New content from the SBS docs team that will prove handy for partners with customers that are looking to go down the Windows Server 2008 route. Would be interested to hear from any local partners who are starting to look into this or have customers interested...

A new SMB partner-focused IT discussion forum has been kicked off for Australian & NZ IT consultants. To subscribe, email: ANZ-SMB-ITS-subscribe@yahoogroups.com In the words of the moderators, its a: "A community for Information Technology service...

Lots of discussion (and confusion - our fault) on SBS 2008 downgrades & so to try & make it clear, the table below summarises what you can do: CALs If I want to downgrade SBS 2008 to SBS 2003, how will CAL activation work in that scenario since...

A contentious post maybe, but I personally think the SWOT is dead. Many corporations use this Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats model as the basis for their corporate planning & whilst something is better than nothing, I really think SWOT...

Who are the Australian SBS MVPs? Don't even know what an MVP is? Well here's your chance to find out. The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award is given to select individuals around the globe in recognition of their voluntary involvement & leadership...

After much planning & taking into account the feedback from the SMB Servers pre-day at TechEd, I'm happy to announce the first round of SBS / EBS hands-on labs has been released: Small Business Server 2008 Essential Business Server 2008 Microsoft...

Lots of questions at the recent Wave roadshow around our decision to remove native support for tape back-up in Windows Server 2008. This will be the same for SBS 2008 & EBS 2008 & perhaps need some more explanation given that you'll more than...

Heads-up from our SMB team about our continuing customer profiling activities. I really feel these activities will result in more business for all & so am keen to hear your feedback / questions. Cheers, Robbie   Recently, we told you about our...

As announced at last week's TechEd SMB Servers pre-day , the Australian ERPs for Small Business Server 2008 are as per below. I'm putting together a full listing of SKUs (including Academic, transition packs etc) & will get this up in the next couple...

                        We received some great feedback from last week's " tell us how to you want to get up to speed on SBS 2008 & win a free book " extravaganza (books being labelled...

Hard times. Nervous times. Companies losing confidence & the economy in turmoil. What to do? There's a very strong argument that says organisations should pull back, consolidate, stop spending and just ride out the storm. And that absolutely makes...

Just received word that the exclusive SBSC Toolkit shipping with the October Action Pack will include 15 additional CALs for SBS & EBS. Nice. The kits will be at the Microsoft post office from October 24th & so should be with you a few weeks after...

We're starting to see more information coming out from the product teams around Small Business Server 2008 , including this recently posted interview with the program manager, Sean Daniel - Click here to watch. You can also connect to Sean's excellent...

I'm very pleased to announce that Microsoft overnight has officially launched the long awaited Small Business Server 2008 & Essential Business Server 2008 . These have been on the drawing board for over 3 years now & so I for one can't wait to...

Great post from my colleague David Overton in the UK. There's loads more on his blog, but the nuts of it are here: " Details of the process can be found in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 technical library .  One of the MOST IMPORTANT...

Just confirming - Small Business Server 2008 is still going to be a 75-user product. There's been some confusion lately (our fault entirely) due to a brochure that said SBS is good for businesses with up to 50 PCs. This was merely some marketing copy...

Hot on the heals of the EBS 2008 beta , the Small Business Server 2008 public beta is now available for you to download. Using RC0 code, this is your first chance to have a play with the software you've been reading about for the last couple of months...

Lots of discussion at the moment around the recently announced "Solutions Pathway" & so I thought I'd steal Eric Ligman's post to summarise - see below. Basically, Solutions Pathway is our new upgrade process for all things SBS & EBS...

Microsoft Outlook with Business Contact Manager is an often overlooked solution for small businesses - but it really could work well for your customers. Some great resources uncovered by my UK colleague & SBS super-guru, David Overton: http://uksbsguy...

Henry Ford famously quipped that if he had ever asked his customers what they would have liked, they would have said a faster horse. What's this got to do with Small Business Server? Well, not a lot actually apart from the fact that it provides a nice...

And so it come to pass that after 7 years, 7 months & nearly 7 days at Microsoft, I've finally got around to publishing a blog. What follows will be my own thoughts, perceptions, comments & updates on all manner of things connected to the Microsoft...

I'm very happy to announce that every attendee of our SMB Servers day at TechEd Australia 2008 will receive a free copy of the soon to be released Small Business Server 2008 Standard . Not kidding. Yours to take & use to make your first sale on the...

May is a travel month for me & within the space of two weeks I'll be heading to Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane & various events around Sydney. I'll mostly be visiting SBSC & other partners as a way to get a better understanding of three key...

Excellent post from a Canadian SBSC on how they offer Hosted SBS solutions. As mentioned in the Small Business Partner breakout sessions at our Wave launch roadshow, hosting or SPLA licensing (SPLA = service provide license agreement) is by far the fastest...

Registration for TechEd 2008 closes at 3pm on Thursday, August 28th & so if you wanna be part of the biggest SBS & EBS Partner event in Australia since the launch of SBS 2003, now is the time to register. Full details & registration available...