OwlWhacker's Journal: Windows TCO higher - due to cowboy admins!

A guy from a company dealing in network installation and maintenance e-mails me, requesting help getting a mail server working through WinXP's firewall.

A company providing Windows network support having problems with XP's firewall? Crazy.

This isn't an uncommon situation.

If your company is paying for somebody like this to come out and administer your Windows network, you could be paying for hours of work that should really have taken minutes, or possibly paying for work required due to errors/neglect during a previous visit.

Yes, there may be plenty of people out there who can support a Windows network; but I can confirm, with many of these companies, that you're paying for a half-wit to do a half-job, and charge you double (or more) than necessary.