Another year is ending and we have two opportunities with that. First we can review the past year and evaluate our performance. We can learn much from that exercise. It can be a significant help in putting together a course of change, an opportunity to tweak things just a bit, or a validation that we should continue doing what we did this year into next year.
Our second opportunity is to create a course for the new year. We get a fresh start, a chance to begin all over again. It is sort of like a new game. The buzzer has sounded on the last one, and now we can take the field again and start from scratch. I know it isn't quite that cut and dried, but you get my drift. It is a chance to make a difference in our direction and ultimately our success.
The key is to stop long enough to do some meaningful reflection and review of how the year really was in 2007. Did you achieve your goals? Did you accomplish all you had intended? If not, what were the blockers? Put down on paper your evaluation - you won't remember it if you don't. One of the most valuable things we can get from the past is lessons we learn, often the hard way. But if we don't record them we often have to learn them over and over and there is no sense in that. Once should be enough for any of us to learn hard lessons. So create a place to store those year end evaluations and reflections and review the learnings often.
If you had a business plan for the year - that is the place to start. Which things were you successful with and which came up a bit short. That is important as you chart the course for the new year. If you had a leadership or life plan, you need to do the same with those. Make sure you evaluate how you did in comparison to the goals you set and note what you learned. Have the blockers been removed yet or do you need to find a way around them? There is so much you can learn by just stopping and evaluating.
You have an opportunity to chart a new year just ahead. But before you do, make sure you stop and learn all you can from the past. We should never dwell on where we have been. But we certainly should not ignore the value of what we can learn from that either.
I wish you blessing and success in 2008! Much of that happens based on how well you prepare and plan. Then it comes down to EXECUTION!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Are you interested in being acquired?
I have an HTG partner in a large metro (so obviously this is not us at HTS) who is poised to do some acquistion activity in 2008 and wants to know if there are any companies meeting his profile who are ready to exit the ownership responsiblities. Here are the guidelines they are wanting to consider:
Tier 1
- Metro area greater than 750k
- Services over $1M
- Services at 40% or more of revenue
- Senior manager who would stay on
- US only, no California
- Not massively in debt
Tier 2
- Metro area greater than 250k
- Services over $500k
- Services at 30% or more of revenue
- Senior manager who would stay on
- US including California
- Debt ok
I believe 2008 will be a year of consolidation and industry change. More and more partners are considering exit strategies and trying to figure out how they will leave the industry. Have you considered how many companies are owned by older ownership who entered the industry in the late 70's or early 80's and are now ready to slow down. I believe it is a dynamic our industry has not prepared for or experienced prior to this time. The next 3-5 years will be full of change for many companies who have been leaders in this industry. So I believe it is a great time to be in the growth business because there will be a lot of opportunity for change. If you fit the profile above and are interested in an initial introduction please email me. Only do so if you are really interested in selling your company and at a reasonable rate. This is not an exercise to see what your business is worth. It is an opportunity for someone who is ready to offload the ownership responsbility to another partner but continue in managing the location(s). So only truly legitimate interest should contact me, and realize that crazy multiples are not legitimate. I am not going to broker a deal but would love to keep the HTG family within the family!
Tier 1
- Metro area greater than 750k
- Services over $1M
- Services at 40% or more of revenue
- Senior manager who would stay on
- US only, no California
- Not massively in debt
Tier 2
- Metro area greater than 250k
- Services over $500k
- Services at 30% or more of revenue
- Senior manager who would stay on
- US including California
- Debt ok
I believe 2008 will be a year of consolidation and industry change. More and more partners are considering exit strategies and trying to figure out how they will leave the industry. Have you considered how many companies are owned by older ownership who entered the industry in the late 70's or early 80's and are now ready to slow down. I believe it is a dynamic our industry has not prepared for or experienced prior to this time. The next 3-5 years will be full of change for many companies who have been leaders in this industry. So I believe it is a great time to be in the growth business because there will be a lot of opportunity for change. If you fit the profile above and are interested in an initial introduction please email me. Only do so if you are really interested in selling your company and at a reasonable rate. This is not an exercise to see what your business is worth. It is an opportunity for someone who is ready to offload the ownership responsbility to another partner but continue in managing the location(s). So only truly legitimate interest should contact me, and realize that crazy multiples are not legitimate. I am not going to broker a deal but would love to keep the HTG family within the family!
Year end tax preparation
I really struggle with the last week or so of the year as we deal with the pending year end close out of accounting and the way that translates into paying taxes. With 2007 being our best year ever, our tax liability is at a level unprecedented by any prior experience. I know that the goal of business is to generate a return on investment. That has never been more true for me now that I am responsible to make sure our stockholders get a return. But growing up and being trained as a farmer - paying tax was always one of those things I worked hard to minimize. Since farming was normally only marginally profitable, it was pretty easy to manage the tax liability. But in 2007, prices were at record levels so that compounds a record year at HTS and viola - a tax nightmare is upon me. Do you have proven and successful ways to minimize the tax liability of your business - legally. Not looking for things that are not approved and legal, not even things that are really mostly gray areas. I know some of you deal with this every year. Or do I just thank God that we were profitable and count it a blessing that we get to pay tax because we made money? That is a hard stretch for me, but probably the right one. If you have any great ideas, let me know.
Friday, December 28, 2007
The last Friday of 2007
Are you one of the TGIF (thank God it's Friday) crowd - those who can't wait til Friday because the weekend is coming? This is your last TGIF for 2007 and it is time to be sure you are ready to begin 2008 on the right foot. I believe there are three things that every good company leader needs to have in place (at least for themselves but there is much value to having the entire team have the same):
1. A company business plan that is based on the mission, vision and values of the organization
2. A personal leadership plan that defines how you will lead your organization or fulfill your role
3. A life plan that defines what you will trade the 168 hours you are gifted each week for - in other words what will you exchange your time for.
Too many people let life happen to them rather than manage life by their plan. Too many leaders let the day happen to them rather than managing their resources to achieve their goals. Too many companies let business happen to them rather than going after their mission, vision and values to create success. I encourage you to take this last TGIF and think about what you will do in 2008 so it doesn't do it to you. Do you have your plans reviewed from 2007? Have you thought about what you want to do with your life in 2008 - personally, as a leader and as a company? It begins next week so get after it! Vision without execution is hallucination!
1. A company business plan that is based on the mission, vision and values of the organization
2. A personal leadership plan that defines how you will lead your organization or fulfill your role
3. A life plan that defines what you will trade the 168 hours you are gifted each week for - in other words what will you exchange your time for.
Too many people let life happen to them rather than manage life by their plan. Too many leaders let the day happen to them rather than managing their resources to achieve their goals. Too many companies let business happen to them rather than going after their mission, vision and values to create success. I encourage you to take this last TGIF and think about what you will do in 2008 so it doesn't do it to you. Do you have your plans reviewed from 2007? Have you thought about what you want to do with your life in 2008 - personally, as a leader and as a company? It begins next week so get after it! Vision without execution is hallucination!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Hold the phone - Home Server Issue
Robert Lamm sent me this update on an issue with Microsoft's Home Server. Check out the guidance at http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/12/20/an-important-windows-home-server-knowledge-base-article.aspx. There are issues with saving some file types on the Home Server and a fix is being created. More as it becomes available.
Have you renewed your Microsoft partner program membership?
Many partners need to renew their membership in the Microsoft partner program during December or January. In fact, an overwhelming majority of the the partners who are part of MSPP come due during a 90 day period around the first of the year. I finally got around to doing the task this week and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought I remembered. It took about 10-15 minutes to review and update the profile, verify competencies and employees and get the fees paid. Not sure why I had put it off til the last minute but I did.
So why does it matter? The MSPP is a key resource for us as a partner. It is our window into the vast resources that Microsoft has available to us from marketing to training to sales information.
Here are the ways it impacts us at HTS:
1. Software for internal use and testing. We run our business on the benefits of the MSPP program. As a gold partner, we have access to 100 licenses of many products and it allows us to utilize the entire MS stack for a fraction of the cost it would otherwise be. This in itself makes the renewal an easy decision each year.
2. Differentiation. How will you differentiate yourself from the thousands of other partners that are involved in the IT space? Being a certified partner certainly narrows the crowd, but gold certification does it even more. Add to that a number of competencies and you begin to stand out in a crowd. We currently have 6 competencies and don't have many others standing beside us in our markets with that kind of resume.
3. Recognition. I admit we don't have a lot of small business customers asking what our certification level is. That changes when you sell to the mid market, but if you are strictly selling to small companies it probably won't get you many sales. It does make a huge difference with Microsoft and other vendors. When they look at our vendor certification levels and see gold across Microsoft, HP, Sonicwall etc - they know we have made the deep investments to be successful and we are more likely to be a go to partner for these vendors. It really does matter.
4. Partnering. When partners are looking for someone else to use as a partner, the certification level does matter. We would always look at Gold partners first when we need to outsource or get additional resources to help us fulfill a customer need.
5. SBSC. If you are not part of this program and you sell into the SMB space, shame on you. This is a no brainer. The value far outweighs any cost and they continue to add more things into the program over time. Get it done if you are not currently part of the program.
There are more that could be listed but bottom line - get your MSPP renewal completed, references updated and make it a goal to either move up a level or add some competencies in 2008. It will be good for your business!
So why does it matter? The MSPP is a key resource for us as a partner. It is our window into the vast resources that Microsoft has available to us from marketing to training to sales information.
Here are the ways it impacts us at HTS:
1. Software for internal use and testing. We run our business on the benefits of the MSPP program. As a gold partner, we have access to 100 licenses of many products and it allows us to utilize the entire MS stack for a fraction of the cost it would otherwise be. This in itself makes the renewal an easy decision each year.
2. Differentiation. How will you differentiate yourself from the thousands of other partners that are involved in the IT space? Being a certified partner certainly narrows the crowd, but gold certification does it even more. Add to that a number of competencies and you begin to stand out in a crowd. We currently have 6 competencies and don't have many others standing beside us in our markets with that kind of resume.
3. Recognition. I admit we don't have a lot of small business customers asking what our certification level is. That changes when you sell to the mid market, but if you are strictly selling to small companies it probably won't get you many sales. It does make a huge difference with Microsoft and other vendors. When they look at our vendor certification levels and see gold across Microsoft, HP, Sonicwall etc - they know we have made the deep investments to be successful and we are more likely to be a go to partner for these vendors. It really does matter.
4. Partnering. When partners are looking for someone else to use as a partner, the certification level does matter. We would always look at Gold partners first when we need to outsource or get additional resources to help us fulfill a customer need.
5. SBSC. If you are not part of this program and you sell into the SMB space, shame on you. This is a no brainer. The value far outweighs any cost and they continue to add more things into the program over time. Get it done if you are not currently part of the program.
There are more that could be listed but bottom line - get your MSPP renewal completed, references updated and make it a goal to either move up a level or add some competencies in 2008. It will be good for your business!
Home Server Update
Finally have managed to get all six of our machines backed up – took 48 hours to get them all to complete. I am still learning how to configure our little server friend but the backup process has been pretty seamless. A few of the machines are only on wireless connections and that took quite a bit of time. I had one pc that failed a couple times because of an issue with the hard drive. Had to run chkdsk /f /r and then things worked like a champ. Boy that command brought back memories, not all good, but memories none the less. The old C:> still exists underneath all that fancy GUI interface. I do have one external USB drive that I haven’t been able to convince the home server to backup quite yet – says it is a non supported file format. So I have some more work to do on that. The Health monitor is very cool as it monitors which machines have up to date AV, spyware, firewall settings on etc and notifies me with a little red icon on the system tray when something is amiss. So far I am pretty darn impressed by this box. Now that I have backups created it will be set on incrementals running at midnight so should keep things current with little intervention. I am next going to work on the shared file storage and the user accounts. Might need to actually read a little so I understand how they designed this baby. So far I have figured it out by trial and error – which we all know is not necessarily the best or correct way – but it is the old style engineer way. More later………
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Do you know where your binky is?
One of the jokes around our house is the fact that I treat my PDA’s like a binky. I never want to be without it. I always want it close at hand. It is my comfort and security blanket. I pull it out regularly to see if the world has stopped in the last few minutes. It makes all kinds of sounds and vibrations which make me feel needed and important. Sound like you? A lot of us in the IT space are addicted to instant communication and information. We are lost without our binky. Nancy named it that on one of our trips earlier this fall when I left it in the room and was like a lost puppy looking for direction. I have two PDA’s because I can’t get one plan that will give me coverage across all our geography. So it is Verizon in the north and Sprint in the south. When I travel they both make the trip because I have learned the hard way that they sometimes fail to work and my goodness I wouldn’t know what to do without it. The kids got me a binky holder for Christmas. Brookstone makes a product that is just made for people like me (and probably you too). A nice wooden box with a surge hid in the back and a place for 5 devices to plug in – PDA’s, cell phones, blue tooth devices, GPS and the like. It is designed to keep them all organized and the cords all neatly out of sight. If you look at my work area now I have cords running all over the place and it looks like a tangled mess. My only concern is that it is not designed for the traveler so the battle of plugging and unplugging all the chargers for each trip will make it a little less useful to me, but there is a place now for all my binkies to sleep each night and I won’t have to wonder where they are any more. Check it out at http://www.brookstone.com/store/thumbnail.asp?wid=15&cid=1501&sid=150104. The fancy name is a charging valet – I call it a binky house!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Santa came to town
Merry Christmas
I wondered if Santa would find Harlan but with all the new GPS technologies I should not have doubted for a minute. In my stocking this year I recieved the new HP 1TB Home Server to backup and to protect our personal and important data and machines. Since I am pretty inept at setting things up, I had one of our young engineers help me get it up and running, which took very little time at all - probably 30 minutes tops. He showed me how to set up the client software on the machines we were adding to the Home Server and I completed the tasks. So why a home server you may ask? I think there is real value in that product for many people. The backup technology is really the driver for me as I have experienced a lot of pain in handling the rebuild of my notebooks or desktop when they crash or need to be replaced. I lost three hard drives this fall and that about put me over the top. We also wrestle with the sharing and saving of pictures, videos and music in the house. While there are only two of us at home - Nancy and me - we have a desire to share with both our kids and other family members some of the things we capture as pictures etc. So it seemed like a pretty good solution for that as well. I will try and keep you updated on how the process goes. If I can manage this server, anyone can. I do think it has a place in lots of different environments beside the home - already hearing of it serving as a safety net for executive machines that don't get backed up and managed like they should. Stay tuned!
I wondered if Santa would find Harlan but with all the new GPS technologies I should not have doubted for a minute. In my stocking this year I recieved the new HP 1TB Home Server to backup and to protect our personal and important data and machines. Since I am pretty inept at setting things up, I had one of our young engineers help me get it up and running, which took very little time at all - probably 30 minutes tops. He showed me how to set up the client software on the machines we were adding to the Home Server and I completed the tasks. So why a home server you may ask? I think there is real value in that product for many people. The backup technology is really the driver for me as I have experienced a lot of pain in handling the rebuild of my notebooks or desktop when they crash or need to be replaced. I lost three hard drives this fall and that about put me over the top. We also wrestle with the sharing and saving of pictures, videos and music in the house. While there are only two of us at home - Nancy and me - we have a desire to share with both our kids and other family members some of the things we capture as pictures etc. So it seemed like a pretty good solution for that as well. I will try and keep you updated on how the process goes. If I can manage this server, anyone can. I do think it has a place in lots of different environments beside the home - already hearing of it serving as a safety net for executive machines that don't get backed up and managed like they should. Stay tuned!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Looking for an SBS convert
I am looking for a registered or certified MS partner that used to be passionate about Windows Server and has drank the kool-aid and is now an SBS convert. There is a magazine article that is being written in January and they asked me to provide an HTG member who fits the bill. Anyone want to come out into the light and get some press?? I promise it won't hurt too much.
Have you wondered about your future
Paul Dippell from Service Leadership has released a new tool free at http://www.service-leadership.com/businessmodelexplorer.htm. The tool is described like this:
The purpose of the Service Leadership Index™ Business Model Explorer™ is to allow you to quickly see the profitability and stock valuation results of growing your business in ways that you choose. As you plan for 2008 and beyond, you can use this tool to immediately see the cash flow and current market M&A value of the alternatives you are considering.
I played with it some and it can give you some insight into growth and the impact from shifting from product to services. Of course it is just some overall guidance but worth a look. There is a professional version you can purchase for a fee that allows you to save things and share it between staff etc.
Worth the time to download and use - especially for the price. Check it out.
The purpose of the Service Leadership Index™ Business Model Explorer™ is to allow you to quickly see the profitability and stock valuation results of growing your business in ways that you choose. As you plan for 2008 and beyond, you can use this tool to immediately see the cash flow and current market M&A value of the alternatives you are considering.
I played with it some and it can give you some insight into growth and the impact from shifting from product to services. Of course it is just some overall guidance but worth a look. There is a professional version you can purchase for a fee that allows you to save things and share it between staff etc.
Worth the time to download and use - especially for the price. Check it out.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
It's not your parents Terminal Services
This week a group of fellow HTG'ers were on the Terminal Services advisory council meeting talking about TS and what it will be in the release of Windows Server 2008 the end of February. If you haven't checked it out yet your really need to. This takes thin client and remote access to a new level. Not only are the standard features improved, printing is fixed and the new TS gateway removes the need for a VPN connection any longer. It is cool stuff and you need to check it out. I also wanted to make sure you knew who was part of this council so you can reach out to your fellow HTG members with feedback, ideas or suggestions. Here is the list of guys who serve from HTG along with myself:
Mike Doerfler - Nex-Tech
Jeff Hasenauer - Intellicom
Tony Lesirge - ISoutsource
Gavin Steiner - Interprom
Jeff Wood - Wood Networks
Brian Jaenisch - Macro
Brad Schow - Compudyne
Lyf Wildenberg - Mytech Partners
Stuart Crawford - IT Matters
There are two other partners on the council who are not from HTG (yet). It is led by Joshua Schnoll who is a great advocate for HTG. One of the big things happening around WS2008 launch is the heros happen here activity. If you are not familiar with it - get online and check it out. Everyone of us has heros that implement MS technologies for our clients. Lets sumbit lots of HTG engineers and management as heros. I know you have them. Take time to submit them as the leaders they are!
Mike Doerfler - Nex-Tech
Jeff Hasenauer - Intellicom
Tony Lesirge - ISoutsource
Gavin Steiner - Interprom
Jeff Wood - Wood Networks
Brian Jaenisch - Macro
Brad Schow - Compudyne
Lyf Wildenberg - Mytech Partners
Stuart Crawford - IT Matters
There are two other partners on the council who are not from HTG (yet). It is led by Joshua Schnoll who is a great advocate for HTG. One of the big things happening around WS2008 launch is the heros happen here activity. If you are not familiar with it - get online and check it out. Everyone of us has heros that implement MS technologies for our clients. Lets sumbit lots of HTG engineers and management as heros. I know you have them. Take time to submit them as the leaders they are!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Have you hugged your vendor or disty partners lately
Today I took time to send out my annual Christmas greetings to the vendors and distribution folks in my life. I have been doing that for the past 4-5 years now. Sent out a few hundred emails today to the list of folks I know and communicate with on a somewhat regular basis. Probably less than 10% actually respond, although a surprising number do. But I get comments when I see or talk with them for months after the holidays about my email and the family stuff I share. Here is the reality - vendors are people too. They are just like you and me and have wants and needs and struggles and issues. They have families and friends. They have to pay bills and go to work. The thing I have learned is I need to treat them like a customer, not a vendor. Too often partners look at vendors and think it is a one way ticket to their pocketbook. Bad answer. My approach is to value them as a person, to care about their family and approach them like I would my best customer. I want to know their spouse and kids names, their birthday and any other thing that helps provide a way to connect. It is called caring. People do business with people who care about them. It works with customers and equally well with vendors. People is what life and our business is all about. All the other stuff will happen if we learn to care. What better time to reach out and make a difference than right now - at Christmas. Drop an email to a couple of your vendor partners and just tell them thanks. It is the least you should do!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Vendor Events - Are you Creative?
We hosted a customer event this week in Omaha at the Qwest center - a UNO Mavericks hockey game. We rented a suite with all the fixins and brought in an HP shorty blade server and some Microsoft unifed communication gear which we set up in the suite. Had all the food and drinks there for folks to enjoy. Reps were on hand from Microsoft, HP, SHI (a licensing LAR) and Intetium (our BI partner) along with our Omaha staff. The event was fantastic. We had customers come in a bit before game time and were able to demo the solutions and discuss our company one on one. They were able to eat, relax, watch some hockey, eat some more and just chill out. Folks stayed for the duration and had a great time. We had funding participation from our partners at the event so it really did not end up costing HTS much at all. It took some creative planning, some ROI proposals, and will mean some disciplined follow up, but it was worth it and I am confident will lead to some future business. Over and over we hear how companies have unspent partner funds - mostly because no one comes to them with a plan that makes sense. Get outside the box and approach your vendors. If you have a plan and execute - they will fund most any reasonable event or activity. We held a similar event a month ago in Des Moines ahead of a basketball game. You need to do your homework and pick you venue and times wisely, but these kind of things create fantastic good will with customers and prospects as well as creating confidence among vendors. Doing an event around a solution also allows multiple vendors to be involved. Don't just think about it, get after it.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Have you connected with your Microsoft Field
Monday I made a trip to St Louis - a short day trip - to meet with the area general manager of the North Central region for Microsoft. I also was able to meet with another manager who oversees the PAM and PCM resources in NCA. It was a great visit. We talked about HTS and HTG and again found out how important it is to market ourselves to our vendors. As much as we work with Microsoft I am continually amazed at how many touches it takes to get the message out about who we are and what we do. It was a revelation that we actually sell software - the feeling was that we were influencers but in fact we actually transact over 300K in licensing ourselves plus influence a bunch more. So it requires us as partners to reach out and make sure our vendor partners understand who we are and what we do. That is our responsibility. Too often we want to just sit in our offices and wait for vendors to figure it out. That is crazy. Is that how you deal with your customers - sit and hope? Some may but that is not the formula for success. We need to be partners with our vendors. That means we build a relationship and we reach out and do things. So I encourage you to take time to meet with key vendors and help them understand your business and goals. I am confident my three hours in St Louis will be one of the best investments I will have made this month. I also followed up and called a few other folks in the region when I got back just so I could deliver the same message to them. Market thy company to your vendors and disty partners. It is critical for your success.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Partner Sales Training—Exchange 2007, Windows Server 2008, and Licensing
This training will enable partners to understand the key benefits their customers will reap from the new technologies of Exchange 2007 and Windows Server 2008.
· What is new in these products?
· Why would customers look to upgrade?
· How are they licensed?
The objective is to offer a solid, sales oriented overview of the technologies and relevant licensing so you understand the value this innovation wave brings you as a reseller partner. As an added incentive, the first 25 participants in each location will receive a copy of Office 2007 or Windows Vista Business Edition and be entered into a drawing for an Xbox 360!
· What is new in these products?
· Why would customers look to upgrade?
· How are they licensed?
The objective is to offer a solid, sales oriented overview of the technologies and relevant licensing so you understand the value this innovation wave brings you as a reseller partner. As an added incentive, the first 25 participants in each location will receive a copy of Office 2007 or Windows Vista Business Edition and be entered into a drawing for an Xbox 360!
This lunch session will cover:
- A high-level overview of the solution area
- Tools for the sale process
- Sample customer scenarios
- Questions to ask
- Business value
- Resources, tools and additional training
- A consolidated view of Microsoft's resources and incentive programs
Who should Attend: Account Executives, Sales Managers and Technical Pre-Sales who are committed to growing their Microsoft sales and services revenue!!
EVENT TIME:
11:30AM – 1:00PM
(11:00 AM Welcome/Registration)
Event Dates:
(click on event title to register)
1/10/2008Overland Park, KansasEvent Code# 1032363049
1/23/2008 Saint Louis, MissouriEvent Code# 1032363045
1/24/2008 Minneapolis, MinnesotaEvent Code# 1032363051
Register online today orcall 877 MSEVENT to secureyour reservation.
Join the MAPS accelerator program
Considering Server Migration to Windows Server 2008 and Server Consolidation? Join Beta Program Today!The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator is a network-wide inventory and report-generation tool designed to help you assess and plan for server migration and virtualization projects. It is an IT consultant’s “dream come true.” Join the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Beta Program today!
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=103385
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=103385
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Hotel and Registration for SMB Summit 2008
HTG ALL meeting on Saturday night April 19 from 6-8 PM.
April 16/17 – HTG 1 / HTG 4 / HTG 7 / HTG 8 and HTG 9 hold their Q2 meetings
April 22/23 - HTG5 meets for their Q2 meeting
I highly recommend you bring at least two people to this event – an owner and technical engineering leader and a third being a sales person if possible. HTG is completely involved in driving the content for this event and it will be focused on growing businesses like those in HTG. It will be worth your time and investment. This event will sell out so I encourage you to go online to http://www.smbsummit.com/ and get your registrations done asap. Also make your hotel reservations as we will run out of rooms too. Broad marketing has started through Microsoft with the worldwide newsletter so please take action immediately to get both your attendance and hotel taken care of. There is no reason to wait. HTG is about execution and it is time to execute to get your hotel rooms booked for the HTG meetings as well as get things lined up for the SMB Summit. DO IT NOW! We already have over 40 HTG companies with rooms booked for their meetings but that leaves a number of you that have not acted yet.
April 16/17 – HTG 1 / HTG 4 / HTG 7 / HTG 8 and HTG 9 hold their Q2 meetings
April 22/23 - HTG5 meets for their Q2 meeting
I highly recommend you bring at least two people to this event – an owner and technical engineering leader and a third being a sales person if possible. HTG is completely involved in driving the content for this event and it will be focused on growing businesses like those in HTG. It will be worth your time and investment. This event will sell out so I encourage you to go online to http://www.smbsummit.com/ and get your registrations done asap. Also make your hotel reservations as we will run out of rooms too. Broad marketing has started through Microsoft with the worldwide newsletter so please take action immediately to get both your attendance and hotel taken care of. There is no reason to wait. HTG is about execution and it is time to execute to get your hotel rooms booked for the HTG meetings as well as get things lined up for the SMB Summit. DO IT NOW! We already have over 40 HTG companies with rooms booked for their meetings but that leaves a number of you that have not acted yet.
Opportunity for HTG members with Cougar
Greetings from the Cougar Team
Microsoft is looking for qualified partners to join the Windows Server Code Name “Cougar” Beta program. Beta 2 will be ready to test any day now. This is a limited invitation to qualified partners in HTG. We are looking for Quality, not Quantity.
The SBS Cougar Development team are the point in their release cycle, where they are broadening their exposure to our customers, particularly our most engaged partners. They are trying to balance this need to get more feedback against keeping the beta Confidential. No NDA is required, but all applicants are required to agree to the terms of confidentiality in this beta in order to be accepted. So, the more care we can get from our partner group leaders in only recommending the most trusted people in the community the better.
Details of the Program
If you meet the following requirements and want to be in the program, please visit this URL and answer a few simple questions so we can get you in the system.
This Beta 2 release is designed for evaluation and feedback purposes only and is not designed to be run in a production environment. The SBS Cougar Team will be providing support through a Beta Newsgroup only.
· The minimum system requirements to run Cougar Beta 2 are :
o The time and resources to install and test (4-5 hours per week to test) the product. We have a fixed number or slots and if you can’t deliver, we lose that opportunity for feedback which could affect product quality.
§ It’s important that you realize that you need a X64 Server and the time to install and report bugs and feedback
o Agree to the confidentially of the BETA agreement per MS Connect.
o A Server: X64 Intel or AMD PC
o 2.66 gigahertz (GHz) processor
o 4 GB of physical memory
o DVD drive
o Single network adapter
o At least 60 gigabytes (GB) of free disk space
o A display adapter with 128 megabytes (MB) (for Windows Aero compatibility)
o An broadband externally visible Internet connection
o A router
o A domain name
§ The domain name can be an existing one that you own or you can use the Get a Domain Name wizard technology within Beta 2 to purchase a new Internet domain name.
o A client computer running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, or Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise.
o A copy of Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2003 (from your Action Pack).
Next Steps
Once you fill out the Survey Monkey form, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ogR7mrwxSpJNS1YJEz4TBA_3d_3d
you will be contacted with information on the SBS Cougar Techbeta program hosted on MS Connect from either Kevin Beares (kbeares@microsoft.com) or Microsoft Connect (MsftConn@microsoft.com). Please make sure you add these two accounts to your trusted email recipients so they do not resolve as spam.
Microsoft is looking for qualified partners to join the Windows Server Code Name “Cougar” Beta program. Beta 2 will be ready to test any day now. This is a limited invitation to qualified partners in HTG. We are looking for Quality, not Quantity.
The SBS Cougar Development team are the point in their release cycle, where they are broadening their exposure to our customers, particularly our most engaged partners. They are trying to balance this need to get more feedback against keeping the beta Confidential. No NDA is required, but all applicants are required to agree to the terms of confidentiality in this beta in order to be accepted. So, the more care we can get from our partner group leaders in only recommending the most trusted people in the community the better.
Details of the Program
If you meet the following requirements and want to be in the program, please visit this URL and answer a few simple questions so we can get you in the system.
This Beta 2 release is designed for evaluation and feedback purposes only and is not designed to be run in a production environment. The SBS Cougar Team will be providing support through a Beta Newsgroup only.
· The minimum system requirements to run Cougar Beta 2 are :
o The time and resources to install and test (4-5 hours per week to test) the product. We have a fixed number or slots and if you can’t deliver, we lose that opportunity for feedback which could affect product quality.
§ It’s important that you realize that you need a X64 Server and the time to install and report bugs and feedback
o Agree to the confidentially of the BETA agreement per MS Connect.
o A Server: X64 Intel or AMD PC
o 2.66 gigahertz (GHz) processor
o 4 GB of physical memory
o DVD drive
o Single network adapter
o At least 60 gigabytes (GB) of free disk space
o A display adapter with 128 megabytes (MB) (for Windows Aero compatibility)
o An broadband externally visible Internet connection
o A router
o A domain name
§ The domain name can be an existing one that you own or you can use the Get a Domain Name wizard technology within Beta 2 to purchase a new Internet domain name.
o A client computer running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, or Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise.
o A copy of Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2003 (from your Action Pack).
Next Steps
Once you fill out the Survey Monkey form, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ogR7mrwxSpJNS1YJEz4TBA_3d_3d
you will be contacted with information on the SBS Cougar Techbeta program hosted on MS Connect from either Kevin Beares (kbeares@microsoft.com) or Microsoft Connect (MsftConn@microsoft.com). Please make sure you add these two accounts to your trusted email recipients so they do not resolve as spam.
Opportunity to Engage with Microsoft Team
The Windows Client product marketing team now has a planning team focusing on partner incentives – essentially, how can help incentivize Partners to assess customers for Windows Vista readiness and subsequently sell the right Windows Vista + MDOP packages to our customers.
The Partner incentive team would like to flesh out some ideas with you and your partner community. Do you have a few partners who are familiar with the tools like Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, Business Value Assessment and/or ACT that we can talk to including you? Your feedback would be very much appreciated. If possible, we’d love to have a conf call before Christmas.
If you are willing to get involved - email me asap.
The Partner incentive team would like to flesh out some ideas with you and your partner community. Do you have a few partners who are familiar with the tools like Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, Business Value Assessment and/or ACT that we can talk to including you? Your feedback would be very much appreciated. If possible, we’d love to have a conf call before Christmas.
If you are willing to get involved - email me asap.
Check out the new ChannelPro magazine
Just got the Dec ChannelPro magazine and guess who is on the cover – our own Michael Cocanower from HTG2! Way to go Michael. It is not available online yet but I expect it will be up there shortly. HTG members were on the cover 3 of the 10 issues this year – let’s make it more in 2008!
Welcome to Peer Power
This blog is devoted to those who try and make IT happen every day for their clients. It can be a real challenge some days, but those of us in the game know that it is rewarding to take technology and apply it to business problems and issues. We love this stuff. I believe that the real benefit is that we can impact people through our relationships. We can take technology and change businesses and lives. Doing it together with a community of peers is what makes it so much more fun. I will update this blog with news and thoughts relevant to peers in the IT industry. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I do.
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