1-Man IT Department

White Papers and Followups

A white paper is an authoritative report. White papers are used to educate customers, collect leads for a company or help people make decisions. [1]

In my job, I need to read a lot of white papers to stay current with technology. Lately, my white papers have centered around network security. I have also gone through papers on Asset Management, Disaster Recovery, Policy Best Practices, and even Wireless N technology. I have read papers from CA, Beachhead Solutions, MessageLabs, Astaro, and of course, Microsoft.

I really enjoy reading white papers. In fact, I search them out when I am researching a new aspect of network administration or security. Most of them are written by vendors and they extol the virtues of their products and how they will make your life (and work) even better. You have to take them with a grain of salt because of the fact that companies will write white papers. I look to white papers to expand my knowledge on a subject that I know little about.

What I cannot stand is what happens anywhere from 2-5 days later.

*RING, RING*

Hello?

Hi, Michael. My name is Sam(antha) Saleperson from Company X, and I notice that you downloaded our white paper on the topic that you are reading about. Can I tell you a little more about our products?

Sure…

I am usually good about listening to their schtick. I answer their questions honestly to the best of my knowledge. But then the sales squeeze begins.

Well, I am thinking about asset management, but not until FY 2008.

Oh, well, then would be a good time for me to call you back then?

Probably in June or July.

So, I guess most of my early summer will be spent on the phone.

When I download white papers, I am looking for knowledge, NOT shopping for products! It seems that I am not alone in my white paper frustration. Jon Robinson also is sick of how vendors are using white papers to bait us to download them.

A shoutout to my friend/blogger, and former 1-man IT guy, Mike McBride on his new job. I am sure that he will do great in anything that he does.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper

Popularity: 39% [?]

I’m going to post whitepapers that I think are worth while on my resources page: http://jonsnetwork.com/resources/

You might want to check there occasionally to avoid registration;)

@Jon
That sounds like an awesome idea. I will do the same when i move the blog. I am going away from wordpress.com to a hosted wordpress install. I got the domain registered last night, so I will try to move the blog over there this weekend.

Thanks for the article and the comment.

I tend to fill out forms with gibberish. If they require an email address to get the white paper, their credibility goes down a notch, and I usually supply a pookmail.com address (disposable email address site). But I really hate the white papers that need contact information; honestly, every one of those is just a marketing/sales lure. Even if the writers meant well, their marketing team is in control…