March 2007 - Posts
Last week we put on the 2007 Microsoft Small Business Summit, a 5-day event offering live and online sessions for Small Businesses across the country including Microsoft and non-Microsoft speakers alike. If you were following the Blog, you saw the posts from:
· The Announcement of Response Point
· Today, Tuesday, at the Microsoft Small Business Summit
· Today, Thursday, at the Microsoft Small Business Summit
· Today, Friday, at the Microsoft Small Business Summit
· 10 Steps to Start A Business, Presented by the Sloan Brothers – Live on Day 5 (Start-up business day) of the Small Business Summit – Have your clients register today!
Now, you have the chance to view each of the sessions from the Small Business Summit on demand from the comfort of your offices. These include the webcasts as well as the live events, like my Small Business Licensing Session from Thursday.
Head out to http://www.sbsummit.com and select the sessions you want to view from the scrolling bar on the right-side of the page. We are continuing to add more replays every day and will continue to do so until all of the sessions are posted and available to view.
Based on the great feedback we continue to receive around these webcasts and topics and the numerous requests to run them again, we are going to be offering this series all in one week with AM and PM sessions for each to better fit your schedules. Here are the details:
Tuesday, May 1st
“Introduction to Office, Windows, and Server Licensing For Partners” - How are Microsoft products REALLY licensed? Want to find out? Attend this session and learn how the following items are really licensed: Microsoft Office, SBS, Windows Server, Exchange Server, & Windows Desktop O/S. How does Terminal Services change all of this? (Yes, that does say Terminal Services and it’s not as bad as you think!) Who is CAL and why should you know him? What's the difference between User & Device CALs? and more... Presented by Eric Ligman, Sr. Mgr. of Community Engagement @ Microsoft.
· 8:00 am PST session – Click here to register
· 1:00 pm PST session – Click here to register
Wednesday, May 2nd
“Introduction to Open License For Partners” - Microsoft offers two main Volume Licensing Programs for customers with between 3 and 150 PCs. These programs are the Open Business & Open Value Licensing Programs. Do you know how these work? What are the differences? Which should you choose for your clients? What are the advantages & disadvantages of each? Want to know the answers to these and more? Then attend this session, hosted by Eric Ligman - US Sr. Mgr. of Community Engagement at Microsoft, where we will discuss the two Open License Programs, how each of them works, and more.
· 8:00 am PST session – Click here to register
· 1:00 pm PST session – Click here to register
Thursday, May 3rd
“Open Value Rebates For Partners” - Are you taking advantage of the Open Value Rebates available to you as a Partner? That's right! As a Value Added Reseller, you are eligible to be receiving rebates back from Microsoft for every license you sell through Open Value. Also, Microsoft Small Business Specialist Partners are eligible for an additional rebate for every Small Business Desktop Advantage Agreement they sell. If you're not taking advantage of these programs already, you are just throwing money away. Stop tossing money away and join Eric Ligman, Sr. Mgr. of Community Engagement on the US Small Business Team @ Microsoft, for this 30 minute overview of these two rebate programs and find out how you too can be taking advantage of these exciting offers today!
· 8:00 am PST session – Click here to register
· 1:00 pm PST session – Click here to register
Also, remember that every Thursday morning we run the “Small Business Desktop Advantage Sales Fourms” where you have a chance to learn more detailed information about the Small Business Desktop Advantage and ask your questions about it or a particular conversation you’ve had with your clients about it. About ½ of the session is presentation and the other ½ is left for live questions and answers with you, our Partners. Hosted by Eric Ligman - US Sr. Mgr. of Community Engagement at Microsoft or one of the 16 Microsoft Partner Community Managers from around the US.
· Find out more and register HERE
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3667201
March 21, 2007
Surprise, Microsoft Listed as Most Secure OS
By Andy Patrizio
UPDATED: Microsoft is frequently dinged for having insecure products, with security holes and vulnerabilities. But Symantec (Quote), no friend of Microsoft, said in its latest research report that when it comes to widely-used operating systems, Microsoft is doing better overall than its leading commercial competitors.
The information was a part of Symantec's 11th Internet Security Threat Report. The report, released this week, covered a huge range of security and vulnerability issues over the last six months of 2006, including operating systems.
The report found that Microsoft (Quote) Windows had the fewest number of patches and the shortest average patch development time of the five operating systems it monitored in the last six months of 2006.
During this period, 39 vulnerabilities, 12 of which were ranked high priority or severe, were found in Microsoft Windows and the company took an average of 21 days to fix them. It's an increase of the 22 vulnerabilities and 13-day turnaround time for the first half of 2006 but still bested the competition handily.
Red Hat Linux was the next-best performer, requiring an average of 58 days to address a total of 208 vulnerabilities. However, this was a significant increase in both problems and fix time over the first half of 2006, when there were 42 vulnerabilities in Red Hat and the average turnaround was 13 days.
The one bright spot in all of this is that of the 208 Red Hat vulnerabilities, the most of the top five operating systems, only two were considered high severity, 130 were medium severity, and 76 were considered low.
Then there's Mac OS X. Despite the latest TV ads ridiculing the security in Vista with a Matrix-like Agent playing the UAC in Vista, Apple (Quote) has nothing to brag about. Symantec found 43 vulnerabilities in Mac OS X and a 66 day turnaround on fixes. Fortunately, only one was high priority.
Like the others, this is also an increase over the first half of the year. For the first half of 2006, 21 vulnerabilities were found in Mac OS X and Apple took on average 37 days to fix them.
Bringing up the rear were HP-UX from Hewlett Packard (Quote) and Solaris from Sun (Quote). HP-UX had 98 vulnerabilities in the second half of 06 and took 101 days to fix them. Sun, though, really dragged its feet, taking on average 122 days to fix 63 vulnerabilities. It wasn't doing much better in the first half of 06, either. It took 89 days to fix 16 vulnerabilities.
Alfred Huger, vice president of engineering for Symantec Security Center, said the real problem is with Web applications, where two-thirds of all vulnerabilities are found. Operating systems are fairly minor, and despite the long time periods, the vendors are doing "an ok job, just not stellar."
The response from vendor's mentioned in the report was mixed. A Microsoft spokesperson issued a statement to internetnews.com that said in part "As a part of this industry, Microsoft continues to adapt to address these threats and continues to work with others in the industry to protect customers as a whole."
Anuj Nayar, manager of Apple's Mac OS X and developer relations, would only say "Apple takes security very seriously and has a great track record of addressing vulnerabilities before they affect you."
Sun specifically disputed Symantec's data and conclusions in a statement emailed to internetnews.com:
"Symantec's data on security vulnerabilities simply does not match Sun's. We can't verify Symantec's sources and consider their report on Sun inaccurate. From 7/1/06-12/31/06 we published 54 Security Sun Alerts, of which 36 were for Solaris - substantially less the 63 Solaris vulnerabilities claimed in the Symantec report. Past analysis of our vulnerability response shows we responded within five days for the vast majority of vulnerabilities, but averages are skewed by a small minority of 3rd party applications (or code) that are included/bundled with Solaris. Sun responds to all reports of security vulnerabilities, and we stand by our reputation and established track record of responding to security vulnerabilities with Sun Alerts and a quick turnaround time for patches.
Analyst Charles King with Pund-IT said Microsoft has had to be aggressive about dealing with security issues because it's such a big target. In that regard, the company has met the challenge.
"I think in a way that a culture of having been under attack for a decade or more has led to the company taking a very proactive approach to fixing those problems," he told internetnews.com. "In the last 24 months, they've taken a very aggressive stance toward the security of their system. In review after review of Vista, despite its faults, the security of the system has been considerably better than XP."
By contrast, King said there have been complaints in the past about Apple's lack of response to security issues. But as the Mac and Linux gain marketshare, they will have to respond much quicker.
"Are the old models of response to security issues going to be able to fly or will those companies start to take some serious publicity hits from these increasing vulnerabilities and a relatively lackadaisical response to fixing those vulnerabilities?" he asked.
Great Stuff from CRN on Small Business Opportunities for Partners! Check it out!
http://www.crn.com/small-business/198000234
By Scott Campbell, CRN
5:29 PM EDT Mon. Mar. 12, 2007
Microsoft has struck a deal with CompUSA to offer the services of Microsoft's Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) to CompUSA's small-business customers.
CompUSA will now refer clients that need additional services or support outside its expertise to the 3,750 Microsoft SBSC partners in the United States. The SBSC partners must first register as a CompUSA TechPro Business Provider.
Microsoft SBSC partners will complement CompUSA's current TechPro Business Providers program, according to a CompUSA spokeswoman. Specific arrangements will depend on the local market and the specific opportunity but could include installing NAS, VPN or other IT solutions, she said.
CompUSA and MIcrosoft could not estimate the potential revenue opportunity for SBSC partners but said the services leads would be generated through CompUSA's remaining 103 stores in 39 states, as well as online and telemarketing sales from CompUSA, according to a Microsoft spokeswoman.
The computer product retailer recently announced it was closing 126 stores in the next 45 to 60 days. Those stores will not be part of the program, the CompUSA spokeswoman said.
Gregory Geodakyan, managing partner at SoftNet Technology, an Iselin, N.J.-based solution provider, has partnered with CompUSA on services for about six years. He said the formalization of a partner program will benefit all involved.
"It's about time. This is a good market. Until this point, it's been up to us to shake the business out of their business services guys for the leads. Now with the formalization of the program and with Microsoft throwing some might behind it, it will raise the profile of the program," Geodakyan said.
In the past, a typical opportunity with CompUSA might have involved resolving a server or an application issue for a current customer or helping a new customer set up an office, he said.
Some of the CompUSA locations that SoftNet counts as partners are closing, but Geodakyan said he expects the relationship to continue unabated.
"They're still leaving the business groups pretty much intact. We may even do some joint office situations with them," he said.
The retail deal is the first of its kind for Microsoft's SBSC partners, but the Redmond, Wash., software giant is looking at other partnerships, too, the Microsoft spokeswoman said.
"Microsoft has been actively seeking out opportunities in the retail channel to further enhance our SMB customers. More than 60 percent of technology purchases from small business is through the retail channel. It's a good area to work with to get more attention and more effective use from our Small Business Specialist community," she said.
CompUSA tested the program with a number of Microsoft Small Business Specialists, according to the CompUSA spokeswoman. The SBSC partners will be identified as such to the end user, she said.
CompUSA plans to market the program in the store and through external advertising, the spokeswoman added.
It isn't the first time that CompUSA has teamed with a developer. Last June, the retailer announced a deal to push NetSuite's hosted ERP service into small businesses.
March 21, 2007: 09:00 AM EST (From CNNMoney.com)
Microsoft announces six winners in the first round of the SBSC Growing Small Business Together promotion.
REDMOND, Wash., March 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Six Microsoft(R) Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) partners have already won $10,000 in managed marketing funds by helping their small-business customers and sharing their success stories. In addition, each of the selected SBSC partners will receive a fully developed case study they can use to promote their ability to provide small-business customers with proven IT solutions. Between now and May 30, 2007, nine additional U.S. SBSC partners will have an opportunity to be selected to receive a $10,000 marketing makeover.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
The six winners of the first round of the SBSC Growing Small Business Together contest were judged on their submitted success stories:
-- Total Technology Resources LLC, Philadelphia -- SBSC Registered
Partner
-- Nemsys LLC, Toledo, Ohio. -- SBSC Registered Partner
-- Miles Consulting Corp., El Dorado Hills, Calif. -- SBSC Certified
Partner
-- Internet Business Initiatives LLC, Lenexa, Kan. -- SBSC Certified
Partner
-- SecureElement Infrastructure Solutions, Malvern, Pa. -- SBSC Gold
Certified Partner
-- Evolve Technologies, Fairfax, Va. -- SBSC Gold Certified Partner
The contest began Oct. 18, 2006, and ends May 30, 2007, at 5 p.m. PDT, and consists of three prize periods. The first two rounds are now closed, but U.S. SBSC partners can still participate in the final round by going to the Small Business Specialist Exclusive Resources page on the Microsoft Partner Program Portal, selecting SBSC Growing Small Business Together contest under Increase Opportunities and completing three simple steps. SBSC partners who submit the top sales success stories will receive $10,000 in managed marketing funds. Winners will be split evenly between Registered, Certified and Gold Certified SBSC Partners.
"One of the benefits of being a Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community partner is being matched with potential customers from Microsoft's Partner Finder," said Dave Sobel, president of Evolve Technologies, an SBSC Gold Certified Partner. "We're excited to see Microsoft more energetically promoting the community by leveraging our documented successes."
Microsoft will prominently display winning case stories on its Web sites to help bring attention to the expertise of these winners and shed light on the advantages of being a Microsoft SBSC partner. A total of 24 partners will receive $10,000 in managed marketing funds. Nine additional winners will be selected in the final round going on now until May 30. (Note: The submission deadlines for round one and two have already passed.) The contest is designed to help SBSC partners grow their businesses by providing contest winners with local marketing support, showcasing their case studies and sharing their success stories with other partners.
"Microsoft is investing more than a quarter of a million dollars in this promotion in an effort to help its U.S. Small Business Specialist partners grow their businesses," said Paige Boesen, senior marketing manager for the U.S. Partner Group at Microsoft. "We recognize the enormous potential for Microsoft to reach a large base of the 26 million small businesses in the United States through our Small Business Specialist partners. We also recognize the potential for U.S. small businesses to benefit from our Small Business Specialist partners' technical expertise in providing proven IT solutions. Small business has a direct and powerful impact on the U.S. economy; helping our partners succeed in growing their businesses empowers them to help their small-business customers grow their businesses, which in turn helps drive our economy."
Community Is a Key Driver to the Success of the SBSC Program
The SBSC program crosses all three tiers of the Microsoft Partner Program: Registered Partners, Certified Partners and Gold Certified Partners. SBSC partners consistently mentor and support one another by sharing their knowledge and expertise.
"Visibility in the Microsoft Partner Finder helps local customers find my business and adds credibility and recognition as a Small Business Specialist and trusted advisor for Microsoft solutions. It drives new leads and lends weight to proposals, all key reasons to join the community," Sobel said. "The Partner Finder, unique networking avenues and products available to specialists give them access to businesses that market, sell, plan, deploy and rely on Microsoft products."
Additional benefits are exclusive SBSC rebates and promotions; opportunities to co-present at Microsoft events; a dedicated phone representative; access to exclusive training, networking and problem-solving opportunities via the SBSC Exclusive Resources Web site; the SBSC newsletter; private newsgroups; and SBSC quarterly webcasts.
SBSC Contest Winners Demonstrate Their Business and Technical Strengths
The first-round winners of the SBSC Growing Small Business Together promotion demonstrated their collective knowledge and technical expertise in delivering proven Microsoft Small Business solutions:
Kansas-based Internet Business Initiatives LLC (SBSC Certified Partner) helps firms with 1,000 or fewer employees effectively integrate traditional sales and marketing techniques with today's technology to help them achieve greater efficiency and profit.
Philadelphia-based Total Technology Resources (SBSC Registered Partner) provides similar services to small and midmarket businesses in addition to offering networking, infrastructure and security solutions.
Nemsys (SBSC Registered Partner), based in Ohio, helps focuses on enterprise-level technology and support for small and midmarket businesses and provides networking infrastructure, productivity, mobility and hardware solutions.
California-based Miles Consulting (SBSC Certified Partner) provides network infrastructure solutions, outsourced Microsoft .NET application development, and Microsoft CRM implementations for both small and medium-sized enterprise businesses.
SecureElement Infrastructure Solutions of Pennsylvania (SBSC Gold Certified Partner) provides comprehensive voice, data and video infrastructure solutions through low-cost and high-value fully-sourced managed environments to small and midsize businesses.
Virginia-based Evolve Technologies (SBSC Gold Certified Partner) offers small and midmarket businesses complete technology assessments and provides information technology and computer networking services to small businesses.
Still Time to Join the Community Before the Final Contest Deadline
Small business is big business. Companies with proven expertise in marketing, selling, planning and building solutions for small businesses are encouraged to become Microsoft Small Business Specialists. They can gain access to exclusive benefits and opportunities that can help them enhance their skills, improve customer relationships and win sales.
Information about becoming a Microsoft Small Business Specialist is available at https://partner.microsoft.com/US/program/smallbusinessspecialist/sbsbenefits.
The official SBSC Growing Small Business Together contest rules can be found at https://partner.microsoft.com/US/program/smallbusinessspecialist/40033626.
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https://partner.microsoft.com/40029171
Dear partners,
You are receiving this email because you have indicated interest to know more about the Microsoft Gear Up program.
The Gear Up Sales Tool Kit (STK) and website ms-gearup.com, were created as resources for partner sales professionals. Over the past six years it has become the most trusted single point of reference on our products and is used by over 30,000 people in the US. The Gear Up website is built to meet the specific needs of partner sales reps. When you visit the Gear Up website, you will find tools to help you as you work to drive Microsoft revenue through your business. Resources on the site include the Licensing Configurator for creating comprehensive quotes and rich program analysis, the Microsoft Intelligent Knowledge Engine for smart searching of product and program information, the Sales Support Center to order evaluation copies of software for your customers, and much more!
· You can subscribe to get the Sales Tool Kit mailed to you on a quarterly basis by logging in to ms-gearup.com and choosing Order Sales Tool Kit from the Sales menu.
· When you create an account to access the ms-gearup.com web portal, you will be asked if you would like to get our email newsletters in the future. If you already have a Gear Up account established, or are not sure of where to indicate that you want Newsletter Only, please reply to this email and we will assist you.
Join our mailing list and get future newsletters.
What is the issue for my customers?
The change in daylight saving time (DST) may impact many technology products that are currently used for scheduling, time calculating, transaction logging, and billing.
Making the necessary changes to accommodate the new DST legislation will frequently be a minor task. In other cases, significant efforts may be required: systems and applications may have to be updated directly. Software applications may merely inherit or "read" the date and time information from the underlying system that it resides on so the changes need to be made only to that underlying system. Given the broad range of technology being used today — and the integration of systems between customers, vendors, and partners — business and IT managers should determine what actions should be taken to lessen the effects of DST 2007 on their organizations.
Microsoft is dedicated to working with customers and partners to make this transition as seamless as possible for companies and organizations that are affected by these new time changes. Please check this page at least weekly to make sure that you have the latest information available.
What products are affected? Several Microsoft products are affected by the 2007 daylight saving time change. If you or your customers are running any of the products in the following list, you should review the guidance published on the Microsoft DST Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007 to determine the steps you should take.
Products requiring updates include:
Windows Server
Windows Server 2003 SP1
Windows Server 2003
Windows 2000 Advanced Server Service Pack 4
Windows Embedded for Point of Service
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs
Windows Client
Windows XP Home SP2
Windows XP Professional SP2
Exchange Server
Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2
Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1
Exchange Server 2003 Lotus Notes Connector
Exchange Server 2000
Exchange Conferencing Server 2000
Outlook
Outlook 2007
Outlook 2003
Outlook 2002 (Outlook XP)
Outlook 2000
Windows SharePoint Services
Windows SharePoint Services 2.0
SQL Server Notification Services
SQL Server 2005 Notification Services
SQL Server 2000 Notification Services
Office Live Meeting
Office Live Meeting
Dynamics CRM
Dynamics CRM 3.0 (as of March 2007)
Visual SourceSafe
Visual SourceSafe 2005 and 6.0d
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows CE
Windows CE-based devices
Entourage
Entourage
Identify small- and midsize-customer server, mobile, and desktop needs with the Microsoft Business and Technology Assessment Toolkit. Using your evaluation results, effectively sell solutions based on the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Windows Mobile, Windows Small Business Server, and Windows Vista technologies. "We've closed a deal every time we've used it," says Steve Rubin, President, WorkITsafe.
A step-by-step guide to help you assess the business and technical needs of your small and midsize business prospects—and turn them into lifetime customers.
Assess and Win: Get a Free Copy of SBS 2003 R2, Qualify to Win a Mobile Device
Exclusive limited-time offer: When you conduct business assessments using the toolkit, you can earn a free copy of Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 R2 (US$599 value), and—if you’re a Microsoft Small Business Specialist—qualify to win a Windows Mobile 5.0 handheld device.
Assess and Win: Get a Free Copy of SBS 2003 R2
Small Business Specialists: Enter to Win a Mobile Device
Step-by-Step Guides, Tools, and Resources
Note: InfoPath 2007 is required for the English-language toolkit. It’s included with the 2007 Microsoft Office system in the January 2007 Microsoft Action Pack , and Microsoft Certified and Gold Certified Partner Boxes.
New! English Language Toolkit
Sell More Small Business Solutions Across the Microsoft Stack
Access the latest version of the toolkit, now refreshed with a range of new features, including:
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Easy installation and self-updating features.
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New assessments that allow deeper evaluation of your customers’ server, mobile, and desktop needs and help you identify solutions using technologies based on Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 , Windows Mobile , the 2007 Microsoft Office system , and Microsoft Windows Vista .
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A customizable question bank that allows you to tailor assessments to your customers’ specific needs.
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A Windows-based platform that’s compatible with both Microsoft Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system.
Download the English Language Toolkit
Localized Toolkit
The Adobe Flash version of the toolkit is now available in the following languages: Dutch, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
Features of localized versions of the toolkit include:
Note that the localized toolkit is not the latest release, and does not include the features noted for the English version.
Download a Localized Toolkit
Assess and Win: Get a Free Copy of SBS 2003 R2
Limited-time offer: Use the toolkit to help you sell small and midsize business solutions across the Microsoft stack and get a free copy of SBS 2003 R2 (US$599 in value).
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Step 1: Use the Microsoft Business and Technology Assessment Toolkit to conduct assessments with your customers.
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Step 2: Submit the business assessments to us.*
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Step 3: Complete a quick survey.
After submitting the first five business assessments and completing the survey, you will be eligible to receive a free, resalable copy of SBS 2003 R2 Standard Edition.** And for every five assessments, including the first five, you will be eligible to receive one Partner Point.***
Start submitting your assessments today.
Small Business Specialists: Enter to Win a Mobile Device
For a limited time, you can enter to win one of 50 Windows Mobile 5.0 handheld devices—either an HTC Excalibur (ERP US$405) or an HTC TyTN (ERP US$650)—by submitting at least one Windows Small Business Server and Mobility assessment. Your entries will also count toward your free copy of SBS 2003 R2.
Not a Small Business Specialist? Get details about the benefits and how to join the program.
Learn more about this offer and get started.
Step-by-Step Guides, Tools, and Resources
Microsoft Business and Technology Assessment Toolkit Readiness Center
Find partner best practices and training webcasts, business letter and sales proposal templates, and more to help you get started and capitalize on the small business service opportunity.
*Business assessments must be submitted in English and all required fields must be completed.
**Limit one copy per partner organization, while supplies last.
***Up to a maximum of 20 points.
Link: https://partner.microsoft.com/40025740