May Letter

Fact v. Fiction

Hi there, 

The purpose of this newsletter is to encourage you to think about moving your Private Email account away from Rackspace and to Microsoft Exchange. Torture, I know, and as I keep saying, not on our list of favorite things to do. But we've been preparing for this eventuality, and after a few tests and actual migrations,  it's really not that bad.

I firmly believe this is the right move for most of our clients. 

Evolve for Survival and Success

Before discussing more specifics, here's some critical perspective about change today.

This is a fact; digital technology drives change like nothing else. So, correspondingly, adaptation and evolution are as crucial to survival and success as ever. The greatest challenge is that change is happening faster than ever, so adapting is increasingly a regular requirement.

The key is to strategically position your interface with technology to be nimble, agile, and ultimately in your control.

✓ TDS builds the foundation of its counsel and services to clients on these precepts.

Why It's Time to Move Email?

But why now?  Well, let's start with this:

This bleak chart illustrates one of our driving reasons for change; Rackspace’s best days are likely over, to say the least. So, while I don’t feel imminent danger, I can’t predict Rackspace’s future. I just think we shouldn’t be part of it, and we have far better options at hand.

Rackspace served a purpose and was best-in-class for a long time. However, in a world of break-neck paces of change, better technologies have emerged and become more accessible and affordable, and now represent excellent value.

✓ Rackspace is one reason for moving email. The 2nd reason is better options have emerged. The 3rd reason is AI..

Enter AI

Talk about fast-paced change. Well, we haven't seen anything yet. Underfoot is one of humanity's most significant shifts and drivers of change, and we are about to witness it unfold before our eyes.

You already know AI is a big deal.  I believe AI's impact on civilization will rank with the splitting of the atom and the discovery of nuclear fission.  My concern is that nuclear was controlled because of its physical and economic constraints.  Using atomic science to do anything meaningful takes nothing less than the resources of a nation-state.

Digital technology, by its nature, democratizes itself, meaning it makes itself increasingly accessible and affordable.  An example of the democratization effect of digital is why we see even homeless people with an iPhone (supercomputer.)

It's just a matter of time before anyone with the initiative or imperative weaponizes AI for gain against another, big or small. For this, I fear AI will surely go wrong in an impactful way. AI will also get some things right and solve some of the planet's most pressing issues. But the damage and scar tissue between then and now will be significant for many, with adaptation skills challenged every step of the way.

✓ AI is a huge deal. But what does it have to do with moving email?

Fact v. Fiction

A primary challenge to coping with AI-driven change is determining fact from fiction. "What is real and what is fake?" What is truth and what isn't? Your inbox is where you already face this dilemma daily. And it's your inbox where AI will show up early and strong. It's not the Nigerian Prince looking for you to share his inheritance with anymore. Now it's about re-representing your reality distorted for the sake of gain, criminal or otherwise, in an email engineered to exploit you. 

Computer-generated fiction is a powerful tool for bad actors to perpetrate any age-old crime. Fraud, extortion, blackmail, kidnapping, you name it. From the individual to the largest enterprise, knowing what is real or fake is the formidable challenge of our age, with potentially severe consequences if you get it wrong. 

✓ Criminal innovation empowered by AI will increasingly challenge us to determine fact from fiction in daily life. These fact v. fiction challenges will be increasingly evident in your email inbox.

Microsoft Exchange Email

As we’ve presented, our recommended solution to most my anxieties about email is Microsoft’s Exchange email platform. This system is built to serve the most demanding of enterprises and deliver “mission-critical” performance and security.

Microsoft gets an "A+" for investing in the security of its email services. Nobody has invested more, and the system is constantly improved and innovated upon. All email systems will be attacked, and we count on you to use 2-factor authentication. But Microsoft will defend as well as possible and constantly look to improve.

Additionally, Microsoft is a leader in using the science if AI to defend against the criminal weaponization of AI.

Interesting fact: Microsoft's Cyber Defense Operations Center is adjacent to F-Secure/WithSecure headquarters in Helsinki.

✓ Hackers target your email inbox because it works so well. Microsoft Exchange is the best place to host our Private Email customers in the future.

Email Migration

When moving your email domain from Rackspace to Exchange, your email  address remains the same. Your migration will bring over all your old emails and folders - it's just moved from Rackspace's servers to Microsoft's Exchange servers.

We handle the process and heavy lifting "back-end" of migration, but we need your help along the way. We will ask you to change your password and use a different webmail address. Also, the account settings for Apple Mail and Outlook will need adjusting. All inconvenient but absolutely manageable.

✓ Email migration is a process, and we need your help along the way, but we will stay with you until it's complete.

Economics

The Exchange email boxes are $65/yr. paid annually. The migration fee is $175, and the MigrationWiz license is about $12 per email box. Email has never been a profit center at TDS, but we know it's critical to a robust ecosystem of privacy and security.

✓  Some clients will want a Computer Coach to assist with the process of moving email, changing settings on devices, and other customizations one might desire. Click for more.

Finally, I want to stress it is time to be vigilant, informed, and smart. The future will surely amaze and confound but will be brutal on anyone flat-footed or ignorant of the facts related to managing change.

Thanks for reading,

Brad Deflin

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