The Ten Best Web Support Sites of 2000.

OPEN DIVISION

Cognos support.cognos.com

Dell Computer support.dell.com

Hewlett-Packard www.itresourcecenter.hp.com

Iomega www.iomega.com/support

Sybase my.sybase.com

Symantec www.symantec.com/techsupp

SMALL COMPANY DIVISION

CyberSource www.cybersource.com/support

InstallShield Software support.installshield.com

O'Reilly & Associates software.oreilly.com

Wind2 Software support.wind2.com

The Year's Ten Best Web Support Sites is an annual awards competition conducted by The Association of Support Professionals (ASP) and Soft[yen]letter. A panel of judges has selected these sites based on design and performance, knowledgebase content, interactive features, personalization, and success at overcoming major development challenges. For additional information on the awards, see www.asponline.com/awards.html.

CONNECTICUT attorney general William Blumenthal on the antitrust implications of the new Microsoft Web services strategy: "These new services, linked as they are to Windows, represent more of the same to leverage their market dominance... fulfilling the worst of our fears." (Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, 6/23/00)

CALICO COMMERCE chief technology officer on his belief that Microsoft's new strategy is a "last decade" idea because it's strongly Windows- centric: "Microsoft still doesn't get it." (Quoted in Business Week, 7/3/00)

IDC analyst Amy Mizoras on Oracle's decision to let third party firms host its rental applications, which chairman Larry Ellison once vowed would happen only "over my dead body": "It's a good thing Larry Ellison has nine lives." (Quoted in Computerworld, 7/3/00)

MICROSOFT group vice president Jeff Raikes on the invigorating effect of his company's new Web services focus: "Microsoft always works best when it's on a jihad. And this is the next jihad. But what's different this time is it isn't just about developing the technology and reshaping the Internet. It's about redefining our company too." (Quoted in Fortune, 7/10/00)

MICROSOFT president Steve Ballmer on the future of the ASP model: "All software will be a service in ten years." (Quoted in CRN, 7/24/00)

ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION executive director Tara Lemmey on the way companies collect personalization data: "There's a very fine line between good customer service and stalking." (Quoted in Business 2.0, 2/00)

OBLIX chief executive Gordon Eubanks on his irritation with employees who keep asking when the company will go public: "They ought to be asking, Ohow is my customer doing?'" (Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, 4/24/00)

KIOKEN founder Gene Na on his Web design firm's relationship with its clients: "What the client sometimes doesn't understand is the less they talk to us, the better it is. We know what's best." (Quoted in The Industry Standard, 5/29/00)

WIZARDMAIL MARKETING SYSTEMS director James Kemp on a recent study that showed that 75% of companies with Web sites failed to respond to e-mail inquiries from customers: "It shocked me. These companies are spending $800,000, $1 million on a Web site, and they won't even answer an e- mail. All that money spent, and no one's doing basic follow-up. They get them there and then they don't kiss them." (Quoted in iMarketing News, 7/17/00)

RED HAT chairman Bob Young on whether he hopes to make his Linux company as big as Microsoft: "You should ask whether Microsoft will be as big as Red Hat." (Quoted in Marketing Computers, 2/00)

IDC analyst Dan Kusnetsky on whether Linux is really a threat to Microsoft: "The whole worldwide market for Linux in 1999 was $76 million. Microsoft makes that much money each morning before it even opens its doors for business." (Quoted in Red Herring, 6/00)