Partner Points
Windows Vista Delays
Software as a service, Windows Vista delays get on the last nerves of readers this time out.
Skeptical About Service
I've been fighting this for years ["
Get
Ready for Software as a Service," March 2006] (about as long
as Microsoft has been pushing it). Let's see if I have it right. They
have all of my data and are responsible for backing it up. They have a
business continuity plan (disaster recovery) so that if they get zapped,
I can continue my business. And finally, when I am fully locked in and
my business is on their infrastructure, how long before they ask me to
[pay more]?
You can buy an IT infrastructure for buttons these days and no [small]
business needs an $X million application to manage its business -- if
they think they do, then the salesman did a really good job.
My business, my data, my premises and my responsibility is the only intelligent
way to behave until the Internet can be trusted and I can trust another
company to care as much about my business as I do. I suspect I'll be pushing
up daisies many years before either of these caveats can be met.
Christopher Bell
Glossop, U.K.
Catch-22
The main problem I see with the suggestions in this article ["Hire
Power," April 2006] is that it doesn't get to the real source
of the problem. The true problem from the recruitee side is that the people
cannot be seen. Resume databases and staffing firms have replaced the
knowledgeable manager in determining who has the skills and knowledge
to do the job. The infamous catch-22, "you need experience to get
the job, but you can't get the experience without the job," is also
a huge hindrance -- particularly when it comes to employers looking for
specialized knowledge on customized applications.
Thomas Higgins
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Vista Delays
My thinking is that the Windows Vista kernel and system services are in
good shape and probably have been feature frozen for many months. However,
the upper layers are vulnerable to feature creep with time, as Scott Bekker
mentioned ["Catching
the Desktop Train," April 2006], and the EU legal fight Microsoft
has going is putting IE, Media Player, et al., at greater risk. I've always
wondered if it was wise for Redmond to ship applications concurrent with
the OS release for reasons such as this. I wonder if it will wise up and
detach some of the apps as future "Service Pack" content or
downloads so it can ship an OS on time. It would be better for Microsoft
to control its own destiny by making the move before the EU forces it
to do this anyway. Maybe this is part of the story behind the scenes.
Name withheld by request
Round of Applause
I just thought I would send you a note complimenting the latest edition
of RCP [March
2006]. As a sole proprietor of a small IT business, I found many articles
of interest with useful information. I look forward to the next edition.
Robin L. Zelych
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
As a coordinator of technical environmental issues for our technical
support team, your information is invaluable to me in providing a voice
for our customers and making new technology information available to our
development teams. Keeping me up-to-date on releases also helps plan our
staffing needs for telephonic support. Keep up the great work!
Mark Heise
Dayton, Ohio
A Correction and Update
An article in our April issue, "More Tips for Finding Your Way Around
Microsoft" (p. 25), used the wrong first name for the worldwide director
of strategic alliances at ProClarity Corp. The executive's correct name
is Jeff Rutherford.
Meanwhile, since the article ran, Microsoft acquired ProClarity, a Boise,
Idaho-based maker of business intelligence software.
-- The Editors
About the Author
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