In Progressions last month I laid out a number of topics for articles and I'm starting to work on the list this month with an article on How to Select a Systems Consultant. While I'm probably a bit (a lot) biased in this, you might find some pearls of wisdom in amongst the digs at self styled tradesmen with only one tool in their belt.

I've spent some of the past month dealing with a couple of long time customers, a realty company and a law office. Both these businesses have been customers for ten years or more, and have had multi-user computer systems based on Unix (SCO) with both text and graphic terminals. Both customers' systems are getting long in the tooth, and with Y2K coming on quickly (less than 100 days and counting), they have decided to move to new systems.

During the past few years, my business focus has moved from the small business systems these two companies have to Internet and Internet systems for ISPs. My relationship with these two and a couple of other long time customers continues mainly because of close personal friendships that have arisen from our originally strictly business relations. Of course one of the other reasons that our professional relationship continues is that their systems have been almost flawless for almost 4 generations of the alternative desktop systems from Redmond WA.

Because I'm no longer really in the business of looking after customers like them, and because of the high visibility of Microsoft's Windows systems, both have ended up dealing peripherally with companies and individuals that deal in that (Microsoft) arena. Some of their experiences have prompted this month's article.