The Demo Showcase 2008 SMB Edition is now available for download. This is a set of 4 comprehensive click through demonstrations designed for partners featuring 12 different Microsoft technologies working together to resolve business needs! Scenarios: Business Productivity Customer Acquisition and Retention...

Some great, free SBS2008 webcasts coming soon, a series of 8!   WES02PAL:  Windows SBS 2008 Core Technical Training, Part 1 of 8: Introduction Presented by David Fabritius, Nicholas King and Michael Toot Thursday, August 21, 2008 10:00-11:00am Pacific Time (US & Canada) (GMT-07:00) PLC...

Microsoft is a big company.  Actually, Microsoft is a huge company!  And one of the most common pieces of feedback I receive from partners and customers is that it's often hard to navigate Microsoft, to keep up with all of the changes and associated information disclosures etc.  My response...

Folks have been asking whether or not there will be a small business version of Windows Server 2008, and if so, when will it be available and what's going to be in it?  The answer is yes, Windows Small Business Server 2008 is an all-in-one server solution recommended for organisations with up to...

Are you running a small business? Did you know that when you sign up to Microsoft Office Live Small Business you get a free web site and e-mail?  Plus, everything you need to create a professional online presence, including web hosting, domain name and 100 business-branded e-mail accounts? There...

Microsoft Office Accounting is an easy to use, comprehensive accounting package that works with other Microsoft Office applications you already know.  Because it works just like Word, Excel and Outlook, it's easy to learn. Anyone wanting to download the free, Office Accounting Express 2008 product...

The Microsoft Partner Demo Showcase download has been extended to include Deep Dive/Product virtual environments which are available to ALL Microsoft partners, including SBSC. Only Demo Showcase remains as the Gold/Cert benefit moving forwards... The following are now available globally for immediate...

A great thing happened yesterday...I saw a smorgasbord :) I remember the first time I came across this, on a website at Microsoft. Most people would admit I have a fair handle on grammar but vocabulary...now there's something that's useful, like, mate. Now, every time I read a new word, I hit the Review...

How fantastic, this is a must see! A Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) application that provides developers with resources for programs, servers, services, and tools that work with the Microsoft Office System. It guides the user through drill down access to each product and technology to aid learning...

I was reading Hugh’s post and the comments around whether open source software meets shareholder and CEO needs, I love the cartoon that goes with it. George Ou has some interesting stats in this area too. It’s a serious debate and as well as shareholders and CEO’s, there is a need to consider whether...

If you only do one other thing today, sign this petition and help safeguard the future of OpenXML. Many readers of this blog may be aware that Microsoft called for the standardisation of Open XML via ECMA International and this was approved as open standard in December 2006. Of the 21 members to vote...

I finally received some clarity from the upper echelons in Redmond around this... The good news is that the Demo Showcase Small Business DVD should be delivered in the Microsoft Action Pack Subscription Special Edition for SBSC's mid-March!!! Now, I wonder if this is just in the U.S.A.?!? As I...

Including contributions from (amongst others) McAfee, SonicWALL, Computer Associates and Sophos, this article is a great primer to help you understand all you need to know about cleaning malware off your computer "The main malware differentiator is visibility: whereas a virus wants to be seen, Trojans...

There's another fantastic scenario contained with the Demo Showcase which expertly shows off the amazing conditional formatting and newly designed table capabilities of Microsoft Excel 2007. In the scenario, we assume the character of Patricia Doyle, a Sales Manager with Contoso. Maybe the silicon...

One of the great things about the Demo Showcase is the Office 2007 content it contains. One of the scenarios let's you assume the role of Julia, the HR Manager at Contoso who needs to publish a HR newsletter on a regular basis. Now, to me, Julia looks more like someone who spends hours and hours in front...

Once upon a time, in a land not so far far away, there lived a beautiful piece of software... If ever you needed to understand just how Microsoft managed to turn the Office frog into the handsome prince, this fairytale could just be what you need... Based around Madeline, a beautiful princess ...

Surprisingly, I was first up. I felt the need to provide my roommate Steve Marsh, the main man presenting today with some time and space so that he could get his head sorted in time for the presentation he was about to deliver so a 6am alarm call was the order of the day...plenty of time for sleeping...

Some great news for members of the Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) in the UK! The January edition of the Action Pack will be a special edition indeed, as SBSC members will each receive a copy of the Demo Showcase for the People Ready Business! I've had lots of great feedback from Small Business...

The moment I wake up, before I turn on my laptop, I make a little call or two... And, chances are I will get through to someone's voicemail...at this point, I have a few options: Leave a voicemail (which I don't know when they will get) Send an Email (which I don't know when they will get...

Now I know what you're thinking... How on earth is it possible to relate Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system to brown sauce and peas? I urge you dear reader to bear with me on this one... I was out for dinner (again) recently with a couple of my team mates, James Senior and Matt McSpirit...

I was listening to The Stone Roses the other night, they were a four piece band that originated from Madchester in the mid eighties. The vocals were sung by lan Brown and occasionally guitarist John Squire. Completing the quintet were Pete Garner on bass and Reni on drums. John Squire also did all of...

Right then, Monday morning and my season's kicked off, so time to head back over to the football/soccer analogies...well, if tactics equate to marketing campaigns that is!!! Find below a list of the market campaigns that the Demo Showcase aligns to when talking to midmarket customers. Build Customer...

Well, I posted the box shots, so here's the actual goods... Basically, what you get when you pop them there DVD's into your machine is a nice little index... This is where you could, if you so wished, look to sort out a list of technology demos... Or, if you are smart, you can try to align them by Campaign...

I played football at the weekend (that's possibly known as soccer to any non UK folk listening - hey, what do we know, we only invented the beautiful game! ;) I play for a Sunday League side, nothing serious, that's run from a local pub called The Holden Bridge Hotel. The team played really well, and...

Well, I did for sure...hope you were as lucky! Basically, the "Demo Showcase for the People Ready Business" (really can't be bothered to type that out all the time so from here-on-in it will be referred to as the Demo Showcase) is a unique resource for Microsoft Partners to help them transition from...