UK SBSC : Windows Small Business Server

Implementing and Administering Windows Small Business Server 2008 (4 Days) – Edinburgh 31st August

UK SBSC — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:39:50 GMT

We are delighted to advise that we still have places available on the SBS 2008 four day technical training course, taking place in Edinburgh on the 31st August!

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

This hands-on workshop provides students with the necessary knowledge to plan and implement Windows Small Business Server 2008. Students gain first-hand knowledge on topics such as installing, migrating, monitoring, securing, and backing up data. £200 per delegate.

Don’t delay – register now!

Order hard copies of the SBS and EBS 2008 customer brochures

UK SBSC — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:08:00 GMT

Printed versions of the Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 customer brochures, plus folder wallets, are now available to order. The brochures aim to provide customers with the key content required to make purchasing decisions. They also feature a whole page dedicated to promoting the SBSC partner channel and the value it brings to small and medium sized businesses. More information can be found here.

To order simply visit Partner Market and use your Windows Live ID to login. You can also download soft copies of the SBS PDF brochure or EBS PDF brochure.

New SBS 2008 course running in Edinburgh on 31st August

UK SBSC — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:16:22 GMT

We are pleased to announce that on the 31st August we will be running the 44CO120 - M6445 - Implementing and Administering Windows Small Business Server 2008 (4 days) course in Edinburgh.

This four-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to plan, implement, and manage Windows Small Business Server 2008
This course is intended for technology consultants, system integrators, and in-house technology staff that serve small and medium- sized businesses.

The course is priced at £200. To learn more and to register click here.

Nicholas King : SBS migration guidelines, training tools and checklist

UK SBSC — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:53:08 GMT

And here is some more guidance around SBS migration, posted by Nick King, Senior Technical Product Manager for SBS at Microsoft:

Recently I received the feedback that we needed a better way of representing all of the tasks during the SBS 2008 migration process. We spent some time looking at what could be done to support a smoother migration, and came up with this document for partners and IT Pro’s.

Migrating from Windows SBS 2003 to Windows SBS 2008, guidelines and checklist

This guide is designed to be your step by step companion during SBS migrations and includes feedback and insight from our Support teams, MVPs (Susan Brady, Wayne Small and Eriq Neale)

While you’re migrating you should also check out these great resources;

Technet SBS migration docs

Practice you migration with this click through demo

Or check out Jeff Middletons third party swing migration

Nicholas King : SBS migration guidelines, training tools and checklist

The Official SBS Blog : SBS 2003 to 2008 Migration Best Practices Post Has Been Updated

UK SBSC — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:49:54 GMT

We thought that this might be of interest, posted on The Official SBS Blog:

We have updated the SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 Migration Best Practices blog post with a few new recommendations. Please review the following post before attempting an SBS 2003 to 2008 migration: SBS 2008 Migrations from SBS 2003 – Keys to Success

The Official SBS Blog : SBS 2003 to 2008 Migration Best Practices Post Has Been Updated

Implementing and Administering Windows Small Business Server 2008 – Another Date Available!

UK SBSC — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:37:58 GMT

There is another opportunity for you to attend the “Implementing and Administering Windows Small Business Server 2008” technical training course. This course is the 5 day version, running 22nd – 26th June in Birmingham. Paul Dadge, SBSC partner, has negotiated a special price of £353 per delegate for the 5 day course.

If you would like to attend please contact Paul: Paul@pcparamedics.it ASAP.

Dates :- 22^nd June to 26^th June
Location: QA Birmingham, 10th Floor, Centre City, 5-7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA

SBS 2008 & EBS 2008 Customer Brochures: Download today

UK SBSC — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:07:39 GMT

With our humble apologies for the delay, we are delighted to advise that the Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Customer facing brochures are now available for partners to download. Despite the wait, we hope you will be pleased with the finished article and download them to use with your customers as appropriate.

Aside from these being very informative documents that give the customer the key content they can easily consume, they also each have a whole page dedicated to calling out the SBSC partner channel and the value that they offer to small and medium sized businesses:

"Many of our Small Business Specialist partners are part of a community network where they regularly meet up and share experiences as well as their own business challenges. Their ability to network and learn new ways to deliver effective IT solutions by partnering with other solution providers saves you the task of searching for more help. Moreover, it is of direct benefit to their customers who consider Microsoft Small Business Specialist partners as their IT department and therefore you’ll find that working with one of them means you’ll be investing your IT budget wisely. So, if you are a start up or a small- or medium-sized business, we recommend that you speak to a Small Business Specialist partner – look out for the blue badge."

So, here's a closer look at what each brochure contains:

Windows Essential Server Solutions - Accelerate Your Capabilities: Windows Small Business Server 2008 Brochure

This customer ready brochure can be used by partners to help their customers understand how effective the use of technology - in particular Windows Small Business Server 2008 - can be in solving everyday business problems. The brochure introduces customers to servers, explaining what a server is and when a customer would need a server. It then goes on to identify the business benefits a server can offer and highlights Microsoft Small Business Specialist partners as experts who can help customers address their IT needs.

Download from the Sales and Marketing Resource Library or directly from here.

Windows Essential Server Solutions - Accelerate Your Capabilities: Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Brochure

This customer ready brochure introduces the customer to Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008 as an infrastructure solution designed and priced specifically for the needs of mid-size businesses with up to 300 PCs. The brochure goes on to discuss the editions available and ways to buy (via Microsoft licensing) as well as promoting the Microsoft solution add-ins and highlighting minimum hardware requirements needed. In addition, there is a UK specific case study example where EBS has been successfully deployed, plus the brochure introduces customers to Microsoft Small Business Specialist partners who can help customers address their IT needs.

Download from the Sales and Marketing Resource Library or directly from here.

Sharing Feedback & Actions Taken on SBS 2008 & EBS 2008

UK SBSC — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:45:23 GMT

Microsoft recently hosted an informal roundtable event with our Senior Windows Essential Server Solutions Product Manager (Windows Small Business Server & Windows Essential Business Server) from Corporate headquarters - Nicholas King. This roundtable was set up at relatively short notice and involved a handful of SBSC partners who travelled to Microsoft's offices in Reading to talk openly about their issues and concerns surrounding the SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 products. In response to this roundtable event we've collated the feedback given and wanted to share the points we took from the session and for some areas advise what steps have already been taken to address the issues with the wider UK Small Business Specialist community:

The key takeaways from the roundtable were:

SBS 203 Migration Pains: Partners expressed concerns about the lack of resources to assist with migration and the complexity of the end to end migration process

Actions taken:

Click through Hands on Labs have been delivered on Technet to help walk through the deployment and practice before a real migration - EBS 2008 demos can be found here and the SBS 2008 demos can be found here.

Hands on labs are in development to also support readiness for migration.

There are a number of sessions on migration available on the partner portal covering migration. We’re also scheduling another migration session in the near future details to follow shortly

The Upgrade Value Proposition: There was a feeling that Microsoft has more work to do around partner and customer value proposition for SBS reasons to upgrade from 2003 to 2008.

This seemed to be a common theme and as a result we are looking into how we better formulate our value proposition for upgrades. There are a couple of ideas in the pipeline regarding compelling reasons to move from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008, including building some scenarios or promotions to help you initiate an upgrade conversation. Unfortunately I cannot share any more details on this at this stage, but in the meantime, if you have any ideas of what might work here, then please do let us know. Send suggestions to sbscuk@microsoft.com.

SBS 2008 Training: Partners felt there is a lack of availability of SBS 2008 technical training on the current release version which has prevented partners getting trained up so that they can deploy SBS 2008.

Nick has escalated this at a senior level to the partner readiness team at Corporate and has informed me that the final courseware for SBS 2008 is expected to be delivered in June 2009 for SBS 2008 and in August 2009 for EBS. In the meantime all CPLS (Certified Partners for Learning Solutions) channels now have access to RTM code level readiness labs and sessions. This has not been an ideal situation for any of us, but hopefully we have now taken a step in the right direction and courses will be ready for July – in fact you can register for this one now:

44CO120 - M6445 - Implementing and Administering Windows Small Business Server 2008 (4 Days) – London 13th July

This hands-on workshop provides students with the necessary knowledge to plan and implement Windows Small Business Server 2008. Students gain first-hand knowledge on topics such as installing, migrating, monitoring, securing, and backing up data. £100 per delegate.

In terms of training that can help you through the SBS 2008 exam, Nick recommends you use the bitesize courses on the 5W/50 webcast series: http://www.mssmallbiz.com/training/.

Pricing: Price of SBS 2008 was a concern for partners – whilst partners would like to sell Open it is believed to be more expensive than full retail product or OEM. With such a price difference they have to be fair to their customers and cannot be seen to sell at a higher price just because they will get Microsoft Club points etc.

This has been very carefully reviewed by Microsoft and we always investigate the right price point for Solutions for Small Business. From our research it was evident that the increase in price of SBS made up only a small portion of the overall price to the end customer. As we move forward we’ll continue to review the pricing for future versions of the product. For those customers that are looking for a low cost server, the recently launched Windows Server Foundation should suit their base needs.

Solutions Pathway: Partners felt there was confusion around what the purpose was for solutions pathway, also concerns that end user discounts are published publicly.

The SBS team has taken this onboard and working with the appropriate teams to make changes. Further information will be provided in the future as we look across worldwide feedback and look for a ways of reducing the complexity with Solutions Pathway.

Partner Resources: Partners expressed that there is a lack of partner resources for SBS 2008 and EBS 2008. In addition, Partners said that Microsoft need to pay more attention to localising corporate tools and resources as resources become too “Americanised".

Nick has escalated this at Corporate level and:

There is a wider project now in motion to address the WorldWide Partner Portal engine and how we internally filter content down to each country.

There is a review in place of SBSC content and how more content can be discovered

The SharePoint Opportunity: Felt that partners are missing opportunities on promoting SharePoint and Windows Mobile opportunities with SBS 2008. Microsoft could do more to help partners understand the opportunity.

Nick and Gareth are looking into what can be done here and identifying any other best practice across the world that the UK might be able to adopt.

EBS Launch: Microsoft need to consider putting renewed emphasis behind launching EBS and targeting the right partners. In addition, launching SBS and EBS together meant that EBS got 2nd place and it diluted the marketing by launching them together. Numerous scenarios were put forward by the partners to help highlight the opportunity with EBS to other partners.

We are putting a plan in place to address this and gather some case studies whereby partners are growing their businesses by selling EBS. The aim is to showcase to other partners and help them see the opportunity, as appropriate to their business. Stay tuned for more information.

Partners would love to have the SPLA type licensing for SBS and EBS without actually hosting on OV Subscription. i.e. Predictable model of costs each month. This would be a value prop on moving to SBS 2008

Feedback has been taken onboard. We’re investigating if this is feasible.

Office Communication Server: Considered by partners to be too big for many small businesses – need a simple Unified Communications solution that is cost effective. Response Point needs to launch in the UK.

Feedback has been taken onboard.

BPOS: Partners felt there is more work to do around the BPOS Value proposition "to partner".

We understand that we have more work to do around the BPOS value proposition for SMB and have therefore engaged with the appropriate teams to address this. The team in Redmond have taken this on board and are looking at potential solutions that could resolve these issues.

We would like to thank those partners who kindly gave up their time to join this roundtable and engage in the discussions. Hopefully this provides a useful summary of our key takeaways and steps we are taking to address the topics raised. We’re committed to hearing you feedback and working together to make you and our products successful in the SMB marketplace. The last 9 months have been some of the toughest economic times in living memory, we’ll continue to look at new ways to supporting you, and welcome any feedback or ideas you have to better support you in your business with Microsoft. Send suggestions to sbscuk@microsoft.com.

Reminder: Register For Andy Trish's SBS 2008 Configuration exam 70-653 Prep Live Meeting

UK SBSC — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:38:25 GMT

Reminder... there are only a couple of days left to register for the first of a series of Microsoft Live Meetings where SBS MVP Andy Trish will be giving an overview of the features you’ll need to learn and guidance on exam taking for those that haven’t yet experienced Microsoft testing before.

The live meetings will be intensive so be prepared to answer questions thrown at you and you’ll be given homework to prepare for the next one with the intention of all candidates being able to complete the live meetings and take their exams prior to the end of June. The cost of attendance is free however if you don’t have a voucher the exam cost will need to be funded by yourself... but as Andy says, this is a great investment you are making in your future both for you and your customers.

Exam 70-653 will be one of a choice of exams required to be SBSC in the upcoming changes Microsoft are making in the Partner Community so get out your notepads and join in. The first event is Thursday 28^th of May at 3:30pm and is due to last 1.5 hours

The registration link is https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000000379_116/Registration.aspx?pageName=9jp66cq70v4t53q2

FREE SBS 2008 or SharePoint Services training available for Next Week, courtesy of C2K!

UK SBSC — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:50:53 GMT

Authorised Distributor, C2k have a number of places available on their Free of Charge Technical Training series which they would like to offer out to Microsoft partners. Each course typically costs up to £800 per day per delegate, so this is a great offer. Capacity is 12 per course and we are some availability left, first come basis. Timing is the key concern as a number of the events are running next week.

The two courses available are:

26^th - 27^th May - M5060 Implementing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (2 days)

Where: QA, London Tabernacle Street
Overview of course:This two-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to successfully implement Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) version 3.0 in their organizations. It emphasizes that students should think about the architecture of their entire environment, including business and application needs, during the planning and deployment phases. The course covers how to perform a clean installation of WSS 3.0 and also describes all the prerequisites required to select the most appropriate method for upgrading WSS from 2.0 to 3.0 in a specific scenario. In addition, the course focuses on how to manage WSS after it is configured.
Intended Audience: This course is intended for Business Application Administrators (BAAs) who are engaged in the planning, design, and selection of Line of Business (LOB) applications, including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS), in conjunction with internal business customers. Their primary responsibility is the deployment, customization, management, and support of LOB applications. They routinely monitor application status and troubleshoot application problems. The audience is expected to have at least two years of experience in implementing, managing, and supporting Microsoft Windows Server 2003, including Internet Information Services (IIS).

26th - 28th May - Implementing and Administering Windows® Small Business Server 2008 (3 days)

Where: QA in Hinckley, Leicestershire
Overview of course: This hands-on workshop provides students with the necessary knowledge to plan and implement Windows Small Business Server 2008. Students gain first-hand knowledge on topics such as installing, migrating, monitoring, securing, and backing up data. Please note this pre-release product course was written by Microsoft as an early adopter partner readiness course and is written on Beta product.
Intended Audience: This course is intended for technology consultants, system integrators, and in-house technology staff that serve small and medium- sized businesses.

To Register, or for more details, email: mwhittle@computer2000.co.uk and mdwane@computer2000.co.uk ASAP, copying in Ita McAndrew from Microsoft, to secure your place.

Please note that refreshments, travel and accommodation will need to be paid for by yourselves.

Are you prepared for the SBS 2008 Configuration exam 70-653?

UK SBSC — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:27:52 GMT

Are you prepared for the SBS 2008 Configuration exam 70-653? If you haven’t already taken it and you are looking for study guidance then join your peers in the first of a series of Microsoft Live Meetings where SBS MVP Andy Trish will be giving an overview of the features you’ll need to learn and guidance on exam taking for those that haven’t yet experienced Microsoft testing before.

Exam 70-653 will be one of a choice of exams required to be SBSC in the upcoming changes Microsoft are making in the Partner Community so get out your notepads and join in. The first event is Thursday 28^th of May at 3:30pm and is due to last 1.5 hours

The registration link is https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000000379_116/Registration.aspx?pageName=9jp66cq70v4t53q2

Generate leads with our free Small Business Server Marketing Materials - download now!

UK SBSC — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:42:22 GMT

Microsoft have just finished putting final touches to a new campaign for partners that will help you target small businesses with Small Business Server (SBS). The campaign centres around manager stereotypes which align to the problems customers experience, and then match the features of SBS to those needs.

Help your customers take control, and boost your sales of Windows Small Business Server 2008, with our new easy-to-use tools. The tools are available to you now - simply visit our Partner Portal to download them! In addition, advantage of the the Windows Server Services Rebate offer to earn even more out of SBS! Read on to find out more...

Many of your small business customers will no doubt have concerns over the economy and what the future holds. Windows Small Business Server 2008 provides a range of new features that can help them cut costs and take control. To make it even easier to sell, and to help you increase revenue, we have created four easy-to-use tools. Cutting through the gloom and doom, they use comical business management caricatures to resonate with your customers and communicate how Windows Small Business Server 2008 can stop stalling, flapping, worrying and shouting.

So, what tools are available ?

Sales Guide: All the information about Windows Small Business Server 2008 at your fingertips, as well as advice and tips on how to sell.
Email template: pre-populated with insightful content about Windows Small Business Server 2008, and the many ways it can help your customers reduce costs. Personalise it with your company name and logo and send to your customer database.
Web Banners: These attention-grabbing static Web banners quickly communicate the control your customers will gain with Windows Small Business Server 2008. Available in a variety of sizes, place them on your site to provoke interest and drive sales.
Postcards: Post these eye-catching customisable postcards to your customers. They summarise the main benefits of Windows Small Business Server 2008, compelling your customers to get in touch with you for more information.

Simply click here to download any of the materials, then take advantage of the the Windows Server Services Rebate offer to earn even more out of SBS!

How partners participate in this promotion:

Sell a minimum of 2 qualified server operating systems with services between 15th January 2009 and the 30th June 2009.
Submit the product key and related services invoice for each claim by 31st July 2009 by logging into www.serveroffer.com. You will also need to submit your organisational details and the customer name.
Check the status of your rebate request using your claim number and registered email address.

New EBS and SBS Click-through Demos Available!

UK SBSC — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:42:56 GMT

Want a quick, lightweight, and portable way to show off EBS 2008 and SBS 2008? Clickthrough demos for each product are now available on the Download Center for partners. These clickthrough demos come with lab manuals that goes in depth into the products and how to demonstrate them to partners, potential customers, and clients.

The topics include:

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Demo EBS 2008 ToCustomer Click Thru Demo - Features Overview

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Demo EBS 2008 ToCustomer Click Thru Demo - Installation

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Demo EBS 2008 ToCustomer Click Thru Demo - EBS with System Center Essentials

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Demo SBS 2008 ToCustomer Click Thru Demo - Installation

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Demo SBS 2008 ToCustomer Click Thru Demo - Migration from SBS 2003

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Demo SBS 2008 ToCustomer Click Thru Demo - Working With Clients

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Demo SBS 2008 ToCustomer Click Thru Demo - Admin Console

EBS 2008 demos can be found here and the SBS 2008 demos can be found here.

Pre-Order David Overton's SBS 2008 Book

UK SBSC — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:13:32 GMT

As many of you know, David Overton has been busy writing a book on Windows Small Business Server 2008. It's called "Windows Small Business Server 2008- Installation, Migration, and Configuration" and David informs us that it is now available to pre-order.

If you want to ask questions once you have the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?13.

To pre-order the book click http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M

The book covers:

Set up and run your small business server making it deliver big business impact
Step-by-step guidance through the installation and configuration process with numerous pictures
Successfully install SBS 2008 into your business, either as a new installation or by migrating from SBS 2003
Configure hosted web sites for public and secure information exchange using Office Live for Small Business and Office Live Workspaces
An illustrative book for people with basic technical skills and no SBS background

Windows Server Offer has now been extended to include Open Program Licensing!

UK SBSC — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:02:24 GMT

To help our channel partners continue their investment in delivering the best business value to their customers, we are offering a services rebate from January 15 to June 30, 2009. The following service rebates will be available when partners sell and provide services for the listed servers:

Partners can claim up to 5 rebates in total per unique customer.
Partners can claim up to 25 rebates in total per unique partner.
The services provided to the customer must exceed the amount of rebate being requested.

Eligible License types include: Open Value, Open Value Company Wide, Open Value Subscription, FPP, COEM (System Builder), DOEM and OEM (ROK) for each listed Eligible Server product.

Here’s how to participate in this promotion:

Sell a minimum of 2 qualified server operating systems with services between 15^th January 2009 and the 30^th June 2009.
Submit the product key and related services invoice for each claim by 31^st July 2009 by logging into www.serveroffer.com. You will also need to submit your organisational details and the customer name.
Check the status of your rebate request using your claim number and registered email address.

Go to www.serveroffer.com now for more information.

Also, why not take the 5W/50 Series - The Small and Midsize Business Server Platform: Which Is Right for Your Customer? Online training?