tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22311364.post2217722661651747204..comments2024-03-29T02:13:29.411-07:00Comments on Small Biz Thoughts by Karl W. Palachuk: Microsoft Sticks to Call-Back Only, Continues Free Server DownKarl W. Palachukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854725002875547297noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22311364.post-87809860112580634832008-08-14T08:41:00.000-07:002008-08-14T08:41:00.000-07:00Just called into MS Critical Down support and foun...Just called into MS Critical Down support and found out the bad news. This is our first call probably this year (Maybe two years now.) <BR/><BR/>This is completely unacceptable in my eyes. First you have to be a partner to get access to this line. So right there, that SHOULD eliminate a good number of problem callers (Should. . .) <BR/><BR/>The supervisor I spoke with said this is to allow the engineer time to research the problem and have a better understanding before he calls me back. So my one line, "Users can not login to the SBS server" gives him all the information he needs to research the problem and have a solution for me? Sure.<BR/><BR/>I think ALMOST every time I've called critical support (Probably 5 times in as many years), I've had good success. Oh well. . . So much for my good partner relationship.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22311364.post-6872689142889396282008-07-11T10:59:00.000-07:002008-07-11T10:59:00.000-07:00Karl,To some degree you are right.But, to some deg...Karl,<BR/><BR/>To some degree you are right.<BR/><BR/>But, to some degree Vlad is right.<BR/><BR/>In our 5+ years of being in business, we have had 3 business critical situations that we needed to call in on because there was absolutely nothing available to us anywhere on the problems we were facing.<BR/><BR/>In all three cases we were very fortunate to have been dealing with people who knew exactly what they needed to bring things back.<BR/><BR/>I do believe that having a more SMB/SBSC oriented contract at $4-5K a year would be reasonable for us. I would pay it to get access to Texas.<BR/><BR/>This would also virtually eliminate the <I>Next button clickers</I> mentioned by Vlad.<BR/><BR/>$8K is a little much for insurance at our level of operation which is a 1 man shop with a couple of part time contractors. And there are a lot of us out there.<BR/><BR/>A company doing enough business to support a couple of full time techs should see the $8K as a reasonable insurance cost ... IMNSHO.<BR/><BR/>Another aspect of this situation when it comes to paying for that support from Microsoft:<BR/> Those of us who have structured our businesses around a managed services model, or a hybrid of it as we have, will be in a better position to pay that cost. Break/Fix I.T businesses will lose out here.<BR/><BR/>I do believe that charging out the support from Microsoft is a sound business decision on their part.<BR/><BR/>PhilipPhilip Elder Cluster MVPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06082028960643490292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22311364.post-9144128444492215562008-07-11T07:51:00.000-07:002008-07-11T07:51:00.000-07:00No, this incident exists because Microsoft is awar...No, this incident exists because Microsoft is aware that there is a problem but they either don't know what the problem really is, or they know exactly what the problem is and are giving the appearance of doing something about it without really doing anything to address the root cause.<BR/><BR/>They probably don't know how to come out to the SMB space and say "you're not paying enough, cough up for MS Premier".<BR/><BR/>And we are "trusted advisors" to our clients, with Microsoft being one part of the solution stack. And being a Microsoft "partner" has always been on their terms and always will be.stryqxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11725668205462749500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22311364.post-91896285307349164842008-07-10T06:59:00.000-07:002008-07-10T06:59:00.000-07:00Chris, you're right. But . . . this incident doesn...Chris, you're right. But . . . this incident doesn't exist in a vacuum.<BR/><BR/>Microsoft wants us to be "trusted advisors" to our clients and "partners" to them.<BR/><BR/>Working with Microsoft is never smooth. But to announce this kind of ridiculous change while all the attention is over at the Worldwide <B>Partner</B> Lovefest is just a bit much.<BR/><BR/>We work with a lot of vendors, and we make changes slowly.<BR/><BR/>But we do make changes . . .Karl W. Palachukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10854725002875547297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22311364.post-22732621621075487762008-07-10T06:35:00.000-07:002008-07-10T06:35:00.000-07:00Sorry Karl but you're tilting at windmills.You've ...Sorry Karl but you're tilting at windmills.<BR/><BR/>You've known for a long, long time that PSS is woeful. So why would you even bother to persist dealing with them?<BR/><BR/>What you're highlighting is that the SMB IT provider marketplace is as price sensitive as their clients. So go run Untangle, SME Server, Ubuntu LTS, CentOS, etc and take the money you're making and put it into the insurance budget for calling someone with a clue when it all turns to crap.<BR/><BR/>If you're running an MS monoculture then you have to expect that it will occasionally spectacularly blow up. This is where you get to prove that you're employing the right techs or outsourcing to the right techs. This is where your insurance budget comes into play.<BR/><BR/>PSS is only useful for getting hotfixes. That's it. That's as much as Microsoft is prepared to offer us all for the amount of money we pay for our license. If you don't like it stop purchasing the licenses.<BR/><BR/>Really, the absolute crapness of PSS is why there's an SBS/SMB community and why people like Susan et al blog - to make up for the lack of support offered up by Microsoft.<BR/><BR/>My final thought is that the yawning chasm between PSS and MS Premier is something the SBSC PALs should be focusing on. If it's as big a problem as you state.stryqxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11725668205462749500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22311364.post-61426030129660518922008-07-09T11:04:00.000-07:002008-07-09T11:04:00.000-07:00The horse is dead when I say it's dead!Raising the...The horse is dead when I say it's dead!<BR/><BR/>Raising the bar does not mean that everyone has to either be on the 10th floor or do something else for a living.<BR/><BR/>I'm sorry to disagree, but not so sorry that I'll change my mind.<BR/><BR/>There are competent technicians who are not willing to pay $8K to talk to competent support.<BR/><BR/>You're not either a DIYer or a $million+ company. Most people are in the middle.<BR/><BR/>I don't deny that our industry has more than its share of hobbyists, but the world isn't just black and white.Karl W. Palachukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10854725002875547297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22311364.post-44295217498595421042008-07-09T10:35:00.000-07:002008-07-09T10:35:00.000-07:00Karl,You are beating a dead horse with an empty ba...Karl,<BR/><BR/>You are beating a dead horse with an empty bag of money.<BR/><BR/>We've gone through this a billion times. Most SBS sales are not partner initiated, most support calls therefore don't come from the competent IT solution providers but from DIYers and hobbyists that clicked Next in the wrong direction few too many times.<BR/><BR/>Want to be taken seriously with a serious problem - pay $8K for support. Want to be treated like everyone else, wait for them to call you.<BR/><BR/>You talk about raising your prices for stuff ALL the time, well, they are taking your advice my man. Charge them more for the books next time or don't let them in on the secret :)<BR/><BR/>-Vlad<BR/>P.S. If you want me to see if they need extra help in my new career let me know. I'm sure someone writes those scripts :)Vlad Mazekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05613073111629014683noreply@blogger.com