Thursday, January 31, 2008

Do you use Microsoft Partner University?

You should! This is a great resource Microsoft has provided to us as partners. I have been taking online courses on this site for years, but it seems many partners are unaware of the site or have not commited to life long learning. Yes it takes some time and requires some work, but as technology professionals, which we want to consider ourselves, consider it as professional development and log in and learn. Not only can we learn things on many different topics, but they also incent us to do the right thing by allowing us to earn points which translate into FREE STUFF. Here is the latest offer to hit my inbox.

Announcing The Big Easy Offer with up to 10 million partner subsidy dollars available exclusively to Microsoft Partner Program members! The Big Easy Offer covers most of the core products and solutions you sell to your small and medium-size customers. Select from the eight Ready-to-Go Campaigns to help you easily prepare for and promote this offer. Or leverage the customizable materials for the products of your choice as you build solutions that meet your customers' unique needs.

Take the following two webcasts* and pass the final quiz by March 31, 2008 and you will be entered to win one of several fabulous prizes**! Also, the first 975 users to complete the final quiz will earn 20 MPU points***!

It's easy, just login to Microsoft Partner University and complete all online courses listed below.

Complete the following courses and final quiz to qualify:
Partner Introduction to the NEW Microsoft Open Value Subscription Program
The Big Easy Microsoft Offer

Final Quiz:
The Big Easy Offer Promotion

Prizes:
Grand prize - a trip for two to Jamaica (or 6,500 MPU points)
Sandals Dunn's River Golf Resort & Spa
1 of 4 BOSE Wave Music Systems (or 632 MPU points)
1 of 25 30GB Zune Music Video Players (or 234 MPU points)

Get on your keyboard and get into the learning mode. Good stuff and it is free!

Monday, January 28, 2008

Want help setting goals?

An invitation from Stuart Crawford, HTG member and great friend:

I would like to invite you to join me on Tuesday night, Feb 5th at 7 PM Eastern as we discuss Goal Setting for IT Professionals on my monthly small business specialist conference call. This interactive one hour conference call will teach you some of the key points on setting goals and most importantly achieving them.

Everyone who registers will receive a free eBook ($24.99 value) on goal setting…

Register online today at http://www.freeitmarketingseminar.com

Update on the Microsoft Partner Site

Todd Weatherby posted a response to the issues with the Microsoft partner portal on another blog in detail, and pointed me there in a response to my earlier post. Check out the status at http://powersunfiltered.com/2008/01/23/two-weeks-later/. I am still hearing of some lingering issues getting things to work. Are you having problems. Drop Todd a note and cc me. We need to get this thing working and the only way is if we provide solid feedback. He has provided his email in the blog post above so let's provide constructive and accurate information. They can't fix what they don't know if broken, but in this case, I think they know. We just need to give them specifics.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Small Business IT Radio

I had the opportunity to be on Stuart Crawford's IT radio talk show yesterday with Steven VanRockel from the Microsoft Windows Server Solution Group talking about the new Essential Business Server. You can listen to our discussion at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb. If you aren't thinking about how this product will impact your business - now is the time. It will be a key component of the upcoming SMB Summit as one full day will be devoted to readiness around this new Server family member. Now is the time to determine how you will implement this addition into your solution mix. How will you get ready? SMB Summit will cover technical, sales and owner considerations. If you haven't registered you need to get it done. www.smbsummit.com is the place to get more details and to register. Check out the radio download and then get on the bus by registering for the Summit today.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Some helpful links

Here are some links that may be of interest for you:

Just wanted to get this on your radar. Please check out the program details ASAP and reserve your FREE testing vouchers.

Partner Skills Plus Certification/Training Offers:
https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40029197

Certification Exam Savings:
https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40046686

RESERVE YOUR TEN FREE VOUCHERS (For Dynamics Exams As Well):
http://www.measureup.com/microsoftpartnerskillsplus/

I thought this information might help you out with your internal Vista deployments. These links are a little hard to find on the partner site.

This link is to the online version of the Partner Vista Activation card:
https://partner.microsoft.com/40049176?msp_id=vistaactivationguide

There are many links, but the most useful one, I believe, is:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/bb335280.aspx

which contains a useful link on the right hand side of page under Download
This download has numerous (useful) files on Volume Activation 2.0

Hope these help with navigation of some info on the Microsoft site.

An opportunity for the Heartland

Microsoft is offering some great training you should consider if you live in the Heartland.

EVENT TIME:
11:30AM – 1:00PM
(11:00 AM Welcome/Registration)

Event Dates:
(click on event title to register)
3/4/2008Minneapolis, MinnesotaEvent Code# 1032366284

3/4/2008 Saint Louis, MissouriEvent Code# 1032366280

3/6/2008 Kansas City, KansasEvent Code# 1032366279

Register online today orcall 877 MSEVENT to secureyour reservation.

Partner Sales Training— “First Server, Right Server” and How to Best Engage Microsoft
Practical Information for Real Sales People

During this training, we will show you how to make the most appropriate Windows Server recommendation to your small and midsize customers, including guidance based on prospective scenarios.
· Which server and when?
· Why would customers look to upgrade?

We will also demonstrate how to best engage Microsoft. Look forward to us addressing the following questions:
· How should I engage Microsoft?
· What resources are at my disposal?
· What does Microsoft expect from its partners?

Overall, our goal is to help you understand our products and technologies so you understand how to get the most value this innovation wave brings you as a reseller partner.
As an added incentive, participants will 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
· “How to’s” regarding how to engage Microsoft
· Question and Answer
Who should Attend: Account Executives, Sales Managers and Technical Pre-Sales who are committed to growing their Microsoft sales and services revenue!!

Can you spell SWOT?

I am down in the Lonestar state doing a SWOT for a partner in HTG. Have you ever done this for your business? A SWOT Analysis is a powerful tool for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for looking at the Opportunities and Threats you face.

Used in a business context, it helps you carve a sustainable niche in your market. Used in a personal context, it helps you develop your career in a way that takes best advantage of your talents, abilities and opportunities. So it can have many purposes. Typically it is looked at through business eyes, but it can be a very revealing thing if you put yourself under that microscope.

What makes SWOT particularly powerful is that, with a little thought, it can help you uncover opportunities you may miss on your own. Fresh eyes almost always see things you miss. A different perspective always turns over the rocks and is able to show some opportunties that have lying at your feet for a while. And by understanding the weaknesses of your business, which none of us like to think about, you can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch you unawares.

More than this, by looking at yourself and your competitors using the SWOT framework, you can start to craft a strategy that helps you distinguish yourself from your competitors, so that you can compete successfully in your market. We all have competition, and it is important for us to be aware and ahead in our planning.

As part of the engagement we also met with the management team, the employees not on the management team, and many of these individually one on one. There are four of us from other partners on the SWOT team. We spent an exhausting 12 hour day digging deep, turning over rocks, probing for hidden items that owners miss during the chaos of the day to day.

This is the sixth SWOT I have been blessed to lead and as always, it was a valuable exercise for the company we were working with. But the four of us on the SWOT team learned much as well as we "walk in their shoes for a mile" and have to learn and teach along the way. It is a great exercise to get your mind engaged and thinking.

How about the "victim" - the company we were SWOTting? Well it is an exhausting process as there is much prep they have to do. Of course the emotions run high as everyone expects this team to be finding things they don't want us to know about. But at the end of the day, as we share our findings and recommendations for the future, it almost always ends with an unbelievable burst of energy and people get the vision and understand how bright the future can be. Teams get energized and ready to attack the things that will take them to the next level. It all comes down now to EXECUTION, because our findings and report mean nothing if it is not put in place. But with solid execution and strong leadership, these kinds of deep introspection and hard work really do make a difference in a company. They can become watershed moments that springboard people to a new level adn re-energize their company to achieve much more.

It takes guts and trust to open up your company to a team that wants to look at everything, and I mean everything. This is not for the faint of heart. But the real risk is that your team expects action when the SWOT team leaves. There is no room for just learning what could happen. There is now an expectation that change WILL happen and they want to be part of driving it NOW. So don't take part in things like this unless you are serious about change. Your team will become quickly disenfranchised if the work is done in review and recommendation but no activity occurs. That said, I encourage everyone to consider where you are and if you are at a plateau that is blocking you. Or you just want to become a much better organization. A SWOT may very well be exactly what you need.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Information on Changes in the Microsoft Certification Program

This information comes from the latest Redmond Developer News

From Windows Server 2008 onward, credentialed IT workers will find themselves seeking their certifications through two new avenues: the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP).

Why the change? Prior to Server 2008, the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) program had a few flaws inherent to its processes. First of all, in the previous program, an MCP was just that -- an MCP. There wasn't an association noting the discipline in which you were an MCP. So getting your MCP for Windows XP was the same as getting your MCP on Systems Management Server.

The old MCSE titles were also problematic. Many countries formally protect the title of "engineer." One can be called an engineer only after they've passed the Order of Engineers' Professional Engineer's Examination. Reports of Microsoft enduring numerous lawsuits by countries with special protection for this title made it operationally challenging to keep around. True, MCITP just doesn't have the same ring as MCSE, but it's in much safer legal territory.
New Frameworks, New CertsHere's the framework for what Microsoft calls "the new generation of certification." At the bottom of the stack is the MCTS. Exams here are focused on specific products and show proof that the test taker has proven their skills on particular Microsoft technologies. MCTS exams do not require recertification. An MCTS certification will, however, evaporate when Microsoft discontinues the specified product.

One step above the MCTS is the MCITP. This is intended to show proof of skills related to a job function. There are two MCITP credentials specifically geared to Server 2008: MCITP: Server Administrator and MCITP: Enterprise Administrator. The former credential is intended to prove IT operational skills, while the latter credential adds design skills to the requirements.
At this point, you're probably wondering, "How do I obtain these certifications?" or "How do I upgrade my current MCSE?" As you may expect, obtaining the higher-level MCITP: Enterprise Administrator credential will require more work than the Server Administrator credential.
To earn the MCITP: Server Administrator credential, you'll need to pass two MCTS exams, as well as the Server Administrator exam for the MCITP itself. Those exams are:
70-642: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring
70-640: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring
70-646: Windows Server 2008 Administrator

Passing the 70-642 and 70-640 both bestow an MCTS credential. Once you've completed all three exams here, you'll actually have three credentials: two for MCTS and one for the MCITP.
If you're interested in going all out for the MCITP: Enterprise Administrator, you'll have a bit more work ahead of you. You'll need to pass the two MCTS exams, and three more as well. In all, obtaining the Enterprise credential requires one of the following:
70-620: Configuring Microsoft Windows Vista Client
70-624: Deploying and Maintaining Windows Vista Client and 2007 Microsoft Office System Desktops

Plus all of the following:
70-643: Windows Server 2008 Applications Platform, Configuring
70-642: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring
70-640: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring
70-647: Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Administrator

Getting to this point, you'll actually end up with four MCTS credentials in addition to your MCITP. It's a long road, but one worth traveling. There are other things to consider. First, the MCITP proves job role functions. It doesn't have a technology like "Server 2008" assigned to it. That being said, you'll need to recertify every three years to keep it current. Also, there are no more "elective" exams. According to Microsoft, most people were using the same electives to get their MCSE. In some ways, this made the electives moot, so they're no longer part of the MCITP.

Making the UpgradesThere is an upgrade path if you currently hold either a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) or MCSE status in Windows Server 2003. That path is different depending on whether you have the MCSA or MCSE, and you should only take one path. Completing the upgrade exam doesn't directly earn you MCITP status, but instead replaces a few exams. Once you've finished the upgrade, you'll then have to take the other exams necessary to get the MCITP.

If you have a current MCSA 2003, take exam 70-648: Upgrading Your MCSA on Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008. This meets the 70-642 and 70-640 exam requirements.
If you have a current MCSE 2003, take exam 70-649: Upgrading Your MCSE on Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008. This will meet the 70-643, 70-642 and 70-640 exam requirements.

There's not always a direct path, though. If you have an MCSE in Windows Server 2000, you'll have to upgrade to Windows Server 2003 before attempting the upgrade to MCITP, as there's no direct upgrade path from the MCSE 2000.

The upgrade examinations are available now, but the other exams won't be available until the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Server 2008. The MCTS exams will arrive about 30 days after the RTM. The MCITP exams will run about 60 days after the RTM. The training kits will be available anywhere from one to three months after exam release.

You Gotta Check This Out

You have to check out the way Karl Palachuk has taken the booklet that MS released on Home Server and created a cute youtube video. Karl is a very active member of the SMB community and has written books, runs the Great Little Bookstore, and is an all around great friend and partner. But I never saw this coming. He may have a future in video production.

I had the opportunity to have dinner with him at CES last week and since his return, he has creatively made this. Make sure you take a 5 minute break and enjoy his funny YouTube video from the new found Microsoft book from CES on Home Server.

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBGeTqW7j7k

Upcoming Webinar - Managed Services Compensation

From our friends at Zenith Infotech:

You're Invited to a New Webinar Series featuring one of our HTG members.....

When: Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Time: 12:30 PM Eastern Time
Title: "Driving Profitable Growth Through Your Compensation Plan"
Facilitator: Dan Hay, President and CEO of isoutsource.com

Our Partner Perspectives series invites you into our studio for a panel discussion on how partners have integrated Zenith Infotech into their business. This month our featured speaker is Dan Hay, President and CEO of isoutsource.com, discussing compensation plans in a managed service environment.

To register for this second webinar in our Partner Perspectives Series, please go to www.zenithinfotech.com/register and selectthe Partner Perspectives Webinar on January 30th, 2008.

Pilot Opportunity for Boston and Miami

Microsoft has requested help in identifying some partners that meet the following criteria. Please contact me directly if you are an SBSC partner that fits the following criteria:

Based in Miami or Boston greater metro areas
Financial services experience - CPA credentials, MPAN membership, Office Accounting sales, MBS/financials credentials, etc.
Willing to pursue leads for companies with 1-5 PC’s

They want to pull together a meeting this Friday, Jan 18th so time is of the essence. It is a great chance to be part of a new program that is under development. Let me know ASAP if this fits you.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Upcoming Conference Call - Jan 16th

Author, Speaker, and All-Around MSP Guru on FREE CALL

Erick Simpson is the author of two awesome books on managed services: The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice and The Best I.T. Sales & Marketing BOOK EVER!, and is the VP of Intelligent Enterprise and Managed Services Provider University (MSP University).
Erick has been a featured speaker at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, SMB Nation, and many other venues.

Erick's second book is part of the Super Success Bundle that was launched at SMB Nation.
Erick is also a member of the very first Heartland Technology Peer Group, and co-authored their first book Peer Power - Powerful Ideas for Partners from Peers.

Erick was instrumental in helping Intelligent Enterprise (MSP University's parent organization) achieve sales of over $2MM worth of Managed Services Agreements in 18 months, and his previous background includes building enterprise-level Call Centers and Service Desks for Fortune 1000 organizations. So, the bottom line is: We can talk about ANYTHING with this guy and it will be worth your while.

Mark Your Calendar Today!
Conference Bridge Instructions
To join the conference call:
- Dial (319) 279-1000 (U.S. phone number)
- Your participant passcode is 1024518.
- This call is limited to the first 100 attendees.

Jan 16th at 9:00 AM Pacific Time Zone

More information is at http://www.greatlittlebook.com/Seminars/conference_call.htm.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Have you tried out MAP yet?

My good friend Baldwin Ng and the team in Redmond are working hard on the MAP tool. In case you don't know, the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator is an integrated platform with tools and guidance that make it easier for you to assess your current IT infrastructure and determine the right Microsoft technologies for your IT needs. It offers easy inventory, powerful assessment and actionable recommendations for Windows Server 2008, Windows Server Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, Terminal Services, SoftGrid, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Windows Vista, and 2007 Microsoft Office. The popular Windows Vista Hardware Assessment readiness tool will be integrated into this platform.This automation tool helps IT professionals and consultants like you establish a clearer understanding of your infrastructure, desktop and virtualization needs through network-wide assessment of your assets including desktops, laptops, servers, applications and network devices. Actionable recommendations are provided through the auto-generated migration proposal reports and documents.In addition, the new MAP user interface also offers a "resource center" where users can download other relevant tools and useful resources such as white papers and technical guidance from Microsoft and other sources from the IT community.

You can sign up for the beta here:

https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=297&wa=wsignin1.0

I encourage you to check it out. Another way to have a competetive advantage over the other people in your market. Learn to leverage the tools - they really do give us an edge.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Blade Builder University - Big News

HP has committed to offer Blade Builder University at the upcoming SMB Summit in Dallas in April. And it is being offered at NO COST. This is a day long training that will occur the day before SMB Summit on April 17th. I encourage you to bring a sales manager or lead sales person to this event and learn how to make it happen selling HP Blade Servers. Yes - the new C3000 does fit the SMB space. Register now:

HP Partners may utilize the Partner Call Center at 800-732-5741, Option 4 or use the link below for HP education and training - 40696 and click on the Registration link.

http://h18014.www1.hp.com/training/40696.html

Don't miss this chance to get on the training wagon with HP and then stay for the Summit.

Hello - is anyone in Redmond listening

I wrote on December 27th about the need to renew your Microsoft Partner Program for 2008. Little did I know just how painful the reference part of that process would be. I started right after the first of the year trying to enter new references because almost all of ours expire on 1-15-2008. Entry was pretty smooth but then the challenges set in. We sent out about a dozen references to get started and three or four were able to get them approved. But then the phone started to ring and customers were telling us it just didn't work. No matter what they tried - they kept getting this timeout message. We have learned the importance of contacting our customers to let them know that we are submitting a reference request and that they need to watch their email and respond. They tried - wasted time trying over and over - but it just didn't work. So I asked a couple of them to send me the email they were trying to respond to so I could try it. Surely my biggest vendor partner wouldn't ask my customers to use a site to do a favor for me that didn't work. But dog gone it - it didn't work and hasn't for days. We made the mistake before I figured it out of sending out the reminder request so I could pour gas on a fire and make it even a bigger issue. The customers tried again and viola - it still doesn't work. I don't mind looking bad when I cause my own issues. But when I am looking like an idiot because of my vendor partner - that just isn't fair. We are required to submit these things so we can participate in a partner program. My customers could care less and if not for the relationship, they would not spend a second doing this in the first place. But to have them try over and over because we need the references to have specializations and competencies is going too far.

I loved this question from one of my customers: "Is Microsoft running their site on Vista? If that is how it works I will wait a while longer to upgrade." C'mon Redmond. This stuff has to stop. Don't ask partners to do things that waste our time. And please, please don't ask our customers to do things that waste their time and make us look like morons.

Don't get me wrong, I have said many times that the partner program from Microsoft has come a long way. Unfortunately it has taken some big steps backward the last couple weeks.

Kevin Turner - if you are listening - this needs to be fixed or the current references just grandfathered for another year until someone can write the code so it works.

Allison Watson - I love your team and all the creative things you are doing - but this is killing us. As your partners you need to come to our rescue and just extend the references until this is fixed.

It should not have surprised anyone that the traffic hitting this site would be enormous with all the renewals coming. Maybe some of the dozen or so calls I get each month from Microsoft should just be to take names of my references and have someone manually put them in. Anyway - this has to stop.

Partners - there is an update on the situation at https://partner.microsoft.com/us/partneralert. Current suggested course of action is to call the RSC and have them manually do it. I have spent all the time I care to for now. Need to cool down and think about it before I waste more time on this. I am just thankful I didn't enter the other 20 or so references we need for renewal.

Waiting and hoping in Iowa.........

Need to upgrade your skills to Windows Server 2008?

What engineer doesn't? Microsoft has released a new series of update courses online to help you get ready for the next wave of Windows Server.

http://www.msreadiness.com/CourseDetail.aspx?id=9058

They have announced a special promotion code for partners to utilize the eLearning Collection 6041: Upgrading Your Windows Server 2003 MCSE Technical Skills to Windows Server 2008. This promotion reduces the price from $319.99 to $199.99 and will expire June 30th 2008 and is available for the whole collection only. Individual courses within the collection can be purchased but will not qualify for the discount. To qualify, user should enter WS2008UPG in the Shopping Cart while checking out.

No time like the present to get your engineering skills up to speed. Get after it and be ready!

Goodbye CES

We are at the airport using the free wireless waiting for our departure. It is busy but not as crazy as I had expected - only 30 minutes through the security line. We spent another day looking at the latest wares and again did not come across anything that was a must have. The little XO laptop (http://laptop.org/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml) that is $199 and designed for third world countries was displayed. Not something I would use but it was impressive they could build what they have for that price. Green seems to be the new buzz among technology companies. Everyone was concerned with power and disposal of old technology. They all wanted to be stamped as a "green" company. Lots of gizmos and gadgets out there. Logitech has this cool little wireless keyboard that looked really nice for anyone with a media center and wanting to check email from across the room during commercials. The next big thing? I didn't see it and from my discussion with others at the show - they hadn't seen it either. A lot of nice upgrades for 2008 but no technology that will rock our world. I still think the Microsoft wave of releases will be the disruptive opportunity for us in 2008 to work with our customers around.

Will Dell be the first to understand the power of peers

One of the crusades I have been on for some years now is to try and help the channel industry understand the power of peer groups, user groups and community to drive their business. It has been a slow and painful process. Microsoft sort of gets it - at least at a user group level. But most channel partners are very slow to promote community. They fear losing control of their partners, which they really don't have anyway but have convinced themselves they "own" their channel. What a surprise when I ran across this from a post on BuzzMachine about Dell - the one company I would expect to be last to the community party. (http://www.buzzmachine.com/dell-story-the-draft/)

"Mark Jarvis, Dell’s new chief marketing officer, acknowledges that customers are now influenced by peers, not marketers: “The challenge is how you create a network of advocates for your business….""

That is a big part of the power of peers - to be advocates for vendors in not only selling and servicing their products - but understanding the true value of partnership in meeting customer needs. It is not an "us/them" relationship with our vendors any longer. It has to be a "we" relationship. The channel needs to figure out that peer groups and other community groups aer their secret weapon to succeed and grow. And do it before Dell does. Is anyone listening? You have a chance as channel vendors to build your own group of advocates. Dell gets it and is coming after us. They have "re-embraced" the channel because of this reason - not because they love partners. Get on the bus before it leaves the station with the wrong people at the wheel.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Free online training

Have you ever wondered what the right way to respond to an email is, or how to dress for success? How about how to add gadgets to Vista? HP has a FREE (note that word) set of classes just to address things like this. I have taken their powerpoint class and got some great tips. Check out the listing at http://h30187.www3.hp.com/?poweredUserSegment=none&mcID=em15featureBIZ&dimid=1006790146&dicid=null&jumpid=em_edm-r295/us/jan08/smb/xbu/newsletter/mrm/mcc/sign/rbu_category/model_desc. Here are the business topics currently available:
Writing a high-impact business plan NEW!
Business etiquette
Mobile internet access: change the way you do business
Six steps to computer security QUICK LESSON!
Build your business identity with a new logo
Real estate marketing made easy
Stress, sanity, and survival

There are classes on technology, and a series of "how to's" in two quick steps. And did I mention they are FREE. You don't even have to be an HP partner to participate. I suggest you check out the top two on this list around business plans and etiquette. I will look forward to seeing all of you dressed for success at an upcoming meeting!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

CES Insights

Spent the day at CES looking at the up and coming technologies for 2008 and beyond. Certainly one of the themes is lots and lots of plasma and LCD screens - and big ones. Panasonic was showing a 150 inch - yes over 12 feet - and there were a lot of them over 100 inches. So if you are having trouble reading your monitor, help is on the way. Microsoft had a huge presence. Much of the booth was focused on Live. Live everything and no real hint of a partner anywhere. It seems obvious to me that they are responding to Google and their consumer direct approach. I hope they don't forget who got them where they are today - their loyal partners. There was a cool live option they were showing which I had not heard about before. Microsoft Live Workspace is an online location to save documents - resembles a hosted Sharepoint site for free. Details at http://workspace.officelive.com/. Today it is still in beta and has a 500 meg limit. It requires a Windows Live account to set up. Might be worth looking at for sharing docs between folks - can set permissions and the like. A second Microsoft product that had a huge crowd was the Microsoft Surface. I had seen this product prior but there was a big crowd around the tables. It sort of reminds me of the iPhone in a much bigger format. http://www.microsoft.com/surface/. Lots of new small video cameras that write directly to dvd or memory sticks or cards. Cool stuff. I did not see any real new industry changing things today. Lots of new versions and upgrades, but no show stoppers for me. Great new photo printers from HP - amazing quality and versatility.
Another interesting thing was UbiSync, Samsung’s USB-based multi-monitor support which isn’t really new, but I thought that I would share this 7-display setup. They are driven by a single PC running Windows, and the displays are completely integrated in the Windows Display Properties panel. Now, I don’t think that a USB-based setup would work well with graphics-intensive applications, but for text, photos and managed service monitoring, it should work well. I could go on and on but lets stop for now.


Good morning from CES

Arrived last night with a few thousand other IT folks - airport busy in Las Vegas. Got to the hotel and connected with Karl Palachuk from California and Dave Sobel from the DC area and we had dinner together. Karl is a very active partner in the SMB community. He has a great resource you may not know about yet - an online bookstore targeting partners just like us. Check out the resources he has available at http://www.greatlittlebook.com. The Peer Power book is one of the resources he offers. Over dinner Karl connected to his SBS user group back in California using the technology - VOIP and a video camera. We visited with the group who was meeting and watched the wonders of a Sprint card, notebook, small camera and some software connect us across the air to a group of folks meeting many miles away. Amazing stuff, and it worked quite well. Are you connected? If you are not in a peer group, user group, IAMCP chapter or some way to stay connected - you need to get involved. Community is where it happens!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Are you ready for EBS?



You have probably heard by now that Microsoft is releasing a new product into the mid-market called Windows Essential Business Server. You can get more details on it at https://partner.microsoft.com/40047779?msp_id=essentialbusinessserver. We are working with some of the marketing folks in Redmond to determine how partners make a decision to add a new product into their solution mix? What gets you excited about adding a new product? We all have a solution today consisting of Small Business Server, Windows Server or some combination of the two. Now a new kid is coming to the party and I want to know what steps you will take to evaluate it? What decisions will you address as you consider adding EBS? What roadblocks do you see? I have a couple Starbucks gift cards for the people who submit the best guidance to making this decision. You can post here or email me at asorensen@heartlandtechnologies.com. I look forward to getting your insight. Here is the way it shakes out in case you are not familiar with EBS yet:

CES

I am off to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas later today to walk the show floor and learn about the future of electronics and technology. When I first started attending this show some years back, the majority of the floor was focused on items that didn't apply to our business but there were always a few gems to be discovered. Each year, the convergence of technology has made this show more valuable as everything seems to come together and revolve around the network. This has become the big show for a lot of announcements and it now has a lot of relevance for those of us in the IT space. I know a few of you will be there and I hope to catch up and spend a little time with you. But for those who have never been, it might be one to consider for the future. CES is a giant show. There are things that certainly don't apply to a core networking IT business. But there also are many things that do apply and it is a central place to talk to many vendors and other industry professionals that may make sense for some of you to consider in coming years. More later in the week as we check out the floor and see what looks like something to watch.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Home Server Recovery

I finally got around to testing the recovery on my new home server this past week and have to say it was a good news - bad news situation. The good news is that the backup worked and we finally did get it restored. The bad news is that it wasn't quite as simple as I would have liked it to be. I happen to use an HP 4200 tablet as my machine of choice. In fact, I have actually got 2 of them by design so I can move hard drives if something should happen to it. I really like the little machine - light and easy to carry - works great for me on the road. I have had my share of hard drive failures in it but since I have started treating the drives with a little more care that problem has not been nearly as severe as it had been prior. So I had an extra hdd that had been returned to me after a warranty repair and I was ready to test the home server recovery.

We installed the drive and tried to go through the recovery steps - blue screen. After some research on the web we discovered that the 4200 tablet is a bit of a problem for some reason for recovery. We tried a few of the suggestions but it just didn't work. So we finally put the drive in another notebook, ran the recovery, put it into the 4200 and viola - it came up as expected. So the backup really does work. The recovery may take a little finese but it really did work as advertised. I am really a believer that this product has a place in many of our solution sets for the executive. Traditional backup recovery is far slower and more difficult than from the Home server. And it just works in the background every day doing it's thing. In our home, I have my machines and my chief executive (my wife Nancy's) in the backup loop. Having lost three hard drives myself the last six months - this really is a strong solution. It may have a few rough edges yet to be worked out, but I am pumped by the backup solution it provides, let alone the other features I am only beginning to test now. If you haven't taken a look - you need to.

Some of this functionality is bound to spill into upcoming versions of Cougar and EBS, maybe even Windows server. Good days are ahead for us in protecting our customers data. But for now, you can protect up to 10 machines in your office with a great backup solution for those who never quite seem to get around to it and they don't even have to know about it. Plus it monitors their security settings and updates to be sure those are updated too. Check it out!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Windows Vista Deployments

Do you have a success story around the deployment of Windows Vista? If so, you should check out http://www.deploymentstories.com/Home/Guidelines/tabid/185/Default.aspx and share yours. It is a site to upload a video testimony and get some face time in front of the world. Check it out. It is a great place to put stories particularly if you are using the solution accelerators like WVHA. You can get the tool here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators/hardwareassessment/wv/default.mspx

Solution accelerators are great tools to help get new technology in place. Check them out!

Microsoft Launch Site

Behold, I give you the main site for launch info for Windows Server 2008 and SQL 2008. This is a great link to add to your favorites for all the partner information you need around the next wave of Windows and SQL technology.

https://partner.microsoft.com/us/40033583?msp_id=launch

The wave is coming. It is time now to get ready so you can surf on top rather than being consumed by the water. Study up and get ready. 2008 is gonna be a great year!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Thoughts from the January Issue of Redmond Channel Partner Magazine

Manage the Coming Changes by Arlin Sorensen

2008 promises to be a year of major opportunities for partners serving the small to midsize business (SMB) space. We can expect 2008 to be our best year since the Y2K-driven madness of 1999.

Next summer, Microsoft will change the landscape with the release of Windows Essential Business Server and the next version of Small Business Server while a host of other products will come to market earlier in the year. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard Co. has released its "Shorty" blade chassis, targeted to SMBs.

In addition to those opportunities, we need to monitor some other trends driving change in our industry in 2008 and beyond:
• Virtualization will mature and begin to penetrate the SMB market.
• Social networking will become an accepted way of doing business.
• Customers will increasingly expect continual connectivity to all their resources anytime, anywhere, using any device.
• SaaS, hardware as a service and hosted apps will begin to take hold in our space.
• Managed services will become more commoditized and customer expectations will increase.
• Business-process consulting involving approaches such as Six Sigma, lean manufacturing and others will begin to impact the SMB space.

Initially, it's easy to be overwhelmed by all these trends. But while these changes require channel partners to adapt, they represent significant business opportunity as well.

Our work is really about change management. These trends are happening now, and they offer us a real chance to make a difference as we guide our SMB clients through the uncharted waters ahead.

New year resolutions - good or bad

Over the last few days I have heard and read a number of opinions about new year resolutions. Some have said they are a waste of time, others that they are important. I think we need to look at it in a different way. Making a new year resolution in and of itself has no value IF we don't execute and change as a result of it. Otherwise we are like all the politicians blanketing the state of Iowa making all kinds of commitments they cannot possibly keep. I encourage you to consider looking at these as year long goals and something you are willing to be accountable to. Without accountability they likely won't get done. Let's be honest - left to our own discipline - we do what we want when we want to. So here are a few things I encourage you to do as you chart your course for 2008.

1. Make SMART goals.
S - specific
M - measurable
A - achievable
R -realistic
T -time sensitive

2. Share your goals with at least one other person (or better yet a peer group of folks) and ask them to hold you accountable.

3. Get up daily and have those goals where you can see them. Out of sight = out of mind.

4. Execute. Vision without execution is hallucination.

For me, one of the personal goals I have set for 2008 is to get my weight down where it belongs, or at least closer. I want to get down to and maintain my weight at 235. Still too much but 30 pounds less than I was at the start. I am putting this out there to my peers as a means of accountability and leaning on friends and my wife to help keep me on track. I know I can drop the pounds - it is the lifestyle to stay there that is my challenge. I won't do it alone.

What are your goals for 2008? Do you have a plan. It is far better to shoot for the moon and miss than to aim at nothing and hit it. Get thinking and writing some things down. Then share it. There is power in sharing with peers!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Bringing in the new year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is comes! 2008 has rolled into town and we are now given the opportunity to start fresh. The score is 0-0 today. All of us are on the same level. Are you determined to be more successful in 2008? One of the ways that happens is by planning. Are your plans written yet for 2008? HTS has completed our company business plan and now we are in the second stage which will be to map employee committments to the company plan. I call that a personal leadership plan. It is simply a list of goals and objectives with action steps and accountabilities that describe how you will fulfill your role in your company this year. If you are a business owner you may think you are exempt. WRONG! As the leader you need to set the standard in how to plan and be accountable. You set the standard for all others to follow. Too many owners feel they are given a pass because they pay the bills. That is a very poor way to lead. Put on paper how you will lead your company to achieve the business plan goals you set. Don't take the easy way out. Put a line in the sand, write down your committments, and then EXECUTE agains them. That will change how your employees think and act. This first few weeks of the new year is the perfect opportunity to really LEAD and to take your company to a new place in 2008. Remember that if you do what you did last year, you will likely get what you got last year. I hope you will set your sights on something greater and get after it now, not later.

Great new licensing offering annouced

Eric Ligman announced the new Microsoft Open Value Subscription licensing option on his blog today. This is a great new offering for us in the SMB space. Check out details at http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2008/01/01/6933535.aspx.

2008 will be filled with opportunity to generate solid revenue from licensing sales with the new wave of products coming from Microsoft. Make sure you understand the tools we have to sell these solutions as they lead to significant services opportunities.

I also encourage you to check out Erick Simpson's blog on managed services. His comments that what many call managed services may just be a part of your services portfolio is dead on. Many of us thought that for success we would only deliver some form of managed services. That certainly has not been the case for us nor many others. It is a vital part of service delivery health, but there are many forms of service delivery that are profitable and meet customer needs and requirements. Erick says it much better than I so read it on his blog!