Wouldn't business for H2 2018 include contracts for 2019 (thus potentially include Zen 2/Epyc 2) then? Everybody already knew/expected that AMD will have a slow ramp up in everything OEM/ODM, especially in the server market.
Well no, Because they didn't have the time to test out Zen 2 yet. I think H2 2018 is still a little early.
Yep! We could not purchase AMD gear, because the architects said no. It wasn’t due to Intel malice, but general stupidity among people. You have to remember, most people shouldn’t be in the position they’re in.
To be honest. If I was in their position I wouldn't have said yes as well. Server are mission critical, changing something isn't as simple as flip a switch. Ryzen on Business Desktop is entirely different matter.
The reason why it is a lot easier to sell if Apple, IBM, Microsoft Azure, Google, or other Fortune 500 are using it internally is not simply just because no one takes the blame when larger enterprise are using it. It is because you trust these much larger animals to have done lots of testing and they see it fits there needs. You can trust these company to have done their parts so your inadequate testing are at least backed by their data.