UK SBSC : SBSC User Group

You have spoken... we are listening: First 6 Month Review of the SBSC in the UK

UK SBSC — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:26:27 GMT

You have spoken...

We are listening...

As we enter a new calendar year, and approach a midyear check point in Microsoft’s financial year, now is as good a time as any to reflect on the Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) and what we have achieved in 2008.

Over the past 6 months SBSC partners have been very open with Microsoft - sharing their thoughts, issues, concerns and recommendations around the SBSC programme. In response to this valid feedback, Microsoft has listened and worked to address many of these areas.

This blog post aims to outline the main issues that you collectively raised in 2008 and demonstrates how Microsoft has responded. If you should have any queries around any of the items below, or would like more information please email sbscuk@microsoft.com.

SBSC Partners stated a variety of different expectations they have of Microsoft in relation to the SBSC programme.
Through the medium of the SBSC User group tour Microsoft responded with a clear set of expectations on what Microsoft can and cannot deliver on this fiscal year (July 2008 – June 2009). If you were not able to attend this session or have not received a copy of the slides please email sbscuk@microsoft.com for further details.

SBSC Partners requested Microsoft keep them up to date on product, licensing, partner programme news etc.
In response to these requests Microsoft has:

Created a Partner Programme RSS Feed for all partners to subscribe with the ability to select which areas are most relevant to them and their business. To learn more, go here.
Created an independent SBSC blog / RSS feed. The UK Partner Programme RSS Hub will link to the SBSC blog as this is a forum in which we can provide more details. To access the SBSC blog go here.
Conducted a review of the SBSC monthly newsletter and made steps to adjust the style, format and content to better meet the needs of the UK SBSC partner channel.
Committed to updating UK SBSC partners will all relevant Microsoft related information as they are empowered to do so through the use of the RSS feed, SBSC blog and SBSC newsletter.

SBSC Partners requested Microsoft do more to promote the SBSC blue badge out to end customers and to drive better awareness for the SBSC brand
Microsoft has already:

Included the SBSC logo on every page of all of our latest Small Business customer collateral, including the new Windows Essential Server Solutions brochures (available mid January 2009) and the Small Business Brochure
Promoted the SBSC in relevant PR communications – e.g. SMB supplement that went out to 203K subscribers for big name magazine publications like Vista Magazine, .NET magazine, What Laptop? Magazine etc, plus promotion a “small business challenges” website. Go here for more information.
Provided SBSC partners with guidance on how they can assist Microsoft in driving the SBSC brand through publicity. Go here for details.
Promoted SBSC through the “Ask the Experts” pages on Microsoft customer communication engines, reaching 800K small business customer contacts. Go here for more information.
Promoted SBSC on the Small Business customer facing blog.
Promoted the SBSC through the new Small Business News Feed. Go here for more information.

As we enter 2009, Microsoft is currently working on:

Creating data sheets to use at customer events to raise awareness of SBSC partners and how to find one – ready mid-January 2009.
Creating data sheet templates for partners to add their own contact details and print locally to promote themselves as SBSC partner – ready mid-January 2009.
Updating the customer facing web page which describes what an SBSC partner is, why they should consider using an SBSC partner and how they find one – ready mid-January 2009.
Putting together guidance on how best to promote yourself as members of the SBSC – available in early 2009

SBSC Partners requested that they be included in the Small Business Server 2008 launch and partner readiness plans.
Microsoft embarked on an SBSC user group tour to deliver SBS 2008 readiness. The decision was taken to cancel any large launch event and instead ensure we were reaching all the SBSC partners instead.
Microsoft heavily subsidised some SBS 2008 technical training courses which were offered out to SBSC partners first (via the SBSC blog).
Microsoft is looking at how we can launch SBS 2008 out to customers and also involve our SBSC partner channel. Further details on plans and progress will be shared over the coming months.

SBSC Partners requested assistance with Marketing, in particular a marketing 101 session
Microsoft enlisted the help of ResourceiT, a company who specialist in helping businesses with the development of marketing strategies and plans to help you grow your business. The feedback we received from these sessions was incredible, with more partners requesting more of the same. As a result of their attendance at the SBSC user group tour we are delighted to hear that over 17 SBSC partners have already inquired further about ResourceiT’s services and actively looking to address their marketing opportunities.
Microsoft is providing partners with marketing tips and guidance as appropriate on the SBSC blog. Go here for more information.

SBSC Partners requested help in driving awareness of the SBSC User group and helping attract new members to the groups.
Microsoft used the launch of SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 as a means to help double the group attendance and attract new members.
Microsoft actively promotes the SBSC user groups on the SBSC Blog and in the SBSC monthly newsletter, actively highlighting one user group in each month’s newsletter edition.
Microsoft has assisted the set up of three new SBSC user groups.

As you can see, together we can make changes for the better. Here's to continuing to work together in 2009!

Sharing Feedback - SBSC WESS Launch User Group tour

UK SBSC — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:09:36 GMT

As promised, we wanted to take the opportunity to share with you some of the feedback we received from the SBSC WESS Launch user group tour.

We have now presented at all eleven user groups and have successfully succeeded in our aim of doubling attendance of each group. In total, through the medium of user groups, we have met with over 270 partners to introduce and demo SBS 2008 and EBS 2008, provide you with a marketing fundamentals session and remind you of the tools and resources available to you as an SBSC partner, as well as set expectations on what Microsoft can and cannot do for SBSC partners.

In summary, here are the key takeaways from the events:

No one session stood out as more popular than the others – the product session, marketing session and the SBSC programme session all seemed to add tremendous value to the success of the events with each session scoring on average 4 or 5 out of 5.
The “Fantastic 40” Apps went down extremely well, with partners seeing SharePoint as a new thing to talk about with their customers.
There were some complaints about getting hold of SBS 08 now – general feedback was that Action Pack is too slow and outdated as a medium. Specifically they asked why action pack is not available as a download. This has been fed back appropriately within Microsoft.
Partners expressed that that are pleased to see Microsoft taking a more active interest in the SBSC programme and are liking some of the initiatives they have seen to date. They request more of the same and hope this investment continues.
Partners would like to see Microsoft to continue to do work to drive awareness of the SBSC brand.
We asked partners to score their knowledge of marketing prior to the marketing session and then post the session. Generally they said their knowledge prior to the session was around 2 (poor) and most scored their knowledge post the session at least 2 points higher (4 or 5 – good / excellent).
Many partners requested Microsoft provide more sessions like the marketing one at future events.
We asked Partners how they intend to buy SBS 2008 and EBS 2008. The majority of partners intend to buy SBS 2008 through COEM or Open licensing. Many also expressed Pre-installed through MNA and FPP as an purchasing option.
We asked partners how soon they plan to deploy SBS 2008 - the majority of partners will be looking to deploy SBS 2008 either immediately or within 3-6 months.
We asked partners how soon they plan to deploy EBS 2008 - several SBSC partners stated this product does fall within their market segment but for those who do cover the relevant segment, they would aim to deploy within 6 months+.
We asked partners what impact the economic situations has had on their business. The majority of partners are seeing high impact, though some comment this impact has had a positive effect on their business as customers are looking for the most cost effective ways to run their business using IT.

I hope you've found this a useful summary.

Finally, we thought we'd share some photos from the events...

Don't forget the Liverpool user group meeting next week!

UK SBSC — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:45:56 GMT

Are you a Microsoft partner based in the Liverpool region? If so, don't forget to sign up and attend the Liverpool Partner User group next Wednesday (19th November). David Bold is getting this partner user group going, having already met once a month or so ago. David has invited Microsoft to come along and deliver and partner readiness session on Windows Essential Server Solutions (that's SBS 2008 and EBS 2008) for this kick off meeting.

Here are the details:

When? – Wednesday 19th November, 5:30pm start
Where? - Gardner Systems, 1 Faraday Road, Wavertree Technology Park, Liverpool, Merseyside, L13 1EH
What? – The agenda for the first meeting, looks like this:

WESS Product Launch overview - Jamie Burgess, Microsoft Partner Technology Specialist
Marketing Fundamentals – Julie Simpson, ResourceIT (External Speaker)
Refreshment break – (Buffet)
The Small Business Specialist Programme – Emily Lambert, Microsoft Community Development Manger
Q & A

If you would like to attend please contact David Bold so that he can account for numbers.

Citrix Access Essentials webinars

UK SBSC — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:28:33 GMT

Citrix Systems have recently joined us on the WESS launch SBSC User Group tour.

Following some great interest from SBSC partners in Edinburgh last week, Sally Ross from Citrix has asked me to post her invitation out to all SBSC partner to invite you to some webinars they are holding in December. The purpose of the webinars are to tell you more about Citrix Access Essentials (CAE) and in order to entice you along they are offering 10 free Internal Use Licences for you to use in-house too!

The dates of those webinars are:

Option 1 - Monday 8th at 10:00
Option 2 - Friday 12th at 10:00

Registrations should be made through the following website http://www.citrixchanneltraining.com.

At the Edinburgh meeting, and also at future WESS launch user group meetings, Citrix have provided / will provide copies of the CAE v2.0 evaluation CD. If you are not attending a future WESS launch user group session and would like to receive one, please contact Sally directly. Sally would also be keen to hear any feedback that you might have.

Following the user group meeting in Edinburgh, a few SBSC partners have decided that they would like to become CAE certified, which Citrix are delighted with. For those of you who aren't ready to make the training commitment yet you do not need to be certified to sell CAE, just registered (although, to be eligible for all the benefits you will need to be certified). For more information please refer to their accreditation website at http://www.citrix-channel.com Select Country, Partner Programs, Product Authorization, Citrix Access Essentials.

Alternatively you can contact one of the following Citrix Distribution partners who the product is sold and supported through as they will be happy to help you.

Ingram Micro        0870 405 3956

IQ-Sys                   01753 898369

Interchange          08451 556555

ETC                       08451 557766

DNS                       01189 711511

To learn more about Citrix go here.

Join the South Wales SBSC User Group in Cardiff on Tuesday!

UK SBSC — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:22:17 GMT

Are you a partner based in the South Wales region?

If so, why not come along to the new Microsoft Partner User Group this Tuesday, 11th November. Tim and Grace Long of Tigra Networks are re-igniting the South Wales partner user group and have invited Microsoft to come along and deliver and partner readiness session on Windows Essential Server Solutions (SBS 2008 and EBS 2008).

Here are the details:

When? – Tuesday 11th November, 5:30pm start
Where? - The Royal Hotel Cardiff with address at 10 St Mary Street, Cardiff CF10 1DW
What? – The agenda for the first meeting, looks like this:

WESS Product Launch overview - Jamie Burgess, Microsoft Partner Technology Specialist
Marketing Fundamentals – Linda Winstanley, ResourceIT (External Speaker)
Refreshment break – (Buffet)
The Small Business Specialist Programme – Emily Lambert, Microsoft Community Development Manger
The Business Benefits of the SBSC - Gareth Brown, Sytec - SBSC Partner Area Lead
Q & A

If you would like to attend please contact Tim or Grace so as they can account for numbers.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Further details on the Leeds Partner User Group

UK SBSC — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:36:44 GMT

I've just caught up with Lee Evans of ResultIT Ltd, who is setting up an new Microsoft Partner User Group for the Yorkshire region (Leeds). He's now in a position to confirm all the details and wants to offer one last opportunity for partners to get involved in the first meeting which will have a WESS launch focused agenda. Places are limited, so if you want to get involved contact him now to reserve your space.

Here's a message from Lee...

Hi all,

I’m delighted to confirm the arrangements for our Windows Essential Server System launch event & inaugural Yorkshire SBSC / Microsoft Partner user group.

Please note, our venue has a maximum capacity of 30 and I have already had a lot of interest – if you wish to attend, please confirm your attendance as soon as possible by confirming your details and those of any colleagues who wish to attend to reserve your seat(s).

When – the meeting is on Wednesday the 26^th of November from 17:30 until around 21:00, retiring for a beer if you so wish! Tea & coffee will be available on arrival.

Where - The Light, in Leeds town centre. There is ample parking on site, and it is within walking distance of the train station. Directions etc are available at www.thelightleeds.co.uk

What – The agenda for our first meeting, which may well be the final session of Microsoft’s WESS launch user group tour, looks like this:

WESS Product Launch overview
WESS Marketing Fundamentals – external speaker
Refreshment break – We will have a selection of pizzas and salads from Brio Pizza
The Small Business Specialist Programme – Emily Lambert, Microsoft Community Development Manger
Q & A

This will be a great opportunity to network with other partners and IT professionals and further your knowledge on the excellent new WESS products, and I’m hoping we can form a regular SBS partner user group in the area.

Please let me know if you have any questions, otherwise I look forwards to seeing you there.

Kind Regards,

Lee

Contact Lee now if you want to attend. Lee can be contacted at leeevans@result-it.co.uk or on tel: 0844 87 00 456.

WESS SBSC Tour is coming to Liverpool!

UK SBSC — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:50:29 GMT

As you are aware, Microsoft are currently touring around the SBSC user groups to deliver some partner readiness in preparation for the launch of Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008. I'm pleased to announce that the tour has been extended and will be coming to Liverpool on Wednesday 19th November!

One of our partners, David Bold, is looking to get a Liverpool user group up and running and so working with Microsoft, he has arranged for us to come along and deliver the Windows Essential Server Solutions readiness session for the first meeting. This is a new group and any Microsoft partner or IT specialist is welcome to attend - even if you have not do not have the Microsoft SBSC designation.

The meeting will kick off at 5:30pm and the agenda will be as follows:

5:30-6:30 Product launch overview
6:30-7:30 Marketing Back to Basics - delivered by ResourceIT. Go here to learn about them and this session.
7:30-8:00 Refreshments
8:00-8:30 SBSC Programme - the benefits and expectations
8:30-9:00 Q&A

Location: Gardner Systems, 1 Faraday Road, Wavertree Technology Park, Liverpool, Merseyside, L13 1EH

If you are interested in attending, please get in contact with David on tel: 0151 709 1964 or by email: david@sgtoday.com

We look forward to seeing you there!

An SBSC Partner User Group is coming to Leeds

UK SBSC — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:06:29 GMT

One of our SBSC partners, Lee Evans of Result IT Ltd, has contacted us as he is keen to get a user group up and running in Leeds for partners based in and around the surrounding areas. He's already had some great interest from partners and we know there are more of you out there who may be interested in getting involved too.

We're hoping to kick off the first meeting on Wednesday 26th November at 5:30pm with a partner readiness session on Windows Essential Server Solutions. This may well be the final session in our WESS Launch User group tour!

The agenda for the first session looks very much like this:

Product launch overview (60 mins)
Marketing Fundamentals - Delivered by an external speaker, ReSourceIT. Go here to learn more. (60 mins)
Refreshment break (30 mins)
The SBSC Programme - updates and expectations (30 mins)
Q&A (30 mins)

lf you are interested in coming along to this first meeting, and hopefully keen to join future meetings too, then Lee would love to hear from you. We're very keen to get an idea of numbers so that we ensure we get a meeting venue big enough for this first meeting. All Microsoft partners are welcome and should look on this user group as a way to connect with other partners and get key updates on new opportunities within the IT industry from multiple vendors (including Microsoft!). Go here to learn more about the user groups.

Lee can be contacted at leeevans@result-it.co.uk or on tel:0844 87 00 456. Alternatively drop an email to sbscuk@microsoft.com and I'll pass your details directly on to Lee.

We look forward to meeting all you partners based in and around this area.

Introducing Jamie Burgess and his new blog

UK SBSC — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:10:04 GMT

Jamie Burgess has recently joined Microsoft has a Partner Technical Specialist with a core focus on Small Business Server, Essential Business Server, Windows Server/Windows Desktop and Deployment. He's also just started up a blog, Hit The Ground Running, in which he aims to use to document lot of the questions he gets from Partners or through partners and hopes to be able to provide solutions. I highly recommend you keep an eye on it.

Jamie, along with James Senior, will be joining us on our WESS User Group Tour and will be presenting on SBS 08 and EBS 08. In his words...

Myself and James Senior will be presenting on the business values of SBS and EBS 2008 and the opportunities for Microsoft partners. We'll give particular attention to how you can identify sales opportunities within the current economic climate, using WESS to help address the needs of your customers at this critical time. Its going to be great fun, and living out of a suitcase for a few weeks plus getting to expand my UK geography knowledge. Hopefully see some of you there....

If you're not signed up, contact your user group lead now.

WESS Launch SBSC User Group tour - Prize Draw!

UK SBSC — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:58:08 GMT

For those who are regular members of a local SBSC user group, you may recall that we are running a prize draw for all members attending the WESS Launch partner readiness. We initially planned the draw to be for members bringing along a new partner's to the group, but we regret it was confirmed today that due to legal reasons we are no longer able to run the draw in this particular way. That said, the great news is that the draw is now open all attendees who want to enter and we have some brilliant prizes lined up... so good, that I wanted to tell you about them now...

The prize draw takes a two pronged effect:

1. A unique draw for your particular user group on the night...

This draw will take place on the night with the winner going home with the prize. So, what do you stand to win?... A Microsoft Technet Plus Subscription valued at £234!

TechNet Plus helps IT Professionals prepare for critical issues and plan for future deployments by providing them with fast and convenient access to the latest software for evaluation without time or feature limits, beta releases, 2 complimentary Professional Support incidents and other technical information and tools to get their jobs done faster. This subscription will include Windows Small Business Server 2008 and is valued at £234!

2. A prize draw at the end of the user group tour for everyone who attended the sessions...

This draw will take place after the last User group meeting in November (currently Liverpool though we are still investigating dates for Leeds and Aberdeen). Everyone who entered the draws at each of the session stand the opportunity to win.... a Business Server Marketing Consultancy package from ResourceIT valued at £2.5k!

ResourceIT will be delivering the marketing session at each of the meetings we are joining. Go here to learn more about them and what they offer, plus the content they aim to cover at each of the sessions. With regards to this prize, this specific consultancy package is valued at £2.5K and will be paid for by Microsoft for 2 partners.

If you've not signed up to join a user group and want to get involved, get in contact with the local user group lead now. Go here for more information.

Introducing ResourceiT

UK SBSC — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:46:51 GMT

Earlier today I posted a reminder about our SBSC User Group tour to deliver WESS readiness and training out to our partners. Ahead of these meetings I thought I'd give you all a little bit more information on ResourceIT, the external company who are coming along to each meeting to deliver a generic session on Marketing.

The reason we've asked ResourceIT to participate in these meetings is based on feedback you have given us. We have heard from many partners that you would like help in understanding how best to go about marketing and so working with ResouceIT we hope to have tailored a 60 minute session that should clearly start to address your needs. So, in each of the user group sessions ResourceIT will aim to communicate:

The Who the What and The How ...? How to make the best decisions and find the right clients

Define who you are and who you are selling to
What are you selling?
How are you selling it?

Developing a marketing strategy

Marketing Planning and what you should /need to consider
Developing a compelling value proposition
Creating an effective Marketing Strategy

Results you should expect from your investment

Information on highly effective marketing campaigns and what they have delivered
Process to follow to make informed decisions about your ongoing investment in marketing
A way forward - opportunities to utilise external resources, like ResourceIT, to help you with your specific individual company needs

A bit more about ResourceIT....

ResourceiT delivers proven sales, marketing and consultancy services to Microsoft partners to meet revenue objectives. With a flexible portfolio of services designed to complement partners’ budgets, in house capability, and resources, ResourceiT can enable partners of all shapes and sizes to:

Accelerate growth to meet business ambitions (revenue targets)
Complete marketing plans and identify the right marketing strategy
Identify compelling value propositions
Deliver highly targeted sales lead generation campaigns that match your capacity to deliver without compromise on quality or service
Develop web content and sales collateral to effectively communicate with the right customers

Services offered

Marketing consultancy – planning, strategy, sales messaging and web content, case study development, event management, email marketing campaigns
Sales services – data acquisition, data cleansing, telemarketing (solutions or event attendance), research and surveys
Partner Alliance consultancy – developing a partner value proposition, identifying the right partners to work with and creating joint messages, defining rules of engagement

If you would like to learn more about ResourceIT you can visit their website or contact enquiries@resourceit.net. Otherwise, come along to a user group meeting and meet them in person.

REMINDER: WESS Partner Readiness Launch User Group Tour Commences NEXT WEEK!

UK SBSC — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:43:40 GMT

I just wanted to post a reminder that during the month's of October and November Microsoft will be visiting SBSC User groups around the country with the aim of delivering training and readiness on Windows Essential Server Solutions (WESS) to SBSC partners. Our first two meetings are NEXT WEEK- on Monday 13th October we will be in London and on Thursday 16th October we will be in Manchester!

These sessions are being run for existing user group members but are also open to NEW SBSC partners and / or Microsoft partners to join! If you want to come along then get in contact with the user group leads now. You can find out more about user groups here.

What's more, if you are already a regular member of a user group and bring a new partner along to one of these sessions, (note: make sure they are a relevant individual - i.e. don't bring along your brother-in-law who has absolutely no interest in deploying IT solutions to small businesses! ha ha), you are in for the chance of winning a great prize. Further details on this will follow.

We've got a fab agenda lined up, including product overviews as well as a session on marketing fundamentals - delivered by an external company (ResourceiT). ResourceIT specialise in marketing and helping partners (whatever size) grow their business so this promises to an informative and very useful session.

Don't miss out on this great opportunity. We look forward to seeing you there!

WESS Partner Readiness Launch - The SBSC User Group tour!

UK SBSC — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:14:00 GMT

In preparation for the launch of Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008, Microsoft will be visiting SBSC User groups around the country in October and November to deliver training and readiness to SBSC partners. These sessions are being run for existing user group members but are also open to new SBSC partners and / or Microsoft partners to join.

We currently have confirmed the following dates:

Date	Time	User Group	Location	User Group Lead
13th October	18:00 - 21:00	London	Victoria, London	Ian Watkins
16th October	18:00 - 21:00	Manchester	Manchester	Simon Belt
21st October	17:30 - 21:00	Kent	Chatham	Gareth Johns
23rd October	17:30 - 21:00	West of England	Bristol	Andy Watkins
30th October	14:00-17:00	Edinburgh	Edinburgh	Archie Bell, Ian Batty or William Fairhurst
11th November	17:30-21:00	South Wales	Cardiff	Tim Long & Grace Long
12th November	17:30-21:00	Midlands	Birmingham	Steve Wright
13th November	17:30-21:00	Thames Valley	Reading	Mike Bryett

We are also looking into possibly running sessions in Liverpool, Yorkshire and Humberside; and Aberdeen. Stay tuned for further information.

The agenda for each session is looking very much like this:

Product launch overview (60 mins)
Marketing 101 - Delivered by an external speaker to Microsoft (60 mins)
Refreshment break (30 mins)
The SBSC Programme - updates and expectations (30 mins)
Q&A (30 mins)

It is ours and the existing user group members hope that any new members attending these sessions will see the value in groups and want to continue to attend on a monthly basis. The groups regularly have interesting speakers come along to deliver training and readiness or offer unique promotions to members. They are also a great partner networking forum. To learn more about SBSC User groups see an earlier blog post or go to the SBSC "Community" section on the Microsoft Partner Portal.

If you are interested in attending any of the groups above please contact the user group lead for more information. Simply click on their name above to send them an email or alternatively email sbscuk@microsoft.com for more details.

What are SBSC User Groups?

UK SBSC — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:29:56 GMT

Meeting other partners is one of the most important benefits of being part of the Small Business Specialist Community. SBSC User Groups are partner meetings run by Microsoft partners, for Microsoft partners. As each of the groups are self supported, they offer an independent forum where partners can meet one another, share best practice, learn how to better engage with IT Vendors and also, when requested by the groups, hear directly from Microsoft about our products and strategies. There are a number of user groups running across the country and they are always happy to welcome new members:

Group	When do they meet?	Where do they meet?	User Group Lead(s)
Edinburgh	The Last Thursday of every month	Microsoft Edinburgh Offices	Archie Bell of Waverley Lane Ian Batty or Network ROI William Fairhurst
Kent	Every 3rd Tuesday of the Month	The Holiday Inn, Chatham, Kent	Gareth Johns of Business Computer Solutions
Manchester	Every 3^rd Thursday of the Month	One Central Park, Manchester. M40 5WW	Simon Belt of Simply Better IT
Midlands	Every 2^nd Tuesday of the Month	The Ardent Hotel, Solihull, Birmingham	Steve Wright of BMS
South Wales	This group is just starting up - first meeting 11th November!	Cardiff	Tim Long & Grace Long of Tigra Networks
Thames Valley	Every 1^st Thursday of the Month	Symantec, Green Park, Reading, Berkshire	Mike Bryett of Bryett Enterprise LTD
West of England	Every 3^rd Thursday of the month	Thornbury Golf Centre, Bristol	Andrew Watkins of GDS

Don’t see a group covering your area? Interested in setting up your own SBSC User Group? ... Simply email sbscuk@microsoft.com if you would like to investigate this further.

Do you already attend a local SBSC User group? ...Why not share with everyone the benefits you get from meeting up with other partners regularly. Send an email to sbscuk@microsoft.com with one or two lines and I'll collate and share with everyone.

Manchester SBSC User Group

UK SBSC — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:13:21 GMT

A couple of Thursday's ago I headed up to Manchester to join the SBSC Manchester User Group. It was a really interesting evening with full agenda.

The evening kicked off with one of the members, Leslie Cupitt of Business Solutions Ltd, delivered a comprehensive session on Vista 64 bit in an SBS environment and his experiences. This was a really interesting session and Leslie has kindly provided me with his Word document he created and is happy to share it with other SBSC partners. I am looking into how we can do this in a formal way (through the Partner Portal) but if anyone is keen to get visibility sooner then drop me an email (emilyl@microsoft.com) and I will send it over to you.

Following Leslie's presentations, Vijay Riyait updated the group on his experiences at WPC and updates from a PAL perspective on the SBSC programme. Go here to see his blog post regarding the evening's meeting. For those who are yet to meet Vijay, he is a very active UK PAL who is working hard to help build a sense of community amongst the UK's SBSC partners. Check out Vijay's blog: The Sikh Geek for his updates on the PAL programme and comments around the SBSC and small business.

Also at the Manchester SBSC meeting was Gareth Hall - Microsoft UK's Windows Server Product (including SBS and EBS). Gareth and I went along to discuss and gather feedback on the the SBSC programme and to listen to our SBSC partner's requirements for the SBS 2008 launch. We, along with a virtual team at Microsoft, are currently working on these plans and hope to share more information within the coming weeks. Stay tuned to this RSS feed for more information!

For those in the Manchester area, next month's meeting will include a session on Office Accounting 2008 or and SPID overview. For more details and to find out how you can participate visit the North West Partner Community Site.

Best regards,

Emily Lambert - Channel Development Manager, Microsoft.