Tartan Tech: Microsoft Scotland Insight

Following on previous Partner licensing workshops, the Scotland Partner team have secured another Licensing Roadshow to visit Edinburgh next month.

With the recent release of new products from Microsoft such as Windows 7 and the ever increasing interest in the world of Virtualisation from customers and the associated licensing implications this event is great way for Partners to get a valuable update on the various licensing programs.

The roadshow is open to all partners and is suitable for all licensing and sales roles. The presentations cover both licensing and technology and are level 300, so relatively in-depth.

The 2009 line-up includes:

· Windows 7

· Virtualisation

· Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

· Unified Communications

· Enrolment for Core Infrastructure

· Agreement Refresh 2009 – PSA09, Corporate and Academic, SPLA

· Software Asset Management

And much more!

The event runs from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

· Edinburgh: Wednesday 18 November, Microsoft Waverley Gate

Please click here to book your place. You’ll get the option to select Edinburgh once you’ve clicked on “Register”.

Microsoft Forum with Gordon Frazer, MD UK, Bob McDowell, VP Microsoft Corp & Derrick McCourt, Regional Director Scotland

Venue: Conan Doyle Room, Microsoft Scotland, Edinburgh

Date: 15:00-17:30, 4^th November 2009

The Scotland Partner team are pleased to announce announce that we have Gordon Frazer, Microsoft’s UK Managing Director in Scotland and Bob McDowell, Vice President, Microsoft Corp, from the US joining our Regional Director for Scotland, Derrick McCourt for the first Gold Partner Forum of FY10!

This will be a forum to discuss your key business issues, future business in Scotland and the challenges ahead in the Scottish marketplace.  We have a special guest speaker David Lonsdale from the CBI Scotland to give an update on the Scottish economy.  Given the changes in the UK and Scottish economies since we last met, the focus for this meeting will be for Microsoft to get your feedback on doing business in Scotland / UK during 2009, and your views on the challenges ahead.

15:00   Welcome / Introductions            

            Business Update – FY10 Plans     

            Britain Works Initiative                       

            Break / Networking / Refreshments

16:15   Partner Sharepoint Initiative        

            Scottish Economy Update                      

            Art of the Story, Successful Selling

Q&A Session  

17:30   Drinks Reception / Networking                            

Please email Morag MacFarlane – v-moragm@microsoft.com to confirm your attendance by Friday 30^th October.  Spaces are limited to 2 per Partner.

A confirmation note and a confirmed agenda will be distributed in advance.

Some find telephone conference calls a bit awkward – but in these straightened times few can argue that they are a communications tool ideally suited to recession.

Conf calls tend to be shorter than face to face meetings, and hence more efficient. They are more convenient as we just have to pick up a phone rather than travelling by plane, train, or automobile. For international and distributed business scenarios, they are the main tool for reaching decisions and consensus.

The market for bridged audio conferencing is estimated to be around 60 Billion minutes, and growing quickly. And the highly profitable audio bridge services offered by the likes of BT and Verizon account for an increasing slice of collaboration tools spend.

Microsoft’s Office Communications Server delivers a simple to use telephone conferencing service, reducing access charges, and extending the conference to video and data in a manner straightforward for the average user. For many companies trying to address cost reductions in T&E budgets, the deployment costs of OCS conferencing will pay for itself by travel-related opex reduction in under 12 months.

If you want to understand more please see the following resources:

1. Business case: “The Compelling Case for Conferencing” white paper
2. OCS R2 conferencing capabilities: 17 minute video explaining how this works for the end user http://edge.technet.com/Media/Whatrsquos-New-in-Conferencing-with-Office-Communications-Server-2007-R2/
3. Learning resources for deployment: there is an OCS R2 conferencing webcast series throughout October and November, listed below.  the first, scheduled for 20th october, is linked for your convenience

Part 1 of 6: Microsoft Foundation Support

Part 2 of 6: Configuring the On premise Conferencing Solution

Part 3 of 6: Configuring User Related Settings

Part 4 of 6: Federated Solution Requirements, Implementation, and Maintenance

Part 5 of 6: An Exploration of the Baseline Scenario of the Conferencing Solution

Part 6 of 6: An Exploration of  Multiple Implementation Scenarios

Please join the Microsoft Scotland  Healthcare team to better understand our areas of focus and how by working closer together Microsoft and our Partners can deliver Health specific solutions successfully and profitably, whilst ensuring that our Customer receives value for money offerings that have a positive effect for all concerned.

Proposed Agenda.

09.30 - Arrival and Registration

10.00 - Introduction from Derrick McCourt – Regional Director, Microsoft Scotland

10.20 - NHS Scotland, Focus areas for Microsoft in FY10

10.40 - Microsoft Healthcare Partner Programme and value to Partners

11.10 - Break

11.30 - Microsoft Health Solutions overview

12.00 - Microsoft Services offerings and value to Partners

12.15 - Customer perspective on how best to engage

12.45 - Questions and close

13.00 - Lunch and networking opportunity

Official registration will be available soon, but to reserve your place, please email Peter Askew (peter.askew@microsoft.com) with the full contact details of all proposed attendees

The Scotland Partner team just wanted to highlight a one day Partner workshop being run next week at the Microsoft Edinburgh offices which will be of interest to Partners looking to deliver solutions based upon the Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimisation (BPIO) stack – Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS), Business Intelligence, Enterprise Content Management and Unified Communications.

Workshop Summary:

Microsoft offers you a tremendous opportunity to grow your business by offering Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Office solutions to your customers. Partners that specialised in these solutions have experienced strong customer demand, are realising the benefits of significant investments in sales and marketing by Microsoft, and can look forward to strong cross-sell opportunities. Join Hayley Rixon and Tony Cocks Channel Development Managers at Microsoft UK for this informal, workshop-style session, which will take a look at the partner opportunity. You’ll also get to see some of the Microsoft technologies first hand, with detailed technology demonstrations.

To Register -  Click Here to Register

Several partners in the past few weeks have asked me about hands-on training courses for OCS 2007 R2 – well I can confirm that the online training materials, including hands on labs, are now available on the partner portal. Fill yer boots.

This course provides an introduction to Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 R2, including how you can use OCS 2007 R2 for real-time interactions between users, and how you can unite OCS 2007 R2 with Microsoft Exchange Server as part of Microsoft Unified Communications. From instant messaging and presence to unified conferencing and enterprise voice, the course walks you through a variety of features and enhancements found in OCS 2007 R2 and demonstrates how to use these enhancements to help provide a more comprehensive communication solution.

Labcast duration: This labcast consist of 15 video recordings and 9 labs. Each video is approximately 26 minutes long, and each lab takes approximately 1 hour. You have the option to view all  or some of the recordings, as well as taking all or some of the labs.

Labcast OCS 2007 R2

The Partner Readiness team are running a series of Partner Training courses focussed around Windows 7 over the next few months, with a Scottish date(s) for each course confirmed.

Updating Your Technology Knowledge of Microsoft Windows XP to Windows 7 – Various Dates and Locations

This two-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to work with the new technologies in Windows 7. £100 per delegate.  Click here to Register

Glasgow 14^th Sept, Leeds 21^st Sept, Wokingham 24^th Sept, London 5^th Oct, Coventry 19^th Oct, Edinburgh 5^th Nov, Wokingham 23^rd Nov, London 14^th Dec

Installing and Configuring Windows 7 Client – Various Dates and Locations

This 2 day instructor-led course is intended for IT Professional who are interested in expanding their technical knowledge of Windows 7 Client. In this course Students learn to install, upgrade and migrate to Windows7 client. Students then configure Windows7 client for network connectivity, security, maintenance and mobile computing. £100 per delegate.

This course will provide knowledge to take Exam 70-680 TS: Windows 7 Configuring. Click Here to Register

London 19^th Oct, Edinburgh 28^th Oct, Altrincham 3^rd Nov, Birmingham 4^th Nov, London 9^th Nov, Edinburgh 18^th Nov, London 2^nd Dec

Windows 7 Application Compatibility Briefings for ISVs – Various Dates and Locations

This 1 Day briefing will discuss and demonstrate the remediation techniques for Windows 7 compatibility issues, the common symptoms, how to test and debug them, and best practices for developing Windows 7 applications. FREE

Click Here to Register

Manchester 3^rd Sep, Reading 7^th Sep, Edinburgh 23^rd Sept, London 29^th Sept, Reading 12^th Nov, Stockport 17^th Nov, Birmingham 26^th Nov, Edinburgh 3^rd Dec, Reading 10^th Dec, London 17^th Dec, Bristol 11^th Jan, Reading 25^th Jan, Reading 15^th Feb

One of the hot topics that customers are seeking Partner assistance on is virtualisation.  The Microsoft Partner team recognise that we have a number of Partners who have well established virtualisation capabilities, however there are also a lot of Partners who would like to develop capabilities within in this area and understand what the business opportunites

The Virtualisation & Management Workshop workshop later this month, is targeted at Partners who currently have no virtualisation practice but who are interested in building one.   Attendees should be the Business Decision Makers (those able to make the decisions on where their business is going over the next 12 months) and we have capacity for max 14 people.

The workshop will be held at the Microsoft Edinburgh Office, Waverley Gate, 2-4 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EG, on Tuesday 29th September 2009. We would like to ask you to be there from 9.45am for a 10am start and it will run until 5pm.

 http://www.bing.com/maps/#JndoZXJlMT1laDErM2VnJmJiPTkuMjMyMjQ4Nzk5NDE4NjklN2UxNi4xNDk5MDIzNDM3NSU3ZS05LjIzMjI0ODc5OTQxODY5JTdlLTE2LjEyNzkyOTY4NzU)

At this workshop we will help you to understand what is needed to develop a practice around Microsoft’s Virtualisation & Management technologies and finally help you to build this business case.

If you wish to attend, please email Paul Craft v-pcraft@microsoft.com  as soon as possible and we will have confirmation details sent out to you nearer the time.

Given the level of interest in the new Microsoft Online Services offerings from Scottish Partners your local Partner team have arranged for a BPOS Partner Training session to be held at the Microsoft offices, Waverley Gate, Edinburgh on the 3^rd of September from 1000 – 1300.   Registration will be available from 0930, and refreshments and lunch will be provided.

The session will be run by Andy Clark, the UK BPOS Sales Lead, with the session covering the following areas:

BPOS Training  Agenda

· Microsoft Online Overview and Vision

· BPOS service overview

· Pricing and licensing

· Selling BPOS

· Partner opportunity

· Dealing with BPOS competitors

· Q & A

Click here to go to the Microsoft Online Services(BPOS) free trial site

Places at this event will be limited so If you would like to attend this session next week, can you confirm your attendance to – james.henderson@microsoft.com ASAP.

Andy is also available to Partner 1:1 sessions on the afternoon of 3rd Sept,  to discuss in more details Partner specifics re: BPOS, and if you wish to have a 1:1 again please contact James Henderson.

The Partner Readiness team have arranged for a 4 day hands-on workshop which provides Partners with the necessary knowledge to plan, implement and manage Windows Small Business Server 2008.  Attendees will gain first-hand knowledge on topics such as installing, migrating, monitoring, securing and backing up data.  

This course is intended for technology consultants, system integrators, and in-house technology staff that serve small and medium- sized businesses.

The subsidised costs for this training is £200 per delegate – which works out at £50 a day which is a bargain!

For more information - Implementing and Administering Windows Small Business Server 2008 (4 Days) – Edinburgh 31^st August

As you are all aware the current version of  Windows 7 is Release Candidate (RC), with lots of partners
asking when is the product going to RTM ( Release to Manufacture).

At present we cannot announce this date, however it is very close.  Below is a copy of the latest Windows
Team Blog, which details when customers and partners will get hold of the RTM version of Windows 7.

http://windowsteamblog.com/Default.aspx

Key Information:

• If you’re an ISV or Hardware partner = 6^th Aug
• MS Gold Partner then the 16^th Aug for the English edition
• OEM 2 days after we announce RTM
• VL Customer with Software Assurance (SA) then 7^th Aug
• VL without (SA) then 1^st September
• Technet - 6^th Aug for English
• MSDN Devs – 6^th Aug

Check out Instalecfilm stars Jim Duncan, Chris Forbes and Graeme Taylor explaining their national growth strategy on the Scotsman Business Club video 

The Scotsman - Scotland's national newspaper

Following on from your feedback from earlier Technet events, we have announced the first ever TechNet UK Virtual Event taking place live on 19^th June.   It features a dedicated IT Management auditorium, including sessions on How IT will change over the next 10 years and Growing Business and Managing Costs, as well as sessions on Windows 7 and other Microsoft technologies and product overviews from the experts.

Event title: TechNet Virtual Conference 2009

Date: June 19^th 2009

How to Register: For the full agenda and to register visit www.microsoft.com/uk/technet/govirtual)

Competition – Enter the free prize draw to win one of 500 goody bags, which is a snazzy laptop bag with some great event swag, terms and conditions apply.

The Technology sessions, selected by the readers of the UK TechNet Flash, feature key products including:

• Windows 7 – Deployment and Management
• Windows Server 2008 R2 – 10 Things to Make life easier for IT Pros
• An Overview of Office Communication Server R2 and Office Capabilities
• The trials and tribulations of Sharepoint Implementation

We are also really pleased to announce an exclusive Keynote featuring Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Technical Fellow specialising in the Windows platform.

And that’s not the only difference this year. In addition to Microsoft technology news and product overviews from the experts, the TechNet Virtual Conference will also feature a second auditorium focused on IT Management, including:

• How IT will change over the next 10 years and why you should care – an exclusive session delivered at TechEd EMEA
• Growing the Business and Managing Costs at Microsoft – An Insider’s View, presented by Asif Jinnah, IT Manager, Microsoft UK