I started commenting to Jeff Lynch's blog on Team System Pricing. The comment became so large that I thought I'd blog it with a trackback..
Team System Pricing == Pointy-hair-brained move
Ok. Here's a different take on Team Suite Pricing... I buy MSDN Universal every year aside from my day job. Why? Because
moving from project to project, there are tools I may need to come up
to speed on and stay on top of despite the decisions of the owning
company. In one shot, I get all the latest tools and I bring that ability and knowledge into my job.
Put another way - why did MSSql succeed in the face of Oracle? A big piece is because the average programmer could gain experience with it. Let's face it - Sql Server 4.2 was seriously flawed but I used it and messed around with it on my own. I
never gained Oracle experience on my own simply because I couldn't
afford their product. When the need for a database server came around,
I recommended it (a few releases later) - and an internal
recommendation goes much farther than a salesrep talking about
features. I think MS has lost focus that a low-cost strategy really
benefits themselves when they make tools like this available at a low
cost. If a company buys 'team system' and makes it a part of
their process, they are going to sell far more attached
licenses(OS/DB/etc) than they ever could from dollars by
Team Suite licenses. I suggest this goal is the real purpose of Team
Suite!
Next, does Team System really compete against Rational? The entire purpose of Rational is pushing IBM's process and consulting people on the less fortunate. Is that Microsoft's purpose with Team Suite? I'm
sure there is some pointy-haired manager at MS that would say "yes",
but I think the answer is really an emphatic 'no' based on
competition goals and ultimate sales purpose.
I think MS should cut
the price, kick IBM in the shins (once again) and take the market with
a full toolset that everyone can learn/do!
[This brings up
another question - why isn't IBM considered 'evil' anymore? I
think they have been the biggest benefactor of Microsoft's
lightening-rod position.]