14 February 2006

I’ve come to the recent conclusion that the greatest threat to a small business in America is the MCSA.

MCSA’s recommend high-dollar solutions to easily solvable problems. They recommend Microsoft software to solve problems that freeware can just as easily be used. In short, the concoct solutions that create their own organizational interdependency. They are the crack dealers of the tech world. They promise complete satisfaction in exchange for their own . They create solutions that require their own presence to maintain.

And the Columbian Snow of these solutions is Microsoft Exchange Server.

I have yet to find any installation of exchange server that didn’t require a staff member to maintain.

So the next time some M$ propeller-head @:-) with an MBA or MCSA or some other useless acronym behind their name recommends that you set up an exchange server to “increase efficiency” within your office… Let me recommend this program:

  1. Breathe deeply into a paper bag.

  2. Give the site licensing brochures to your sponsor and make sure he/she doesn’t allow you to have them, no matter how much you beg.

  3. Bring everyone into a circle and speak out loud “I can live without Microsoft. My server continues to function without Microsoft products and is better for it.”

  4. Hand out a cd with Ubuntu linux ( or your favorite distro, Fedora, Debian, whatever… )

  5. Sometimes a stuffed penguin will bring comfort to those experiencing the worst pains of withdrawal.

Sometimes the detoxification process can be a painful one, but in the end, you’re better without your crutches.