Doesn´t seem like the Scoble approach

October 25 2004

I do believe I've been flamed (emphasis mine, since it seems that the reason I believe I this was directed at me may not have been obvious):

The purpose of this blog is to help Exchange customers with Exchange; blogging about the competition does not serve that purpose. We read the same press stories and blogs that you all do and we are not ignoring them, but we do not see value in blogging about them. ...We're not ignoring this kind of stuff, but we are simply taking a different approach than others.  One approach is to help customers compare products via our webpage comparison info at [link deleted].
When I met Robert Scoble last week, one bit of advice he gave me (and practices himself) is to blog about the negative buzz.  It makes one more credible as a blogger, and it also diffuses some of the angst that naturally wells up when there is a negative press article/analyst report/blog entry.  Yet steadfastly, I don't see anyone on the Exchange team blogging about the marketplace -- just sticking to the technology.  I suppose that's fine, but when their big boss can't seem to even get his timetable to announce a timetable right, customers are going to start looking for answers.  If their googles end up on my blog instead of someplace on microsoft.com, that's fine with me.
As for that stuff on the Exchange team's competitive comparisons website, two of the analyst reports have been discredited, two are outdated, and two are irrelevant.  Yep, that's a different approach.

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Microsoft  Add/View Comments [7]

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  1. 1  mugadafino  | 10/25/2004 9:58:29 PM

    so..how can you tell you were flamed ? they didn't say anything nasty about you, Domino, Lotus, IBM or mention any problems, issues, envy of your bose headphones or anything ?

    or is it just a slow day in Lotusland ?

  1. 2  Florian Vogler http://www.icodex.com/vofsblog | 10/26/2004 3:54:53 AM

    Even if it were a slow day in Lotusland it'd be as fast as people on the other side (guess who, it may even be the dark side ;-)) can't even imagine.

    (And we even do more than just email...)

    Besides, people in Lotusland can take it easy because working there leads to results and isn't mainly trying to cope with things that should work in the first place or leaving a rather limited life.

    And last but not least, what'd you just say? *yawn*

  1. 3  Florian Vogler http://www.icodex.com/vofsblog | 10/26/2004 4:06:58 AM

    Why is it that the Microsoft stuff is more expensive than Notes / Domino whilst not even delivering a tenth of what Lotus Notes / Domino does?

    (I'd say I know ;-))

    Hey, this is starting to be fun. The Exchange blog team doesn't blog but chooses to disguise a monologue by putting it on a blog template - that actually resembles Microsoft practices pretty well: they say it's something which they don't even halfway match :).

    Petty there are people out there who believe in Microsofts promises the first place to then discover vacuousness in the end.

    Hey, what'd you wake me up for? I can go to sleep for another few years ...

  1. 4  Florian Vogler http://www.icodex.com/vofsblog | 10/26/2004 4:19:40 AM

    Ok, I understand the Exchange "blog" approach now.

    What a wonderful world.

    Hey Ed, Notes / Domino is great.

    Don't you dare allow for an objective comparison of what Notes is and what is out there.

    Keep me blind, please. I don't want to know.

    I can't bear the truth.

    (Caution: the exchange team still has an ace up their sleeves: calendering!)

    Why doesn't the Exchange Team send out free blindfolds?

    (I just can't stop - gotta slow down again)

  1. 5  Axel Janssen  | 10/26/2004 6:36:46 AM

    I am going to close my rants for this year.

    I know that in the 70/80ties it was prohibited to IBM salespeople per business rule to speak bad about competing companies.

    Might be that now world is different and the evil empire of Redmond needs to be attacked to save world.

    Wish back to old ethics.

    Axel

  1. 6  Tony S Lee www.peripheral.ca | 10/26/2004 10:17:05 AM

    Ed, I know you are a fan of Scoble, and I also read his blog. Though he gives off the warm and fuzzies, HE IS NOT MICROSOFT. He's the sheeps clothing covering the wolf. I'm not sure the behaviour of MS has really changed since he started blogging.

  1. 7  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 10/26/2004 12:27:42 PM

    Here is my response that I posted on that blog entry that I am reposting her because I do not know if it will get deleted there:

    "Now this sounds nothing short of self-serving to me. Every system has its quirks and problems and the MS/Exchange environment has more than the fair share. And it is an e-mail tool. Nothing more. Nothing less.

    For example, from my posting

    "Microsoft, FUD, and Vaporware: Are They The Only Bad Guy Here?"

    { Link }

    "I have a former client from my days at Lotus that is up in North Carolina. They were looking for an experienced Notes Developer to come in and manage two applications we had built for them. One was a Benefits Enrollment System that is way to complicated in its architecture to explain here, and the other was a web-based time entry system that was used by over 1,300 units in North America (and I venture to say that many of you have been inside one or more of these units, as have many Microsofties. However, this shop was being migrated to .Net as they followed a Microsoft DNA and had already switched to Outlook for mail (based on direction from the corporate level). But guess what? They walked away from .Net because they could not get it to do what they needed and they decided to go with WebSphere. As much as higher management wanted .Net, the "only applications that worked worth a hoot and did what they were supposed to do" (saving the corporation millions of dollars a year) were the two applications that we at Lotus Professional Services (Now IBM Software Services for Lotus) built for them. I don't seem to see that anywhere in the Microsoft "Press", but then again I do not see that story coming out of IBM either.

    So what do we do about it? Are we at fault for not speaking out more forcefully to right the errors that are published by companies such as Microsoft? Do we become blinded by our loyalty to one product or another that we only see the negatives? Do we as software professionals have ethical obligations in making our decisions and recommendations as well? You bet we do,"

    I read Scoble's blog as well as other Microsoft related blogs. If something stinks, no matter who the vendor, I call them out on my blog.

    If you really are going to get good feedback and truly learn the advantages/limitations of your systems, then there is no reason *NOT* to discuss other products.

    If a company needs nothing more than email, then I might recommend Exchange. If they want to go beyond that into true collaborative applications that truly integrated (without a bunch of expensive add-ons), ARE BACKWARD COMPATIBLE AND DO NOT REQUIRE RIP AND REPLACE EVERY TIME THERE IS AN UPGRADE, are scalable and stable, there is no way I would point them to MS/Exchange/.Net. I might not point them to IBM Software either, but defintely not MS.

    There is a link above pointing to the Compare web page, which includes the Meta Group Study entitled "Domino Storage: What Can Be Done?".

    If you read this document, from a non-trusted "Analyst Group for Hire" (and I criticize any report issued by a group like this without full disclosure of who paid for it, no matter what side it favors), you will find one line that shows exactly why Domino is a superior platform for searching, archiving and backup recovery:

    "Corporate lawyers often react in horror when

    apprised of the amount of stored e-mail due to concerns over “smoking gun” messages that may be exposed in a court-ordered discovery process."

    Heaven forbid that an e-mail tool actually aid compliance with regulatory agencies and court orders! A company like Microsoft or Peoplesoft might actually be held accountable for their actions. It is called sound corporate governance.

    "Organizations must proactively address Domino storage issues or face a persistent demand for

    additional storage space. Unlimited e-mail storage threatens SLA adherence, generates additional storage expenditures, and creates legal vulnerabilities."

    This applies to any and all vendors and don't kid yourselves or others in thinking that it does. Remeber that in an exchange environment, it only takes a problem with one user to bring the entire mail system to its knees. In Domino, only that one user is impacted.

    So my challenge is to not be myopic. If you really think your products are better, compare them in writing. Accept the invitation from "Inbox East" to debate the merits of the platform in public. Don't be afraid to air your dirty laundry, you might find it is more helpful."