InSite Networks Blog

In recent days, Microsoft has begun increasing their presence in the competitive arena of ‘Hosted’ or ‘On Demand’ services offerings. In essence, Microsoft Online Services is providing products that we are accustomed to purchasing and installing on our Windows-based Servers and PC’s. The latest example is the hosted version of Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SharePoint, server products that are being offering on a ‘Per-User-Per-Month’ basis. Why should you care? What does this mean to you and your business?

Without a doubt, the ‘On Demand’ services model will be the only way that software is delivered in the future. Just how soon this will be the case I cannot predict. There are examples of On Demand software companies, such as SalesForce.com and Oracle’s NetSuite, that have proven that this model can be used successfully. They have essentially paved the way for companies like Microsoft with their SharePoint and Exchange products. The introduction of these products through Microsoft Online Services portends that the future of our computing lives is going to change permanently relatively soon.

There are a number of reasons that software vendors would want to deliver your software via a controlled ‘Hosted’ environment. There are also reasons as to why you would want your software ‘Hosted’ as well as some compelling reasons for retaining the ‘Purchase to Own’ model that we currently are accustomed to:

The costs of both developing and delivery of new versions of software like SharePoint or Exchange drops considerably when offered via the Internet. This drop in expenses arises from no longer having to develop for a considerable number of software platforms. The software company controls the delivery environment that users log onto. Additional cost savings are realized because the company no longer needs to create the packaging, outsource duplication services or distribute the products physically. Piracy is also eliminated, something that has been a massive issue for Microsoft, costing them potential billions in lost legitimate revenue and legal fees.

For the business owner, the delivery of software upgrades for programs like SharePoint or Exchange no longer requires the IT service firm to incur billable charges to deploy such upgrades. Thus, hosted upgrades save money and keeps the software versions uniform throughout the organization. However, if an Internet connection is down then the staff productivity can be affected negatively.

Whether you embrace the coming change to your computing future or not, one thing that you can be sure of is that it is coming. Whether such a change is merely a fad or a permanent return to the days of the mainframe computing environment is moot at this juncture. With Microsoft Online Services’ hosted versions of SharePoint and Exchange, we see that this change is rapidly upon us. Enjoy the last versions of software that you can purchase and install because those days are going to come to an end in the not-too-distant future.

As we assess the considerable fluctuations in our financial markets happening presently, it follows that we also must assess every aspect of our business operations for financial prudence. Information Technology is indispensable to virtually every commercial enterprise, large or small. Some IT functions are simply mandatory and are non-discretionary items. Others are projects that would be nice to accomplish but can be postponed until a point of financial clarity. However, this particular arrangement of activities should not be a new occurrence. During tougher economic times, the interaction between your business and your IT company should be “Business as Usual.”

Some IT service firms seek out projects that they can “sell” to their clients. These kinds of companies employ salespeople paid solely or mostly on commissions. As such, tighter financial market conditions may force these IT companies to cut back on personnel if they are unable to sell enough projects or equipment. A better strategy for a relationship is one based on the trust and understanding that your business is under the protection of your IT service firm as demonstrated by their every action and activity.

Trust in the company that performs your IT services is essential to a successful long-term bilateral relationship. You should always be assured that the projects being proposed are necessary and essential. In essence, knowing that your IT company will never oversell or undersell your organization should provide considerable security. In times when we are facing unknown factors economically, this kind of trust becomes even more compelling.

When finances are tighter, it is even more important to prevent unanticipated expense. And there will be unexpected events. Trusting that your best interests are consistently central to every single activity that your IT service company engages in on your behalf is your best hedge against economic uncertainty.

As we weather the changes in our banking system, keep watch on the activities of your vendors. If these companies are starting to promote “Changes for Tough Times,” consider that, possibly, they should have been effecting these changes in their activities all along.

There has been no shortage of press articles lamenting the design and restrictions imposed by Microsoft Vista.  Indeed, to say that the public opinion of Microsoft Vista is jaded should be considered an understatement.  However, not everything is as bleak as the press has painted it.  Below is my opinion as to how Microsoft could have defrayed the considerable amount of damage to their flagship brand, Microsoft Windows.

1.  Microsoft Vista is a new operating system … not a cosmetic upgrade. Microsoft should have explained that Windows Vista is a significantly new operating system, not just another facelift for getting more money from the public.  While the Windows family upgrades from NT to 2000 to XP were all beneficial, the public perception is that another version of Windows is just a fresh face with new features and gadgets on the same Windows system underneath.  However, that is not the case with Windows Vista.  There are a new generation of Microsoft Windows operating systems that are re-written to handle tasks in memory to take advantage of the newest hardware and technologies. Windows Vista is a severance of the umbilical cord going all the way back to the days of Windows 95. Had Microsoft either asked or told us that there would be some changes necessary to cut that tie to the past, I believe that the majority of the purchasing public and corporate users would have welcomed the changes.  Apple Computer completely replaced their operating system Mac OS with Mac OS X not that long ago. This also forced all of their users to replace their software library with ‘OS-X compatible’ versions. Due to the fact that Apple controls the hardware that their Mac OS X operating system gets installed on, and the fact that there are substantially less Mac users, the public perception of Apple’s woes is not as severe as the impact of change to the legions of Windows users.

2. Vista requires a minimum threshold for RAM. Never attempt to run Microsoft Vista with less than 2GB RAM. Also, an absolute minimum requirement of 128MB of Video RAM is needed for decent performance, but 256MB or above is highly recommended. Manufacturers of PC’s, such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony etc … have all mistakenly sold PC’s with as little as 512MB RAM to 1GB RAM on new systems that had Windows Vista pre-installed. Additionally, those PC’s were configured from the factory to run the Vista Aero interface (see item 4 below), further severely impacting the performance at both boot-up and when fully up and operational. Had Microsoft made it a requirement to establish a minimum amount of RAM and Video RAM to run Vista, they could have avoided some very bad first impressions experienced by end users. And those bad experiences translated into a public relations mess very quickly.

3. Install Vista as a fresh installation versus upgrade. Never install Windows Vista as an upgrade over Windows XP. Simply put, performing the upgrade is a formula for the creation of future support issues. Due to the requirement to obtain programs that are specifically ‘Vista-Compatible,’ performing a Vista upgrade will only create a situation where there is one foot in the past and one foot in the present. A clean install of Windows Vista, and installation of all of your programs anew, is always the preferred method for setting up your PC. In fact, this approach should be your preferred method with any operating system.

4. Use ReadyBoost. This is a feature that your Vista PC must take advantage of. ReadyBoost allows you to employ those ubiquitous USB Flash Key Drives to enhance the performance of Windows memory operations. Purchase a 4GB USB Flash Drive that is ‘ReadyBoost’ compatible. Plug it into your PC. When it asks you if you wish to use the device for enhanced performance, tell it to use the maximum amount of space for ReadyBoost. If you do this, you will increase the performance of your PC significantly, even if the visual perception appears to be incremental. I strongly recommend that these inexpensive devices be plugged into any system running Windows Vista, either desktop or laptop.

5. If you are concerned about performance then turn off Vista Aero. Aero is the new interface to Windows Vista. However, using the ‘full’ Aero feature set will place a burden on your PC. You can still obtain most of the ‘sexy’ visual appearance of the Aero look while increasing the performance of your Vista PC by backing down the video settings to Windows Vista Basic, thus turning off Vista Aero.

I look at Microsoft Windows Vista as I did Microsoft Windows 2000. Windows 2000 was slow but extremely stable. Microsoft Windows XP came out of the same ‘family’ as Windows 2000. Windows XP is substantially faster than Windows 2000, but it was also considerably more unstable when it was introduced. The speed difference between XP and Vista is not substantial, although XP is faster. I agree that Windows XP runs great, and XP Service Pack 3 should prolong its service life for another few years. The termination of the sales of Windows XP, while unfortunate, is Microsoft’s determined push to get their users onto their next generation Windows platform. This will make future upgrades a lot less painful, so we’re told. Had Microsoft had more confidence in the intelligence of their user base then they might have thought more about managing the expectation level and hence avoided the countless attacks by the press.

Microsoft’s latest desktop operating system, Microsoft Vista, has met mixed reviews from the technical sector. Despite the deluge of news articles and magazine reviews, I thought that a real ‘On the Street’ assessment might offer a more practical, ‘applied’ perspective for the average consumer.

As a Microsoft reseller, I have access to a majority of Microsoft’s published corporate-focused software titles. My overall perception of Microsoft Vista is very favorable. Once the development process to bring a new product to market has begun, it is virtually impossible to stop such a process in order to fix all of the bugs that may be discovered. Likewise, after a product’s initial release, this development process continues until a product nears the end of its lifecycle.

Vista - like all previous Windows releases from Microsoft - was initially issued with bugs and flaws, both known and unknown. Vista itself is a progressive step beyond the desktop operating systems of Windows 2000 and Windows XP in a number of aspects, most notably in its new method of handling memory. It is precisely these enhancements that have fueled much of the debate from the press.
Recalling the fairly recent history of the release of Windows XP, we experienced a similar treatment by the press. Windows 2000 was an extremely stable operating system at that time, but was considerably slower than Windows XP. The press was telling us then that we should not purchase or deploy Windows XP until some undetermined period of time after its release, as there were compatibility issues with some programs running on Windows XP. However, shortly after its release, Windows XP became extremely stable and the companies that wrote the drivers and applications stabilized their products as well. The release of Vista is analogous to Windows XP. In fact, my experience shows that this iteration of Microsoft Windows is better prepared for immediate usage than was Windows XP.

Installation of Vista is clean, simple, and painless. It works as advertised. In practical everyday use, it operates almost faultlessly. However, I liken the experience with Vista to the experience with Windows 2000. Windows 2000 was extremely stable but it was a lackluster performer. Eventually Microsoft introduced performance enhancements with a fresh face and called the software Windows XP, which was also substantially faster. Similarly, Vista has proven itself to be extremely stable. However,without the appropriate hardware, this version is also a lackluster performer. Vista requires at least 2GB of RAM memory and an upgraded video adapter with at least 256MB of RAM on the adapter to support the substantial requirement of the ‘Aero Glass’ interface. Even without the slick ‘Aero’ look, the system still demands plenty of resources and horsepower. The clever use of those now commonplace USB flash drive keys are mandatory in my opinion, whether you run Vista on a laptop or a desktop/tower PC. By inserting the USB drive into your Vista system while it is running, and designating its use for a performance enhancing feature known as ReadyBoost , Vista can make use of the speed of electricity - versus your mechanical hard drive - for the swapping of data during operations.

So, the salient question is, “Should you purchase Microsoft Vista?” Unfortunately, that question can only be answered by you or by your software vendors. Your purchase decisions, both hardware and software, are always driven by the requirements of your primary software application vendors. However, if your requirements permit the use of Vista, then rest assured that the experience will not be a negative one. As with implementing anything new, there will be a learning curve, but I believe that your investment will be rewarded.

Eventually Vista-based systems will be the only purchase options available from Microsoft. If you have a business network, then I recommend you replace one or two PC’s as needed and equip them with Vista-based systems, if they’re compatible with your software applications. Work through the hurdles that you may encounter (if any). You will have set the stage for easier upgrades in the future, as well as for the next generation of Microsoft Servers known as Windows Server 2008 (Longhorn).