SBSC Symposium | Edinburgh & Manchester
Following on from a successful day at Thames Valley, the Microsoft SBSC Symposia tour continued on up to Bonny Scotland and in particular Edinburgh.
I arrived to a packed room as Duncan Reid and Angus Eddy talked about Building a Better Business Model. The discussions that followed and the questions asked by the audience kept the panel busy but it was a great sign that the subject matter was of interest and that partners wanted to learn more!
Nigel and Tim talked about AdCentre and OfficeLive (more on that in a sec.) and Scott McKenzie assisted David Overton about Windows Vista and Office 2007.
Patrick Voss kept the audience animated as the question of OEM Vs. SA was asked which was settled by David Overton who emphasised that the options were there if needed. OEM is still an option as far as Microsoft is concerned! Of course, the benefits of SA such as the Home Useage Rights and the ability to upgrade (hmm, maybe that last one isn’t that relevant right now!) need to be understood so that partners can be prepared if the opportunity arises.
There was also recommendation that the licensing specialists in the distribution channel such as Westcoast (who were present) - sounds good to me! These guys are trained by Microsoft to talk about licensing aaaaaall day long, great for those partners who have other things to do during the day!
Ed Probert was also on hand to talk about the legal aspects of our business including how to create a set of Terms & Conditions that will protect both your client and more importantly, you.
Then it was time for Archie Bell and myself to talk about how to best market your business and before we knew it we had to set off for Manchester!
Five hours later (thanks Driver David!) we arrived in Manchester and everyone’s tired heads hit the pillow (separate pillows, separate rooms!) knowing that it would be an early start in the morning.
Aileen, Robbie, and Steve (Haddock) kicked off the morning talking about the programme and emphasising the importance of feedback from partners to help shape the programme. David Overton was assisted by Mark Hope to talk about how Office 2007 and Vista has helped his business and his clients.
Tim Kimber’s talk about OfficeLive had been well received by many partners, particularly now that many of the questions playing on partner’s minds have been answered. Here are a few things I picked up from the presentation:
- OfficeLive: ‘easy to use’, ‘easy to upgrade’
- Target customers: <10 employees or SOHO
- Since it’s launch on the 21st November, OfficeLive has had 12,000 sign ups.
- OfficeLive is ideal for single sole traders, those working from home, and those with no business landline
- OfficeLive can help change the way people present their business and removes many of the obstacles that previously stood in the way (i.e. cost)
- Company data can be stored on PCs which is then uploaded to the OfficeLive site.
Microsoft statistics:
- 1.4 million small business is in the UK (1-99 employees), this increases to 4 million when SOHO is considered
- 92% have Internet Access
- 65% have Broadband
- 50% already have a website
- OfficeLive is considered as “low hanging fruit” - an immediate solution for small businesses
Aims of SOHOs: they want help attracting new businesses; retain existing businesses; and they want to retrieve information easily.
The software industry is worth $131bn worldwide - this makes it difficult to grow aggressively in this sector. However, the online advertising market is worth $520bn and there are massive opportunities to work within this market for Microsoft.
For every £1 spent on software, £11 is spent promoting and selling their company.
Example of an OfficeLive website: http://www.justsublime.co.uk/ (it took two hours to prepare and the client is now buying keywords, creating newsletters, and using the site to drive business).
The view is that OfficeLive offers partners plenty of commercial opportunities such as website design services and consultancy. However, I also see it helping you to keep existing clients as well. For example, the MD of your client wants you to design a website for his son’s football team and you know you’ll be too expensive. Don’t want to lose him? No problem! Just give him an OfficeLive site and your client is a happy bunny.
For more information on this check out http://www.officelive.co.uk/ or email Tim directly.
There is also a LiveMeeting on this subject taking place on 14th February which will focus on project management, time management, workspaces.
Nigel Leggatt talked about Microsoft AdCentre which is “like Google, but different” and identified the partner opportunities through this new programme:
- A low-cost, highly targeted way to promote your business
- Add value to your core business proposition
- Generate revenue streams
Some more facts and figures:
- There are over 11m users of MSN Messenger/ Windows Live Messenger
- 8.8m MSN Hotmail accounts are now out there
- 5 million users now use Live Search each month
- The average MSN customer spends £2k+ online in the past six months (TGI Internet 2006)
- Visitors to the Live Search site spend 50% longer on advertiser sites than any other search engine.
The Partner proposition and sales pack will be released in May 2007.
The partner-to-partner seminars in the afternoon we very well received, particularly Gareth and Vin’s ‘How to build a better business model’.
Gareth summed up one of the key message from the Symposia which was:
“We are in business, we happen to sell IT”
Ensuring that the balance between technical and business expertise is maintained is critical to ensure that as Vin said “You have to remember that you are a business, it’s only when you stop being the techie that you can take a step back and increase your user base.”
A great event Microsoft - let’s hope there’s another one on the horizon soon!
p.s. looks like the Essex Group and the North Wales Group may be kicking back into action, ping me for more information if you are interested.
p.p.s. photos from the entire three-day event can be found here