Susanne Dansey’s Blog

Note: I’m updating this page regularly as I get new information so keep an eye on it… 

Thanks to everyone who attended the Small Business Forum last Thursday, we had a great turnout and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m still wading through all the emails that I’ve received so far - I can assure you that most of the wants and asks are achievable so watch out for these.

In the meantime, I thought you might want to know what the questions submitted to me during the day were:

Where can we learn to take advantage of WDS? What are the base requirements?

Check out here where you can find a step-by-step guide to get a better understanding.

WDS update revision follow-up - thanks to Susan for the heads up.

Whilst you’re at it, have a look at Christian’s interview with Jeff Putt who talks about MDOP (Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack) which should help you as part of your technology readiness.

Excellent to see Westcoast run with Susanne’s SBSC intiative. What commitment will the panel give to extending and building on today and how do the panel feel about the level of attendee commitment shown today?

All four executives answered this comprehensively but just to let you know, Joe has been buzzing about the success of the Forum for two days now. Watch this space!

Small Business Accounting; why only direct sales? Volume licensing? Will there be a programme to connect accountants to SBSCs?

SBA is expected to be launched through the Channel in March. Until then, you can download yours from here. Licensing details will be released shortly. Regarding the programme, it’s another watch this space. It is something that has been trialled in the US but there has been some hesitancy over here - it may be due to the delay of SBA after all this time… Hopefully MS UK’s product manager Gareth Arnold will be talking to the SMB Channel about it shortly?

What happened to the L@W demo?

Yes, that was not my favourite moment of the day. We have a new online volume licensing tool which we wanted to launch on the day. Thank the slow Internet connection at Microsoft UK for that… that’s what you get for not working on the internal network. Apologies for not being able to show you it but we’ll be scheduling an online demo in the next few weeks. Forum delegates get the heads up automatically.

How do you get license sales recognition even though you’re not one who resells (as in deals with the disti)?

Hmm, going to be bold on this one. Partners take accreditations to prove they are able to work in capacity they say they are in. You jump through hoops to be able to deliver a service you promise you can. The same goes for Authorised Distributors - we’re still Partners, just a different sort. We’ve jumped through hoops to be able to deliver a service that is expected of our customers and of Microsoft. Being authorised allows Microsoft to keep an eye on us and allows them to give us measured support. Authorised Distis are on a similar radar to that of Partners. Everytime you spend with an Authorised Disti, your spend gets accounted for; it’s trackable and this means that your spend on MS products is recorded to your Partner dashboard which is where you get your Partner Points.

If you were to purchase your licensing through a non-authorised distributor or a sub-disti then your activities will not be measured. Many who I have met this year didn’t realise this. Buying from anyone, anywhere, at anytime would make everyone’s lives very difficult to track - like those who have reached for Partner accreditations, there are many reasons why the Channel is officially accredited in this way. If points and accreditations don’t mean that much too you, then maybe there isn’t cause to be concerned if your business model is slightly different.

Also, if you can take part with the Microsoft Points club if you buy through an Authorised Disti you can earn cash rebates for every OEM product you purchase. For more information and to register, click here.

MS USA have launced Microsoft Communication Services for SMB. Is this coming to the UK? Complimentary or not to SBSC?

*Updated* Expect to see all the hosted services in the UK - either from hosting Partners or Microsoft, or both. Have a look at here for an example of what people are doing.

Is it statistically SBSC sales of PCs or bucket shop PC sales that go out without Office to make up the statistics?

I’m going to go with all sales of PCs. Anyone want to expand on this?

When it comes to virtualisation, how does licensing impart on running multiple server instance on the same physical host server?

Have a look here as a start point and then check out:

Business Briefings on Virtualisation and Management (Australia)

Andy Parkes’ thoughts on Server 2008 Virtualisation

Windows Server 2008 lineup and introducing Hyper-V (James Senior’s blog)

Microsoft Virtualisation blog

Matt McSpirit’s update on Microsoft Virtualisation

Virtual infrastructure products: features comparison (Thanks James for the heads up on this)

Windows Server 2008 Training & Certification

Softgrid Licensing Implications

Step-by-step guide to getting started with Hyper-V

Communications from Microsoft into SBSC Partners seems to have dropped off lately. Are MS pulling back from the programme in the UK?

Definitely not and Simon Aldous stressed that more communication around this will be issued shortly.

How committed are Symantec to the Small Business sector in the UK given that James Baker’s comment regarding the difference in customer size perception in the USA?

Symantec stressed their commitment to the UK SMB community and will be working with their regional account managers and the local SBS IT Pro Groups to help support SBSC activities. Another watch this space but even moreso now that they’ve heard two day’s of feedback from UK SBSC Partners.

Are there any plans to release Microsoft ResponsePoint for the UK market?

ResponsePoint is a US only product at the moment which is a shame as VoIP adoption is very good in the UK. Word from Microsoft Corp. is that the rate of units sold is faster than they can manufacture so after expanding physical production capacity they’ll be able to bring the product over the Pond.

Are there any plans to promote the benefits of the SBSC programme to end users? Whilst it is featured on the Microsoft site, I’ve yet to come across a customer who has even heard of the programme let alone understand the benefits to them of using an SBSC Partner.

It is my understanding that a page is being written by Emma Cockburn and Jennifer Brinton this week in response to this question (which was also raised at our Roundtable). Following up on the previous question, I would imagine that we will see more regarding the SBSC Programme in the next few months. There are so many Partners asking this question (including me!) that it’s something that needs to be addressed properly.

I would be interested to hear of any plans Microsoft have to bring Unified Comms, espeically IM presence to SBS/Cougar customers (other than buy the full Office Comms Server product!)

David replied to this properly at the Forum, a more formal follow up may be published if I leave this question unanswered long enough…

 Unified Comms Blog

Unified communications and collaboration: Pervasive capabilities for where and how people work (whitepaper)

Thanks for organising this!

It was our pleasure!

Please tell us how we get a referral code for Office Ready/ MLK activations.

Simply purchase a copy of Office from your supplier (preferrably from an Authorised Disti!). MLK means Medialess License Key - all OEM Office 2007 products are medialess. This is part of the Microsoft Office Ready PC Programme.

The DemoShowcase does not seem to address small business needs - I’d be interested to know what solutions the people who do use it are proposing to their clients and what scenarios are considered appropriate?

Firstly, I’d suggest running through the 24 scenarios and decide which suit your types of customers. You’ll see from my previous posting that SBS 2003 isn’t included but as you know this will change in the next few weeks and if you break this particular product down you’ll see that in essence it really is there.

Further information can be found on Chris Parkes’ blog. Get in touch with him and he’ll put you in touch with Partners who have successfully used it but first I would suggest checking it out for yourself. Only you will know your customers.

Is there or will there be anyway to use Office 2007 docs on Windows Mobile?

Yes, click here for more details. As Chris Rue also pointed out to me (thanks Chris!) you should also have a look at the following issues if you decide to upgrade:

Why Exchange 2007 SP1 is important for mobile users.

How to change the language of Mobile 6.1 from US to UK

What you need as a base mobile OS before installing 6.1

What is the address for Chris Parkes’ blog?

See above.

IO for small business? A concept to take model and create a SBS version?

Answered at the Forum. Infrastructure Optimisation Tool available here (Australia)

I suppose a question for Microsoft. Can we have a central site to spotlight the individual SBSC leaders and meeting locations. Also highlighting guest speakers attending these sessions. AND explaining to vendors why THEY should come to these sessions and present their ‘wares’.

Interesting question as it’s not for Microsoft to answer. The Community is not controlled by any vendor. It may be influenced or supported but it is not owned by anyone except for the leaders and members. Regional group leaders should ensure their details are up to date here. Many groups have their own websites and you’ll find the links there.

On those websites, guests should be listed and it really is up to the leaders as to how they pitch to vendors (or vice versa) - hopefully there are good enough business relations between those who are involved to make any actions taken of business value to everyone involved.

Symantec is a great product but we are unable to have any technical support when we need it during installation. How are you going to change that?

Symantec have developed their Partner programme to facilitate this and hopefully answer this solution.