. Solves specific niche problems--vendors are always looking for yet another way to make a profit from your problems. They'll even tell you you have a problem (when you don't) just so they can 'solve' your problem and make some more money from your fear or paranoia.
    3. Doesn't wait for ratification of standards, therefore it is nearly always guaranteed to be incompatible with anything else that comes out later.
    4. Sometimes becomes a standard in itself--but only if enough people purchase the solution and actually use it.
  4. Drawbacks of Proprietary solutions
    1. INCOMPATIBILITY - Nearly always incompatible with any other solution or product (usually this was intentionally part of the design to lock the buyer into a specific vendor's products). In some cases, the product provided by the vendor is specifically designed to cause problems with other vendors systems (See: Kerberos compatibility problems).
    2. COST - Usually far more expensive than other more 'open' solutions because no one else supports it and the owner-manufacturer is the only source for the product (see A. above).
    3. UNPREDICTABLE - Vendors will fequently maked un-announced changes to their technology in order to maintain their legal protections on it.
    4. try to bend well-known highly functional protocols still undergoing standardization to their own needs so they can claim copyright or patent rights and prevent the competition from utilizing the technology.
    5. UNSUPPORTED - Vendors are usually focused on PROFIT, not functionality or usability. If you have a problem interconnecting or operating their solution with another solution from another vendor, they will point the finger at the other vendor and play the blame game.