The End of a Decade

Another year is ending but this is a rather important end of the year as it also is the end of a decade. Hard to believe we are already finishing the first ten years of the 21st century. It seems like Y2K days were only a short time ago, but here we are ready to enter the next decade. But before we go, it is time to stop and take advantage of the two opportunities that transition brings.

First we need to review the past year and evaluate our performance. I would also say we should take a little extra time and review the past decade. That will be challenging if you are anything like me and can hardly remember what you did last hour let alone over the course of the last 10 years. But looking back gives us so much perspective from which we can then look forward. 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.

Here are some potential questions to ask:

What big things happened? Did they happen because you made a knowing, concerted effort to make them happen? Or... did they just happen?
What good things happened?
What bad things happened?
What was your biggest triumph?
What was the smartest decision you made?
What one word best sums up and describes your experience?
What was the greatest lesson you learned?
What was the most powerful service you performed?
What is your biggest piece of unfinished business?
What are you most happy about completing?
Who were the three people that had the greatest impact on your life?
What was the biggest risk you took?
What was the biggest surprise?
What important relationship improved the most?
What else do you need to do or say to be complete?
What lessons did you learn from these things?

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.

Consider these questions about the coming year:

Do you want to have more time?
Do you want to go places? With who? In what fashion?
Do you want to read more?
Do you want to learn new skills?
Do you want to spend more time with certain people?
Do you want to run a race? Climb a mountain? Learn a new language?
What kind of person do you want to be?
Who do you want to meet?
How much money do you want to be able to give away?
What would you like to be your biggest triumph?
What advice would you like to give yourself?
What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results?
What would you be most happy about completing?
What major indulgence are you willing to experience?
What would you most like to change about yourself?
What are you looking forward to learning?
What do you think your biggest risk will be?
What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore?
What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that?
Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving?
What one word would you like to have as your theme?

The key is to stop long enough to do some meaningful reflection and review of how the year really was in 2009. 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. And put down on paper your plan for next year. Share it with your spouse, your employees and others that need to be part of holding you accountable. It likely won't be accomplished if you don't share it broadly for accountabilty.

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.

And ultimately the question is how did last year impact my legacy plan? Was I intentional in what I did? Did I make any progress toward that what I want to leave behind? Legacy happens whether we plan it and work toward a plan or not. The question really is - do you want to control what your legacy looks like or are you content to just let it happen and not care the result? I believe we need to do a lot better job of being intentional about legacy and what we will leave behind for those that will follow.

You have an opportunity to chart a new year 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 2010! Much of that happens is based on how well you prepare and plan. Then it comes down to EXECUTION!

Microsoft Opportunities Too Good to Pass Up - Must Act Now

Opportunity #1

Microsoft Community Connections?

Microsoft Community Connections is a national project designed to bring awareness and adoption of the Windows 7 product through Local Business Community Organizations (Chamber of Commerce, rotaries, associations, diversity groups, etc. ).

What does the Local Business Community Organizations get?
- 2 free copies of WIN 7 for Local Business Community Organizations
- $150 Microsoft partner (VAR) services implementation voucher (Microsoft partner to be selected by the Local Business Community Organizations)

What does the Local Business Community Organizations give in return?

- Local Business Community Organizations holds a Windows7 live event (lunch/learn) promoting Win7
- Local Business Community Organizations selects a local Microsoft partner to present Win7 content and invites additional Microsoft partner members to be onsite to interact with the attendees as table hosts
- Microsoft provides $125 in event funding to the Local Business Community Organization
- Attendees receive a $150 VAR services rebate voucher for the implementation of Win7 by a local VAR, redeemable upon the purchase of Window 7 via Volume Licensing (minimum 5 seats). The coupon is intended to offset some of the cost of the installation.

Call to Action = Have your Local Chamber register here!


There is a sense of urgency – as the program is nearing capacity.


Opportunity #2


HTG Flex Funds


This is an HTG only opportunity to get $500 for marketing, sales or demand generation activity of choice. As a member of HTG, Microsoft has created an exclusive opportunity called Microsoft Flex Funds. You have the opportunity to apply for $500 from the Microsoft Flex Funds program when you participate in one of the focus campaigns. Spend your funds on any marketing or sales activities of your choice you like, and then report your results to Microsoft! Click here to request more information.


Opportunity #3


Big Easy 3


Big Easy promotion ends 12-31-09. If you have licensing deals that are close to closing - take advantage of things now. Check details at the website here.


Opportunity #4


HTS Newsletter Service


If you are a Microsoft Partner, you can save $500 on our newsletter services!! We’ve been listed on the Microsoft Ready-to-Go portal as one of the choices that you can use for the $500 LAUNCH rebate. If you are already a subscriber, all you need to do is CLICK HERE and have a copy of your invoice (no more than 30 days old). The promotion code that must be included is LAUNCH and the Service Provider is Heartland Technology Solutions.


If you are not a subscriber and want to get set up so you can take advantage of this code, you have to move quickly. The HTS team will work with you to assure you have an invoice and can take advantage of this $500 offer. HTS just got added as a vendor for this promotion and the deadline is December 31, 2009. Sorry for the late notice on this but it is a great opportunity to get a free quarter of newsletters – on Microsoft!

Opportunity #5 and #6

Frontline and SBSC funds

I wrote about these a month or so ago and you can check the details here if you haven't already taken advantage of these two programs.

Lots of opportunity. Some are time sensitive so you need to act now. Don't miss the boat before it sails!

The Last Mile

There has been much discussion around the concept that as SMB IT consultants and VAR’s – we own the last mile to our customers in terms of the technology landscape. Arnie Bellini from ConnectWise has been championing that concept to the IT Nation for the past year or more. For the most part that is largely true. Today, the customer relationship with most small and medium businesses runs through a local VAR who provides the needed hardware, software and services to bring IT into their environment. But a little history lesson may be worth considering as it regards the last mile and the future. As the Bible teaches, we can learn much by remembering what has happened in the past and we have a very relavant teacher regarding this relationship.

Local telephone companies always felt they had the last mile. That was a literal thing for them – the last mile of copper wire that went from their local connection point to the homes and businesses on the end of their wire. It served them well for many years as there was no real option – if you wanted phone service – you paid the local telco to get it. Then came change – lots of change. There was the advent of cellular which allowed customers to use wireless technology to bypass the last mile. Then along came cable tv companies offering telephone service using their wire – so now there is competition from a second “last mile” cable from a nontraditional telephony source. Then comes the Internet which is able to provide VOIP telephony services. The Internet can be delivered in lots of ways – via cable, copper, wireless, cellular, satellite – there are many ways that the last mile for VOIP can enter a home or business. Today there is no control at all for the local telco. In fact, they are scrambling to try and remain relevant in many situations by trying to add services to compete in delivering Internet, cable TV, and other digital services across their once precious last mile advantage. In many cases, they no longer even have a presence with the customers they once owned. It has vanished right before their eyes.

So how does that apply to us in the IT business. We have the same potential problem coming our way. First we have the transition that is being driven by managed services. Today many of the services that we once delivered by dispatching engineers to a local site has moved to remote support. We no longer need to roll a truck and put a person on premise to service a majority of the problems that occur. That means service delivery can happen from anywhere at any time. Many of us have built that competency ourselves, but margins will continue to be squeezed. It will become a comodity of sorts. And more importantly, if the equipment no longer resides on premise but in the cloud, our services at the least must change, but may in fact be non essential at all.

The sale of hardware and software has been a staple for many of us for years. That will likely diminish in the near future. With the advent of HAAS (hardware as a service) which allows a customer to purchase hardware and software via a monthly subscription beginning to gain steam, we will see purchases from our own offerings slip away unless we find a way to deliver that service. We are already seeing this being delivered by the national wireless companies as you can get a netbook with a wireless subscription on a monthly contract. And new partners like CharTec are springing up to enable traditional VAR's to compete in the HAAS space without having to figure it all out ourselves. And the next step will be no on premise hardware at all in some accounts – where it resides in a data center and is utilized via the wire. We have to prepare to see the margins we have been accustomed to receiving from the sale of hardware and software begin to move away drastically or maybe completely in some cases.

Cloud computing is a major game changer. It has the potential to rob the margin from the sale of hardware, software, projects and break fix sources. It also could cause us to lose the managed service revenue stream that many have come to rely on unless we adapt our services to be cloud friendly. There will still be a need to manage things in the cloud, and to manage some sort of end user devices, but those will likely take a different shape and be a virtual desktop in nature. If we don’t have services that are designed to serve the cloud environment, we will likely become irrelevant to our customers and lose this revenue stream.

So the real question is “what does your P&L look like if you lose the margin you generate from hardware, software, projects, break fix and managed services today. For many partners – that is their revenue and the bottom line is very negative. In fact, the business is insolvent. There are no other relevant income streams that can come close to supporting most businesses today. So what should we do? Certainly sticking our head in the sand and ignoring the potential threat is not the correct response.

This is not a doom and gloom post – but rather one to drive you to consider the opportunities that will be available to the partners who figure this new world out. Cloud computing will not happen overnight. There are many opinions on the speed of adoption. From my perspective, I believe there are a couple drivers. One will be the speed at which the new workforce begins to take leadership of the IT management in the SMB. Younger people have never known anything different than the cloud. They have put their email, data, pictures and social interactions in the cloud their entire lives. So they will have no hesitation to make the transition if the change makes sense from a cost perspective. Secondly there will be significant pressure on the cost of cloud services as everyone races to get to the new frontier from a delivery perspective. There will be many competitors – both large and small – who will make a “land grab” and attempt to draw people to the new source of monthly recurring revenue. Those two factors will be significant drivers to the transition. My personal opinion is it will happen sooner than later and within 3-5 years we will see a very different landscape when we consider IT infrastructure in the SMB.

So what should we do if we currently serve the SMB space? I believe we need to immediately embrace this transition and learn how to deliver products and services through the cloud. It begins by implementing them internally and using them so we have an understanding of how they work. The magic and ongoing opportunity for most of us will be in consulting around how to select and integrate with and within the cloud. I believe many companies will have a hybrid cloud model for the near term meaning they will likely push some things off premise into the cloud and retain others – such as line of business and financial applications – in their offices and under their direct control. I don’t believe that will be the final result as people get comfortable with the technology and reliability, but for now, it will likely be a combination of thing locally and across the wire. Most are already comfortable having financial access across the wire as they access bank, 401K and other financial information that way currently. Security has become acceptable in the cloud as people do it daily already.

We have to learn to sell differently, and provide services differently as the landscape changes. We have to learn new skills in how to connect the dots in the cloud and to our local customer networks. There is a “new normal” coming, and if we don’t begin now to learn how it will work, and more importantly how we can remain relevant in that new world, we will quickly find ourselves not in control any longer. The last mile is moving and we have to get started now to ready ourselves for the change. One day soon we will wake up and wonder how it happened as we didn’t even notice the change. But we definitely will notice the effect of that change because the income we currently depend on to make payroll and pay our bills will have dried up and moved to a different mailbox. That will be a very sad day as it will be far too late to make the changes and catch up then. Now is the time to stop and take a look at what is coming. The train has left the station. The only question is whether you will accept that fact and get ready to board.

Are You a Procrastinator?

Then this post is for you because we are down to the deadline to apply for a very important award. The MSP Mentor 100 award is on the line and the deadline to apply is tomorrow, December 11.

Company awards are an excellent way to celebrate business achievement and shine a spotlight on your business. Try it and you might discover some of the bottom line benefits and the power of industry and local awards. This is often an overlooked tool in your marketing toolbox. Marketing consists of many techniques and channels from advertising and direct response to radio and trade shows, but you can take your small business to new levels by entering your company for awards. The trick is they don’t just happen. You have to apply, submit an entry or nominate yourself. Awards are not just for big companies. At all levels, businesses have the opportunity to compete for awards, but if you don’t take the time, they probably won’t happen. Usually the application process involves completing an application, a brief essay and a description of your business. Some might require financials. The good news is that once you apply for one it will get easier from there so just do it!

Below are some sources for awards:
• Industry publications (MSPmentor, Channel Insider, Everything Channel, Business Solutions Magazine, ChannelPro Magazine)
• Industry associations (VTN, TechSelect, CompTIA, ASCII.....)
• Vendors and suppliers(industry and local)
• Local organizations and publications (business journals, associations, clients)

So you think you’ll never win. Again, if you don’t enter then you probably won’t. Entering corporate awards and contests as a marketing strategy is an untapped area by small business. With limited entries, your odds of winning improve. Even if you don't win, a title nomination can bring many rewards.

We won, now what do we do? Share the news within your organization. This is a great morale building tool for your team. Tell them what they did to help your organization win that award. Put out a press release and share it locally as well as within your industry. Put the word out via your social networking outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Post the press release and the award to your website. Good news like this will get noticed by vendors, distributors, associations, clients, prospects, media, employees and future employees. Tell everyone you won!

That being said, MSPmentor is still accepting nomination for their annual MSPmentor 100 list. Have you submitted your company yet? The deadline is Friday, December 11th. Do it NOW!!

Want to Grow Your Company?

Hear me live on ConnectWiseTV: Steps Along the Way - Key Decisions You Make in Growing Your Business

Join me Friday December 11th at 12 Noon Eastern for a ConnectWiseTV show on how to overcome the roadblocks to growing your business. I delivered this content as a break out session at the ConnectWise Partner Summit in November in Orlando. It was among the highest rated session so the great folks at ConnectWise invited me to fly down to beautiful Tampa to do a live show and record the presentation.

I will focus on identifying the different decisions that an IT business owner faces as they go through the growth lifecycle. It starts with the decision to hire your first employee, then adding sales, marketing, HR, process and other people to the company. What are the triggers that lead someone to make those additions? There are some common plateaus that solution providers seem to hit and I will identify the timing and the solution to help you break through to the next level of your business.

Registration is limited to the first 500 registrants so do it now

Register Today!

Will the Real Partners Please Stand Up?

I wrote a blog post about a year ago when partners were going crazy around a mistake SonicWALL made (http://peerpower.blogspot.com/2008/12/when-things-dont-go-as-planned.html) that caused some pain for folks when their units were not updating and working properly. Over the past 12 months there have been posts around issues at Ingram and ConnectWise. Things happen that cause pain for partners and it seems more and more that the response is to react and start blasting out emails and complaints rather than trying to understand what is happening. The most recent of these involves another great partner of the channel – the folks at HP.

HP has made a corporate decision to take compliance very seriously. They are addressing some legal and regulatory compliance requirements proactively. There is a tendency by many of us in the channel to forget that our vendor partners don’t make the rules under which they have to operate as a corporation – they are dictated to by the government or in the case of many – governments all around the world who seem to focus on making it difficult for large corporations to succeed. HP, and Compaq before them, have been very strong channel advocates. They are not perfect, and have made plenty of bone headed decisions in the past. But the thing about HP that has always impressed me, particularly in the past few years, is that when there is a mistake, particularly in channel conflict, they take the appropriate action and side on behalf of the partner to correct the error. At least that has been my experience and why we have all our eggs in their basket. The same is not true from some other hardware providers who claim to be channel friendly. If there is a conflict, they default against the partner and deliver the “too bad” message. But that is for another day and time.

HP has been tasked with meeting compliance requirements. They have chosen to use an outsourced vendor to handle this process – recognized in the compliance industry as a best in class screening service provider. Using a third party also provides some separation by HP in case there is ever any investigation or question about the process. Partners have received faxes and emails with the message that they need to register on a secure portal, take a short training module, review the code of ethics, and then complete a questionnaire to assess compliance risk. The process is fairly painless. It took us two and a half to three hours. Yes it cost $120 to complete it. There are certainly things about this process that are poorly done:

1. Communication has been very poor – receiving notice of this via fax is a pathetic method – this is the 21st century after all
2. There is plenty of the training that does not apply to an SMB partner – not a big deal but an aggravation
3. There does not seem to be any connection between the communication and whether a partner has done the training – some get notices after completion while others still have not heard about the need to do it at all
4. Communication has been very poor – worth repeating again since it is soooooooo bad

OK – now that we have agreed that the process leaves something to be desired, let’s talk about the other side of the coin. There always are two sides to consider although partners tend to only want to see it their way. HP is setting a standard here. They are going to require partners to be compliant and follow the rules. They are setting a standard around business conduct that should give us some assurances that things will be done properly. In a way, they may be setting themselves up for some unfair competition from competitors who opt not to play so fairly. But bottom line they are making a statement about their desire to be a thought and industry leader and that is a very good thing indeed.

So what is the bottom line. As I see it, HP has a cost of doing business that they are passing on to their partners. They also are taking a proactive stance on being sure partners are compliant. Should we like it? Maybe not, but guess what, that is exactly what I do when I have an increase in my cost of doing business. It gets passed on to my customer. I am willing to bet you do the same, or soon will be out of business. Besides - $120 is an aggravation not an expense to be a partner. You pay $1500 or more to be a Microsoft partner. Many vendors are a lot more than that. Those that truly are HP partners have expressed over and over that this is not a big deal. It is part of being a true partner. Many have expressed the wish that the cost to be an HP partner be significantly higher. Those that are making a big issue of the matter likely aren’t really partners but looking to have access to things without being willing to truly step up and partner. Sitting on the HP small business advisory council allows me to see the reality of their partner channel. Less than 10 percent of their partners sell well over 80 percent of the product. So will there be tears in Houston if a bunch of people who carry the name of HP partner but don’t sell anything decide that spending 3 hours and $120 is too much to ask go away? I wouldn’t be shedding any tears. That is not the intended purpose of this compliance process, but it may well be one of the benefits. And quite honestly, when I have conversations with other HP partners who are invested and understand what it means to truly partner talk about this, they hope the herd is thinned by a significant percentage. Less people to compete with means better things for those who understand that partnership is give and take and requires everyone to work together.

Could it be done better? Absolutely. Is it a real issue? Not from my perspective. We are a very spoiled bunch in the IT VAR channel. They didn’t call and close a bunch of our shops like they did in the auto industry. They are asking for some true partnership and it is time for the real partners to stand up and differentiate yourself from the pack. Time to grow up and get down to the business of talking to customers and selling solutions rather than whining about something that doesn’t matter.

Traveling to Minneapolis to Meet with Microsoft

Yesterday I was privileged to head to Minneapolis (12 hours round trip) to meet with Phil Sorgen, corporate VP of SMS&P (basically the SMB partner community among other responsibilities). He moved into this role replacing Michael Park earlier this year who moved on to a new assignment. It was my first opportunity to meet and discuss HTG and the state of the channel. We had a good discussion and were joined by two great supporters of SMB partners, John LaLonde from the Local Engagement Team (LET) and Lisa Hughes, the North Central Partner Community Manager (PCM). I was honored to be able to explain a bit about our peer to peer interactions and then to discuss the SMB channel and some of the challenges I see. Here are the key blockers to growth for many companies that I expressed:

1. Cash flow. Far too many partners are undercapitalized and don’t manage their cash well. No matter how you try and cut it, cash is always king. The companies who are able to consistently grow know how to manage their cash. That involves timely billing, collection and management of accounts receivable, cost containment, management of accounts payables and all things cash. It also means that partners are not running their business month to month on credit cards. Only one simple missed payment can start a spiral of disaster if that is the only source of outside capital. Every partner needs to have established lines of credits with distribution partners and also a local bank. At least any partner that really wants to grow. If you are going to leverage other people’s money to grow you company, which is a very acceptable approach if managed correctly, then it can’t be done with credit cards. Provide the needed documentation to your distribution partner and get a line established. And go find a local bank that you can establish a line of credit with and build it up by using it and repaying it regularly. Credit capacity is something that has to be earned by careful use and payment. It is not a right or a gift – it is a privilege that is harder than ever to earn. And you don’t typically get it when you are desperate, so be working on it while you don’t think you need it so when you do it is available. I see partners make a mistake here over and over.

2. Sales. Very few partners have a true sales process. They typically can engineer and implement solutions to any problem a client may have, but when it comes to replicating that and selling it to others, they get deer in the headlights looks and don’t know what to do. Sales requires a system. There are so many moving parts. You have to hire, onboard, manage, compensate, reward, motivate, train, and build their ego’s. But if partners want to grow, then they have to become a sales organization. Nothing happens until a sale is made. Vendors typically don’t provide good training and support in this area. They may provide bits and pieces, but that provides very sketchy success. You need to establish a true start to finish process that captures every step and document it and create a system to manage it. ConnectWise is the tool we use, along with QuoteWerks and some great leadership from our VP of Sales Larry Hedin. Building and managing a sales team is a never ending challenge. But it is critical if you want to grow through that barrier to growth. I often see it rear its head when companies are 1 – 1.5 M in revenue or have 7-12 employees. It won’t fix itself, so sticking your head in the sand and hoping it just gets better does not work. You need to find a way to conquer this area. There are some great consultants that can assist. There are peers that have it under control. But pretending you have it will not work over time and you need to make it a priority and just get it in place.

3. Marketing. This is like magic to most partners. There are lots of options here and it seems that if you ask around enough you can find someone who swears by them and others who swear at them. Telemarketing, drip mail, direct mail, cold calling, buying lists, event marketing, ready to go campaigns – they all work sometime and if you get lucky. But put them in combination with a sales process and system and the odds of success go up exponentially. Marketing by itself is really nothing more than advertising. When combined with a sales process where follow up occurs and pipeline is tracked and contacts are managed – well it suddenly starts to work. Too often partners want to sign up for and throw a little money at some activity and then just sit back and wait for the prospects to come running or sit and wait to answer the phone. More often than not, that is not the response at all and then the assumption is that it doesn’t work. Marketing is a waste of time and money. It isn’t the marketing that is the problem, it is the execution. In and of itself it is not a magic bullet. It won’t get a line of people knocking your door down. But teamed with a sales engine, it can prove to be very valuable. In fact, once you have a sales system that works you have to have a marketing engine to keep the prospect pipeline filled in order to take your business to the next level. It isn’t an optional activity if you intend to keep growing as a company. You have to figure this one out too.

4. Leadership. Most partners get so wrapped up with the first three they totally miss this one. But here is the reality – you cannot grow your organization if you are the sole person leading the pack. That works until you have 20-30 people and are very effective, but a growth company has to have other folks step up to manage and lead. While it would be wonderful if there was an unlimited pool of trained and effective leaders available in the employee pool for most partners – that is not typically the way it works. You need to invest in training leaders. It is a process that takes time. You have to make investment – spend time and money in fact – and build into those that will help lead your organization to the next level. This kind of training is not some sort of vendor certification. It is not the typical course that you pick up online. It is about people and relationships and requires hard work and study to learn it. Then it takes some on the job mentoring to put it into application before it is ready for prime time. But the key is you need to start building this far before you want to put it into place. You can’t send a potential leader to a class one week and expect them to take on a leadership role next week. That is not how it works. So identify your leadership needs early and invest in the appropriate people so they have time to learn and prepare to step in and be successful.

5. Strategic relationships. If I were to pick one area that differentiates partners from the pack, the ability to build and manage strategic relationships would be the key factor. Most partners never get this truth. They insist on focusing on adversarial relationships with distribution, vendors, other resellers and often their own employees and customers. Success is not based on being in constant tension with the entire world. It is rather built upon creating successful relationships that provide win-win scenarios where everyone is bettered by the results. Our company and HTG has made strategic relationships a key focal point and strategy. We spend time learning about the resources and programs available to us from distribution and vendors. We participate in their programs and leverage their investments. And we buy and sell their products, not based on beating them down to the lowest possible price, but by focusing on the value of the solution we are able to deliver to our clients. We focus on building beneficial relationships with our peers as they are a wealth of experience and critical information to help us accelerate growth. There is absolutely no reason we need to make every mistake ourselves. We can learn much by listening to and sharing with peers. And there is no shortage of customers that need to be served. Fighting over customers in a market is a less likely way to succeed than working closely with other peers that share our approach and want to work with us. And those that want to see their staff and customers as adversaries – well you are in for a long life. We need to serve our team and customers well, and exceed their needs and expectations. When we get over ourselves and focus on serving them we can truly find success. Strategic relationships will separate you from all your competition if you learn it and live it well.

_

I want to express thanks to John and Lisa for helping make my visit possible and enlightening. Microsoft is making some significant changes in how they serve partners in the SMB space. The revised partner program, the transition of TPAM’s to distribution, the reinstatement of the Frontline marketing funds, the SBSC campaign funds, LET team, the new Var Champion program – there is a host of great things that are being done to enable us to succeed. With the creation of a role to focus on HTG, IAMCP and other peer to peer groups this fiscal year, Microsoft has put their money where their mouth has been and given us a great resource in Tina Hanson to help navigate our partnership. Already Tina has been able to generate more investment through the Windows 7 challenge and the soon to be released flex marketing campaign. John and Tina are helping us pilot some sales and marketing training in the North Central region that I think will be a game changer for partners. Arnie Mondloch in Redmond has been a consistent voice in helping us get the tools we need, like an extensive SharePoint site for collaboration. I am encouraged and excited about the investment that Microsoft is once again making in the SMB channel. And most of all, I am grateful for the opportunity to spend some time with Phil Sorgen and understand a little more of the vision for SMS&P. There is a great leadership team in place and as they listen and partner with us, we all succeed. So thanks for the time and the ear, and I look forward to our mutual success in 2010!