The following email from a friend speaks for itself
A bit of background: [redacted]'s Marketing department is about to re-launch the public website. And they chose to create the new version in Sharepoint, so that each department can maintain its own sections. For example, my department handles the Jobs section. Forget whether or not I think this is a good or bad idea, because I have no say in it. So anyway, we're in the process of building our sections, using the templates provided to us by IS, who built them for Marketing.
So, I just had this phone conversation with the IS guy who's leading the project:
Me: We're having some trouble with the templates. The spacing is really off.
Him: It looks fine on my screen. What browser are you using?
Me: IE 6.0.
Him: Oh, well that's the problem. IE 6 is really different from IE 7.
Me: Yeah, I know. But about 25% of the public is still using it.
Him: Really? Huh.
Me: It doesn't look good in Firefox, either.
Him: Yeah, Sharepoint never works well in Firefox. This site is designed for IE 7.
Me: ::stunned silence:: Um, only about 25% of web users have IE 7.
Him: Huh. We just built it to meet the requirements Marketing gave us.
Me: Um.. I'd be VERY nervous about releasing a public website that didn't work in the majority of browsers!
Him: Yeah. Well, I'll look into it, but that's probably a development thing and the developer just left on vacation.
And that's when you would have heard me screaming. <sigh> This thing is supposed to go into final testing in two days, and launch in a week and a half. And it's going to be a train wreck...
Curt again here. Want to chat with me live online? I'll be the guest for a Network World chat where I'll be answering your questions about database management, social networking, looking good online -- or anything else you want to talk about. 2 - 3 p.m. ET, Tuesday, August 19. No registration necessary. Just login at http://www.networkworld.com/chat/
Curt Monash is a leading analyst of and strategic advisor to the software industry. Praised by Lawrence J. Ellison for his "unmatched insight into technology and marketplace trends," Curt was the software/services industry's #1 ranked stock analyst while at PaineWebber, Inc., where he served as a First Vice President until 1987. He subsequently co-founded Evernet, Inc., a $40 million networking systems integrator. Since 1990, he has owned and operated Monash Research, an analysis and advisory firm covering software-intensive sectors of the technology industry. In that period he also has been co-founder, president, or chairman of several other technology startups.
Curt has served as a strategic advisor to many well-known firms, including Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, AOL, CA, and Netezza. Curt earned a Ph.D. in mathematics (Game Theory) from Harvard University. He has held faculty positions in mathematics, economics and public policy at Harvard, Yale, and Suffolk universities.
The opinions expressed in this Weblog are those of the writer and may not represent the opinions of Network World.
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