BMS Blog: SBS Consulting in the UK

I’m very pleased to announce that as part of our SBSC UK PAL role both myself and Andy Trish will be presenting monthly Live Meetings in conjunction with Microsoft aimed at registered and SBSC partners and split into two disciplines.

Andy will concentrate on the Business School discipline and I will handle the Technical School meetings. Each of the Live Meetings will be recorded and linked to other relevant resources so that it enables research to be carried out after the meeting.

The decision to make these sessions available via live meeting is one that both myself and Andy are very keen on as we are acutely aware of the time it takes to attend face to face meetings. Live meetings give everyone the chance to attend and participate for little or no cost or to watch the recorded event at their leisure.

All Microsoft partners are eligible to attend the events and the more the merrier. Details of the first meetings are as follows:

27^th October: 16.30-17.45: Business School: how to create and keep new customer relationships:

Register for the event at:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032427277&culture=en-GB

Julie Simpson from ResourceIT in the UK is our first presenter for the Business School event, we would love you and any of your community to attend.

4^th November: 16.30-1745: Technical School: Windows 7

Register for the event at:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032427531&culture=en-GB

Jamie Burgess will present around Windows 7 and the new features and benefits. Even if you’ve been using Windows 7 for a while now I’m sure Jamie will have something new you’ve not seen before!

I look forward to seeing you all at the meetings!

A few Microsoft promotions worht taking a look at in case you missed them on the SBSC blog:

Savings on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 licences for small and medium size businesses

(url is: https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/40094536)

Prior to the next Microsoft Exchange Server release, you can help your small and medium size business customers acquire Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 email technology. Use this promotion to offer your customers savings on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition server licences and client access licences (CALs).

Rebates when you sell and provide services on selected server products

(url: https://www.serveroffer.com/)

Available until 31 December 2009, we are offering service rebates when you sell and provide services for Windows Server 2008, Windows Small Business Server 2008, Windows HPC Server 2008, or Windows Essential Business Server 2008.

Windows 7 Professional upgrade promotion

(url: https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/40113458)

From 1 September 2009 to 28 February 2010, you can increase your Windows desktop operating system upgrade business by motivating Microsoft Volume Licensing customers in small and medium sized businesses to upgrade their PCs running Windows XP or Windows Vista operating systems. Use this promotion to offer savings on Windows 7 Professional operating system upgrade licences - with or without Microsoft Software Assurance for Volume Licensing.

At the recent AMITPRO meeting Dell Quinn came along to discuss the impact the changes to the Microsoft Partner Program would have on SBSC partners and listen to our moans constructive criticism.

Unless you’ve been on the moon for the past month or so you can’t have missed the fact the Microsoft Partner Program is morphing in to the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN). The changes are significant and are already impacting some partners, in particular Gold Certified Partners who are now required to carry out the CSAT survey as part of the requirements for the new program.

According to Dell the new MPN is a result of the changing needs of both customers and partners and Microsoft will be marketing MPN directly to customers in an effort to help partners when it comes down to deciding which provider to choose.

Some of the details of how the new MPN will work are sketchy at best but one thing is certain, the Registered, Certified and Gold Certified status is disappearing and will be replaced with (to be confirmed):

• Community member
• Subscriber
• Competency
• Advanced Competency

The criteria for the new SMB competency that replaces the SBSC designation has still not been made public so watch this space for more info as soon as I have it. It is hoped this will be available in the next 6-8 weeks.

My personal view is that the changes will have a positive impact in the long run and active SBSC partners have a head start as we are already committed to the community. Few other partners are likely to get as much personal assistance from Microsoft during the changes and Dell is very committed to helping us get to where we need to be.