The Server and Cloud Community Lead Blog

Voice of Customer in Windows Server 8

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:02:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:35:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Transparency in Social Media - a great example

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:07:00 GMT

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...(read more)

I'm back, sort of

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:27:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:30:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:42:00 GMT

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...(read more)

The SBS 2008 Community Survey is closed

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:12:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:32:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:03:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:22:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Announcing Small Business Server 2008 RC0 Public Preview

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:36:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:15:00 GMT

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...(read more)

The Windows Small Business Server 2008 WW Community Survey is live

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:49:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:31:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:09:00 GMT

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...(read more)

The Essential Business Server Team blog is now live!

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:50:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Microsoft User Research is looking for some warm bodies

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:24:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:48:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:36:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Information on the SBS Cougar Beta

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:40:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 21:22:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 23:10:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 09:37:00 GMT

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...(read more)

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

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:32:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Introducing the Windows SBS 2003 Technical Library!

Kevin Beares - MSFT — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:27:00 GMT

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...(read more)