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Microsoft recently cancelled a subscription-software trial in Australia, New Zealand, and France that the company had intended to form the foundation of a worldwide rollout in 2003 of subscription-based software and services. Microsoft's End-User Subscription Licensing (ESL) for Office XP program has been a bust with users in the three aforementioned countries. Many users were surprised to discover that their software applications would stop functioning after a year if the subscription wasn't renewed. The pilot program had been in place since May 2001.
Microsoft blames the failure on consumer confusion. Although the company sold 10 million Office XP licenses in Australia, New Zealand, and France, only 10,000 customers signed on for the ESL version of Office XP. "Although Office XP [End-User] Subscription Licence was a popular offering, research showed the subscription model was not well understood by customers participating in the pilot," said Tony Wilkinson, Office product manager for Microsoft Australia, in a press release announcing the completion of the trial. "Customers and computer resellers from across New Zealand, Australia, and France had the opportunity to be the first in the world to assess the subscription licensing model. From their feedback, we learned that customers find subscriptions a useful method of purchasing software but are not ready to fully adopt this process."
That's for sure. Once heralded as the future of software delivery and the white knight that would safeguard Microsoft's future financials, subscription software is now on the ropes. In Australia, New Zealand, and France, potential ESL customers could purchase a 1-year subscription to Office XP, essentially paying the full price of a complete Office version every 3 years if they continually renewed. But even with the low upfront cost, few users were interested in the deal. "The consumer market just isn't ready for subscription-based software yet," Wilkinson said. "The concept of software delivered as a service is new to consumers and right now the target market just didn't understand."
Happily, Microsoft gave customers who did purchase the subscription Office XP version a full perpetual version of the software for free. However, emerging from the flaming ruins of this important software trial, Microsoft now faces a suddenly uncertain future in subscription software.
So what now? Microsoft will ship Office 11 in mid-2003, and a November beta 1 release might offer clues to any plans the company has for subscription software. But even a few years ago, when Microsoft was first investigating subscription-software schemes, the company realized that getting consumers accustomed to such a huge change to the status quo would take a while. "This is a long-term transition," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in late 2000. "We're going to be selling [traditional] copies of Microsoft Office for many, many years. This is not a quick transition perhaps, but this is the direction of transformation that we're describing." In other words, Microsoft will be back with a better subscription-software story. The company won't give up this easily. [Windows and .NET Magazine Network] |
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Many people think of computer security as something that involves bits, bytes, and passwords. You might not think much about a more elementary level of security: the physical security and integrity of your Exchange Server systems and your Outlook client workstations. Dismissing physical security as someone else's problem is easy but foolish: If an attacker gets unrestricted physical access to your computer, it won't be "your" computer much longer. Fortunately, you can take simple steps to make your systems more secure.
Begin by taking a good look at your building's physical security. Can just anyone get in? Is there an alarm? How about fire protection? Is the cooling system adequate for the number of machines you have? These questions might seem obvious (even dumb), but answering them will help you take inventory of your site's physical-security posture.
Next, take a look at your Exchange servers. Are the servers in a separate room--as they should be--or do they sit next to or under someone's desk? If the machines are in a separate room, make sure the room has a locking door. Depending on the value of your hardware, a simple lock might not be adequate; a combination or cipher lock might be more useful. Restrict who gets the key, combination, or code. Permit only those whose jobs require access to enter the server room (or server closet).
What about the machines themselves? If you're using a server rack, it probably has a lockable door--use it. If you have standalone servers with locking hasps, lock the server cases to prevent miscreants from tampering with or stealing internal components or even the entire system. Most machines contain some amount of sensitive data, so consider removing or disabling any drives that could be used to write data to removable media, including 3.5" drives. Set BIOS and power-on passwords.
These steps apply to desktop workstations, too. Much of your organization's most valuable data probably exists on these machines (a reason to consider regular backups as an additional security measure). Also encourage users to use the Windows Security dialog box (they simply press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to access it) to lock their workstations when they leave their desks. An unattended, unlocked workstation is an open invitation to data theft and compromise.
Laptops are somewhat more difficult to secure physically because they're designed to move around. I know of several high-ranking Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard (HP) employees whose unsecured laptops were stolen from their offices, so no one is immune to laptop theft. Buy some cable locks, and teach people to use them. And make sure users take advantage of Encrypting File System (EFS), which ships with Windows XP and Windows 2000, to secure crucial data.
Finally, investigate and use the Syskey utility on all your machines. Attackers often target systems from which they can harvest local account information, but Syskey effectively prevents this type of attack. Syskey is turned on by default in XP and Win2K, and you can enable it manually in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and later.
None of these steps, other than purchasing locks, costs money. The trick is to use built-in security features to the maximum. Of course, you can do a lot more to beef up physical security, including adding appropriate surveillance and auditing equipment and improving environmental protection (e.g., heating, cooling, fire suppression) measures (see the URL below for some other physical-security suggestions). However, high-end "gates, guards, and guns" measures aren't necessary for most sites. The simple steps I've described will help ensure that your Exchange servers and client systems are (physically) there when you need them.
"Computer Room Fortress" [Windows and .NET Magazine Network] |
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© Copyright
2002
Eric Hartwell.
Last update:
11/4/2002; 5:45:32 PM.
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