12/11/2002 -- To: Santa Claus

Subject: My 2003 IT Wish List

Hello Santa,

I know its been a good two years since I last e-mailed you; I hope you havent forgotten me! In that two years quite a bit has changed: .NET is becoming a reality (well, kind of), network security has become an extremely important issue, the number of IT certifications has exploded, and yours truly has joined the ranks of those who have lived for four decades.

So I hope you understand, Santa, that with all these changes going on, my wish list is not really all that unreasonable. All right, enough of the small talk, and on to the list!

• Quick, I've got a client who wants to run Windows 2000 Professional and Office 2002 on their 12 desktops, Windows 2000 Server on their 2 servers, with one of them running SQL as well. What kind of licensing to they need, and at what volume discount level? Oh, you need to know how many CPUs are on the SQL server? And you also need to know how their SQL apps work? And its important if theres any kind of Web services that need to access the SQL data?
  
  Why should large corporations and busy consulting firms have to hire full time personnel just to stay on top of software licensing? I downloaded Microsofts Volume Licensing part number and price listit had over 3,000 line items! How are we supposed to know it we are quoting the correct software, and taking advantage of the best pricing options?
  
  Please, Santa, take my software licensing headaches away!
  
  
• I love my cell phone. It probably accounts for 85 percent of all my phone activity. Yet I cant seem to keep up with ever-changing calling plans, cell phone modelsor even the myriad wireless providers out there. Is there any way you can get me the answers to the following three simple questions

  1. Who has the best coverage in my area?
  2. Which plan offers the best rates?
  3. How do I get my wife to keep her phone turned on?

• Speaking of cell phones, I could really use one of those cool phone/PDA/camera/flashlight/toothbrush all-in-one units. I want it to run the full version of XP, have a full color screen, run for days on a single battery charge, and be able to connect to the Internet at T1 speeds.
  
  
• Im still waiting for a decent FTP and SMTP server from Microsoft. It's been two years since I last asked you about this, and nothing has gotten better. I know Bill Gates and company aren't beholden to you, Santa, but if you could pull a few strings and get them to rework their FTP and SMTP components, I would be so grateful.
  
  
• Lets talk printers for a bit. I don't understand why network interfaces aren't standard on every printer. They're certainly not expensive (I can get PCI NICs for $10). So why is it that the network version of a given printer is two or three hundred dollars more than the non-network version? Just about every computer is on some kind of network these days (even my kids' PC is on our household LAN). It would sure be nice if the printers were networked as well.
  
  
• Another issue with printers (and fax machines and personal copiers): Whats with the wimpy "starter" cartridges they all seem to ship with?You buy a cool new fax machine for 80 bucks, but the ink cartridge that comes with it is only good for 30 faxes or so! You've got to shell out a good 40 or 50 more bucks to get a real cartridge. Santa, can you get all the manufacturers to agree to ship "real" cartridges with their products?
  
  
• I went to the local computer store to get some RAM the other day. The guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted SDRAM, DDR, Rambus, PC100, PC133, 78 pin, 168 pin, ECCWhy cant hardware manufacturers settle on a single form factor? I have gobs of useless RAM sitting in my computer lab because none of the motherboards available today support it.
  
  
• I know Ive already asked for a lot. Can I ask for one more thing, Santa? Bring back the days when IT pros could get six figure salaries and stock options were actually worth something. Oh, how I miss the glory days of IT! I promise Ill be good, and Ill even get some more certifications.

Whadd'ya say, Santa? Well, I know you have many other e-mails to go through (not to mention all the spam I'm sure you are inundated with) so Ill let you go until next year. Merry Christmas!

What's on your wish list for the big guy this year? Post your comments below!