Sherpa Software Exchange Blog

    Examination of a Product Demonstration

    Karen Bigrigg  April 18 2008 12:32:34 PM
    One of the roles of being a product manager at Sherpa Software is to administer demonstrations of our software to prospective clients.  These demos have a very specific purpose, although they can take on a life of their own once they get going!  The goal of the demo is to showcase the product, and to allow a potential customer to view the software within a working environment – all from the confines of the internet.  Within the boundaries of my demos, I permit Q&A throughout the presentation.

    An Archive Attender demonstration will walk the participants through the data structures of the product: archive locations (where archived data is stored), groups (mailbox containers), users (mailboxes), and public folders.  Additionally, a variety of archiving rules, or policies, are also discussed, including conditional rules (contingent on subject, sender, dates, and size), quota rules, and journal compliance archiving policies.  

    Typically, a demo will begin with an introduction to Sherpa Software and what we offer as a company.  This permits the participants to understand with whom they are working.  Following this is an introduction into what the potential customer is looking for in terms of archiving needs.  Are you interested in the end user access of data?  Do you want to archive off of the journal mailbox?  Is quota archiving of interest to save database space on the Exchange server?  After goals are established, the product walkthrough is completed, with open questioning welcomed.

    To request a demo, please submit the following information to information@sherpasoftware.com:

    *What Windows platform will the software be installed on?
    *What Exchange platform is currently being used?
    *What is the approximate number of mailboxes?
    *Are there any network or desktop PSTs that need to be archived?  If so, approximately how many of each?
    *What is the reason of interest/requirements?
    *What forms of archiving are desired (compliance, journal, regulatory, storage)?
    *Is end user archive access important?  OWA access?
    *Who will the main attendees be - contact information (company name, name, phone, address, email)?