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You might notice that on the Partner Program Re-Enrolment page there is an option to go back a level in the program. Hmm not sure that I’d give that option, if I were designing the site I’d not want folk thinking about that button but now that we have seen it we really do need to perform some due diligence around what it might mean to drop back to Registered Member, retaining our SBSC Status of course. There are a number of Certified Partner Membership Benefits I’m sure we don’t use and perhaps are...
OK reading the Windows Virtualization Team Blog : Beta of standalone hypervisor: Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, Bryon Surace mentioned some enhancements in Hyper-V Server R2 Beta Building on the solid virtualization platform of Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008, the R2 Beta release adds some highly anticipated features including live migration, increased memory/processor support, and an updated configuration utility. Let’s take a closer look at each of these: Let me just be excited about the high...
We have been expecting this announcement for a little while, and I’m sure this will drive numbers like nothing else so you better get in fast. Details over on Robbie’s Blog The post you've been waiting for... I'm very happy to announce that every attendee of our SMB Servers day at TechEd Australia 2008 will receive a free copy of the soon to be released Small Business Server 2008 Standard . Not kidding. Yours to take & use to make your first sale on the new platform. I was already Registered...
Robbie Upcroft has posted a bit about the keynote speaker for the SMB Servers Pre-Day @ TechEd Australia this year. Meet Lingan Satkunanathan, our keynote speaker for the TechEd 2008 SMB Servers pre-day on Tuesday, September 2nd. Lingan is the Senior Program Manager for Essential Business Server 2008 meaning he knows the thing inside out, backwards, upside down & every which way. Before working on EBS, he was Program Manager for SBS & so rest assured that we're flying in a big-gun...
Name: Doug Wilson and Robert Crane Company: Saturn Alliance Pty Limited Location: Sydney NSW Australia Describe your business: Saturn Alliance is a certified Microsoft Partner and Small Business Specialist that provides a wide range of technology solutions to business. What makes your business different: We focus on the business value to the customer. What are you really good at?: Apart from the SBS stuff we have a strong focus on Sharepoint, VoIP and Internet security What is the best possible referral...
After some time wondering if Project Thieving Weasel would get legs I am happy to announce that this morning, I have signed up to SMB Buddy . So I could rabbit on about what SMB Buddy is and not tell you anything that you will find useful or I could just let you see what the site says: About SMB Buddy SMB Buddy is networking site dedicated to connecting SMB technology partners. In a nutshell, it is a web site that helps consolidate information and resources from all over the web with SMB technology...
Here we go I was at the SMBIT Professionals Sydney Group last night and had a real holy crap moment. Lets go on that Journey for a little bit. Wayne Small had just finished a demo of SBS 2008 including the reporting and showed what was in a basic report and an advanced report, I thought it was received well. That was until the session after the break when Spiceworks 3.0 Beta was demo’d (not by Wayne and on a Documentation topic). OK that is a pretty interface and pretty comprehensive too, well there...
Wow last night I explained separately no less than 5 times why I made the trip to the SMBIT Professionals Sydney group well the Sydney SBS User Group which I find easier to remember, but such is life. So for me it is about 6.5 hours in the Truck for a 3 hour meeting and it seems to surprise folk that I’m happy to do that. So let me explain my motivations for turning up and see if these are motivations for others or if I’m just nerdboi with too much time on my hands. I have been involved with running...
I've been holding this one for a little while so I could be clear of Alex's wrath before getting this one out there. While at the Sydney SMB IT Pro Group earlier in the month the guys from Bright Point demo'd some HTC Phones, and it got some of us to talking about what makes a phone cool: Naturally running Windows Mobile because all SBSers get the full integration out of the box with SBS 2003 R2 and soon SBS 2008; Boys might like a big enough screen to remote a server and reboot it; Nerd...
OK now that every group I care about here in Canberra has pretty much folded or changed leadership, I thought I'd refocus on my roots and look at what is happening in the Old Sydney Town SBS Group. Yes the group has re-branded but more of that in other posts. Grace Kerrison, Director of Mobility & Embedded Devices, Microsoft Australia spoke to the group about Windows Mobile and the SMB opportunity. How Telcos are developing strategies around Small Business mobility, her presentation was short...
ANZ SMB Information Technology Specialists (ANZ-SMB-ITS) A community for Information Technology service providers specialising in the (SMB) Small and Medium Business space. The aim of the community is to share information, provide peer support, open discussion and best practices in providing Information Technology infrastructures and services to (SMB) Small and Medium Businesses. The group is NON-vendor specific and aims to discuss best of breed solutions that address the needs of SMBs cost effectively...
Now that it has been said in public I can finally say SCE 2007 in SBS 2008 is GONE and yes I am Pissed about it. I like many, feel as though we have been lied to. I have known this for a little while but due to NDA have had to keep choking down the bile, but now I wonder if the SCE Team can step up with SBS Sized Pricing so that we can do what we wanted to do and build a managed services offering that manages a Microsoft product with Microsoft tools. My Ideas about what might help can be found here...
Firstly thanks Susan for the link and if folk want to know lots about SCE 2007 there is lots out there and when I finish letting my business run my life I'll do some more on http://SMEManaged.com too. Plus some other pretty cool tools I have been finding of late. I'm talking about here and not over on SMEManaged well because I am about to give my opinion and NOT a how and why we do things with what tools. Susan said "Price tag is a concern for me though." and in the top ten list...
Over time I have been a little more than a bit critical of the commitment to events in Canberra that the Softies in Sydney have shown. Well in the last three days I have been invited to the Hero's Launch Event three times!!! and I am not complaining in fact it has made me feel like maybe we have turned the corner and the ACT Partner Community might just need to put up or shut up now. Why? Well one of the issues has been that events are poorly attended so not really economical to run here, but...
So I was reading what Charles Van Heusen has had to say about the up coming Windows Small Business Server Codename Cougar What I can share about the versions is outlined in the slide above, the "standard edition" will include Windows Server 2008, Exchange 2007, and Windows SharePoint Services v3 out of the box. The "premium edition" will include the same core products above, plus a new twist, a 2nd Windows Server 2008 Standard edition license, a flavor of SQL Server 2008, (which...
So on Partner TV tonight I saw an interview with Wendy Smith conducted by Ryan Spillane from Correct Solutions and Alexandra Day (Giles) from Phrixus about Small Business; Ryan and Alex seem to be doing great things to raise the profile of their companies AND the SBS Community in Sydney. I think they are leading the way for many smallish companies in Sydney and Australia Wide. Video: Partner-TV: Wendy Smith talking about Small Business I thought the Interview was a great little fireside chat and...
So on my way back from the Trend Micro / SBSFAQ Security Summit, I started to think about secure authentication to not just mine but my customers networks. I thought about password change frequency and complexity issues and how I might ensure a suitable compromise for the level of risk. Now many of my customers have their own accounts but set to the same password, and some all use one account because they used it that way when they were peer to peer and when the risk is explained they don't feel...
With some of the traffic I have seen on some of the Email Groups I get these days, some of us just need to take a breath before sending, but sometimes the urge to push send is so strong. So to save embarrassment and eating of Pies so Humble, how about creating a rule which enforces a 30 minute send delay? The one I describe here does it for all messages but you can set rules for only some recipients or lists. Go to Tools, and ‘Rules and Alerts', and a little window will open. Here's where...
Well as we know Lorna got her Visas sorted and is off to Redmond leaving a gap in the Australian SBSC ranks, well I'm glad to say her relief is on deck and very quickly too. I'd like to welcome Wendy Smith to the flock and offer her any help she needs while she gets up a full head of steam. Wendy says she will be planning to tour the major cities later in the month. Now this doesn't normally include Canberra but if you do make it, I'm sure you will be most welcome. I'm looking...
I blogged a little while ago about the existence of a SMB Security Summit in Sydney this November, now Wayne's announcement said there would be an international flavour to the presenters and here is the full list and topics to be covered. The event will feature a number of top SMB Security consultants from around the world as we come together to discuss the challenges of designing, selling and implementing security solutions for our SMB customers. Attendance for this event is free of charge thanks...
Got this from Wayne today seems like there will be an event although not of the size of SMB Focus, I am very glad that Trend Micro were yet again able to show their commitment to the SMB Market and help Wayne put together this event. What's more it is free!!! Now I would not plan on going home Friday night as I can see it turning into an impromptu Bar Camp. There are only 100 Spots so book now RIGHT NOW I'll see you all there. In conjunction with Trend Micro, I am pleased to announce the first SMB...
Now this is the power of community... I have been doing some work for a Small Government Agency and today I was asked if I knew why an 8MB file would not go to a contact over the Internet. I checked the SMTP Connectors and couldn't find anything, now we know I'm not the Exchange Guru but I do know that Google Live Search is my friend so off I went. What did I find on the very first page of results Tim Barrett's Post. http://www.nogeekleftbehind.com/2007/07/19/message-is-larger-than-the...
Left off the schedule originally but now on for the 18th of October 2007 at Excom for $AUD163.90 inc. GST This technical training focuses on the Small Business Server 2003 Release 2 and will be delivered in two sessions, with each session focusing on a different aspect of SBS Server 2003 R2. The sessions will run for approximately three (3) hours with a lunch break in between the sessions. The session’s outlines are: Session 1 - Microsoft SBS 2003 R2 – Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 SP2...
As you know I have been keen to drum up some attendance to SMB Focus, because I was keen to see it succeed AND because I believe in a strong SBS Community in AUstralia. Wayne has been talking about this event for the many years I have known him and I guess he is just shattered to have to Postpone. May I just ask that if the Special Edition User Group gets legs that you all support it and Wayne, as in my opinion he deserves it. SMBFocus 2007 Conference Event - Postponed Wednesday 12th September 2007...
I am thinking of starting to blog events I go to Live and then revisiting the posts when I get a chance to follow up with the speaker so as usual no warranty all care, subject to change when I find out I missed the point. So here goes Athena: spoke about MS certification Key IT Pro take away: 2008 certifications can only be upgraded to through 2003 Certifications so very importantly, Must Consult Someone Experienced (MCSE) 2000-2003 upgrade needs to be done by 31st March 2008. David Note :- Having...
News just in since Yesterday Wayne has extended the Early Bird registration for SMB Focus 2007 Until 30th September 2007. So remember 30 Days until you pay Full Price. Don't leave it too long I think Wayne is really saying 30 Days or while stocks last, this event is filling up fast so don't wait for the end of September cause you might miss out. I know I will be forgetful during September because I will be up at stupid O'clock many days watching our beloved Wallabies "bring back...
Robert is an SBSer, and a long term participant in the Sydney SBS Group , he will go out of his way to help the up and coming, and over the years I have nothing but good things to say. I have been quite impressed by some of the things he has done in the community including the inclusion of charity fundraising in his marketing (he ran seminars for marketing but attendees, made a donation to that months nominated charity). Other great SBS related things he has done can be found on Youtube . Robert...
Some times I feel sorry for Vlad only from the perspective of the amount of pressure he must get from people wanting him to attend, support, whatever... events that others consider his duty as a community leader. Oh the joy of being an SMB Rockstar. Today he blogged further about the SMB Nation Conference and how better spent some peoples resources could be. I am not paid off to tell you to give my friends money after they screwed you, I do not have an alterior motive, I do not have a competing event...
Well just went to securing the small business and Kai pointed to Susan as the premium source for things SBS looks like 50 ish new readers for Susan
Today I went to the .DotNet User Group here in Canberra well OK you caught me I went to Civic for a Beer with Athena (she runs the group) anyway to get to the point. After the meeting I walked to my car with a quick stop off at BookWare a Tech Book Store in Mort St and to my surprise they have 30-70% off, their landlord is not renewing any leases in their building so next week is their last week until they find a suitable new location. What does this have to do with being an SBSC? well I found 6...
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