In The Know - Charles Van Heusen's Weblog

CRM 3.0 - Sharepoint Integration! - Its coming to a Server Near You

I just got confirmation from a CRM Product Manager that they Sharepoint Webparts are well on their way in the development process as well as the whitepapers and documentation.  If all goes well, we should see them around the launch in the first part of 2006. I've asked if I can get access to the builds and do some hands on testing.  If it happens, I'll let you know what I find.

Question - Do you see the SharePoint integration as a big selling point for your customers?

Take the Microsoft Office “12” Challenge

Small Business Accounting 2006 For-Resale Software Incente - ATTENTION System Builders & SBSCer's - FREE SOFTWARE

SBSC Promotion from CA - Show N Sell - Bang or Bust?

If you didn’t know it, CA jumped on the bandwagon straight out of the gates with Microsoft when we announced the SBSC Program in July.  I LOVE the Show and Sell promotion they have running if a phenomenal program!

I’m eager to receive my welcome kit and dive into this myself.  Once you pass the SBS Exam and the Marketing proficiency, the first thing you should do is fill out the registration form on the CA site and get your welcome kit ordered.

If you’re not familiar with their offer, it’s for their newest product suite that focuses in on Small Business Server 2003. CA Business Protection Suite is designed to help customers protect their data on both the server and on the desktop.  I pulled the details below directly from their site. 

I've ordered by kit and I will provide my feedback on the installation once I've had it up and running for a week or so.  If you’ve already received a kit, let me know if you’ve taken the time to deploy it in your SBS environment or for a customer, I’d like to get your feedback.

Partner Offer (Exclusively for Microsoft Small Business Specialist partners)

Offer: Computer Associates (CA) Business Protection Suite for Microsoft Small Business Server 2000, Version 1.5 "Show and Sell Kit." One per company – US$2,000 value. Offer valid through March 31, 2006.

Offer Includes:

1.       1. Free, one Not-For-Resale Business Protection Suite Version 1.5 Product License for partner in-house use and for demonstration purposes

2.       2. Free, one 5-user license of CA’s Business Protection Suite Version 1.5, to resell or to give to a special customer

3.       3. Ten Live 30-day Trial CDs to distribute to prospects

4.       4. This Show and Sell Kit only supports Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, Premium Edition

Partner Cost:

CA’s Business Protection Suite Version 1.5 Kit is free. No shipping and handling charges. CA will send partners who received the Version 1.5 kit an upgrade kit for 2.0 which includes a new not-for-resale license and 10 new live trial CD’s. The upgrade kit will not include another resalable box product.

Availability

August 2005 – March 31^{st, 2006}

^{CA’s Business Protection Suite Version 1.5 "Show and Sell Kit" will be available from the beginning of August 2005 through March 31, 2006.}

^{The Version 2.0 upgrade kit for the Version 1.5 recipients will be available in October 2005.}

^{The new complete Version 2.0 Show and Sell Kit will replace Version 1.5 and will also be available in October 2005.}

^Requirement:

^{Partners must complete the requirements of the Microsoft Small Business Specialist community program. There is a limit of one Kit per partner organization regardless of how many locations the partner has.}

CRM 3.0 - Are you Ready for it?

I attended the CRM 3.0 Partner Readiness Training in Dallas this past Tuesday and I must say, I am really impressed with the product.  No, I’m not saying this because I’ve been drinking the Microsoft Koolaide for 8 years, its really true.  If you’ve worked with CRM 1.0 or 1.2 and got a bad taste for it, you really need to give CRM 3.0 an honest shot.  The new Marketing components are a well needed addition, but the new SKU’s are what really got me excited. 

Now wait a minute before you think I’m off on some sort of sales pitch.  What I’m excited about is the new Small Business Edition SKU.  It’s a version of CRM 3.0 that is designed for Small Business Server 2003 and provides all the functionality of the full product line at a scaled down price.  Here’s a side by side comparison.

If you have customers that are considering CRM solution, there’s no reason hold off on the purchase, because any customer who buys CRM today will receive a free upgrade to the next release with Software Assurance.

CRM Standard users today will receive the same or better when upgrading to 3.0  for more info on it, check out this site.

Special offer: Buy now and get full rights to Microsoft CRM 3.0   

If you didn’t know about the Partner Readiness Tour, check out the list for remaining tour dates.

LocalPCBuilder.com - A Great Way to help your End of Year PC Sales

A promotion that gives system builders distributing genuine
Microsoft Windows® XP software an edge.

Introducing Buy Local BONUS PACK from Microsoft—an exclusive, offer-driven promotion for system builders only.

What It Is

• Hundreds of dollars in free offers. Now you can sweeten the PC deal with complimentary plane tickets, high-definition movies, networking software, and more.
• Bundles for home and small business users. Give your customers an offer bundle specifically designed for them.
• Offers redeemable with genuine Windows XP software only once it is validated through the Windows Genuine Advantage program. Now you can add value while providing genuine Windows XP software to your customers.

How It Helps You

• Be more competitive. These valuable offers will help you compete more effectively against price-driven PC providers and counterfeiters.
• More customers = more sales. Microsoft is driving a demand-generation campaign to your end customers. Add to it by promoting these offers to help grow your sales.
• Reward for selling genuine Windows. Only PCs with genuine Windows XP operating systems are eligible to redeem the offers once they have been validated online through the Windows Genuine Advantage program.

To Learn More

• Visit the System Builder Web site – http://www.microsoft.com/oem
• Join us for an upcoming webcast – by Steve Winfield from the US System Builder BOB team on October 27th (click here to sign up).  If you can’t make that date, I’ll be delivering a webcast on it and a couple other In The Know topics on Wednesday, November 16th (click here to sign up).