I saw a brief bit on the local news while waiting for the weather & traffic this morning. They showed someone's grandma with a horror story about the Dell technician telling her to open up the computer and try to figure out what kind of RAM she had. Then she stated that she fought with support for 6 weeks before they sent someone to her house.
Now, this might be just someone (or a few someones) who is not used to working bureaucratic problem-tracking systems, and simply waited for calls back, or whatever, but with how the news was spinning it, it did seem very much focused on the home user not getting on-site support, when it had been paid for...and not focused on business service.
I think your problem is that you seem to be insulted by the idea that *anyone* would consider Vista, and then get defensive when someone points out there are lots of people out there already doing that.
Hardly. I've installed it on my home PC, primarily for testing purposes, though I'm also gaming on Vista. It's even a legal copy.
I'm sure that not everyone was avoiding it...my experience with non-IT businesses leads me to believe that most will wait-and-see how Vista does before installing it. I'm surprised at the size of the rollout you mentioned, but not that it has happened.
I no longer know what my original point was. I guess it was just that I was surprised that the Korean government felt the need to issue an APB. Stupid forgetting to format my last post correctly.
Maybe you shouldn't use Slashdot as your source of news? Just a thought.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I don't. Perhaps you've heard of hyperbole?
So anyone with fairly new machines is good to go. That's great if your company has the cash, but for many companies, upgrading computers that already work is seen as an unnecessary expense. Let alone replacing computers that "work just fine".
The company I work for is looking at Vista, but it's likely we won't implement it for years, because there's no perceived benefit to moving to Vista....eventually it will be installed everywhere.
Heh. Yeah. Aside from totally different operating systems, you realize that there are people running Win95, Win98, Win2K, etc. out there still, right?
Most IT managers I've met are non-technical. They're just managers.
I suspect it has more to do with being stigmatized as a technical guy because they manage IT, rather than actually being technical and lacking in interpersonal skills. When looking for a new CEO, whoever is doing the picking wants someone that has a reputation of being good with people...which, by association (to IT), IT managers are not. Non-IT people seem to think anyone who has anything to do with IT must be a nerd, and therefore incapable of excelling interpersonally.
I'm saying that every IT manager I've ever worked for (at a competing very large retailer) wanted to be able to cover his ass by having someone else to point to when his support staff didn't know the answer to a question.
Manager: "Why isn't this working?"
IT guy: "I'm not certain, it might be something to do with the low-level disk reservations or maybe it's something to do with the virtualization engine."
Manager: "Get $VENDOR on the phone, and get their support guys looking into it. And if it's their fault, they'll explain how to fix it so this never happens again."
I'm not saying that every IT manager thinks that paying for something makes it foolproof, or that by paying for something, he thinks he'll come out of a problem smelling like roses.
Sure, they should be handling it in-house, and they probably are. The article is kind of unclear on whether or not this is a standard support contract or if they're outsourcing it to MS and Novell.
However, I read this: "That's our direction. That's where we're going, but if we hit a roadblock and we can't go forward, it's up to Microsoft and Novell to figure out what to do about it," she said.
as Wal-Mart buying a standard support contract from MS, and not as outsourcing.
Having worked for a competitor, I've heard that they use AIX, Solaris, and Linux for most of the day-to-day number crunching, with some mainframe on the side.
Windows (I know) & Macs (I suspect) are also in use, and there's probably a couple other wacky systems thrown in for fun.
Having worked IT for a large retailer for a number of years, I can tell you that Linux is already in the door at Wal-Mart, and it's not going to be nearly that easy to remove. Note that the quoted portion of the article mentions that Wal-Mart was using RedHat previously.
Virtually all of the large retailers did proof-of-concepts with Linux (up to 5) years ago. IT managers are thrilled at the lower TCO claimed by Linux (not that I don't believe it, but Linux isn't free if you're paying RH or Novell or whoever for support), and they've been trying to adopt it for a while now.
What this more likely means is that Wal-Mart is planning on moving more critical apps to Linux, and they're trying to reduce their support costs by switching to one vendor. Or perhaps you hadn't heard that Wal-Mart likes to cut costs? (IME, switching to one vendor doesn't necessarily cut costs, but managers like the idea a lot.)
Are you kidding me? There's no way they can make sailor power more efficient. It's been in use for thousands of years, and it's not going away any time soon.
So what it's saying is that people who actually want to use a computer and internet are better at creating passwords than people who mostly see computers as something that cuts into profit? Color me shocked.
Nothing really new here...passwords are easy to crack, yup.
I don't know what the deal is with monkeys.
Come on, everyone likes monkeys. Well, except the evil monkeys.
When I grow up, I want to go to Lipotidaen University!
Interestingly, Wikipedia recognizes that there's a current event going on with the Chinese River Dolphin, but doesn't actually have anything on the Current Events page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_events.
It's not all not (or mis-) understanding the business culture. Some of it is language and dialect barriers as well. Having worked with Indian developers and support staff for nearly 10 years, I've noticed a tendency for some of them to say "sure, sure" or "okay" if you repeat a question, even if they are unclear on the question asked.
That said, there are definitely exceptions, but it's most frequently the ones that have been working on one project or with one group for more than a year.
Sadly, the people who thought outsourcing was a really good idea are probably already beyond reach, having either secured their legacy at their respective companies, and shifted the blame to the current mid-level management that is struggling with their earlier decisions, or they've moved on from the company altogether.
That being said, I don't think that outsourcing is bad in and of itself, but the implementation usually leaves a lot to be desired.
Slashdot Mirror
I saw a brief bit on the local news while waiting for the weather & traffic this morning. They showed someone's grandma with a horror story about the Dell technician telling her to open up the computer and try to figure out what kind of RAM she had. Then she stated that she fought with support for 6 weeks before they sent someone to her house.
Now, this might be just someone (or a few someones) who is not used to working bureaucratic problem-tracking systems, and simply waited for calls back, or whatever, but with how the news was spinning it, it did seem very much focused on the home user not getting on-site support, when it had been paid for...and not focused on business service.
I think your problem is that you seem to be insulted by the idea that *anyone* would consider Vista, and then get defensive when someone points out there are lots of people out there already doing that.
Hardly. I've installed it on my home PC, primarily for testing purposes, though I'm also gaming on Vista. It's even a legal copy.
I'm sure that not everyone was avoiding it...my experience with non-IT businesses leads me to believe that most will wait-and-see how Vista does before installing it. I'm surprised at the size of the rollout you mentioned, but not that it has happened.
I no longer know what my original point was. I guess it was just that I was surprised that the Korean government felt the need to issue an APB. Stupid forgetting to format my last post correctly.
Maybe you shouldn't use Slashdot as your source of news? Just a thought. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I don't. Perhaps you've heard of hyperbole? So anyone with fairly new machines is good to go. That's great if your company has the cash, but for many companies, upgrading computers that already work is seen as an unnecessary expense. Let alone replacing computers that "work just fine". The company I work for is looking at Vista, but it's likely we won't implement it for years, because there's no perceived benefit to moving to Vista. ...eventually it will be installed everywhere.
Heh. Yeah. Aside from totally different operating systems, you realize that there are people running Win95, Win98, Win2K, etc. out there still, right?
Good point. I got fixated on the ActiveX comments about games, banks and forgot about the users.
Then again, I always forget about the users. If it weren't for the pesky users, the computers would run fine!
I thought all businesses were avoiding Vista...I doubt that Korea needed to issue an advisory to get people to stay away.
Most IT managers I've met are non-technical. They're just managers.
I suspect it has more to do with being stigmatized as a technical guy because they manage IT, rather than actually being technical and lacking in interpersonal skills. When looking for a new CEO, whoever is doing the picking wants someone that has a reputation of being good with people...which, by association (to IT), IT managers are not. Non-IT people seem to think anyone who has anything to do with IT must be a nerd, and therefore incapable of excelling interpersonally.
YMMV, of course.
Not sure what you mean.
I'm saying that every IT manager I've ever worked for (at a competing very large retailer) wanted to be able to cover his ass by having someone else to point to when his support staff didn't know the answer to a question.
Manager: "Why isn't this working?"
IT guy: "I'm not certain, it might be something to do with the low-level disk reservations or maybe it's something to do with the virtualization engine."
Manager: "Get $VENDOR on the phone, and get their support guys looking into it. And if it's their fault, they'll explain how to fix it so this never happens again."
I'm not saying that every IT manager thinks that paying for something makes it foolproof, or that by paying for something, he thinks he'll come out of a problem smelling like roses.
Sure, they should be handling it in-house, and they probably are. The article is kind of unclear on whether or not this is a standard support contract or if they're outsourcing it to MS and Novell.
However, I read this:
"That's our direction. That's where we're going, but if we hit a roadblock and we can't go forward, it's up to Microsoft and Novell to figure out what to do about it," she said.
as Wal-Mart buying a standard support contract from MS, and not as outsourcing.
No IT manager wants to take the blame for having a critical server crash.
Especially when the only guy they can reach internally just switched from supporting Windows and the guru is on vacation.
And the data center is operating on generator because a tornado knocked out the power.
You get the drift. Non-free Linux == CYA for managers.
Depends on what you're looking for.
Having worked for a competitor, I've heard that they use AIX, Solaris, and Linux for most of the day-to-day number crunching, with some mainframe on the side.
Windows (I know) & Macs (I suspect) are also in use, and there's probably a couple other wacky systems thrown in for fun.
Having worked IT for a large retailer for a number of years, I can tell you that Linux is already in the door at Wal-Mart, and it's not going to be nearly that easy to remove. Note that the quoted portion of the article mentions that Wal-Mart was using RedHat previously. Virtually all of the large retailers did proof-of-concepts with Linux (up to 5) years ago. IT managers are thrilled at the lower TCO claimed by Linux (not that I don't believe it, but Linux isn't free if you're paying RH or Novell or whoever for support), and they've been trying to adopt it for a while now. What this more likely means is that Wal-Mart is planning on moving more critical apps to Linux, and they're trying to reduce their support costs by switching to one vendor. Or perhaps you hadn't heard that Wal-Mart likes to cut costs? (IME, switching to one vendor doesn't necessarily cut costs, but managers like the idea a lot.)
Alternatively, you could just cover your mouth and/or face.
I hope that the Stephen & Melinda Gates Foundation approaches this issue with a little more responsibility.
Are you kidding me? There's no way they can make sailor power more efficient. It's been in use for thousands of years, and it's not going away any time soon.
So what it's saying is that people who actually want to use a computer and internet are better at creating passwords than people who mostly see computers as something that cuts into profit? Color me shocked. Nothing really new here...passwords are easy to crack, yup. I don't know what the deal is with monkeys. Come on, everyone likes monkeys. Well, except the evil monkeys.
When I grow up, I want to go to Lipotidaen University! Interestingly, Wikipedia recognizes that there's a current event going on with the Chinese River Dolphin, but doesn't actually have anything on the Current Events page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_events.
It's not all not (or mis-) understanding the business culture. Some of it is language and dialect barriers as well. Having worked with Indian developers and support staff for nearly 10 years, I've noticed a tendency for some of them to say "sure, sure" or "okay" if you repeat a question, even if they are unclear on the question asked. That said, there are definitely exceptions, but it's most frequently the ones that have been working on one project or with one group for more than a year. Sadly, the people who thought outsourcing was a really good idea are probably already beyond reach, having either secured their legacy at their respective companies, and shifted the blame to the current mid-level management that is struggling with their earlier decisions, or they've moved on from the company altogether. That being said, I don't think that outsourcing is bad in and of itself, but the implementation usually leaves a lot to be desired.