BMS Blog: SBS Consulting in the UK

As Windows 7 is released for general availability I thought it was time to reflect on the road BMS and our customers have travelled down since we were chosen to participate in the Windows 7 Ignite program back at the beginning of the year.

It seems like a long time ago now when I caught a flight over to Munich for the kick off Windows 7 Ignite event.

Since then we have seen Windows 7 progress through early beta versions to an incredibly fast and stable release candidate and finally to the RTM (released to manufacturing) code we have today.

Working with Microsoft during  the development of Windows 7 has given BMS and our customers an incredible insight into how the Microsoft machine works. From the early beta release to the RTM version it is truly amazing how the momentum has slowly built until the official launch at WPC09.

Being able to get back together with some of the Microsoft Ignite team at WPC09 for a celebratory dinner was the icing on the cake for me and I’m pleased to have been a part of the program. I’m still working with some of the same marketing team from Microsoft on another program at the moment called the Office 2010 Real Life Business program, more of that in future blog posts!

During the Ignite program we and our customers undertook various case studies to promote Windows 7 and you can view some of those using the links below:

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/Windows7forBusiness/sb.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/resources/Default.aspx?searchText=bms&category=&products=0da69848-c78c-453b-93d1-3cd7dcc1c5af&pageIndex=0&pageSize=5&sortID=1

Microsoft have definitely got it right with Windows 7. It is hard to capture exactly what it is about it that excites users but  it can be summed up in the words of one of our customers who took part in the Ignite program:

Now I’ve got Windows 7 on my PC you couldn’t prise it out of my cold dead hands!

Enough said really!

We now have some clarification around how the new Microsoft Partner Network changes will specifically effect SBSC.

The FAQ can be accessed at:

https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/40021563

But here is a summary of the important points:

New competencies

- The Small Business Specialist designation will become two competencies in summer 2010 - the Small Business and the Medium Business Solution Provider competencies.

- The Small Business competency will be ideal for partners who focus on supplying a range of technology solutions to small business customers.

- The Medium Business Solution Provider competency will be for partners who provide solutions to medium-sized customers. It allows the existing Small Business Specialist who sell to medium-sized business to obtain the new Medium Business Solution Provider competency.

Competency requirements

-  The requirements for the new Small Business competency will be similar to those for attaining the Small Business Specialist designation today.

- In summer 2010, if your Small Business Specialist status is active and you have met all the requirements of the Small Business Specialist designation, you will automatically qualify for the new Small Business competency.

-  The full detail of the requirements for the Medium Business Solution Provider competency will be shared before the end of December 2009.

- As the new competencies will retain many of the same requirements and benefits that partners are familiar with today, the transition to the new competencies should translate into limited impact for existing Small Business Specialists. We will fully support partners through the transition period.

Logos

- As long as your Small Business Specialist status is up to date, you can continue to use the existing logo (i.e. the ‘blue badge’).

- Existing logos will be retired six months after the new logo system is available. For Small Business Specialists, this means that the current ‘blue badge’ logo will be retired six months after the introduction of the new competencies.

My best guess around the requirements for Medium Business Solution Provider competency is that it will have something to do with EBS 2008 certification. Please note this is only my personal opinion and Microsoft have yet to release the actual details for this.

Last Tuesday I had a meeting with Dominic Gill from Microsoft to talk about the new Microsoft Apprentice Scheme.

A short description of the program follows:

Short description as follows:

“The Microsoft Partner Apprenticeship was designed for and developed with Microsoft Partners to improve the capability of the partner network and add a stream of new ICT recruits, particularly for SMEs who have struggled to recruit appropriately trained staff or apprentices in the past due to the perceived barriers to entry.

The concept focuses on Partners clustering together in regional areas, which will enable you to benefit from collective recruitment and purchasing power.

The programme aims to:
• Harness the power of collaboration to reduce total costs and provide a richer learning experience for the apprentices.
• Allow Microsoft Partners (particularly SMEs) to engage in ICT apprenticeships in a way that was not previously possible
• Allow all Microsoft Partners to actively recruit the apprentices as full-time employees on day one of the apprenticeship.
• Provide an intensive learning period at the start of the programme to ensure apprentices are up-to-speed sooner than in traditional one day per week apprenticeship models.

Details of the Programme
Apprentices will participate in a 7 month apprenticeship
which will involve:
• Classroom learning at Europe’s leading Microsoft IT
Academy, Zenos
• Vocational learning whilst in the workplace
This mix of a Work Based Learning and Programme-led
apprenticeship is unique. It has been designed to offer
Partners and Apprentices a fast-track into productive
employment whilst ensuring all of the necessary technical
and business skills are learnt. This will produce flexible,
rounded individuals able to follow a number of valuable
career paths – a huge benefit to the sector as a whole.

We are recruiting both Partners and Apprentices NOW!
Register your interest by signing up to the Employer
Charter which can be found at www.microsoft.com/uk/
partner/apprenticeships. You then have two options:
1. You are looking to take on and develop your own cohort
of apprentices (i.e. more than 10 apprentices from
one intake). Contact mspa@e-skills.com to register
your interest and you will be assigned to the most
appropriate Zenos Academy.
2. You are looking to take on and develop between 1 and
9 apprentices. Contact mspa@e-skills.com and your
requirement will be matched to others by both role
specification and geography so a suitable cohort can be
assembled. e-skills UK will manage the resulting cohort.
If you require more information, we will be holding a
series of road shows across the country, details of which
are available at www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/
apprenticeships.”

As one of this years SBSC PAL’s I am working hard to bring relative content and information to partners around the new MPN and the SBSC program changes etc. as well as any other information/insight to help you get the most from your SBSC designation.

One of the ways we are already helping is the series of Live Meetings to cover both technical and business topics which should be both informative and  helpful as you continue to grow your business over the coming months.

What I really want to know from you is what else can we do to help you? I need your feedback on how best we can support you during the year ahead and what you want from your PAL’s. If you have any feedback or suggestions please email me.

I’ve had reports that some people couldn’t register for these events as they were full. If you had that problem and still want to attend the events please try and register again as the issue has now been resolved. The details again are:

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!

If you still have problems registering please let me know as soon as possible.