In that first part I introduced:
Principle 1: The Repair or Replace Decision
Principle 2: The Cost of Additional Computers
Principle 3: The Cloud Advantage
Principle 4: The Dual Platform, Dual Browser Safety Net
Principle 5: Legacy Code
Principle 6: Redundant Systems
Principle 7: Backups and Archives
Principle 8: Monetizing Content
Principle 9: High Value vs. Low Value Content
Principle 10: The Make vs. Buy Decision
With these principles in hand, and a good dose of common sense, I want to broach the important topic of System Conversion.
System Conversion: A change in method or process of accomplishing work or doing business.
Examples of this are changing:
- operating systems - e.g. Windows vs. MacOS
- internet service providers - e.g. ATT vs. Cricket
- communications providers - Comcast vs DirectTV
- changing email programs - Outlook v.s gmail
- hardware platforms - Dell vs. Apple
- search platforms - Google vs. Bing
More specifically let's say you are unhappy with your email service provider - I myself want to change service providers, but there is a time and monetary cost to doing so. When I use the word cost, I am referring to time, space, and money (energy).
It is essential to calculate the cost for two possible scenarios:
1) The cost of continuing to do things as you currently do them.
2) The cost of doing the same thing a different way.
There is an additional cost:
3) The cost of doing the conversion itself.
To make matters worse, there is a fourth, hidden cost.
4) The cost of maintaining two systems while you transition from the pre-conversion system to the post-conversion system.
Doing something a different way does not mean doing it a new way - but it should always mean doing it a better way.
If you calculate these costs, before you perform a system conversion, you are more likely to make a good decision.
Consider the cost of an email system conversion. I am unhappy with Outlook.com because it takes a full thirty minutes to receive a new email message. When I am "cooking" I operate on a considerably shorter time frame than 30 minutes. Even 30 seconds when I am thinking about something can seem like an unproductive eternity.
I used to run Outlook 20XX on Windows YY on my PC ZZ. Then I migrated to Outlook.com as support for Windows was beginning to wane. Now I am almost completely transitioned to Outlook.com and my email is horribly slow. To examine what my options are I visited emailclientmarketshare.com. At this writing the marketshare is this:
I have an archive of 52,000+ emails reaching a back to 1996. So storage space is an issue, as are stability, longevity and ease of converting yet again.
My wife taught me a shopping trick. When she sees a set of similar products in an aisle and one of the products is nearly sold out, she buys THAT product. It is sort of a reddit, "wisdom-of-the-hive" approach. But that trick won't work here because there are more considerations than just the client.
After counting my costs the lowest cost is for me to continue what I am doing and letting Outlook 20XX coexist with Outlook.com. But I am simultaneously transitioning to the MacBook Pro as a backup platform which gives me portability. After as season it may become much easier to perform the email System Conversion.
Consider the cost of an email system conversion. I am unhappy with Outlook.com because it takes a full thirty minutes to receive a new email message. When I am "cooking" I operate on a considerably shorter time frame than 30 minutes. Even 30 seconds when I am thinking about something can seem like an unproductive eternity.
I used to run Outlook 20XX on Windows YY on my PC ZZ. Then I migrated to Outlook.com as support for Windows was beginning to wane. Now I am almost completely transitioned to Outlook.com and my email is horribly slow. To examine what my options are I visited emailclientmarketshare.com. At this writing the marketshare is this:
I have an archive of 52,000+ emails reaching a back to 1996. So storage space is an issue, as are stability, longevity and ease of converting yet again.
My wife taught me a shopping trick. When she sees a set of similar products in an aisle and one of the products is nearly sold out, she buys THAT product. It is sort of a reddit, "wisdom-of-the-hive" approach. But that trick won't work here because there are more considerations than just the client.
After counting my costs the lowest cost is for me to continue what I am doing and letting Outlook 20XX coexist with Outlook.com. But I am simultaneously transitioning to the MacBook Pro as a backup platform which gives me portability. After as season it may become much easier to perform the email System Conversion.
