Hi Guys,
I am delighted to announce that a new technical exam focused on configuring Exchange Server 2007 has been added to the choice of exams required to qualify for the SBSC Program.
You can find out more about the exam here and learn how to get signed up to the program here.
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Guys,
I am contacting you in relation to the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. Hopefully you received a communication from either Colin Cassidy or I during April in relation to this.
As Small Business Specialists you can avail of a DISCOUNTED registration fee ($1395 vs full fee of $1795). You can avail of this discounted fee by clicking here. Also when booking your hotel accommodation I would recommend selecting the Westin Oaks hotel if possible.
For Small Business Specialist partners the conference highlights will include the pre conference Small and Medium Partner Forum, a specific Small Business track at the main conference and a great schedule of Microsoft Ireland specific events at the conference (with a mix of business and pleasure).
It would be great to see our local Irish Small Business Specialist partners attending the conference this year given the significant local investments we have made in the program and the investments we plan to make in the coming year. Last year a number of Irish SBSC partners attended the conference and the following are some of their thoughts around the benefits of attending..........
“Attending the Worldwide Partner event was excellent and I will be adding it to my calendar as a “yearly must”. It was great as a Small Business Specialist to have the focused Small Business Symposium pre event and there were some excellent sessions between this event and the main conference. It’s a great chance to think about your business as well as new technologies. The part I didn’t realise was going to be as good as it was – the networking with other Irish partners, as well as great fun it’s a opportunity to share stories and a few beers. You need to go once to understand why it’s a must every year.”
Keith McHale – Managing Director - Itomic
“I would have to say the Microsoft conference was a real eye opener with regards to our continued education into new products. Sometimes we can all sit on the fence and continue doing what we know and what we are comfortable with. Stepping out of my comfort zone meant going to Denver and what it has done for my outlook and business is fantastic. What I really liked was the focus on how to develop our services around Microsoft’s new products. I really learned where Microsoft is heading which lets me make a few changes in my company that will keep us in line.One of the most beneficial outcomes for me was to meet with the other Partners in Ireland in a very open forum where we could discuss the new innovations and products which are emerging on the market, but also where Managed Services are headed and how we should all get there.”
Kevin O’ Loughlin – Managing Director – Nostra Systems
If you have any questions in relation to this please do not hesitate to contact me on sinog@microsoft.com or on 00353 87 9805473.
We look forward to hosting you in Houston.
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Guys,
Thought you might find the content that Mark Mulvany covered in a recent partner clinic in Cork useful.
Mark discussed areas such as Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Business Contact Manager and Hyper V Virtaulization.
You can access the content here.
Enjoy :)
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Guys,
Following on the exciting Launch Showcase event which took place on March 11th in Tripod we are delighted to offer you the following Sales and Technical Training on Windows Server 2008.
Places for these courses are filling up fast so sign up today to secure your place and avoid disappointment!
You can also keep up to date on the other local activities around launch here.
Thanks,
Sinead
Sales Training - Selling Windows Server 2008
This 1 day workshop is designed for members of the partner community who sell and implement infrastructure solutions. This workshop is focused on selling the business value of Windows Server 2008 and so would be most applicable to sales and pre-sales consultants as well as those involved in bids and licensing administration.
Module 1: The Windows Server 2008 Opportunity
Module 2: Understanding Windows Server 2008
Module 3: Selling Windows Server 2008
Module 4: Licensing Windows Server 2008 and Next Steps
Location: Dublin European Product Development Centre 2; South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18
Date: April 23rd 2008
Registration: Register Now
Cost: No Cost
Sales Training - Selling Microsoft Virtualization Technologies and Solutions
If you already have – or you are currently setting up a practice delivering consulting and implementation services around Systems’ & Applications’ Virtualization to your customers. The “Selling Microsoft Virtualization Technologies and Solution” training will enable your company to sell more services with solutions based on the Microsoft Virtualization offering. By attending this sales training you will:
o Quantify the financial opportunity of Microsoft’s virtualization technologies and solutions for your company.
o Understand the benefits of the Microsoft Virtualization offering for your customers.
o Position Microsoft’s virtualization technologies and solutions effectively.
o Help your customers understand the long-term value of the Dynamic Systems Initiative and Microsoft roadmap for virtualization technologies and products.
o Win deals faster and more profitably.
o Build a strategy for increasing revenue leveraging the Microsoft Virtualization offering.
Location: Dublin European Product Development Centre 2; South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18
Date: May 1 2008
Registration: Register Now
Cost: No Cost
Technical Training - Automating Windows Server 2008 Administration with Microsoft Windows PowerShell
This three-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to utilize Windows PowerShell for administering and automating administration of Windows Server 2008. The course focuses on cmdlets, script structure and flow control, language syntax, and implementation details of scripting administrative tasks using COM, WMI, and .NET foundations.
Location: Dublin Global Knowledge, Millennium Walkway, Dublin 1
Date: April 1-3 2008
Registration: Register Now
Cost: €475 per person with Microsoft Ireland invested subsidies
Hi Guys,
I know attracting and retaining customers is a constant challenge for all business owners so I am delighted to let you know that the newly launched CSAT Index portal has now been extended as a Partner Program benefit for SBSC partners.
This portal has lots of resources and tools to help you to retain existing customers and strengthen your business relationships!
Hope you find this useful and if you have any feedback on using the tool please let me know.
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Guys,
Yesterday Microsoft announced the availability of Office Live Workspaces in International English, which will open up the service to Irish users. So, if you have a Windows Live ID with an Irish address, you can now register at www.officelive.com/workspace and start using the service!
You can use the service to store, edit and share Office documents and other information “in the cloud” and access them from virtually any web browser (including Firefox and Safari as well as IE). The service is being regularly upgraded but it is already very powerful, with tools to allow people to collaborate with friends to share information for organising sports teams, social events as well as conventional business-related tasks and information.
You can also download a small add-on to Office (for 2007, 2003 and XP) after registration which allows you to open and save documents to your Office Live Workspace from within Office applications. Below are some screengrabs of the new service and a snapshot of the Office menu with the new Office Live options installed.
You will have the opportunity to meet with the Microsoft Ireland Office team at the Community Event on the 11th next week where you will have the opportunity to ask them any questions you may have around this exciting opportunity!
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Guys,
Thought you might find this SMB Nation article on SBS 2008 interesting reading - the graphics are not very clear but should give you an idea!!
For more on SMB Nation click here.
Also watch out for the very FIRST local Irish presentation on SBS 2008 from Mark Mulvany at the upcoming SBSC Partner Community Event on March 11th. You can register for the event here.
Thanks!
SBS 2008: BusinessSpeak Viewpoint
Perhaps you know about the announcement in recent days about SBS 2008 from the Windows Server team in Building 43 in Redmond and their PR partners WagEd out of Portland. You might have read some of the technical community blogs echoing the announcement and adding sophisticated commentary to provide richer technical context. All good.
I want to use this article for a different spin with a BusinessSpeak bent. First of all - the upgrade is welcome relief for SMB Nation tribal members seeking to upgrade their customers with the latest technology. It will be nearly five calendar years since the release of SBS 2003 by the time you get the new SBS 2008 bits to your customers.
For the record, the customer has the same choice (even more) with the SBS 2008 release. There are two editions: Standard and Premium. The details are displayed in the figure below and I point you to some resources to get more techie info. But what I want to emphasize as a small business owner is the second Windows Server 2008 license with SQL running on a second server. I am a line of business (LOB) kinda guy (as I write this, my capable operations director Cyndi Moody worked till nearly dawn updating our CRM database) and this attitude adjustment in the SBS product line reflects real world LOB thinking.
The other BusinessSpeak-ism I want to highlight is the integration with Microsoft Office Live - Small Business. This marriage between hosted and on-site SBS resources completes the dream first imagined by one of the original SBS product managers in the 1990s, Brian Jeans. Brian wrote an article in the first issue of this newsletter in July 2001. This newsletter was released at the Microsoft Fusion conference in Anaheim, CA (now the Worldwide Partner Conference) at a session led by another SBS program manager, Jerome Stewart who was touting the newly released SBS 2000 product. We started with a whopping 48 readers that day; we now have 15,000 readers. Brian Jeans wrote about his move to the bCentral team after four years of service on the SBS product team. He imagined a time when SBS and bCentral would intersect and interact. Fast forward seven years and you have the reality of SBS 2008 working with Microsoft Office Live - Small Business. So put that in your peace pipe and smoke it.
Hi Guys,
The submission tool for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards is open until April 8th.
I would encourage you to consider entering for the Small Business Specialist Partner of the Year Award which honours those partners who are using Microsoft technology to deploy innovative small-business solutions. Winners will be announced and recognized at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston taking place from July 7-10, 2008. This award is only for partners actively enrolled in the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community.
You can click here for full details on the award application process and program details.
Best of luck with your submissions!
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Folks,
The Small Business team at Microsoft Ireland are delighted to invite you to attend our upcoming SBSC Partner Community Event on March 11th 2008 which will feature a taster on Cougar, details on local promotions and incentives, an opportunity to hear from and network with your peers, Windows Vista SP1, the exciting Launch Showcase experience to celebrate the launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 and lots more!!
All the information you need for the event is as follows:
When? March 11th 2008
Where? Main Auditorium, Microsoft EPDC2, South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18. Click here for directions
Timing? Community Event: 8:30am-4:30pm Launch Showcase:18:00pm-20:00pm
Relevant Audience? Managing Directors, Sales, Business Development, Pre-Sales
REGISTRATION : To register for the event please click here. Please note you need to register for BOTH the Community Event and the Launch Showcase as part of the registration link! Places at the Launch Showcase are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis so please ensure that you register separately for the Launch Showcase to secure your place.
Also if there are other colleagues or individuals within your organisation that you feel this event is relevant for please feel free to pass on the invitation.
If you have any questions on the event please do not hesitate to contact me on sinog@microsoft.com
We look forward to seeing you on the 11th!
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Folks,
Just wanted to share the exciting news with you about Windows Server 2008 being released to manufacture yesterday!!
It will be available to purchase through Volume Licensing on March 1st 2008.
You can get involved in the local Launch activities through the local launch site here. You will also be invited to attend the Dublin Launch Showcase experience on the evening of March 11th as part of the upcoming SBSC Partner Community Event - watch out for your invitation for the event this week!
There will also be a Launch event in Belfast on April 8th.
If you have any questions on the launch please do not hesitate to contact me.
Watch this space for more info!
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Guys,
I hope you will find this new Deployment Guide for SBS 2003 and Windows Mobile 6 useful.
You can access the guide here.
Thanks,
Sinead
Hi Guys,
Hope January is a good month for you all so far!
I am just back from a week's skiing in Italy (see mountain view below!) so I am having a great start to 2008!
Firstly I have some IMPORTANT DATES for your diaries over the coming months:
- Following the great success of our October event a reminder to mark MARCH 11th in your diary to attend the next SBSC Partner Community Event in Dublin which will include exclusive access to the Launch Event taking place on that day!
- The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference will take place in Houston Texas from July 7th to 10th. Irish SBSC partners that attended last year found the event really beneficial so watch out for lots more information on this in the coming weeks.
Secondly the latest instalment from Mark Mulvany
- Great Question from John – how do I allow access to Windows Sharepoint Services over the Internet on an SBS Server
https://markmulvany.securespsite.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=21
- So you want to take info from Microsoft Journal and import it into Office 2007 Onenote
https://markmulvany.securespsite.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=17
- Thanks to all the Partners who attended the Galway Clinic last week here’s the links
https://markmulvany.securespsite.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=19
- Links and Info from the December Office Communications Server 2007 Technical Event. It was great to see some of the Small Business Specialist Partners there
https://markmulvany.securespsite.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=13
- How to Automatically fill in Name and address details in Word 2007
https://markmulvany.securespsite.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=22
Finally a reminder to send me your feedback on the program. You can email me on sinog@microsoft.com.
Thanks
Sinead
Following on from my post yesterday I kindly got a response from Blake Handler (MVP in the US) where you can link through to his blog post on lots more resources for Office here!
Happy Reading :)
Hi Guys,
I have gotten lots of feedback from SBSC partners around providing you with material and content to support training your customers around the Office 2007 System.
I am working with our Office Product team here in Ireland to develop content around this (PowerPoint decks/Cheat Sheets etc) that I will make available on the SBSC website in the coming months. However in the meantime you might want to check out the link here which is Microsoft Office Running Start and is full of handy tips and resources on Office.
If you have any other feedback on other support you would like to see around Office 2007 please email me here.
Thanks,
Sinead