Why don’t software and services just work?
My friend Matt has decided to use Microsoft SharePoint as a collaborative tool in his business. The companies’ email provider offers SharePoint, but at a price far in excess of a large, well known company (did I say Network Solutions?)
Matt likes working weekends. It is his down time….and a perfect time to implement SharePoint.
Here we are Monday afternoon and it is still not working.
Why?
Matt is a sophisticated user. He can write code (sometimes the bane of my existence), and is very, very patient (a trait I want to learn!)
Matt has been on the phone with Network Solutions through the weekend. Their support clearly has scripts to follow, and sadly doesn’t seem to understand when the request is silly.
For example:
Matt patiently searches the Microsoft site, applying knowledge base patches seeming to match. Network Solutions is on the hook to call back…and hasn’t so far.
Why is this so hard?
Personally, I wouldn’t have the patience…it should just work out of the box. Matt is paying for this service; it is not “free.” Obviously there is some subtle set up issue somewhere…
Is it possible Matt is the first to use SharePoint on Vista or Windows 7? Not likely.
Between Microsoft, who ultimately owns SharePoint, and Network Solutions, who is offering this a service, the code should just work.
Skype works this way… Oh yeah, it’s free. Maybe that’s Matt’s mistake.