Brace your budget for Microsoft’s next move

I’m a crappy salesman. Everyone says so: too excitable, too passionate in a fluttering hands sort of way, and simply not enough polish. For me to sell a client, I need the knock-’em-dead pitch: I’m giving you more for less. Microsoft, on the other hand, is apparently filled with excellent sales people; their latest pitch could be summed up as ‘I’ll give you more for … more.’

What’s sticking in many a CIO’s craw is that Microsoft’s track record in this department goes something like, “Shut up and like it.” If Redmond doesn’t want you using an OS, it’ll just stop supporting it. Pow! You’re either knee-deep in consulting bills or waist-deep in unfixed vulnerabilities. Which do you prefer?

This latest shoulder-heaving sigh in the life of a Windows enterprise administrator comes from Microsoft’s recent commitment to its upcoming server release schedule. If you were hoping to just run your new Windows 2003 enterprise and have Redmond leave you alone for a while, get set for disappointment. Next year is the scheduled date for the Windows Server 2003 update release, code-named R2 (Release 2). Longhorn follows in 2007 with an update release of that OS slated for 2008. Then Captain Kirk’s Blackcomb release of Windows is due out in 2010 or right after the Vulcans land, whichever comes first.

R2 is set to include improved network security features, such as the ability to quarantine portions of the environment, as well as integrated SharePoint collaboration, Windows Rights Management Services, and identity-management services. But even prior to R2, Microsoft is intent on launching a flood of Windows 2003 Server add-ons, including Service Pack 1, Windows Update Services, and Virtual Server, not to mention some releases meant to run on slick new AMD CPUs. And just to make it more fun, rumor has it Redmond is kicking around an idea to release a separate Windows 2003 high-performance computing edition for those of us looking to run our own space program on Wintel.

And that’s just the operating platforms. Microsoft has also announced a new initiative to more tightly integrate its venerable BackOffice line, which is spreading faster than my tush without exercise. And, yes, by “integrate,” I mean a whole new set of products, purchased for a whole new round of cash, and offering a whole new set of features that most likely won’t work properly with older server products. And as usual, Microsoft is seeking to lure support with the same litany of pro-integration rhetoric we hear whenever the company uses this strategy: more synergy on the features and usability fronts, less work on integration and management, and of course, keenly avoiding the bloody thrashing we’ll get in the budget meeting. Microsoft’s new name for this revival is the Common Engineering Roadmap , which aims to create a common server design, management, and even training strategy across the entire product line, including everything from Application Center to SharePoint Portal.

So Oliver hates it? Actually, yes and no. I hate this feeling I’m getting in the pit of my stomach that I’ve heard all this before. But I’m looking back at actual management logs and sales conversations and I’m realizing that although overall things still fell far short of what Microsoft promised, Redmond really has done better with both sets of releases this last time around. Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP are far superior products, even to Windows 2000. Exchange Server 2003 and its brethren aren’t universally a quantum leap forward from the .Net Server fiasco, but every one of my sys admins maintains they’re a cut above, not only in terms of features and reliability but especially in terms of security.

Bottom line, I’m guardedly expecting a higher percentage of follow-through on Redmond promises than I might have expected only three years back. Budget meetings still won’t be any fun, but at least I’ve got a little more ammunition. And for those of you who worry about getting locked into a Microsoft-only hell, well, it didn’t quite happen last time. And provided we plan well, it won’t happen this time. After all, I’ve got to add some value somewhere.