Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?
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I don't think it's fair to call ScreenConnect ghost ship when other products are really releasing new features faster. I forgot who said that once a product gets to about version 6 it's pretty mature in what it does and you shouldn't expect ground breaking new features in subsequent versions.
If GoToAssist/LogMeIn/Bomgar had come out with a bunch of features in the last year that ScreenConnect didn't, I would probably feel differently, and I would vote with my dollars at renewal time.
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@storageninja said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
Review the companies financials before considering them a serious bidder for your solution. Be extremely cautious of private companies. Review when their last round of funding was and understand that someone who's just at an angel or A round likely has a VERY short runway and could disappear overnight. Understand that someone who's at C/D round is likely about to either IPO (If the valuation of 10x the Venture Capital that has gone in is doable) or be acquired and have to shift to becoming more profitable.
I think this is great advice and is often overlooked.
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@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
I don't think it's fair to call ScreenConnect ghost ship when other products are really releasing new features faster.
New features aren't relevant, really. The issue is maintaining the current product to working levels. Currently, instead of fixing things, they simply warn that the product is not working properly and insecure.
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@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
I forgot who said that once a product gets to about version 6 it's pretty mature in what it does and you shouldn't expect ground breaking new features in subsequent versions.
Product version mean nothing. If someone said that, they didn't know anything about software. Many products, Windows for example, start in higher numbers. Windows NT started on version 3 to make it sound more mature to specifically trick people who think version numbers would tell them something of that nature.
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@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
If GoToAssist/LogMeIn/Bomgar had come out with a bunch of features in the last year that ScreenConnect didn't, I would probably feel differently, and I would vote with my dollars at renewal time.
Why would features matter? If the product is good and does what is needed, features are just wasted resources. But maintaining a working product is a million times more relevant.
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@scottalanmiller said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
I don't think it's fair to call ScreenConnect ghost ship when other products are really releasing new features faster.
New features aren't relevant, really. The issue is maintaining the current product to working levels. Currently, instead of fixing things, they simply warn that the product is not working properly and insecure.
Except that they have never recommended your version of their solution. They built it second. The product has always been designed to run on Windows with native .Net.
Just because you don't like that, does not negate the design of the solution.
Maybe you should never have used it in the first place.
Sounds like poor research on your part if that is how you are feeling.
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@scottalanmiller said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
If GoToAssist/LogMeIn/Bomgar had come out with a bunch of features in the last year that ScreenConnect didn't, I would probably feel differently, and I would vote with my dollars at renewal time.
Why would features matter? If the product is good and does what is needed, features are just wasted resources. But maintaining a working product is a million times more relevant.
Except when it's not...
If you have low penetration of a market, features are more important than maintenance of existing customers for a sub-set of existing features. If a feature will get you 10K customers, and not maintaining the Linux build will lose you 100 customers that's a trivial simple decision for their product managers.
The first 100 customers you get will look nothing like the next 10K customers you get is a problem for software products.
I suspect the Windows version is the most popular (It's what I used).
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@scottalanmiller said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
I forgot who said that once a product gets to about version 6 it's pretty mature in what it does and you shouldn't expect ground breaking new features in subsequent versions.
Product version mean nothing. If someone said that, they didn't know anything about software. Many products, Windows for example, start in higher numbers. Windows NT started on version 3 to make it sound more mature to specifically trick people who think version numbers would tell them something of that nature.
Veeam did this also. Started at 3.
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@storageninja said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@scottalanmiller said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
I forgot who said that once a product gets to about version 6 it's pretty mature in what it does and you shouldn't expect ground breaking new features in subsequent versions.
Product version mean nothing. If someone said that, they didn't know anything about software. Many products, Windows for example, start in higher numbers. Windows NT started on version 3 to make it sound more mature to specifically trick people who think version numbers would tell them something of that nature.
Veeam did this also. Started at 3.
It's become increasingly common. Once companies realized that people actually went by the numbers and ignored the product, it was a simple way to prey on the gullible. People basically forced it to happen. The told vendors they didn't care about product quality, only the name. So everyone renamed.
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@jaredbusch said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@scottalanmiller said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
I don't think it's fair to call ScreenConnect ghost ship when other products are really releasing new features faster.
New features aren't relevant, really. The issue is maintaining the current product to working levels. Currently, instead of fixing things, they simply warn that the product is not working properly and insecure.
Except that they have never recommended your version of their solution. They built it second. The product has always been designed to run on Windows with native .Net.
Just because you don't like that, does not negate the design of the solution.
Maybe you should never have used it in the first place.
Sounds like poor research on your part if that is how you are feeling.
That it was their second choice is not how you are portraying it. It was and is official, just as official as the Windows version. And we moved to it at the time because it was vastly superior for us (lower maintenance, better performance.) Windows didn't cut it, the Linux version did. Now the Linux version isn't cutting it AND the Windows version isn't. But you can't pick and choose what's official yourself. They made it official, they are failing support and upkeep.
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Firefox started changing version numbers like every month, a few years ago.
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@wrx7m said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
Firefox started changing version numbers like every month, a few years ago.
Suse moved to 42 not that long ago, from like 11.
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Numbers and marketing aside, are there products out there that have had major changes after 6 major releases? I think 90% of the functions people use in Microsoft Word were in version 6.
For the guys trying to host their own screen connect server, why? We try to steer our customers to products in the cloud, why not use them ourselves? I've used Screen Connect that a private company hosted themselves and then started a screen connect subscription. The first thing I noticed is that I got the updates faster from the screenconnect hosted option.
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@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
Numbers and marketing aside, are there products out there that have had major changes after 6 major releases? I think 90% of the functions people use in Microsoft Word were in version 6.
For the guys trying to host their own screen connect server, why? We try to steer our customers to products in the cloud, why not use them ourselves? I've used Screen Connect that a private company hosted themselves and then started a screen connect subscription. The first thing I noticed is that I got the updates faster from the screenconnect hosted option.
Because I already had it before there was a hosted option. And the cost to change is not worth it.
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@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
For the guys trying to host their own screen connect server, why? We try to steer our customers to products in the cloud, why not use them ourselves? n.
Cost. It remains cheaper for now. We've had it since before hosted was an option (that I knew about at any rate.) The pricing model is totally different and the self hosted is less costly and, for us, works perfectly on Linux. But for Allen, it has major issues. So our cost and maintenance are tiny.
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@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
Numbers and marketing aside, are there products out there that have had major changes after 6 major releases? I think 90% of the functions people use in Microsoft Word were in version 6.
Define a major release and define six and why do "features" keep getting mentioned? Word 6 would suck pretty badly today if it was not updated. So clearly, Word 6 is a perfect example of how abandoning the code, but having enough features, would make it a pretty crappy product. But Word 2016, even if you use no features you didn't have in 6, is pretty nice.
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The start of the post sounded like you were suggesting the ConnectWise bought ScreenConnect and was abandoning it. Could it be that they are moving towards the same subscription based model that most vendors are going to? Could it be that they are not focusing on supporting self hosted options since it generates so little revenue for them?
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@scottalanmiller said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@wrx7m said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
Firefox started changing version numbers like every month, a few years ago.
Suse moved to 42 not that long ago, from like 11.
Leap is now 15 instead of 42.
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@black3dynamite said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@scottalanmiller said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
@wrx7m said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
Firefox started changing version numbers like every month, a few years ago.
Suse moved to 42 not that long ago, from like 11.
Leap is now 15 instead of 42.
Yeah, which shows how little the number means.
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@mike-davis said in Has ConnectWise Set ScreenConnect Adrift as Ghost Ship Software?:
The start of the post sounded like you were suggesting the ConnectWise bought ScreenConnect and was abandoning it. Could it be that they are moving towards the same subscription based model that most vendors are going to? Could it be that they are not focusing on supporting self hosted options since it generates so little revenue for them?
Wouldn't that be a form of abandonment? Sounds like you're just describing abandonment scenarios. And the one we are discussing is subscription based, they only have subscription and hosted products of this type.
It's fine if they are changing models, but the point being they make a product and appear to not fully support it, and the concern is that they are abandoning it. That they aren't abandoning other things is really neither here nor there. No one implied they were going out of business or making nothing, only that the product that they market and sell appears to not be getting proper production level support for quite some time, and appears to be at risk of being in the abandonment category.
