BMS Blog: SBS Consulting in the UK

/RANT MODE ON

We took on a customer a while back that with hindsight I should probably have told to get lost. But sometimes you can’t see the warning signs.

This particular customer came to us because the previous support company were “incompetent and didn’t know what they were doing” we were told. On enquiring on who said company was it turns out they are a well respected Microsoft Gold partner. I guess the alarm bells should have started ringing then!

This company has been nothing but trouble. Have you ever had one of those customers who blames you every time something goes wrong, even though you never sold them the kit in the first place and the kit is old and frankly not fit for purpose anymore? Every little issue becomes “our fault” and when we don’t wave a magic wand and fix it at no expense we are evil people that don’t know what we are doing.

If you’re in the business of repairing car bodywork ad reading this and thinking “I think he’s talking about us” then you’re probably right. Hopefully you’ll be reading this just before the email hits your inbox that tells you we’ve terminated your contract for breaching several clauses including:

• Failure to allow us adequate time to resolve an issue
• Being abusive to our employees
• Failure to allow us to complete our commitments under the terms of your contract due to refusing access to your equipment at agreed times.

I could go on but frankly I have customers that:

a) understand what good customer service is when they see it
b) Pay us on time
c) Aren’t hell bent on self destruction

So if you are an IT company who gets approached by a car bodywork repair company in the next few weeks do yourself a favour – give me a ring first!

/RANT MODE OFF

EBS is dead. I’m sure you’ve all heard the news announced on the 5th March and seen the EBS blog.

To be honest it isn’t a big surprise to me and I can’t say I’m going to morn the loss for very long. We put a reasonable amount of time and effort in to incorporating it in to our portfolio of products but it never took off for us, or for Microsoft it would seem. Don’t get me wrong I think it was a good product but it was a victim of the change in the way we think about providing software and services these days.

One thing is for sure. If you doubted Microsoft’s commitment to cloud computing before, the culling of EBS should convince you they are deadly serious. For MS to take such a radical decision proves without a shadow of doubt that cloud computing is where they see the future.

The decision to kill off EBS comes just after Steve Ballmer’s speech on Microsoft’s cloud computing strategy at the University of Washington and for partners at least this has really driven the message home. Get with the cloud or go do something else.

The question being asked now of course is, “what about the future of SBS?” Well, I’ve been involved in some of the discussions with the SBS development team at Microsoft as to the route the development will take and although I can’t be specific as I’m under NDA I think it is safe to assume that SBS will be around for a while longer. The reason I’m confident of that is I suspect SBS will evolve to embrace the cloud rather than fighting against it which should help to secure its future in one way or another. Time will tell.

There has been a change of date for the March Business School:

Business School: Cost-effective digital marketing tips

Business Schools are a series of monthly Live Meetings specifically for the Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) and Registered partners who specialise in targeting the small to medium size business market. Taking place on 25 March from 15.00-16.00 (GMT), the next Business School, will be presented by Alana Griffiths, Marketing Strategy Planner for B2B technology marketing agency, Mason Zimbler. Alana will provide cost-effective digital marketing tips to help you target SMB customers. Review a recording of last months’ Business School Meeting which discussed how to structure your business for growth.

The dates for the next Business and Technical Schools have just been released. These schools are becoming very popular and gaining momentum. Don’t miss out: Make sure you register today!

Look forward to seeing you at the meetings!

On 15 February, customers running Windows 7 Release Candidate will begin receiving automatically generated notifications, warning them that their operating systems will expire and that they need to back-up their data. Beginning 1 March, Windows 7 RC will reboot or go to a blue screen every two hours, depending on the PC’s system failure settings. Start talking with your customers about migrating to Windows 7 before the Release Candidate expires.

Technical Schools are a series of monthly Live Meetings specifically for the Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) and Registered partners who specialise in targeting the small to medium size business market. Taking place on 22 February from 11.00-12.00 (GMT), the fourth Technical School led by Frank Bennett and Dan Lewis, will provide an overview of the opportunities associated with Microsoft Online Services from a small and medium size business (SMB) perspective. Review a recording of last months’ Technical School meeting, which discussed SharePoint.

This course is split into three videos to help provide an overview of Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). The BPOS suite is a set of Microsoft hosted messaging and collaboration solutions including Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Office Communications Online.

If you haven’t yet attended a Small Business Specialist User Group in your area why not give it a go?

Small Business Specialist User Groups are events run by partners for partners. These meetings, which typically take place monthly, provide an opportunity for Small Business Specialists to learn, network and share information.

There are a number of Small Business Specialist User Groups nationwide and sessions usually take place in the evenings (start time is typically 6pm but please check for the meeting you would like to attend).

If you’d like to attend one of these meetings, please contact the group coordinator who will then invite you to future sessions as well as share timing and location detail.

If you would like to start your own User Group in your area, email me.

Want to find out more about the Microsoft Partner Network? Or do you have a question relating to your benefits or how best to utilize the Microsoft Partner Portal? If so, log onto this Live Meeting where Microsoft Partner Network Manager, Dell Quinn will provide a Microsoft Partner Network overview and some practical advice as well as help answer your questions.

The theme for this year’s Partner Business Briefings is ‘growth’. Growth encapsulates what Microsoft are working to achieve, from growing together through the Microsoft Partner Network through to helping you grow your revenue by utilising the latest Microsoft technology.

These events provide an opportunity for you to:

• Grow your business through the Microsoft Partner Network
• Grow your revenue through Microsoft Technology
• Grow your Network

London and Manchester events are now full. Registration for Birmingham and Edinburgh events opens end of March.

Don’t miss out on your chance to go to one of these events! Look out for your invitation via email.