Dedicated Server Reviews

I attended the Microsoft Hosting Roadshow a few weeks back and met up with some of Microsoft’s top hosting dogs Tito Leverette and Chuck Ladd.

One of biggest questions that came to mind while talking to these chaps was the status on the FrontPage Server Extensions.  Are they being supported or no?

After a couple of rounds with these guys and some research of my own later that day I was able to unravel the mystifying tale.

The FrontPage Server Extension support years have been a love and hate relationship for many hosters on both Linux and Windows sides.  We have all wrestled with the portability culprits FPSE carries as well as many issues that we will never know the true nature of whether it’s plain publishing or just feedback form functionality.  On the bright side, FrontPage and its server side extensions do bring some innovative functionality to the table while allowing easy publishing for quick web (1.0) creativity.

The FrontPage Server Extensions (FPSE) 2002 are part of the Office XP system of products. The Office XP system, including FPSE 2002, left mainstream support on July 11th, 2005, according to the Office lifecycle policy.

FPSE 2002 will continue to be supported by security updates through the end of the extended support period, and all existing security content will remain available.   You may continue to install and support FPSE on Windows Server 2003 by installing the component under Add/Remove Programs.  This is not the case for the upcoming Windows Server 2008.  What does this mean for existing FrontPage users?

Ready to Run software  bridges this gap by releasing FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions for the Windows 2008/IIS7 platform.   This version of FPSE 2002 introduces no new functionality, and is essentially the same version that was created for Windows Server 2003.  The release supports both 32 and 64 bit versions.

Find more here: http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&g=6&i=1531

On the client side in order to serve the needs of existing users and new adopters of Microsoft’s web weaving technology the company has decided on the following roles for new and existing tools.

I.                    SharePoint Designer 2007- This new application is part of the 2007 Microsoft Office lineup and allows for the utilization of the SharePoint platform as a framework to build on. This is of course beneficial if you are currently using or thinking of using SharePoint Technology as your CMS platform.

II.                  Expression Web- Geared for the professional web designer this new tool stand alone will allow you to create web experiences by integrating XML, CSS, and ASP.NET 2.0.  This is more or less the evolution of FrontPage.

III.                Visual Studio- Aimed at the professional developer it allows for you to build enterprise class type applications. 

IV.                Visual Studio Web- a.k.a.  the “lite” version of Visual Studio.

All of these tools support the FPSE path for publishing along with other popular and secure alternatives. 

That's right - you heard me. If you want a truly effective customer service organization, ideally, you should not base any portion of your hiring or training on the your (potential) employees' manners.

Now, in order to get you to drink my Kool-Aid, you need to understand and agree with my definition of manners. For the purposes of this post, we're going to consider definition 2b of Dictionary.com, which I believe is the most applicable definition to the customer service environment: "ways of behaving with reference to polite standards; social comportment."

(Definition 3 applies pretty well too.)

Some quick background: two days ago, I had the pleasure of missing a connection flight in Atlanta Int. airport in transit from Ft. Lauderdale to home. What ordinarily would have been a 45 minute lay-over turned into a three hour wait. No problem - my wife and I were coming back from a little cruise R&R, and we weren't in a rush to get home for any reason. However, our extended stay in Atlanta meant getting some dinner, a book, a travel pillow for my wife, that sort of stuff. During those three hours, I noticed something very interesting. The people working various stations in the airport had no manners whatsoever! They never smiled. I never once heard a single "thank you" or "your welcome," even in response to such courtesies extended by customers.

At first, this bugged me a bit, but very quickly it dawned on me that the employees I observed had traded in manners/courtesy for honestly. They weren't thankful, and so offering a "thank you" to a customer would be a hollow, insincere sentiment at best. I'm guessing most people would be put off by the lack of manners, but I came to understand it and even respect it.

Here's what I decided: manners are an excuse to pretend you care. An employee in a customer service role can only pretend to care for so long. Once they stop caring, a predictable and costly cycle plays out - dropoff in production, firing, search for new applicants, and new training for your new, "well mannered" employees.

Does that mean you should employ rude people? Of course not. I'm not suggesting the behavior displayed by the airport staff was proper. I'm suggesting they hired the wrong people.

Instead of hiring people who display good manners, look for people who are genuinely gracious, where words of kindness and gestures of pleasantry are not motivated by a need to pretend, but by the innate character of the individuals who extend them. The overt result (at least in the beginning) might look identical - the differences between good manners and genuine caring might be very subtle, but in the long run, you'll cultivate a more positive, more efficient work environment for your employees, with results your customers will notice in a very good way. Customer loyalty goes up, costs associated with maintaining a workforce (large or small) go down. Bottom line - everyone wins!  Manners are an excuse to lie and falsely represent the character of your company.  Genuine caring is simply...genuine.

I'm sorry, are you asking how to tell the difference between manners and caring when interviewing potential customer service representatives? How should I know? C'mon now - I can't solve all of the world's problems for ya :)