UK SBSC : Microsoft Partner Resources

Increase Your Ranking on Microsoft Pinpoint to Generate More Leads

UK SBSC — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:28:00 GMT

Want to increase your ranking on Pinpoint and generate more business leads?

You can improve the relevancy of your profile in search results by getting your customers to submit honest reviews about their experiences with you. Encourage them to go to the Ratings and Reviews section of your company’s profile page and follow the instructions.

We encourage any customer who has worked with a Microsoft partner to submit a review of their experience. By providing truthful and accurate information about a product or service they purchased—and about their overall experience with a company—customers are helping others to make informed decisions and contributing to a strong and growing community of business and technology professionals.

Generate Sales Leads with Pinpoint

UK SBSC — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:25:00 GMT

You may have heard about Pinpoint's arrival and wondered how you could make sure you get the most out of our new site. Here's how…

Pinpoint is a new lead generation tool that customers can use to find the solutions you offer. Take a moment to preview Pinpoint. Pinpoint replaces Solution Finder/Partner Marketplace and offers an easy-to-use interface, customer ratings, reviews and partner spotlight features.

How can you ensure you maximise the site's effectiveness? We will automatically transfer all compatible solutions to Pinpoint, so first see if you already have a solution in Solution Finder. If you already do, then you can review your solution(s) against the Pinpoint Content Guidelines. If you need to add a solution or to edit an existing solution, you can do so using Solution Profiler. You can also get more information from the Pinpoint page on the Partner Programme site. Please keep in mind that existing solutions will be validated and may be a few weeks before initially appearing on Pinpoint.

Please also be aware that it is likely some solutions will not be validated because they do not adhere to the Pinpoint Content Guidelines. Those whose solutions are not validated will be notified at the end of the validation process (during August), so they have the opportunity to edit their solutions and have them validated right away. In the meantime, any partners can check the Content Guidelines to be sure their solutions are Pinpoint-ready. If there are some specific partners that are interested in the process, we are happy to work with you. You should ensure, though, that they have at least one solution created and that it is Pinpoint-ready.

Lastly, we would also like to acknowledge that there is a known bug where a small percentage of companies are not showing up on the map; this is an issue that is currently being worked on. If you have a specific example, we can check if that partner has a solution and if it has been validated yet.

If you would like more help with this process, please call or e-mail Ask Partner (tel: 0870 60 70 700; email: askpartner@microsoft-contact.co.uk.)

The sooner you profile (or edit) your solutions, the sooner customers can find you on Pinpoint!

Small Business Cashflow Guide

UK SBSC — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:59:12 GMT

It doesn’t matter how much your business sells. If you can’t pay the bills, you’re bust. So how do smart firms keep the cash flowing?

There is now a Small Business Cashflow Guide PDF available for download that you can share with your small business customers to guide them in this area. What's more, two SBSC partners contributed to the document - many thanks to Andy Trish of NCI Technolgies and Duncan Reid of Icelantic.

If you want to download the document to use with your customers visit our Partner Sales and Marketing Resource Library.

Your Feedback Counts - Partner Portal Feedback

UK SBSC — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:51:54 GMT

We realise the Partner Portal is far from perfect but with your feedback we can improve it. We are running surveys on the portal to get your feedback on what is and isn’t working. A new portal feedback page consolidates results of these surveys and provides an overview of the latest issues being reported and what we are doing, or have done, to resolve them.

To participate and find our more click here.

Power Through the Downturn- “Every Last Drop” Marketing Campaign Available Now

UK SBSC — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:37:28 GMT

Getting the most out of technology investment is the main priority for many organisations right now, especially as they’re under more pressure than ever to save money. The second phase of the Power Through the Downturn campaign, entitled "Every Last Drop" focuses on helping customers reduce costs through virtualisation and systems management, by selling Windows Server® 2008 with Hyper-VTM and Microsoft® System Center Essentials 2007 and to enable partners to secure additional revenue by offering extra services to help them optimise their technology infrastructure. All content is available on the partner portal (www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/power) and includes:

Campaign Overview
Value Prop for Managing Costs
Through Partner content using ‘every last drop’ creative: Direct Mail Letter, Email, Banners, White Paper.

What's more, to support the marketing campaign there is a 10% Open License discount promotion in place. Until 30 June 2009 you can offer up to 10% discount on selected core Microsoft products bought through Open licensing.

** Offer does not include Open Value Subscription or Open Licence for Government or Academic. Offer available from Microsoft Authorised Distributors.

See www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/power for more details.

Microsoft need your case studies

UK SBSC — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:54:28 GMT

We have a unique opportunity for partners to provide case studies that Microsoft will fund. See below for the criteria and details on how you can get involved:

What are we looking for?

50-250 users
Products the customer must be using. It can be one or more than one as long as it is the latest version.
- Exchange
- Win Server (2008)
- SQL Server
- Unified Communication tools (e.g. OCS, LiveMeeting, Exchange)
Quality metrics (ROI in time, money, ratio) For example:
- “Using Hyper-V, Evans has been able to trim the number of the firm’s physical servers by nearly 60 percent, from 14 to 6. Electrical costs have gone down, too, by $5,000 per year” Dean Evans & Associates
- “By implementing Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Hyper-V, and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Maxol is in the process of trimming its server holdings by 80 percent, resulting in a reduction of its electrical bills by U.S.$47,000 over three years. It has also boosted server utilization to 30 percent, simplified server management, and increased server availability” Maxol

Case studies to detail how the company has benefited from implementing Microsoft technologies.
Highlighting specific features and how they improve efficiency for the customer.

What are the benefits to our partners?

Free publicity through the Microsoft case study website www.microsoft.com/casestudies and where relevant through our customer campaigns.
A professional agency created document that the partner is free to use as their own marketing materials at zero cost to you. A document that costs you nothing that you can then print and distribute
Possible promotion of the SBSC brand

What are the benefits to customer?

Free PR/publicity – we may be in a position to distribute our best quality case studies to our PR agency who then feature them in high profile media such as national newspapers.
Identified as innovative and leaders in embracing new technologies

Outline of the Case Study Process

Interview with Microsoft and our writing agency
Main interview with customer
1^st draft produced
Add changes from partner, customer and Microsoft
Continue until final draft produced
Publish on Microsoft case study site and give to customer and partner to use

If you think you have a case study that we are interested in please email sbscuk@microsoft.com.

Ask Partner Portal regular updated FAQs and hot topic info

UK SBSC — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:09:42 GMT

The Ask Partner hotline answers all licensing, product and Microsoft Financing partner queries. A new web page has been created that lists the answers to the most popular questions raised in previous months and includes links to related resources.

As an SBSC partner, Ask Partner should be your first port of call for any Microsoft related questions or issues. If you have a question for Ask Partner visit the Ask Partner web page here, call: 0870 60 70 700 or email: askpartner@microsoft-contact.co.uk.

Do you find the Microsoft Partner Programme confusing?

UK SBSC — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:58:53 GMT

There are a broad range of resources and support available to you through the programme, but it can be confusing trying to understand what to use - and when to use it. There are two ways you can increase your knowledge on the Partner Programme - you can watch our series of online training videos, or you can book onto one of the classroom courses which are run by the UK Partner Programme team.

For more information click here. Please note the course content is also available online via the Partner Player.

SBSC Toolkit: April 2009 Edition

UK SBSC — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:26:11 GMT

Here's some early visibility of what to expect in the Microsoft Action Pack special edition toolkit for SBSCs - April 2009:

Product: System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Workgroup Edition (version TBD)

Workgroup Edition includes Virtual Machine Manager Management Server with software and management licenses for five physical host servers

Building Capabilities: exclusive discounts and offers

Offer available to first 1,000 SBSCs who submit a request
40% discount on e-Reference Library Subscription
Save 90% on E-Learning when registering for Second Shot

Closing the Deal: sales resources

H2 Offers
Sales tools
License Wise
Microsoft Financing

Engaging in the Community:

UK Specific information

Small Business Specialist Customer Facing Data sheet Template
UK SBSC Blog
UK SBSC Monthly newsletter
Power Through the Downturn campaign
Microsoft Sales and Marketing Resources library

Online Technical Communities
UK SBSC PALs
WPC 09 Announcements

Connect with other SBSC Partners on the Microsoft Partner Network

UK SBSC — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:18:10 GMT

Have you signed up to the Microsoft Partner Network? With the current economic climate our Partners are finding they increasingly need to work with other organisations in some capacity – this has never been more important. Providing these connection opportunities is the main objective of MPN.

We have created an SBSC Group on the MPN and would love you to join and participate in the discussions, share your feedback, ask questions, meet other partners etc etc...

To sign up simply go to www.microsoftpartnernetwork.com.

A direct link to the SBSC Group can be accessed here.

Just for Fun... Networking Bootcamp!

UK SBSC — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:04:35 GMT

A must-see for Microsoft partners: prepare to cringe as partners are put through their paces at this networking bootcamp. Group hugs all round...
http://www.microsoftpartner...

Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) V2 – Officially launched

UK SBSC — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:02:50 GMT

What is the MPN?

You may have already head about the Microsoft Partner Network, a networking platform designed to support Microsoft Partners in making meaningful business connections, sharing information, learning and moving their businesses forward with Microsoft. With the current economic climate our Partners are finding they increasingly need to work with other organisations in some capacity – this has never been more important. Providing these connection opportunities is the main objective of MPN, alongside given partners the opportunity to directly connect with Microsoft personnel.

We have already seen 400 Partners and Microsoft employees embracing the site in the last couple of weeks alone. We have just re-launched the platform from the previous beta version and have several impressive new features we know will be valued by UK Partners, including:

New look and feel that lets Partners and you connect with ease and clarity
Simple navigation and site structure
Ability to create restricted groups within the site
Email alerts to let you know if someone has responded to your post
RSS syndication
Media and document sharing between members
Wikis
Ability to see which other users are online and active

Why not sign up now and get connected with other partners as well as Microsoft employees! Check out the SBSC group on the site, and get connecting.

Go to www.microsoftpartnernetwork.com.

SBSC Toolkit Update for Gold / Certified Partners

UK SBSC — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:27:39 GMT

Here's some information from our colleagues at Microsoft Corporate in the USA around why SBSC Gold and Certified partners did not receive any software in their SBSC Toolkit, shipped in October / November.

The reason: Gold and Certified partners already have access to the software via the MSDN subscriber download site. Gold and Certified partners are entitled to the incremental licenses per SBSC licensing table. [Note licenses granted were for SBS Premium equivalent—SBS Standard + Windows Server Standard + SQL Server Standard.] Software can be obtained from MSDN and product keys from the PMC.

Additional Information: If partners call the Regional Services Centre (RSC) inquiring about their software and licenses earned via SBSC, they will be told they are entitled to the licenses noted on the licensing table and that all the software can be download from the MSDN subscriber download site. These partners may use the existing SBS Standard keys and Windows Server keys on PMC (Partner Membership Centre) and no key is required for SQL Standard. The current keys on PMC will cover the licensing entitlement from both Microsoft Partner Programme and SBSC. Partners inquiring whether SBS Premium was granted to the SBSC, will be indicated that the licensing entitlement is for SBS Premium equivalent—SBS Standard + Windows Server Standard + SQL Server Standard. Additional EBS CALs were included in the toolkit sent to Gold and Certified partners.

Hope this information is of use.

2009 Gearup is now available

UK SBSC — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:31:09 GMT

The latest version of the Microsoft sales toolkit is now available. This is your essential resource in business for driving Microsoft sales. The toolkit contains a wealth of information about all Microsoft software products, as well as advice on various licensing options available. Download the guide here.

Sign-up for the new UK partner RSS feed

UK SBSC — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:24:40 GMT

Microsoft are pleased to announce the launch of a new UK partner RSS Feed. The purpose of the RSS Feed is to keep up-to-date with UK partner specific news including the latest resources and initiatives to help support your business. Click here to subscribe now, ensuring you select to hear news relating to the Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) as well as any other areas that interest you.

To be clear, we will NOT be closing down this UK SBSC blog, which some of you do choose to view in RSS Feed format. This is a forum that allows us to share more detailed information relevant to the UK SBSC partner channel. Key information that is relevant to the SBSC partner channel will be posted on the UK partner RSS feed but may often link back to this UKSBSC blog.

Please do sign up to the UK partner RSS feed to ensure you are stay up to speed on all relevant partner specific news.