The Server and Cloud Community Lead Blog

Voice of Customer in Windows Server 8

2011-10-18T22:02:00Z

I am proud to be part of the Windows Server Partner & Customer Ecosystem team here at Microsoft and having had a chance to play a small roll in our Voice of Customer Feedback activities for Windows Server 8 . As a community lead for Microsoft for over 8 years I have seen and been a part of numerous voice of customer programs. Typically we called these programs, Technical Adoption Programs (TAP), Private and Public Betas, but these activities are usually reserved for a time frame after a full...(read more)

Quick Question. Should we use our real names or an alias when we blog?

2011-09-29T22:35:00Z

I am sure you have noticed, but on some of our blogs, the posts are all authored by an Alias and not really from any single blog author. Now part of the reasoning behing this is part legacy and part owners wanting to control how many people have access to the blog as an author, but beyond that what do you think? Do you think that this hurts us, do you trust those blogs and blog posts less or does it really not matter to you?...(read more)

Transparency in Social Media - a great example

2011-09-29T21:07:00Z

When I think of transparency in terms of how we do business and how we relate to customers, I don't think of it in terms of sharing NDA information. It is more about trying to be as open and honest as you can with customers in terms of decisions and possibly mistakes you've made. Obviously it is easier said than done. So, just thought you would appreciate an amazing case study on how transparency prevented a customer loyalty disaster even though the mistake this compnay made cost them pretty severely...(read more)

I'm back, sort of

2011-09-29T20:27:00Z

It has been a while since I blogged from here for many reasons. As I developed into my role as a community lead at Microsoft, I began to feel strongly that the best way to communicate a message is not through an individual blog, but through a team blog. Why should someone have to listen to my blog to find out details about a beta or an upcoming event or any other news? Having said that, I think that there is a role that my blog can play for a smaller audience who may interested in what kinds of...(read more)

New! Online Peer Group Benefit for Small Business Specialist and Windows SBS Partners

2008-08-26T19:30:00Z

A little late, but worth the post. Microsoft announces Online Peer Groups, a new benefit for current Small Business Specialist partners that took the Windows SBS 70-282 exam. What are the Online Peer Groups? The online Peer Groups are an opportunity for Microsoft partners to learn, share and complete activities designed to improve their business and professional lives. The Content will consist of these six topics over a 12-month period: Vision, Mission, Values Business Planning...(read more)

Do you want training on SBS 2008 and EBS 2008. Well, it is here and has already begun

2008-08-21T17:42:00Z

Hey everyone, This is your chance to get your feet wet in the Windows Essesntial Server Solutions suite of products, SBS 2008 and EBS 2008. The team has gone to great lengths to put together the "Windows Essential Server Solutions Launch with Technical Training Series" https://partner.microsoft.com/40075344 You can read more about what the Official SBS Blog had to say about it here. http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2008/08/12/get-ready-for-the-windows-essential-server-solutions-launch...(read more)

The SBS 2008 Community Survey is closed

2008-07-14T21:12:00Z

Thanks to everyone who responded. We had a lot of responses this year and I appreciate the time and energy that a lot of you spent in sharing your thoughts on the SBS Community. I plan to share the findings here and hopefully everyone will gain a better understanding of how others think of the SBS Community. Kevin...(read more)

More Background on the SBS Community Survey and answers to your questions

2008-06-11T20:32:00Z

I figured a new blog post would be better than continuing a thread of comments on the previous blog post. Where is the love? The SBS Community Survey is floundering with very few responses. Results from previous surveys have been posted on this blog. I probably could have done a better job of talking about the action items I took from the last year's survey results. My posts, may have not been to the depth that some of you are looking for, but I have talked about the survey and it's purpose on...(read more)

We fixed a bug on the MS.com site where we were hosting the SBS and EBS public previews

2008-06-10T07:03:00Z

Hey all, Please pass the word to anyone who is interested that if you were having any problems with gaining access to either EBS 2008 or SBS 2008, you should be able to go get it now. Some people were getting redirected to the main MS.com page when they clicked on the Get it now link. It was an issue with the Live ID and Registration part of the page. If you had logged in with Live ID to a different MS property like TechNet or MSDN and then came to the SBS or EBS page, you could end up being...(read more)

Where is the love? The SBS Community Survey is floundering with very few responses.

2008-06-09T20:22:00Z

OK, I thought this would be like shooting fish a barrel, but apparently, this isn't the case. So far we have had 250 responses in 2 weeks. At this rate, we will set a new record for the least amount of responses in a month by a country mile. Is everyone so busy that they can't spare about 5 minutes to take this? Has the SBS Community taken a sabatical? Does anyone care? Seriously, folks. We care an awful lot and we really want to hear from you. Please take a few minutes and tell us what you...(read more)

Announcing Small Business Server 2008 RC0 Public Preview

2008-05-29T21:36:00Z

Just a heads up if you didn't already here the announcement, but you can go get the public preview of SBS 2008 today. http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2008/05/28/announcing-small-business-server-2008-rc0-public-preview.aspx What distiinguishes this public preview from the techbeta is really the location of the download and the intent. The techbeta's primary goal is and has been feedback. We are still running the techbeta. The public preview is mainly for people to evaluate and prepare for...(read more)

Keep it coming. The Survey will be live for one month, but don't wait too long to fill it out....

2008-05-29T20:15:00Z

Hey everyone, Thanks to all of you who have already responded to the SBS WW Community Survey 2008 . I have had almost 200 responses so far. I would love it if we could get close to 2,000 responses this year. We got over 700 last year and we learned a ton. The reason why I would like a lot more responses is because I have more help to chew on the data. We had a huge impact on a lot of the other supporting teams like the Community team that works on forums, blogs, etc... As well as the TechNet...(read more)

The Windows Small Business Server 2008 WW Community Survey is live

2008-05-23T21:49:00Z

This is the third year we have published an SBS WW Community Survey to the SBS Community. We have learned an amazing amount of information from the people who have taken the time to tell us what they thought. Some things we kind of knew already, but other things were not as clear before we had received the feedback. Because of the previous surveys, we have made some adjustments in our community engagement. To name a few; we really worked on putting more focus on the Official SBS Blog. Our Sustaining...(read more)

Thoughts on Sean's post on Community Strategy; Are you Company-Centric or Customer-Centric?

2008-05-19T21:31:00Z

I posted the following comment on Sean's blog post about whether you are Company Centric or Customer Centric. http://communitygrouptherapy.com/2008/05/17/community-strategy-are-you-company-centric-or-customer-centric/ . Along with my thoughts below, I think honestly answering Sean's question is a very challenging one. “Within our company, what is the #1 thing we celebrate?” I know that we definitely answer that question with ship date. I think collectively, all of our product teams on the WSSG...(read more)

The SBS Guru..... dispelling SBS myths, one crazy video at a time.

2008-03-11T03:09:00Z

You have to check out some pretty cool stuff our Marketing team put out recently. So how many times has someone asked you "Can I add multiple servers to an SBS domain?". The SBS team decided it was time to do something about it so now, they are working on dispelling some of the most common and not so common SBS myths, one crazy video at a time. So the next time you encounter this or any other SBS myth, just respond with: "Yes, you can. Check this dude out: http://sbsguru.spaces.live.com/default...(read more)

The Essential Business Server Team blog is now live!

2008-03-11T02:50:00Z

Hey everyone, Just thought I would share with you some BIG News! The Windows Essential Business Server Team has a new blog. http://blogs.technet.com/EssentialBusinessServer/ This will be the official EBS team blog. We have several goals for the team blog: Provide information to press, partners, and customers to learn about the product Provide insights into the why's behind the product Be an open and transparent place to discuss aspects of the product (technical issues, shortcomings...(read more)

Microsoft User Research is looking for some warm bodies

2008-01-26T02:24:00Z

Hey everyone, The User Research team is looking for and inviting select customers to participate in a user research study. They are looking to learn from companies who perform IT services for their own customers, such as backing up data, managing/installing patches, and keeping AV software up-to-date. They would like to come to your office to talk with one or more people who perform IT services for clients and learn from them. It is important for you to know that you do not need to do...(read more)

Windows Server "Centro" is officially unveiled and has a new name!!

2007-11-07T21:48:00Z

Hey Everyone, We have a new name! Please pass the word out if you can. I really appreciate all of your support over the last year getting the word out via your blogs. We have had a huge level of interest in the Techbeta and we are currently evaluating expanding the level of participants in the program in the near future. So, if you are interested, see the instructions below for applying to participate in the TechBeta. Windows® Essential Business Server is the new Microsoft server solution...(read more)

The BIG Question at SMB Nation 2007. "Microsoft, can I run Windows Home Server on my SBS Network?"

2007-10-05T22:36:00Z

Last week was an amazing week... We started off on September 27th and 28th with over 20 MS MVPs (mostly SBS MVPs aka the SBS Family) in town before SMB Nation 2007 for a set of Round Table / Deep Dive / NDA conversations with the Centro, Windows Home Server and SBS teams. The primary objective of these sessions is to drive product feedback from the MVPs to the product teams and also to keep the MVPs up to date on where we are with our development efforts. These sessions basically occur twice a year...(read more)

Information on the SBS Cougar Beta

2007-08-10T22:40:00Z

A lot of you have contacted me lately asking to get in on the Windows Server Code Name Cougar Beta program that we are hosting on MS Connect. Right now, we are at a level of participation that meet our goals for feedback. We are still taking applications for future releases of the beta of Cougar here. http://connect.microsoft.com/cougar . You can fill out the survey and when we get closer to our next milestone, we may be opening up the beta to a larger set of users. At that time, we will get in touch...(read more)

Enabling a broad feedback channel to the Windows Home Server team and SBS team via MS Connect for RTM releases

2007-08-03T21:22:00Z

So, how do you provide feedback to Microsoft today? What I am talking about when I say feedback is a bug or a suggestion like you would on a beta. I know that participating in a Beta like the Windows Home Server Beta is one way to get in your suggestions and bugs to the product team, but how do you do it on RTM product? For this conversation I want to focus completely on simply providing feedback to Microsoft to improve the quality of the product. Now, I want to immediately remove one scenario...(read more)

The Results are in for the SBS Community Survey for 2007. Thanks.

2007-07-13T23:10:00Z

Hi all, The Survey is now closed. Thanks again to all of you who responded to the survey. We received a ton of feedback. I have my work cut out for me, but I promise that I will get back to you all with the results and let you all know what we plan to do in response to your feedback. Thanks again, Kevin...(read more)

Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Server Code Name “Centro”

2007-06-30T09:37:00Z

Back in October I announced the Windows Server Code Name “Centro” Beta 1 release and provided a way for people to sign up for the beta: So, what is "Centro" you ask...........? We have released a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Server Code Name “Centro” and the team is looking for program participants to provide confidential feedback. Input from the community will directly impact the design of this exciting new product! “Centro” is built on Windows Server 2008 and provides...(read more)

OK, I will run it a little longer. The SBS WW Community Survey 2007 that is.

2007-06-25T21:32:00Z

Since I said that it was open until the end of the month, I got a bunch more responses and a lot of great comments. So, since I will be on a family vacation the week of July 4th, I will leave it open until I return. Please take the survey if you haven't already done so. We reallly want to hear from you. I promise to read each and every comment and do everything in my power to act on your feedback. I really appreciate your time and energies. SBS WW Community Survey 2007 Thanks, Kevin...(read more)

Introducing the Windows SBS 2003 Technical Library!

2007-06-25T21:27:00Z

Wanted to post a link to the SBS 2003 Technical Library announcement. I think this is a great addition to the Community and I think helps address a lot of concerns that people have raised in the SBS WW Community Survey 2007 . The ability to search for information on SBS I think has been vastly improved with this addition. Please check it out and let me know what you all think. Kevin Here is the post from the SBS Doc Team: http://blogs.msdn.com/sbsdocsteam/archive/2007/06/22/introducing...(read more)