Thursday, September 13, 2007

Microsoftified - the result of being enticed with features while attempting to perform a specific function, then forgetting the original function and continuing to utilize what ever feature was stumbled upon first, then digging through a multitude of menus until settling on the one tool that can be located from any direction. this is sometimes referred to as SAPF (Shortest Attention Path Found) that has sometimes been compared to OSPF (Open Shortest Path Found)


Microsoftification - the result of years of being Microsoftified, microsoftification can lead to major decisions on IT solutions that reinforces the belief that software solutions can be sold in a box.
this can also lead to a fear of proprietary software solutions due to a perceived loss of control to internal programmers and will often lead to more "out of the box" solutions to remove the control from the internal programmers. this has sometimes lead to years of licensing relationships with companies which provide their own software solutions (considered "out of the box") to these companies seeking to alleviate themselves from the burden of proprietary software solutions for the IT infrastructure.

Microproxifier - A microproxifier is usually the company from which the original company has requested "out of the box" solutions and is therefore the proprietor of these types of solutions and provides the requesting company with enticing software licensing solutions which often times provides proof to the requesting company that they may have been paying too much for internal proprietary solutions and therefore reiterates the belief that software programmed and licensed by other companies is always cheaper than software written internally (see SAPF). after a minimum of 6 months and maximum of 18 months the requesting company receives updates and/or upgrades which seem to miraculously resolve issues that the requesting company had assumed were strictly proprietary issues. the microproxifying company doesn't usually disclose the sources or reasons for these apparent miraculous solutions and of course doesn't hold back from providing these solutions to other companies which have requested their ethereal abilities.

a microproxifying company, after a period of time, can sometimes become a completely different company than originally thought by the requesting company. the microproxifying company can become any number of other companies. in some cases, a company completely against the software which they originally provided and insisting the new version of software they are providing is better, but of course, costs more to provide and therefore licensing costs will increase. if the requesting company decides to retain the original software which miraculously provided solutions to their company, the microproxifying company becomes a support firm and will provide limited term support for the original software (which they now consider legacy), but at a much higher licensing fee. If the requesting company decides to move toward the new licensing model and therefore the upgraded software solutions, the microproxifying company will remain a software solutions company and continue providing ethereal solutions to the requesting company.
some of the known downsides to the upgrade solution is that the company is now providing software which was once downplayed by the microproxifying company, but has been acquired during one of the microproxifying companies mergers. another is licensing restructuring which can sometimes lead to doubts about the cost savings over internal development as compared to the microproxifying company's "out of the box" solution. this doubt is usually dismissed due to the cost of transition, and the realization that no internal employees can transition to the new systems and no other systems can communicate with the new or legacy systems due to "out of the box" API's. this is soon resolved with more miraculous solutions provided by the microproxifier.

as a side note, there have been cases where the original cost savings realized during transition from internal proprietary solutions to "out of the box industry standard" solutions have been exceeded with licensing costs within the original 6 months.