Smith's Statements on Stuff

As part of my current project to upgrade an organisation from 6.5 to 8.0.2, we have an issue where users have multiple local archives with editor access and enforce consistent ACLs set. We don't know what they might have called the files, and have no realistic way to get them onto a server where we could crack them open and then upgrade them.

Our solution is to write a small app that will do the following:

• prompt the user to pick his archives from a list of the dbs on the client.
• create a local group that matches an admin group that exists in all mail databases.
• add a new ID - "archive admin" to that group. This ID will have no password set and have no permissions or group memberships on servers.
• Switch the client to this ID
• now we have manager access to the archive/s we can upgrade the design of them to mail8.ntf
• finally - switch the user back to their own ID.

It can therefore be a self service solution - if users have local archives they just open the app ( we will send them a link, we're nice like that - suppose we could add a bookmark via policies) and they manage the upgrade of their archives themselves.

Just need to test it now

My lovely employers (should they be reading) recently furnished me with a MacBook Pro (oooh), after much grief with my HP XP machine.
Whilst I could have read the manual (not), I am transitioning the usual Admin way by having a go. Whilst it is a lovely machine I had two initial gripes to anyone who would listen:

1. No right click on the machine - right click works on a mouse, but only one button on the laptop - go figure.
2. No "page down" button! I was pressing the down arrow like a maniac when wading through long docs.
 
Of course, I now know that by merely placing two fingers on the touchpad and then clicking it acts as right click - very swish, and that pressing "fn" with the arrow is page down / up.
Took me quite a while to work this out.

Two very simple issues, easily resolved, which caused me to complain about an otherwise fantastic piece of kit.

What has this got to do with Notes? Well, in a number of recent conversations I've heard opinions that user training is not a high priority as part of an R8 upgrade. Tut tut.
So just remember - the simplest things that we assume users could figure out for themselves may in fact cause them grief. This will turn them from advocates to, um, non-advocates.

User education is key to getting acceptance of a new piece of software, and make them feel part of the process. Extend traditional training (handouts, sessions, cbt, floor walkers, cafe "drop-in desks", etc etc) and use some of the collab tools available - how about an upgrade project Blog, with weekly "what's new" articles? When you roll your 8 clients out set an RSS to the project blog to keep users up to date with developments and ideas. Think about a few useful widgets, create the catalog and use policies to point users to it. Go on, go, on, go on.