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An Apology

In the past, when people asked me what email server they should use for their business, my answer was immediate;

Communigate Pro

If they asked me what email server should they use for high reliability where email is an absolutely mission - critical service, and they need to have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of users supported, my answer was immediate:

Communigate Pro

It was, (and really still is), a rock solid email server that is able to handle any load, no matter how large.

But I can't recommend it anymore, and I honestly apologize to anyone I recommended it to in the past. Not for any technical reasons. I can't imagine a bug that the CGPro coders can't fix, and well.

It's because of the company behind it, Communigate Systems, née Stalker software, and the way they are now treating their customers.

When you bought Communigate, aka CGPro, you always had a license for the version you bought, and a certain amount of version upgrades. That was never a problem, primarily because it was pretty much unenforced. However, this worked for their customers beyond just saving them money, because it allowed them to follow the "upgrade to version X to fix that bug" recommendations from CGPro tech support.

About a year ago, some things changed. First, the MAPI groupware connector, which had heretofore been an optional component was now a mandatory part of any CGPro purchase, unless you could 'prove' to CG Systems that you were an "ISP". The licensing costs for CGPro of course went up rather astronomically. The management of CG Systems gave a number of replies that basically boiled down to, "That's the way it is, and if you can't deal with that, we don't need your business". For people who wanted just a rock - solid email server, this was a very bad thing. So they held off on new licenses, upgrading licenses, and just did version upgrades as they needed to, or when told to do so by CGPro tech support.

This is where the second issue comes in. CG Systems decided to be far more hardcore about enforcing their license agreement, and made a modification to what was the current version of CGPro to enforce the license. Basically, if you upgraded, regardless of reason, past where your licenses were supported, your server quit. Bang. Initially, there was no obvious reason. Nothing in logs that indicated this was a licensing problem. CG Systems modified this to show log entries saying, "Your license expired, call CG Systems sales to upgrade". In the mean time, you don't have a functional email server.

If you're thinking "That sounds like a timebomb", well, I think that too.

Now, I do not have any problem with CG Systems enforcing license agreements. That is not the problem. The problem is that they have chosen to do it in a way that can, (and has, and is) cause real problems for even customers who want to stay current. When CGPro tech support tells you to upgrade to version "Foo" to fix a bug, and that version timebombs on you, and you ask them what's up, and they check their records, and they tell you that your license is invalid for the version they told you to upgrade to so you could fix a bug, that is something I have extreme problems with.

When you take into account that CG Systems knows exactly what every customer is licensed for, (since they manually issue you the license key for every copy of CGPro you buy), there's no way they can say "We didn't know it would timebomb you, but it's your fault for not knowing what you're legal for". While that's technically correct, I think it is reasonable to assume that when a company representative, (tech support) tells you to upgrade to a specific version of CGPro to fix a bug, and you ask them "is this okay for my license?" and they say yes it is, that you are not going to get timebombed.

Following technical support's advice should never blind-side you like that. If the license is not valid for that version, then the installation should fail with a clear, specific dialog telling you that you are not licensed for that version, or it should warn you about your license problem, and give you a chance to rectify it. Even Microsoft allows you time to do the right thing. CG Systems isn't even doing that.

They are technically within their rights to do so, but it is, to my definition of things, unethical in the extreme to screw over a customer, (especially when that customer is also, in some cases, a reseller) like this. I personally know people who are having serious business problems because of CG System's cavalier treatment of them. In some cases, they cannot even get calls returned from CG Systems so they can even begin to rectify this. Not only are their email servers dead, they can't talk to the company to do anything about it. This isn't a minor issue, this is a tactic that even Microsoft would hesitate to take.

CGPro is, from a purely technical view, the most solid, and reliable email server on any platform. The technical excellence of that code is still as solid as ever.

But the company behind it? Barring a complete and permanent change of management, I wouldn't give them money for a cup of coffee anymore. Yes, the company behind the product, along with its corporate ethics and policies does matter.

So to everyone I ever recommended Communigate Pro to, I apologize. It was a good recommendation at the time, but if you took that advice, and got nailed with the time bomb, I'm really sorry the company turned out to be such a pack of amoral jackals.

Categories: Main

Posted by John C. Welch at 11:19 | Permalink

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In the past, when people asked me what email server they should use for their business, my answer was immediate;\n\nCommunigate Pro\n\nIf they asked me what email server should they use for high reliability where email is an absolutely mission - critical service, and they need to have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of users supported, my answer was immediate:\n\nCommunigate Pro\n\nIt was, (and really still is), a rock solid email server that is able to handle any load, no matter how large. \n\nBut I can't recommend it anymore, and I honestly apologize to anyone I recommended it to in the past. Not for any technical reasons. I can't imagine a bug that the CGPro coders can't fix, and well. \n\nIt's because of the company behind it, Communigate Systems, née Stalker software, and the way they are now treating their customers.\n\nWhen you bought Communigate, aka CGPro, you always had a license for the version you bought, and a certain amount of version upgrades. That was never a problem, primarily because it was pretty much unenforced. However, this worked for their customers beyond just saving them money, because it allowed them to follow the \"upgrade to version X to fix that bug\" recommendations from CGPro tech support.\n\nAbout a year ago, some things changed. First, the MAPI groupware connector, which had heretofore been an optional component was now a mandatory part of any CGPro purchase, unless you could 'prove' to CG Systems that you were an \"ISP\". The licensing costs for CGPro of course went up rather astronomically. The management of CG Systems gave a number of replies that basically boiled down to, \"That's the way it is, and if you can't deal with that, we don't need your business\". For people who wanted just a rock - solid email server, this was a very bad thing. So they held off on new licenses, upgrading licenses, and just did version upgrades as they needed to, or when told to do so by CGPro tech support.\n\nThis is where the second issue comes in. CG Systems decided to be far more hardcore about enforcing their license agreement, and made a modification to what was the current version of CGPro to enforce the license. Basically, if you upgraded, regardless of reason, past where your licenses were supported, your server quit. Bang. Initially, there was no obvious reason. Nothing in logs that indicated this was a licensing problem. CG Systems modified this to show log entries saying, \"Your license expired, call CG Systems sales to upgrade\". In the mean time, you don't have a functional email server. \n\nIf you're thinking \"That sounds like a timebomb\", well, I think that too. \n\nNow, I do not have any problem with CG Systems enforcing license agreements. That is not the problem. The problem is that they have chosen to do it in a way that can, (and has, and is) cause real problems for even customers who want to stay current. When CGPro tech support tells you to upgrade to version \"Foo\" to fix a bug, and that version timebombs on you, and you ask them what's up, and they check their records, and they tell you that your license is invalid for the version they told you to upgrade to so you could fix a bug, that is something I have extreme problems with.\n\nWhen you take into account that CG Systems knows exactly what every customer is licensed for, (since they manually issue you the license key for every copy of CGPro you buy), there's no way they can say \"We didn't know it would timebomb you, but it's your fault for not knowing what you're legal for\". While that's technically correct, I think it is reasonable to assume that when a company representative, (tech support) tells you to upgrade to a specific version of CGPro to fix a bug, and you ask them \"is this okay for my license?\" and they say yes it is, that you are not going to get timebombed. \n\nFollowing technical support's advice should never blind-side you like that. If the license is not valid for that version, then the installation should fail with a clear, specific dialog telling you that you are not licensed for that version, or it should warn you about your license problem, and give you a chance to rectify it. Even Microsoft allows you time to do the right thing. CG Systems isn't even doing that. \n\nThey are technically within their rights to do so, but it is, to my definition of things, unethical in the extreme to screw over a customer, (especially when that customer is also, in some cases, a reseller) like this. I personally know people who are having serious business problems because of CG System's cavalier treatment of them. In some cases, they cannot even get calls returned from CG Systems so they can even begin to rectify this. Not only are their email servers dead, they can't talk to the company to do anything about it. This isn't a minor issue, this is a tactic that even Microsoft would hesitate to take.\n\nCGPro is, from a purely technical view, the most solid, and reliable email server on any platform. The technical excellence of that code is still as solid as ever.\n\nBut the company behind it? Barring a complete and permanent change of management, I wouldn't give them money for a cup of coffee anymore. Yes, the company behind the product, along with its corporate ethics and policies does matter. \n\nSo to everyone I ever recommended Communigate Pro to, I apologize. It was a good recommendation at the time, but if you took that advice, and got nailed with the time bomb, I'm really sorry the company turned out to be such a pack of amoral jackals.