RE: [IMail Forum] Amazing IPSwitch Problems

[Lynn Floyd]

Joe,   Stability, Uptime, and users who do not like new stuff.  I work with a staff of about 100 that do not like changes in anything.   I have been a Beta tester in the past, loved it would do it again in the future.  But, knowing what a beta tester has to do with each new product, and still the fact that Beta testers cannot test everything, there are still problems with each new product. I really appreciate the ones that jump in when a new product is released, but I am not one of those that will do it, in my current position.    Look for any information on current Main stream library software, Companies such as SIRSIDYNIX, III, and etc.  That is what happens.  Upgrades are rushed, and we all expect fixes, some even come out the day the release is issued, as a lot of these companies are still getting testing results from the Beta testers.  We all hope that it works correctly the first time, but it might not.  In the Library Industry we know that any upgrade will may problems, as the beta testers will not have the same issues as we have.  There is major upgrade for our library software out there now, and I know of a guy who installed it and it broke everything, no one else has had that problem with the upgrade, why Who knows.    What we hear about are the problems, not the successes, this limits the scope of responses to the upgrade.  I know if I went to install the 2006 upgrade and had very little issues with it I would not be one of those in this forum talking about it, would you be?    I have yet had a non-beta product be 100% free of major problems.  That includes Microsoft products, Ipswitch, Library Software, etc.  I know that is the goal, but for this industry that is not yet achieved.  I expect my chainsaw to work the first time, but it may not.  I expect the dishwasher to wash my dishes, it may not.  Between user errors, manufacturing errors, poor documentation and any number of factors I know that it may not work correctly the first time I try any product.     Looking at 2006 I would expect that some of the changes would cause training issues, That is because of the fact that a new client is brought on line.  If you saw the old client, than you would see that it is a major major change.  So, to me training is an issue.  I know that working in an industry that deals with training any major change causes training issues.  Lynn Floyd [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anderson County Library 864-260-4500 x181 http://www.andersonlibrary.org     From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joe Wolf / Internet Specialists, LLC Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 11:11 AM To: IMail_Forum@list.ipswitch.com Subject: Re: [IMail Forum] Amazing IPSwitch Problems Lynn, I respect your opinion, but believe me when I tell you there are other ways to look at things.    You seem to believe and accept that when an upgrade is released you should not use it until others test it out.  You accept that there will be many problems and are willing to wait for the hot fixes, etc.   I am one that believes that a released, non-beta product should be 100% free of major problems.  Yes, I accept that there may be some small issues that don't effect the product as a whole.  I believe there is a reason for beta testing, and I choose not to be a beta tester.   Most industries work the way I describe.  For some reason too many people are willing to accept the problems in our industry.  Some blame this on Microsoft, and I am no Microsoft fan, but Ipswitch takes this scenario to a completely different level.  One of the most popular add on products seems to follow right on the coat tails of Ipswitch in releasing defective products, but that's a different story.   I am not a beta tester.  I don't want to be a beta tester.   Imail 2006 should not be having any of the problems listed on this forum.  Perhaps we might hear of a misspelled word, or term inconsistency, but not major features failing to work, or a surprise that you need to retrain all your users.  This is completely unacceptable to me, and I believe it should be unacceptable to you as well.   Why do you feel you should sit back and let others solve all the problems before you jump in?  Isn't that the purpose of a beta?    If I ran my business the way Ipswitch runs theirs I would not expect to be in business very long.    -Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: Lynn Floyd To: IMail_Forum@list.ipswitch.com Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 9:57 AM Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Amazing IPSwitch Problems Uptime is the goal, if you do not know how a new product or upgrade is going to effect your system, why apply the upgrade immediately once it is out.  I work in an industry that comes with upgrades about every 2 to 3 months, some major and some minor, There are adventurous ones out there that do the upgrade immediately, but most of us do not.  This is because of knowing that with any upgrade of any product there are issues.  Testing by the company does not always find all the bugs, as they do not know how each system is being used, and how each system is customized.  Differences in hardware, OS, security, and additional programs makes a difference in the way a product behaves.  If a company tests on each system the way we each have ours set up, then their server farm would have to be huge, and that would take forever, and upgrades would not be in existence.    SO, a lot of us Sys Administrators do not upgrade until the upgrades have been out at least 3 to 5 months, sometimes more.  As for the brave ones, they usually have found the bugs before most of us get around to upgrading which by then there are a few patches/hotfixes that can be applied.  So, if you had problems with the install this weekend wait, I am.  I most likely will not be upgrading to 2006 until the spring.  And by then I will have tested it in a dev environment.     For those that use other products, apparently you did not like IMail, or had issues with IMail.  Why are you still here, and reading this forum, do you not get enough e-mail?  Are you trying to steal trade secrets?  I know that there are issues with any Mail server that is out there, so go find out the issues with your server and bug their Forum/help support system.   Lynn Floyd [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anderson County Library  http://www.andersonlibrary.org     From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Travis Rabe Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 10:25 AM To: IMail_Forum@list.ipswitch.com Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Amazing IPSwitch Problems Amen,   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Christopher Jones Sent: Monday, December 05, 2005 7:41 PM To: IMail_Forum@list.ipswitch.com Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Amazing IPSwitch Problems   Yeah I agree there are other products…..   But I also agree with trialling a new product before upgrading. How many people have just gone in and upgraded their current imail and come across problems? I am in the process of replicating our 8.21 setup on a dev server and will be upgrading that one shortly. I don’t agree with just blindly upgrading for the sake of it….and with so many new features, there are going to be bugs. So it needs to be trialled before just upgrading.