Those who read this from Microsoft, I have nothing but awe for your marketing department.
You did your job real well, and convinced most sane people that only through pain and suffering can one update a server. In fact you trained your Business partners so well they complain and get it in their head that any upgrade is a multi million dollar affair.
Of course if GM had rigged cars so every oil change required new headers, pistons, spark plugs, fuel lines and a radiator, I think more people would get annoyed, don't you? And your jump from 2000 to 2003 and from 2003 to 2008 leaves many companies pondering why do they do this....JUST FOR EMAIL??!!?!
Well, as much as I wish that is was true it's a million dollar deal, it just isn't. I really would like to bill my first customer for a million dollar project, so would my business partners, really, so would many others.
Instead most Domino admins I know take care of upgrading the server as soon as they can and usually within 15 minutes to 1/2 hour it's done. Backups done previously of course.
And when we do an upgrade I can't bill for more than a day of work, in fact my 1st grade daughter can do it, she can read at least, unlike evidently many Microsoft Business Partners who are so afraid to touch Domino. It doesn't bite and it only makes your life EASIER as an admin.
So if it is so simple and as you can read in my previous post so cost effective in so many ways, why do you feel you must stay the course and keep spending your money with Microsoft?
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Well said. I upgrade my Domino Server whenever a new version comes out and I have no real Admin / Developer experience at all. In fact the only problem I ever have is with the MS 2003 Server bit of things. To be fair it is probably something I am doing wrong but I can work around it. Even at that though it rarely takes more than 30 minutes.
ReplyDeleteAuldbreck,
ReplyDeleteThis was exactly my point, anyone with even a small amount of knowledge can accomplish the task.
The problem is Microsoft partners are lazy and learn on the job and charge the customer for it too.
It kills my other Domino buddies and me that IBM won't go down that route. Why not some commercials: frantic Microsoft team, days without sleep, trying to get the new Exchange server up. Flash to the Domino admin sipping a cup of coffee over the newspaper. "What? Oh, the Domino upgrade was finished before the coffee was done." New hardware? I just did it myself over the weekend. Getting the AD moved is a huge pain, but Domino? I just popped the data drive out of the old server, brought over the notes.ini and server.id and brought it back up - total downtime about 5 minutes. It doesn't get any easier. Then again I do get paid by the hour... Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteBill, that's a great commercial, let's shoot it for LS10!
ReplyDelete