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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Kevin,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Great point. I totally agree
with your assessment of “power users.” We all think we know what’s best, don’t
we?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>One thing that has been pointed
out to me often in this discussion especially centers around the senior (or
preaching pastor), or really anyone who is regularly responsible for teaching
and preaching the Word of God. There are several intangibles to them, but the
most important I have found is their Bible software. Many pastors have hundreds
if not thousands of dollars invested (or donated) in software resources. And
the longer he has been in ministry, the more familiar he is with his own tools.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>In such cases, I have found my
responsibility is not to make it difficult for them, but to (hopefully) design
a network with enough flexibility—without losing standardization and protection
controls—to accommodate such a person. If you have a pastor who has been using
a Mac for 10 years, and you ask him to come into a PC-only network, churches
often say, “We will rebuy or convert your existing software.” But this still
doesn’t compensate him for his own personal investment, nor does it speed his
ability to perform a major component of his job. The converse is also true: if
he has been using a PC for a long time, it is wise to ask the question, “Do we
want him to switch given the amount of extra time it will take him to get
up-to-speed on everything for the first year or so?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>The answers will always depend
on the person. If he has already been spending a lot of time troubleshooting
his PC personally because he has consistent problems, then you might actually
gain time in a Mac switch. If he is going to be spending too much time trying
to figure out Keynote, instead of actually writing the presentation, then that
should also be a consideration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>My point here is that often as a
Network Administrator I am quick to jump at “what is best” for my end users. As
I have recently been reminded from other situations, this is often where we get
into trouble, because we <i>assume</i> we know what the end user is doing on an
hourly/daily basis. In reality, it could be very different from what we think.
I would suggest in these scenarios that the Network Admins sit down with their
pastors and talk about what a conversion would potentially mean, taking careful
inventory of software, even examining whether or not this particular move
facilitates the person’s job description of not.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Just some thoughts of late…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Dan<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
discuss-bounces@itdiscuss.org [mailto:discuss-bounces@itdiscuss.org] <b>On
Behalf Of </b>Kevin Brunson<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, September 16, 2008 9:32 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'IT Discussion Forum'<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [itdiscuss] mac or PC?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I agree with the post on there
that he should let his IT staff do their job. If the IT department can
support mac and pc on the network equally, with the same functional experience
on either, and they really don’t care what he gets (which I doubt), then maybe
it is okay for a public discussion. The comment that his old mac was
“secreted away somewhere” makes me think that the network is designed for pc,
which means he should run a pc. But I post this here instead of there
because this should be a technical decision, not a personal or business
decision, as much as BOTH sides (apple or Microsoft) would tell you
otherwise. The commercials that say “buy me because I will make your life
complete” are only valid for home users. In the workplace, you don’t get
a personal choice, even if you are the senior pastor. You get the choice
that makes the most sense. Whether that is mac or pc, it is a decision
that needs to be made by the people that are QUALIFIED to make it. Even
the most powerful “power user” is nowhere near qualified to make
decisions about what will integrate with the network better. In the
church world in particular, this is a huge thing. In big business, where
there is lots of cash floating around just to make executives happy, they can afford
to integrate lots of systems into a semi-functional network. In the
church world, the mandate is “be good stewards” which means “take limited
resources and stretch them to the breaking point”. And when I say
resources, I mean both money and employee time. The most effective way of
doing that is to get as many users as possible in a homogenous
environment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I think there are some people on
here who feel like I’m preaching to the choir, and some people would totally
disagree. But IT does not exist to make people happy, IT exists to make
people as happy as possible while maintaining maximum efficiency. When
the network is well-designed, stable, and efficient, everyone is happy, even if
they have to use a computer that doesn’t fit their personal preference.
But when the network is a hodgepodge of disparate systems, it is hard to keep
anyone happy, even if they all happen to be using their own preferred platform.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Part of the reason people get paid
to work is so they can do what they want in their own time. If someone
doesn’t like the computer they have at work and wants to use something else at
home, they are provided with a way of doing that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Kevin Brunson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Senior Systems Engineer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Higher Ground Technologies<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>901-333-7777 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
discuss-bounces@itdiscuss.org [mailto:discuss-bounces@itdiscuss.org] <b>On
Behalf Of </b>Jason Powell<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, September 15, 2008 10:42 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> IT Discussion Forum<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [itdiscuss] mac or PC?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Apparently our senior pastor is looking for public advice on
Mac vs. PC …<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><a
href="http://www.markbeeson.com/mark_beeson/2008/09/how-much-longer-will-i-tolerate-my-laptop.html">http://www.markbeeson.com/mark_beeson/2008/09/how-much-longer-will-i-tolerate-my-laptop.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Pro/Con … please weigh in as you see fit.<o:p></o:p></p>
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