Novell to Microsoft Migration Issue

[rhuhman]

Wanted to post some additional material here just in case someone else is in the same position.

On Home View | GWCheck.com Live BETA | the best GW site (Tay Kratzer) there is a section devoted to informing business decision makers why staying with GroupWise over Exchange is important. It does also discuss eDirectory over Active Directory as well. I found this information very useful.

Thanks

Rich

I actually contacted the company that provided the migration license cost and asked them to run through the same presentation they gave the new director. Since I am originally a Microsoft Tech, spending a great deal of time actually doing the kind of conversion being asked for now, I was better equiped to ask the hard questions. What I did find out was that the license wasn't a apples to apples comparison. The conversion would have only delt with Windows Server 2008, AD, and Exchange Server 2007 (Advanced). The cost would have looked like a lease payment reoccuring every year and would have been almost twice the current cost. I also pointed out that the company didn't place the additional support cost for programs that would need to be purchased to provide support to Windows. (ie, backup programs, Native NetWare programs that would need to be moved to Windows and repurchased) I also noted that our current license provides ZENworks Desktop Management, Patch Management, Mobility solutions (GMS & BES), ZCC, SLES10, SLED10, and all the little items no one is considering.

Since the current supt had requested the information I was hopefully that the plan was already being questioned and that with money being so tight the project would be aborted early on. That was until the current supt decided to retire (again) at the end of the current year. I quickly got the impression that he wasn't going to deal with this issue, leaving it to the next supt.

As for bashing the "new guy", I also have been attempting to not get into that rut. Having the ear of most of the administrative team and gaining power quickly, he had made the last six months difficult to work. I have quickly realized that our methods of getting the job done are vastly different. The quistion now presented for me to answer is who's vision best match what the school district need or want. If the rumors are true about who the next supt will be, then the argument was over before it ever began. Novell will quickly be gutted this coming summer even if it coast the district a small fortune to do so.

A quick note to Novell. I found it difficult to find hard data that could be handed to management to compare product to product or answer the questions they had over license and product cycles. It might be of benifit to devolop something that would allow people like me to point others to read about products. Sometimes you get a manager that wants to see proof of what someone is saying. Novell, in my belief, has leaned on the techs and loyal users to help sell the product. Not always is it going to be a safe bet that management is going to listen to the guys that actually make it all work. If I had a dime for every time I watched a group move away from a product just because everyone else is doing it, I would be a rich man!

Thanks everyone for your valuable input. One last note about the conversion. The supt did ask the director to talk with school systems about the conversion and cost before moving ahead. My belief is this is just like asking a kid to ask another kid who just ate some candy how it tasted. Chances are even if the second kid says it was horible the first is going to try it anyway.

Rich