[Today’s post comes to us courtesy of Hiroshi Ando, Sr. Marketing Manager from the Windows Server and Management Team]
I am very happy to announce the launch of the Extreme IT Makeover, a joint program between Microsoft and HP where both companies work with their large community of Partners to help not-for-profit small organizations take advantage of better technology to accomplish their missions. Once the not-for-profit is identified, everyone donates to the cause. The necessary server hardware/software is donated by Microsoft & HP, the integration and deployment services are donated by the partner. Truly a winning situation, with the not-for-profit and, more importantly, those they help being the ultimate winners.
The first Extreme IT Makeover recipient is Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) Washington which supports 1,600 member families through its online resource library, advocacy, and in-person mentorships. Its clinical programs serve 22 children and youth in Bellevue, Washington, and its respite programs reach 100 students in Bellevue and a satellite site in Tacoma, Washington. Before the Extreme IT Makeover, they relied on six old donated computers and had no central storage both of which created daunting business issues. FEAT relies on fundraising, donations, and grants, so acquiring IT has always been a challenge.
Nominated by Steve Banks, owner of Banks Consulting Northwest, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist and a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional), FEAT was selected to be the first recipient for an Extreme IT Makeover. When they found out they had been selected, “We were ecstatic. We were figuring out where we could cut things from our budget to buy new hardware,” says Brenne Schario, Executive Director, Families for Effective Autism Treatment, Washington. “It was the answer to our prayers!’”
Representatives from Microsoft and HP worked with Banks to outfit the FEAT office with a new IT infrastructure. Banks deployed Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials on an HP ProLiant MicroServer, four HP Elitebook laptops running Windows 7 Professional and Microsoft Office 2010 business productivity software. Then he added an HP ProLiant ML110 server running Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 to the SBS 2011 Essentials environment which hosts Office 2010, accounting, and fundraising software that staff can access from eight HP thin clients.
Thanks to the Extreme IT Makeover, FEAT has a solid IT foundation for growth. “Now that we have reliable computers and secure data and we can share documents online and access information quickly, we feel ready to bring on more staff and open a second location in Tacoma,” concludes Schario. “At the end of the day, FEAT is all about supporting more families and helping more children with autism reach their full potential. Microsoft and HP are helping us make that possible.”
Look for more Coffee Coaching Extreme IT Makeovers in the upcoming months. Until then, check out Coffee Coaching on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
I am very happy to announce that, starting today, Small Business customers will be able to buy Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials factory installed from Dell.
SBS 2011 Essentials is now available on all the Dell Poweredge line up, from the Dell T110 II, a great first server for small business that offers the right combination of value, reliability, collaboration and data protection up to the more powerful Dell T310 and Dell R310 for those users that require advanced processing performance, memory and storage.
Dell will make SBS 2011 Essentials servers available directly or through partners and it is introducing a number of innovative features to their SBS Essentials servers. Features like the Intel® Small Business Manageability Plug-In and vPro™ Processor utilizing Intel® KVM™ technology that allows our customers to access their PC’s from anywhere - even when powered off – to diagnose and fix issues.
In addition to these features small businesses will be able to increase the value of their purchase with offers like the Office Expansion bundle that will include two PCs with Microsoft Windows 7 Professional and Office 2010 Home and Business and take advantage of financing packages that help small businesses cash flows by requiring very low monthly payments.
So today please visit us here (if you are a partner) or here (if you are a small business owner) to know more about this exciting opportunity and to discover why customers like Don Russell, Founder and CEO of Russell Gallaway Associates can say “I’ve reduced the time I spend on IT administration by about 75 percent, cutting it down to one hour a week. It’s pretty amazing how much less time I’m spending on IT now.”
[Today’s post comes to us courtesy of David Fabritius, Senior Product Manager from Windows Server and Cloud Marketing]
This week marks the beta release of the highly anticipated Microsoft Office 365 Integration Module (OIM) for Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. The OIM allows small businesses to seamlessly combine the cloud-based productivity tools of Office 365 with the infrastructure provided by SBS 2011 Essentials, a first-server designed and priced especially for small businesses with limited in-house IT resources. The joint technologies provide businesses with an affordable hybrid solution that helps protect data, organize and provide access to business information from virtually anywhere, and support the applications that enable the business to run smoothly and efficiently.
The Office 365 Integration Module joins the Windows® 7 Professional Pack for Small Business Server 2011 and the Windows® Server Solutions Phone Connector Add-in to help provide a flexible, comprehensive, and powerful solution for small businesses. If you are currently taking advantage of either SBS 2011 Essentials or Office 365, we encourage you to use this opportunity to experience the collective benefits of both products. Get ready today by downloading the Office 365 Integration Module Beta and discover how SBS 2011 Essentials and Office 365 work better together to help improve productivity and business efficiency.
The Office 365 Integration Module for Windows SBS 2011 Essentials extends the features of the server Dashboard by providing seamless integration with Office 365 services. When you integrate Office 365 with the server, you can:
You can install and configure the Office 365 Integration Module at any time after completing the server installation.
Office 365 helps drive productivity by giving employees virtually anywhere access to professional-grade email, web conferencing tools, documents, shared portals, contacts, and calendars delivered through the cloud. At a glance, Office 365 includes (click here for more details):
The solution allows companies to use the productivity tools they need while eliminating the complexity, management, and maintenance requirements of in-house messaging infrastructure. Small businesses can now combine the power of an on-premise server solution and the flexibility and convenience of cloud-based applications to help improve productivity, enhance collaboration and communication, and keep business data safe and secure.
If you’re not familiar with the benefits of SBS 2011 Essentials and the Office 365 Integration Module, let me share with you some compelling advantages for small businesses:
Get More Done – SBS 2011 Essentials and the Office 365 help small businesses employees who are always on the move that need readily accessible information and applications to service their customers or make the next sale. Office 365 enables workers to increase productivity from virtually anywhere by allowing real-time access to information and tools from a variety of devices and platforms.
Enjoy a Simplified, Flexible Solution – Small businesses are typically limited by a lack of experience and resources dedicated to in-house IT systems. Together, SBS 2011 Essentials and Office 365 offer enhanced flexibility and help reduce IT complexity with a seamless combination of comprehensive server functionality and cloud-based productivity tools that make it easy for people to connect and work together.
Help Safeguard Work – Every smart business takes precautions when it comes to safeguarding its work. Office 365 helps maintain a dependable and secure data environment allowing small businesses to rest assured knowing important business data stored in SharePoint Online is protected from loss or theft and kept safe with advanced security and reliability features.
In addition to these benefits, the Office 365 Integration Module also enables small businesses to easily administer both local and cloud users in one single place, such as adding all SBS user accounts into Office 365 and using a single custom domain name for both SBS 2011 Essentials and Office 365.