Text 10969, 95 rader
Skriven 2006-05-10 18:44:38 av Gary Britt (1:379/45)
  Kommentar till text 10968 av Mike '/m' (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: Rotten Effort
=========================
From: "Gary Britt" <glb@gencog.com>

Is Frantz looking at Linux and OpenOffice now?

Gary

"Mike '/m'" <mike@barkto.com> wrote in message
news:rpo462dccsfl0atbrsu2nqsk4i7ainhfpq@4ax.com...
>
> Looks like, in addition to intimidating consumer end-users of Windows
> via Windows Genuine Disadvantage, Microsoft is becoming so desperate for
> revenue that they are also harassing small businesses for unneeded
> sales.
>
> http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&artic
leId=111186
>
> ===
> May 08, 2006 (Computerworld) -- It's bad enough when Microsoft
> strong-arms other software vendors into submission as a means of
> thwarting competition. But when it engages in underhanded tactics to
> intimidate users in order to land a software deal, we have a very
> disturbing situation on our hands. And someone needs to have the guts to
> speak out about it.
>
> Fortunately, someone has. Last week, Dale Frantz, CIO at Auto
> Warehousing Co., brought to my attention an alarming business practice
> that shows Microsoft at its shoddy and arrogant worst.
>
> AWC was contacted several weeks ago by Janet Lawless, a software asset
> management engagement manager at Microsoft, who claimed that "a
> preliminary review of [AWC's software licensing] information indicates
> that your company may not be licensed properly." Lawless urged AWC to
> "understand that the potential inconsistency in licensing is an urgent
> matter and needs immediate attention." She wanted to send a consultant
> to AWC to conduct an inventory of its installed software.
>
> Frantz was stunned. He says he always errs on the side of caution with
> respect to software licenses. He does regular audits and maintains
> extensive records of purchases, license keys and registration codes.
> Frantz had no doubt that he was 100% compliant. When he told Lawless
> that, she ratcheted up the threatening tone of her e-mail
> correspondence.
>
> "Simply commenting on your licensing environment does not address our
> concerns in a tangible, proven manner," she wrote. "We continue to
> believe that Auto Warehousing may not be licensed properly. Since this
> is a compliance issue, I am obligated to notify an officer of Auto
> Warehousing of the situation and the significant risk your organization
> may be subject to by not resolving this situation in a timely manner."
>
> At that point, Frantz got his corporate attorney involved. The attorney
> suggested that an olive branch be proffered to avoid legal action, so
> Frantz offered to send Lawless detailed records of all purchases of
> Microsoft software in the past five years. But Lawless blew that off as
> well. She seemed determined to get a consultant into the IT bowels of
> AWC.
>
> "Thank you for your offer to send your purchase records to me," she
> wrote, "however our Software Asset Management (SAM) program is the only
> unbiased way to create an accurate baseline and resolve this matter."
>
> That did it. Frantz informed Lawless that he wasn't going to waste
> anymore time with her, and he left the matter with his attorney. The
> attorney, suspecting that Lawless' actions were part of an elaborate
> sales effort, basically told her to back off.
>
> Indeed, according to Microsoft's Web site, the responsibility of someone
> with Lawless' title of "engagement manager" is to "perform as an
> integrated member of the account team, drive business development and
> closing of new services engagements in targeted accounts." So why was
> someone in a sales position leaning so hard on AWC about a supposed
> licensing compliance concern?
>
> When I phoned Lawless to find out, she referred me to Microsoft's PR
> machine. The responses I got through that channel stressed that
> Microsoft's aim is to help customers navigate the complexities of
> software licensing and that one of the roles of engagement managers is
> to assist in that effort by informing customers of a potential licensing
> risk. I was told to attribute the responses to Lawless.
>
> The fact is, if Microsoft really has reason to believe that a company is
> using unlicensed copies of its software, it sics the Business Software
> Alliance on the company. It doesn't turn the matter over to one of its
> sales managers.
>
> The folks at Microsoft should have done their homework. They would have
> realized that trying to intimidate Dale Frantz would be a fruitless
> effort. And what a rotten fruitless effort it was.
> ===
>
> /m

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