To illustrate the challenges of managing e-mail, took a humorous route in its survey of more than 100 IT pros, sponsored by Zenprise, with a series of "which would you rather" questions.

I guess this group of administrators has it pretty tough. The survey focused on a single support ill; they were asked to rate the level of difficulty in determining the underlying cause of e-mail problems. The Survey revealed that:

• 80 percent of e-mail administrators found determining the underlying cause of e-mail problems is as painful or more painful than shopping with their significant other. (Now, come on, not all e-mail admins are male)
• More than 72 percent found sitting in traffic is as painful as or more painful than finding the underlying cause of e-mail issues. (Depends on where you're sitting. At least the LA freeways are interesting to watch)
• 70 percent thought waiting at the Department of Motor Vehicles is as painful as or more painful than finding the underlying cause of e-mail issues. (I just don't buy that. I'd gladly take a month on the help desk over an hour at the DMV. Those people are scary)
• Only 39 percent revealed that a colonoscopy is as painful as or more painful than finding the underlying cause of e-mail issues. (That proves it. These folks do lead tough lives and they've been doing it for awhile if 39 percent of them have had colonoscopies)
• More than 60 percent concurred that visiting the dentist is as painful as or more painful than finding the underlying cause of e-mail issues. (That's an old one, and only proves one thing: the dentist chair has become a lot less painful in recent years)

And finally, some not so humorous statistics from Osterman about troubleshooting e-mail glitches:

• The average time spent solving an e-mail problem is 2 hours and 47 minutes.
• Approximately 75 minutes is spent determining the cause of the e-mail problem.
• 47 percent of respondents say that troubleshooting an e-mail problem involves four or more departments.
• Over 60 percent of the cost of troubleshooting e-mail problems comes from departments other than the e-mail administration team.

A News Conference Not To Miss

The fight against AOL's pay-to-send proposal has attracted some strange bedfellows, and they're getting together to hold a national telephone news conference on Tuesday to rally behind the growing campaign against the proposal.

The grassroots group, which includes the Gun Owners of America, MoveOn.org Civic Action, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, and the Association of Cancer Online Resources, and other Internet advocacy groups, claim AOL's recently announced "certified e-mail" proposal is nothing more than an e-mail tax and will actually allow paying corporations to bypass spam filters to get direct access to your inbox.

The coalition also claims that such move is the first step in dividing the Internet into two classes of users—those who get preferential treatment and those who are left behind.

Stay tuned for details of the campaign and AOL's reaction on Tuesday.

Posted by Mitch Irsfeld at 06:14 PM | Permalink