(posted at 09:12AM BST) 
It takes a special type of company to demand that you produce a lengthy specification as to exactly what they need and that you do it for them yesterday.
What makes this particular company rather special is that six months down the line, they have now decided to go with an alternative solution (Microsoft Small Business Server from another supplier rather than my suggested hybrid Linux/Samba/Exim/Courier-MTA solution) and *they* are now asking *me* the best way to get their new all-singing-and-all-dancing Exchange box to receive mail from the Internet.
I honestly think that they expect I will be happy to quote to support the steaming pile of shit that is Exchange Server but given my experiences with that software, they don't have enough money in the bank to even make me consider wanting to support it.
Especially if the person(s) who installed it thought it was a bright idea to still collect mail via POP3 rather than take a direct SMTP feed; if they made decisions like that during the install, I would hate to think what else they have chosen - bloody thing is likely to be an open relay when they have finished with it :-(
Spilsby Internet Solutions currently derives a sizable chunk of revenue from the configuration, installation and support of Asterisk-based PBX systems; the package builds used are tweaked for the UK PSTN and are heavily tested prior to deployment - as such, for the last 12 months, the only problems reported with them have been due to external factors such as telephony providers or buggy SIP phones. | 
