Mail Call
The thrill ain’t gone, but the stakes are higher when
it comes to the power of electronic communication.
- By Em C. Pea
- January 01, 2001
In the corporate workplace, email and messaging
are more than simply a thrill, they’re mission-critical
functions. And, more significantly, they’re a
part of the business infrastructure. Companies
strategically plan based on the assumption that
electronic mail and messaging are operable, robust,
and reliable. Our customers expect to be able
to book meetings with their email clients; use
instant messaging; and send and receive email
from cell phones and PDAs. They expect a corporate
desktop to have enough bandwidth to handle real-time
videoconferencing. This is all part of the business
process now.
“And so,” you say, “What does this all mean to
my life? Please share your wisdom, and I’ll continue
to worship you like the Microsoft Certified goddess
you are.”
Well, the stakes in the game are higher, the
rewards are greater, and the 8-ball you’re standing
behind is the size of an NFL offensive linesman.
All clear?
As you may know, Auntie’s not a fan of free plugs.
For one thing, writing anonymously means I can’t
reap the benefits of an occasional product mention.
That being said, Auntie suggests you take a good
look at Exchange 2000. It’s come a long way since
version 4.0, which tended to chew up resources.
Time has also played a role in the stability of
Exchange.
One goodie: You can use Exchange conferencing
as a separate product. Microsoft is also developing
a mobile messaging server—along with an “Outlook-lite”—for
your cell phone, PDA, and portable vegetable steamer.
And did I mention that Outlook Web Access doesn’t
suck anymore? Finally, those of you in big enterprises
should check out how E2K runs on one of those
OEM Datacenter Server offerings (wait for SP1).
It ain’t cheap—but neither is a 3 a.m. call from
your CTO.
The “gotcha” is that E2K requires Windows 2000.
And E2K’s goodies are integrated into Microsoft’s
.NET strategy, which can be viewed either as Redmond’s
next logical step toward incorporating server
products into a holistic Internet-centric experience
or a drive for world domination (Auntie suspects
both).
All that can be done with Exchange and the related
.NET products revolves around you being able to
deliver mail, messaging, and collaboration services
to your customers and employers. If you’re a systems
engineer, make an investment in time and brain
cells on E2K. If you’re a developer, revisit Exchange
as an application platform and take note of the
Web store and how it can integrate with the next
version of Office.
Auntie can’t roll back the clock to her childhood
days, but take my word for it: How you integrate
and maximize mail, messaging, and collaboration
in your workplace is as essential as a solid backup
strategy or a 24/7 support contract.
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What do you use to drink your
morning coffee? These folks
have earned themselves a "Call
Me Certifiable" mug:
Weighing
In On Antitrust
As a consumer, I have gotten
great products that I can use
on a daily basis from Microsoft
and feel I have been helped
immensely and not harmed at
all by the company. As a consumer,
I resent the Justice Department
trying to destroy Microsoft
with this bogus case. I'll never
forget watching the representative
of RealPlayer testify before
Congress that Microsoft purposely
coded Windows to break Realplayer.
This, of course, was nothing
but a lie. Microsoft, if I recall,
fixed the poor coding of RealPlayer.
I could go on with other examples.
As a consumer, this politically
motivated case is wrong. As
an MCP, I have no issues with
it.
—Jerry W. Easley, MCP
[email protected]
I've been in the computer industry
for 35 years, so I remember
the days of non-conforming standards
way before a company like Microsoft
made its OS a de facto standard.
I have paid thousands for word
processor software and language
compilers. Microsoft may not
be perfect, but the computer
industry wouldn't have flourished
without them.
Anti-trust? Without Microsoft
in the picture, it's possible
consumers would be paying $15,000
for a system rather than $1,500.
— J.M. Johnson, MCSE
[email protected]
Make
Me Laugh
Auntie, you are absolutely hilarious.
You never cease to make me laugh
my butt off. I couldn't find
your page in the last issue,
so I looked you up in the table
of contents. I was afraid you
got busted for questioning the
powers that be, etc., but there
you were. Now that I've read
your page and chuckled again,
I can throw the magazine away.
(Just kidding about throwing
the magazine away. Why couldn't
I find the page? Probably those
triple-decaf soy lattes.)
— Harold R. Boyer, MCSE+I
[email protected]
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About the Author
Em C. Pea, MCP, is a technology consultant, writer and now budding nanotechnologist who you can expect to turn up somewhere writing about technology once again.