I'll keep publishing

Because they can.

Many times in the last 20 years I’ve seen independent  software vendors and IT solution providers flounder following an announcement by Microsoft about a new product. It seems that if they (Microsoft) see  a lucrative new area they announce early, often before they have anything to show let alone sell.

They’re at it again, announcing in April this year that Exchange 2010 will have archiving, but where’s the detail? What will it do, how much will it cost, will it support non Microsoft email servers?

There’s a problem with this, and it’s verging on unfair competition, they are effectively advertising something they don’t have. Is that even legal I wonder?

This can have a big impact on the sector in question. End users postpone a buying decision citing “waiting for Microsoft” which causes vendors of competing solutions sales pipelines to dry up or stall.

These same vendors have to re-evaluate their product roadmap, adjust their sales and marketing strategies all based on something that’s not real yet.

OK, so this is just ‘normal’ competition, Microsoft aren’t the only ones who announce ‘vapourware’ But given they have a near monopoly in many areas and have been proven by the courts to behave badly we should all be concerned.

I for one refuse to be held to ransom by a vendors promise to deliver ’something’ when there are many good, some would say better solutions out there that work with these vendors systems. Innovation is alive and well on the ‘internets’, you don’t need to wait, there’s a solution out there already.

Why wait? In my experience you’re bound to end up paying more for a less compelling solution, delivered by a monolithic ‘old skool’ business that really only cares about share holder dividends.

- Disclaimer: Cleartext doesn’t sell or supply any Microsoft products or services, but we do sell compatible solutions that are far better, including a very nice email archiving service that works with all types of mail servers.