Welcome to the Funcave

dear mothership aka eric ligman

hey eric,

this is not gonna be a smart aleck post, i promise.

i’ve been watching the january action pack release for quite some time now, because the issue of what’s included is of great interest to me, as it is many many other people.

i still see value in the action pack. i do. a great deal of value, actually.

to replicate what the action pack has allowed me to do with my new company would have cost us somewhere north of $5K.

which we received for 400 smackeroos.

that’s fantastic.

but you have to understand that certain changes to the action pack program give a lot of people pause.

the switch to upgrade-only desktop os licenses, for one.

now, that change actually made sense to me.

i’m not a system builder, so it didn’t directly affect me in the pocketbook as much as others. but i’ve seen waaaay too many whitebox machines over the years that clients bought from jimmy joe bob’s to know that action pack loading is a major problem.

the difference is…that move makes sense to help curtail that problem.

i’m not so sure about the other things that people are fussing about.

those changes/decisions seem to me to run counter to what i’d expect you folks in redmond would want to happen with the action pack…

here’s why:

no 2 folks are alike. neither are their business models, nor their clientele.

so if there were some flexibility built-in, i think the action pack program would be much more effective at its stated goal, which is enhancing partner knowledge of microsoft products & services that are available, to help those same partners effectively sell, install & build on the microsoft platform.

i think the action pack program could be improved.

so, without further ado…

happyfunboy’s super awesome ideas for making the action pack program better

better validation of registered partners & action pack enrollees

i’ve mentioned this more times than i care to remember. here’s one idea: make sbsc a minimum requirement for the action pack. there are paths for oem builders & non-builders. i don’t see the big deal with this, altho others will.

a la carte licenses

include 10 licenses of windows, period. as in, any combination of the different flavors of windows, up to a total of 10. if someone wants a couple of machines with ultimate for their primary business use, fine. they could also stand up different editions of windows to show clients, test apps, etc. makes sense to do the same with office & anything else which comes in different flavors.

1 year grandfathering

any release received in a previous action pack shipment can legally be used for up to 1 year after it was superceded by a newer release. declare no support & no replacement media for the superceded version after it’s been superceded. that would take care of the careless folks, yet still allow partners to continue to support their clients & their own lob apps that haven’t yet been updated at a reasonable schedule, while allowing for certain seasonal ‘blackout’ periods. yes…that one was for you, susan.

downloadable images

track & limit the number of downloads to conserve bandwidth if you want. i don’t need a binder or fancy sleeves. but the ability to get final code faster, as in before it hits the general populace? priceless.

certain additional non-production licenses

having an additional license of server-level products (sbs, for example) for non-production usage like directed client demos would be phenomenally helpful.

point is…

i don’t want to see the action pack program go away.

nor do i want to see it become a hindrance for honest partners…which is where it’s heading, quite frankly.

thanks for your time.

all best,

chris

|| posted by chris under business, mothership || comments (6) || ||