Keira McIntosh's SMB Technology Manifesto

COMDEX Rides Again - COMDEX Virtual 2011

2011-11-04T11:52:00.006+10:00

Remember when COMDEX was the technology event of the calendar? Well COMDEX is back, in a virtual format and the COMDEX Virtual 2011 event will be held in the next 2 weeks. You can watch some of the presentations live or recorded plus visit the booths and talk to vendor reps, all from the comfort of your desk!

A full agenda, jam packed with content is available here.

There's vendor presentations, training sessions, booths to visit, a lounge where you can chat with other attendees and more. It is completely complementary and there will be great giveaways like iPads, Amex and Amazon gift cards and prizes from vendors. You can register here.

Will there be virtual booth babes? You'll have to attend to find out....

The Cloud and The Customer

2011-10-29T10:14:00.008+10:00

In my conversations with business owners who run mature, highly successful businesses the conversation often goes like this:

Client: "So what's the 'Cloud' thing all about? It's just like hosting right?"

Me: [explains value proposition of cloud]

Client: "OK so reduces upfront capital expenditure, but probably costs about the same or more in the long run"

Me: "Yes, once you add up all the costs, there's not really a substantial cost difference."

Client: "So why would I give up control if there's no price advantage. I guess if I was starting again it might be worth looking at. But there's no way I'd put my companies communications infrastructure and my systems with [telco/large IT company. Have you tried calling those people? They can't even do simple things right, imagine if our email was down and we had to talk to some offshore call centre to try and get it sorted out?"

And that's pretty much the end of the conversation about Cloud.

So, you might ask at this juncture if we are anti-cloud as a business. The answer to that question is simple - we are all about recommending the solution that gives a client the outcome they need. Cloud is not an anathema. It's the right solution for some businesses, but not all. So Cloud is valid where it matches the desired outcomes.

We could, of course, wrap our managed services expertise around cloud solutions to add value. But while the big players sell 'Cloud' as a commodity, its difficult to convince a client who likes cloud on the basis of a sub $10/month cloud bundle that they really need your ongoing managed services at $50 - 100/month. Especially without the advantage of white labelling and bundling a full service into a single bill to the client.

So why does a client need something other than the sub $10/month cloud bundle offered by a telco/large IT provider?

Because the client still needs expert help to navigate translation of their business requirements, to manage user questions, service provision issues, training, desktops, application integration, internet connectivity, back ups, disaster recovery.

And before they even get that far, is the average business owner or executive qualified to select the right type of cloud service for their business? Do they have an adequate understanding of systems complexity, risk management, etc to choose a service that will meet their business outcomes?

Successful businesses value their relationship with their trusted advisors - accounting, financial, legal and IT providers. Disconnect the trusted advisor from the client/IT relationship and results may vary.

As IT providers, we are far more excited about the technology than our clients are. If you can deliver enough productivity and profitability to your client that they can upgrade their BMW, buy a boat, have a better family holiday or more time off, this is gonna float their boat alot more than using 'cloud' ever will.

The successful business person is focussed on outcomes, not technology. Choose the right technology for their outcome, be that cloud or on premise.

Windows 8 Revealed at BUILD Conference

2011-09-19T09:04:00.008+10:00

So Windows 8 was revealed to assembled developers at the BUILD Windows Conference in Anaheim, CA last week and a Windows 8 Developer Preview released to anyone with a working internet connection.

What's the fuss?

We had Windows 8 installed quick smart onto a spare Windows tablet. While there's some functionality missing its easy to see the potential of Windows 8 for apps with the new 'Metro' tile layout. Jensen Harris did a great job of presenting Microsoft's new challenger for iOS and we're keen to see how Windows 8 continues to take shape with progressive builds.

You can get all the info on BUILD and download the developers preview from the BUILD website.

Here's a couple of great articles that give you a good run down of Windows 8 features and their potential:

PC World
TechRadar
SlashGear

So, its early days, but what do you think of Windows 8? Are Microsoft headed in the right direction?

Microsoft Regional Business Building Sessions - Coming to a Town Near You

2010-09-21T09:53:00.004+10:00

Microsoft's Brad Clarke will be hitting the road again next month presenting SMB focussed 'Business Builder' sessions in the following locations:

Albury
Ballina
Canberra
Ballarat
Coffs Harbour
Gosford
Liverpool
Newcastle
Orange
Penrith
Wollongong
Gold Coast
Ipswich
Cairns
Townsville
Caloundra
Geelong
Bendigo

These sessions will cover

Small and Medium Business Technology Overview
Partner Network Update
Cloud Computing

You can register for a session in your location here. Contact Brad at bradcl@microsoft.com.au if you'd like more information or to organise a 1:1 session.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Earn $$$ with Microsoft Dynamics Lead Referral Program

2010-09-21T09:44:00.004+10:00

This new referral program was announced at APC and Brad Clarke of Microsoft has kindly provided more information.

If your clients could benefit from a Dynamics solution in their business but you lack the skills, resources or desire to implement a dynamics solution yourself, then this program can earn you up to $20,000 per opportunity by referring a Dynamics solution through this program.

To qualify you must be part of the Microsoft Partner Network and there is an registration form to complete.

More details on the Microsoft Partner Network website.

Quick Recap: Microsoft Australian Partner Conference 2010

2010-09-05T18:10:00.009+10:00

I registered for APC this year with a not insignificant amount of trepidation. For years we attended Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference and gave the local event the swerve. For the last four years we've attended both the Worldwide event and the local event. I think the lure of tropical North Queensland was what got us over the line initially.

The two events have always been different. Both have always had a strong business, marketing and product roadmap focus - these are not events for technicians. For technical info, you'll be wanting TechEd.

I didn't love WPC this year, but I'm relieved to be able to report that APC was a great event and I left with great enthusiasm for working with the Microsoft Australia team. Here's a few highlights.

SMB Pre Day
Mark O'Shea lead a small but keen group of SMB'ers through product line up with a deep dive into Aurora and SBS7 sharing with the us hot content straight from the product team. We discussed nifty features built into Aurora designed to allow deployment and management of Online Services – from BPOS and CRM Online as well as the opportunity for other hosted providers to utilise the SDK and offer their services straight from the console.

At morning tea I reluctantly left the SMB pre day to head to the Sofitel for the Partner Advisory Board meeting. Other content included Intune and a session on virtualisation and management. Whilst the presenter had considerable enthusiasm for Microsoft’s management tools, he seemed to have missed to part of the brief asking to adapt the information to an SMB audience, spending most of his airtime talking about System Centre et al and very little time on Hyper V.

Congratulations to Mark O’Shea who provided most of the content and did a great job of really providing useful info for SMB Partners

Partner Advisory Board
The most important thing I want to share with readers about this part of APC is that Microsoft Australia have a strong leadership in Tracey Fellows, Paul Voges and George Stavrakakis. The team took the board through an open discussion/Q&A session where some hard hitting questions were put to the panel. One thing was demonstrated in this session – Partners at every level need to assess what Cloud means to their business.

SMB Kick Off & Content
Wow! Best kick off at any conference anywhere! That was the feedback from partners who attended the first official SMB session of the conference. “Overworked and Under Laid” was the title of this session, delivered by Nigel Marsh, former CEO of George Patterson Y&R (recently replaced by Russel Howcroft who you may know from The Gruen Transfer). His colourful delivery and ability to cut to the core and ‘tell it like it is’ was appreciated by the audience. He spoke about the lack of real leadership inside many organisations and the challenge of business owners and leaders to give people a reason to show up to work – describing many workplaces as abattoirs for the soul. He spoke of his realisation of what it meant to lead and some of the important realisations he personally had discovered as a CEO, father and leader. If you get an opportunity to hear Nigel speak, I highly recommend it. If not he has two great books ‘Overworked and Underlaid’ and ‘Fat, Forty and Fired’, both of which I highly recommend.

We then got into the core content of the conference with sessions from Clayton Moulynox, Bill Vlandis, Bruce Rasmussen and David & Ursula Paddon focused on marketing and sales opportunities and actions. Day 2 of the SMB track was lead by Brad Clarke and Rosemary Stark and looked at partner business models and opportunities with HAAS, Open Value licensing, virtualisation and Aurora.

There was much less of the title/content mismatch of previous years with only a couple of sessions leaving you scratching your head. However the most notable example of this was the session “We’ll Show You The Money – Find Hidden Revenue From Existing Customers” which turned out to be about software piracy and SAM audits! Whilst the concept of SAM audits are fine, the companies Microsoft engages could do a better job of understanding licensing, thus lessening the pain for partners and End Users. Frankly a good Partner will be ensuring the lead their customers on a path to compliance (and license sales) from day one and needs to help from the SAM audit process to do this. This session was a great opportunity to catch up on some email and Twitter!

We were also treated to not one but two SMB parties – the first a classy soiree supported by Ingram Micro and the second a beach themed bash complete with loud shirts, silly hats and fake tan! These parties, and APC were a great opportunity to network with other partners and for me these conversations are always the highlight of any Microsoft event.

MAPA Awards & Closing Dinner
A reformatted Microsoft Australia Partner Awards presentation was one of the highlights of the conference. A number radical changes saw the Awards go from the tedium of 30+ category squished in around three courses and entertainment to a focused and entertaining afternoon awards presentation hosted by Adam Spencer. Robert Schwarten, Qld Minister for Public Works and ICT also reprised his appearance and his (unintentional) gags about 'getting on the scoot'. This format really put the focus back on the Partners and a special congratulations to Evolve IT for taking out Small Business Partner of the Year in a strong field with Calvert Technologies and Solutionware also nominated. Decoupling the Awards from the Closing Dinner meant that partners could relax and enjoy the evening after a very full and rewarding conference.

Thanks again to George Stavrakakis, this years APC host and to his team at Microsoft who organised the event as well as Mark O'Shea for an excellent SMB Pre Day.

SMB Need to Know - new podcast series from Robert Crane

2010-09-05T17:42:00.006+10:00

Those of you who know me realise I haven't always worked in the IT industry and one thing that differientiates this industry from the various others I've worked in is the constant change.
All of us struggle to keep up with everything going in this industry, blogs, industry press, training etc etc etc. So. Much. Information.

Podcasts are a great way to take the information with you and get some of that keeping up done while you're travelling, jogging or (like me) ironing.

For Australian SMB IT professionals, or frankly IT professsionals anywhere, Robert Crane has kicked off a fantastic podcast series called 'Need to Know'. The only problem for IT professionals outside Australia might be the funny accents ;-). You'll find the first two episodes here with Susan Bradley doing in the inaugural episode and Wayne Small of SBSFaq doing podcast no. 2 on TechEd. Further episodes with Mark O'Shea of Microsoft and myself are in the works. I'm sure Robert would love your feedback on episodes to date as well as what you'd like to hear covered in future episodes. You can also follow Robert on Twitter at @directorcia.

Also worth checking out is AuTechHeads 'CoalFaceTech' podcast series - while you're there you can join AuTechHeads a free membership group for IT Professionals from SMB to Enterprise and everything in between. My Twitter buddies Matt Marlor @OhCrap and Steve Molkentin @TheMolk lead proceedings.

Microsoft SMB Roadshow - November

2010-09-02T10:16:00.003+10:00

I'm happy to share with you that Microsoft will be continuing the recent reintroduction of roadshows with planning currently underway to hold a series of roadshows in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in November.

The great thing is Microsoft recognise that the content and format needs to be relevant to partners - not just Microsoft talking from the front of the room.

I've been asked to gather input from the SMB partner community to help make sure these events are useful for partners - so please email me at keira@directions.com.au with your wishlist!

I look forward to your input.

New Player in the Professional Services Automation space

2010-08-11T16:08:00.005+10:00

In a move that's sure to upset the respective apple carts of the two major PSA tool providers, Connectwise and Autotask, Vlad Mazek of OwnWebNow has just announced Shockey Monkey a completely free 'IT Management Platform' that offers many of the core features of its paid competitors.

The sign up process is simple: no waiting for sales people in other time zones to respond to your queries and no confusing pricing structure. You can log on right away and get started within minutes. Vlad says that he has created Shockey Monkey to make IT business management more fun and to give back to the community that has made OwnWebNow a success.

The key features available in the first release are:

Client Portal

Support Board

Client Relationship Management

Projects

Agreements

Tasks & Schedule

Service Manager

A pro version is also available starting at a low cost of $49 per month and $9 per month per use. This allows you to use some additional features and remove the ads that appear in the free version. A roadmap for additional paid version features is also available on the Shockey Monkey website.

It will be interesting to see how Shockey Monkey compares to its established paid competitors. Will be keeping an eye on the Shockey Monkey blog for Vlad's unique industry commentary.

Heads up on SMB pre-day and content at Microsoft Australia Partner Conference

2010-08-10T14:53:00.002+10:00

There's less than a month until the Microsoft Australia Partner Conference, but I know some of you are still sitting on the fence.

So here's the important stuff you'll want to know about as an SMB partner who resells or supports Microsoft technologies:

SMB Pre-Day - Yes, there will be one! 'Delivering Solutions with Microsoft's SMB Servers with our Productivity, Virtualisation and Online offerings' on Tuesday 31 August from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. Microsoft's SMB Partner Technology Advisor, Mark O'Shea will present this session with Sharmila Gosai. This sessions will also focus on product roadmap, solution scenarios, virtualisation, management and migration. Anyone registered for APC can also attend this pre-day a part of the APC ticket. There will not be separate tickets available for any pre-day.
SMB Track - There are 11 SMB sessions over the two full conference days with come great content for SMB partners. These are business and sales focussed sessions designed to highlight opportunities for partners to generate increased revenue with Microsoft products and services. Hopefully this year they will tell us which button we should press to make all the money fall out the bottom!
Cloud Services - unless you've been living under a rock you may have noticed Microsoft are a little excited about the cloud right now. There is plenty of content on sales, deployment and best practice plus many opportunities to pick the brains of Microsoft and partner experts who are already delivering BPOS and cloud services.
Pinpoint - This is a great tool that Microsoft are providing to drive customers to your door. One hundred million times better than Solution Finder, I rate it and have already had great customer enquiries from it. There are 'Pinpoint "Customer Magnet" Workshops' you can attend to help you get the most benefit from Pinpoint.
Networking - this is probably the biggest reason to attend APC. Lots of partners in the one place all working with Microsoft in different ways all at different stages of maturity with their business. Meet other partners, vendors and Microsofties between sessions, in the Expo, at the social events and you are sure to come away with information and tips you can take back and use in your own business.
Awards - On Thursday night, APC will wrap up with a celebration dinner and presentation of the Microsoft Partner Awards. Last year Microsoft struck the balance between great music, good food, great room and exciting presenters - lets hope they can go two from two and do the same again this year. If you've thought about entering the Awards but haven't quite made it, this is a great opportunity to find out who the winners are even have a chat about their entry. You'll find most partners are pretty generous with info when they've just received adulation from a key vendor and their peers.

A full agenda is available online with further details and you can follow the links to register from there.

Certified and Gold Partners are entitled to complimentary tickets.

If you still want further information or would like to ask questions of someone who is an APC and WPC veteran, please leave a comment.

Resources for SBS7 and Aurora

2010-08-07T17:20:00.005+10:00

At the recent Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington DC, we were lucky enough to get an indepth preview of SBS7 and Aurora in multiple sessions. I'll be blogging more about this just as soon as I can convert all that info into something easy to consume. There's plenty of info on the technical specifics that you can already find elsewhere so I will be endeavouring to blog about the business opportunity, leaving the technical stuff to those with more credibility.

However, something you won't find all in one place is the product brochures that Mark O'Shea has kindly aggregated into a blog post on the A. You will find info both products, as well as details of presentations Mark is conducting next week on these products. Leave a comment on Mark's blog if you would like more details of those forthcoming events.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Technology Forecast: Increasingly Cloudy

2010-08-07T16:44:00.006+10:00

As talk of the cloud in IT media circles increases to deafening point, many SMB focussed providers are facing the reality that the push to the cloud could have real impact on their business.
Thats not to say that if you're focussed on the SMB market you should pack up your toys and open a lawnmowing business and leave selling IT services to Telstra. Rather, cloud services needs to be part of your business plan, even if it sits in the category of stuff you don't plan on offering right now.

The simple reality is that many of us already offer cloud services to our customers - remote monitoring and management, hosted exchange, backup replication to a data centre. So really, cloud services in SMB are nothing new. What is new is the immediate need large vendors have to fill their scorecards with cloud services sales. Those SMB IT providers helping vendors like Microsoft and Telstra to hit their targets will be rewarded with actual face time from a partner account manager they never got when they were selling on premise solutions. Will this face time help your business achieve higher levels of success?

Cloud services are no easier or harder to sell than on premise. And that is the key. You must decide if cloud services are part of your product offering, how you will attract customers who want this service and how you as a business owner will make a sustainable product on their sale. Its clear that the margins available on the Microsoft/Telstra BPOS offering are low, so simply reselling this service, or that of Google or any other cloud vendor will only work if your business relies on volume. If, like many SMB IT business owners, your business predictably hits a 20 - 30% margin, then you'll need a good suite of services to add to your cloud services sales if you intend to transform their sales into a sustainable business.

If your business doesn't have a predictable sales engine or regular marketing actions to attract new customers, then frankly it doesn't matter what you sell. You will be left behind as SMB IT service delivery is aggregated and streamlined.

So before you waste another breath on explaining to a vendor or fellow SMB IT community member why you think cloud services won't work, make some time to document your business plan and how you will make sure that you have customers this year, next year and for years to come. The names and specifics of technology has always mattered more to those in the SMB IT community than it has to customers. What technology delivers the business results to customers is irrelevant - what counts is the valuable services you deliver in packaging those solutions into a consumable product that delivers consistent profits to your bottom line.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Media Downloads for SBS/EBS 2008

2010-02-15T21:07:00.005+10:00

So if you've spoken to me about this subject you'll know one of my pet peeves is the distribution model for the product.

You can't download it from VLSC
You can't get your license keys from VLSC
....and to add insult to injury since around August 2009 your disty could no longer fulfil your media order (or prompt you to order media with your licensing purchase).

VLSC got a bit ugly there for a while but it now seems to have stabilised for the most part, following some strident complaints from Partners and lobbying by the Australian subsidiary (and others no doubt also).

I recently spoke with Brad Clarke (NSW Partner Territory Manager) and Inese Kingsmill regarding these issues and Brad has courageously taken on the fine fight to get some more sensible distribution going for the SBS and EBS open license products.

Read more about it on the Microsoft Australia Partner Network Blog.

I'd also be interested in hearing your comments regarding VLSC.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Microsoft SMB Partner Roadshow - Save the Date

2010-02-15T20:39:00.005+10:00

I wanted to make sure everyone reading along is aware of the upcoming SMB Partner Roadshows coming to a city near you.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about:

Microsoft Partner Network Update
Licensing
Online Services
Windows 7 and Windows Server Opportunities for SMB
Management Opportunities with Hyper V, Virtual Machine Manager and MDOP
Growing your Business with Partner Marketing Centre and the Customer Insight Tool
SMB Campaigns & Marketing Opportunities

This is also your opportunity to meet Mark O'Shea, recently appointed SMB Partner Technical Advisor who I'm sure you'll agree is a welcome addition to the Microsoft SMB lineup.

And if that's not enough the roadshow will conclude with networking drinks - a great opportunity to chat with the team from Microsoft and other partners.

Here's the dates:

Brisbane 18 March
Melbourne 19 March
Adelaide 22 March
Perth 24 March
Sydney 30 March

Full details in this month's edition of Spark. You can register here.

If you're in a regional area - don't despair! Brad Clarke and other Partner Territory Managers are planning to get out on the road and see more partners - if you'd like a visit in your area please let me know.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Virtualisation and SMB

2010-02-13T14:52:00.003+10:00

I've had more than a few partners contact me with feedback and frustration about the Virtualisation content in the last Microsoft SMB roadshow (November 2009). Be assured I have passed on your feedback and mine to Microsoft and I do hope that they provide some more appropriate and useful content on this important subject soon. As you know, I am no engineer or technician but it's obvious to me that virtualisation is as important for SMB clients as it is at the Enterprise level.

You can get in a froth about virtualisation cos its cool and everyone else is doing it, but utlimately its a smarter way of doing things that can have enormous benefit to your clients. The trick is to get it right and make your life easier too.

In the meantime, check out the Wookie's post on Hyper V virtualisation. This covers many of the gotchas (plus there are a couple of others highlighted in the comments). It also provides links to some other great Hyper V virtualisation resources, information on licensing and even provides info on other SMB appropriate virtualisation platforms.

I'd encourage you to post links to any other good resources in your comments so they can be shared with others.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

SBS 2008 training opportunities

2010-02-13T14:30:00.004+10:00

I know from talking to many Microsoft partners that you found the training provided for SBS 2008 less than acceptable and this feedback was very clearly channelled back to Microsoft via Hilton Travis who was last years PAL for Australia.

A number of training and readiness initiatives are being prepared for the Australian Microsoft Partners and these are going to mean very very good things for SMB partners.

In the meantime, I wanted to make sure that you are aware that you can now download the SBS 2008 Hands On Labs. The download is 12 GB, but the Microsoft Readiness team are working providing physical media to local partners and I'll provide details of that as soon as they are available.

In the meantime, for those partners whose internet connection and download limit is up to it, you can find the details of the SBS 2008 Hands on Labs over on Sean Daniel's blog.

There are four labs available on Microsoft Connect:

SBS 2008 Administration
Managing Clients on SBS 2008
SBS 2008 Installation
Migration from SBS 2003

I hope to have details of physical media ordering for these Hands On Labs soon.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Challenges and Community

2010-02-13T14:05:00.004+10:00

2010 has got off to a bit of a challenging start for me and I've had to stop and do some deep thinking about my personal and business priorities.

Whilst this has been refreshing in some ways, there is a great deal of hard work and challenges ahead. At times this feels completely overwhelming and highlights one of the challenges of running your own business - isolation.

When things get tough in small business, you may feel utterly isolated, wondering what to do and how to do it. For me, having regular conversations with business and peers and mentors is a great help.

I know a number of Microsoft partners are also members of the SMBiT Professionals groups that are operating in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and these groups provide a great forum to talk amongst other business owners and key staff who face similar challenges - of both technical and business nature.

As these groups mature, they are becoming less of a geek hangout where matters technical is the focus and I believe this is where they will become more powerful and useful.

If you haven't already become a member you can find details on the SMB iT Professionals website. The membership fees are low and you'll find a vibrant community of enthusiastic group of technicians and business owners. Much work is underway to strengthen the SMB iT Professionals group and create a national industry association. Watch this space.

There are also communities like the HTG Peer Groups, Robin Robin's Technology Marketing Toolkit and those facilitated by MSP and PSA platforms like Kaseya, Connectwise and Autotask.

Getting along to vendor events like the roadshows and other events Microsoft have planned for this year is also a great opportunity network with your peers.

I'm interested to hear if you feel peer groups and networking events benefit you and your business and which ones you feel are the most valuable.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Recognition for Sarah Arnold, Microsoft Partner Program Manager

2009-09-15T06:29:00.004+10:00

Those of you how know Sarah Arnold, would know how tirelessly she works to assist Partners and to improve the experience for committed Microsoft Partners. Many of you may have recently met Sarah for the first time at the recent Microsoft Partner Network roadshow or at the Australian Partner Conference on the Gold Coast.

The transition from the current Partner Program to the Partner Network looks like being a very positive one for partners and our customers and Sarah is driving these broad changes at a local level.

So I'm excited to be able to tell you that in recognition of her hard work and commitment to partners, Sarah will be attending the Microsoft Partner Program Managers in Paris from 28 September. This summit brings together Partner Program Managers from around the world to work on the final details about launching MPN and giving feedback on advance competencies, benefits and more.

This is a great opportunity for Sarah but also for us as partners, as Sarah takes our feedback to this event for discussion and action.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Awesome Brisbane Event for Microsoft Office Devs and Power Users

2009-09-10T21:16:00.004+10:00

UQ will play host to OfficeDevCon a from 31 October - 1 November. This is the third year for the event which will feature Microsoft and industry experts from around the world who will present advanced topics the following products.

Access
Word
Excel
PowerPoint
InfoPath
Groove
SharePoint
and more....

Find out more about it here.

Get Ready for Microsoft Pinpoint

2009-09-10T20:47:00.004+10:00

Thanks to the awesomely hardworking Sarah Arnold of Microsoft , Australian Partners will soon be able to take advantage of Pinpoint, the fantastic new tool which will replace the very average Find a Partner we currently have in Australia.

Australia will be one of only four Microsoft subsidiaries to have Pinpoint and I'm optimistic it will be a good source of leads of partners for small and medium business focussed partners who take advantage of its capabilities.

To get things rolling, Microsoft have a special offer for partners who want to prepare for the launch of Pinpoint in 2010 - here are the details:

Prepare your company for the launch of Microsoft Pinpoint in Australia

Get a free professionally written company profile
Microsoft Pinpoint is Microsoft’s unified online business marketplace. It is designed to help customers find the right Microsoft Partner to enable them reach their business goals. To prepare for the 2010 launch of Microsoft Pinpoint, we’re giving your business the chance to shine by helping you create a promotional blurb to upload into the Partner Solution Profile tool.

To qualify for this offer you must:
Be a qualified Small Business Specialist within the Microsoft Partner Network, with a head-office in Australia.
Fully complete the template below to the best of your ability before sending it through.

The first 40 fully completed templates that we receive will be eligible. You will be notified if your request has been successful.

6 Steps to Creating your Profile
Download and complete the template.
Send the template to libby@writeminded.com.au with Solution Profiler in the subject line.
If your template is one of the first 40 received, you’ll receive confirmation of your request with an indication of the production time.
Final copy will then be sent back to you, which you’re free to amend yourself.
The final step is for you to upload your completed copy into the Solution Profiler tool under ‘Solution Description’.

Work with a leading online copywriter
To help you create a great profile, Microsoft has engaged the services of write-minded Pty Ltd director and online communications consultant, Libby Varcoe. Libby was one of Australia’s first online copywriters. Her clients include True Local, Optus, Qantas, ninemsn, MBF, The NSW Premier’s Department and The National Museum of Australia. Libby also runs web writing workshops for the Department of State and Regional Development’s small business program. She has helped hundreds of businesses like yours find and express their voice online. For more information about write-minded visit: http://www.writeminded.com.au/.
Terms and conditions
This offer is open to all qualified Small Business Specialists, within the Microsoft Partner Program, who have a head-office in Australia.
To accommodate the Solution Profiler Tool, your company solution will be no longer than 1200 characters.
The information that will be included in your company profile will be derived from what you include in the template. Please fill this out to the best of your ability.
Once final copy is sent to you, it remains your responsibility to make any changes and upload the copy into the tool.
Offer ends October 1 2009.

More details at the Partner Network blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/auspartners/archive/2009/09/10/prepare-your-company-for-the-launch-of-microsoft-pinpoint-in-australia.aspx

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Australian Partner Conference Agenda Now Available

2009-08-21T15:19:00.003+10:00

Still sitting on the fence, unsure if the Microsoft Australia Partner Conference is going to be worthwhile for you and your business?

I've just seen the Agenda Overview and there are some really great sounding sessions. Lots of business development, sales and marketing content and a really strong line up of SMB sessions.

You can view the Agenda here: http://www.mrmworldwide.com.au/hosted/microsoft/apc09/agenda.pdf

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Who REALLY Has The Best Search Results?

2009-08-20T13:17:00.004+10:00

I just can't seem to find any takers for the Bing tattoos I bought back from WPC.....so contact me if you're keen.

While we were travelling recently I was suprised to see such alot of people using Bing in airport lounges and hotel foyers. I'm still not sure it works for me as a regular search engine though.

Aussie Microsoft Developer Evangelist has put together the ultimate comparison tool - BlindSearch, a blind test for search engine results.

Having spent quite a bit of time on online advertising projects, one thing I noticed right away is that there isn't any localisation in the tool, but we'll let Mr Kordahi off seeing as he's put this together in his spare time for a bit of fun.

Still it's interest to play with and test your search engine prejudices against the results.

You can catch more of Michael Kordahi's antics at his blog delicategenuisblog.com

Kinda hoping he'll do a demo at APC, I really enjoyed the one he did last year. He's also running the web content track at TechEd.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Get the juice on the new Microsoft Partner Network

2009-08-20T13:06:00.003+10:00

Microsoft's Aussie Partner Program team are on the road again, holding a series of sessions about the new Microsoft Partner Program.

They're holding sessions in major centres around Australia where you can learn more and also ask your questions of those in the know. Here's the details:

Date & Locations:
August 17: Victoria, Melbourne - http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423237&Culture=en-AU
August 18: Perth, WA - http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423242&Culture=en-AU
August 19: Adelaide, South Australia - http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423238&Culture=en-AU
August 20: Canberra, ACT - http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423239&Culture=en-AU
August 25: Brisbane, QLD - http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423241&Culture=en-AU
August 26: Sydney, NSW – http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423245&Culture=en-AU
August 31: Gold Coast, QLD - http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423243&Culture=en-AU

You can also learn more at Microsoft Partner Portal.

There are some details of the new Partner Network which are being fleshed out by Microsoft who are doing a great job of consulting with partners to get their feedback and incorporate some suggestions into the program.

I'm particularly excited about Customer Satisfaction coming to the fore in the new program, and the compentencies becoming easier for SMB clients to understand and navigate.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Using Underpants for Economic Measurement

2009-08-20T12:58:00.004+10:00

There's been some very positive news coming out of the markets the last few days suggesting that the global recession may be over.

However my favourite story about commentators and economic indicators were in today's Business Spectator by my favourite man with numbers, Alan Kohler. You can also catch his always amusing daily market report on the ABC TV evening news.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"More and more economists are now pronouncing that the cycle has turned, although it’s hard to know whether this is circular logic – that they are responding to the market and the market responding to them.

The New York Times points out this morning that Alan Greenspan has been known to watch sales of men’s underpants as a good economic indicator – they’re usually extremely consistent, but when sales dip, and men decide to stick with their old tatty ones for a while longer, he knows the economy is in real trouble. In this recession the dip has been very small apparently, and is now over."

So, how are you finding the market? We're definately seeing a change in buying attitudes, with a large amount of new and intense enquiry over the last few weeks.

But more importantly, when did you last buy new underpants?

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Get Ready to Sell Windows 7

2009-07-29T15:21:00.004+10:00

Microsoft announced last week that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 have both gone RTM as at 22 July 2009.

This is great news and the team here at Directions are getting ready to sell Windows 7 to eager customer.

Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date. You can learn more on the Microsoft PressPass site.

So now is the time to plan your strategy to make the most of the Windows 7 launch in your business. There are some great marketing materials coming out of Microsoft which can be easily adapted to suit your market. Its great to see that Microsoft are supporting the product with an excellent PR campaign and some great advertising.

How is your business planning to take Windows 7 to market?

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

WPC and Microsoft Partner Network: Whats It All About?

2009-07-28T17:05:00.004+10:00

Now that I'm finally recovered from jetlag and the thrills of cancelled flights, long delays and plane food, I'm looking forward to blogging on my personal highlights from WPC.

For now, you can check out keynotes and other stuff on Digital WPC.

As you’ve probably heard, one of big announcements at WPC was about the changes to the Microsoft Partner Network and you can find out more details of these announcements on Digital WPC or by visiting the Partner Portal.

At the moment, not all of the details have been revealed and internally at Microsoft there is some fine tuning going on, based on Partner feedback and feedback from Microsoft subsidiaries.

Over the coming months, Sarah Arnold and Inese Kingsmill from Microsoft will be coordinating roadshows for partners to learn more about the changes to the Partner Network. Stay tuned for further details on those events.

In the meantime, you can subscribe to Sarah's blog or ask Sarah a question using the Live Messenger plug in on her blog.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

SMB Track Annoucned for Microsoft Australian Partner Conference

2009-07-27T14:03:00.003+10:00

With WPC now behind us for another year, this year's Australia Partner Conference is now approaching fast. If your still unsure about whether you should attend, I'd encourage you to review the Agenda for 2009 - which for the first time includes a special SMB track with some really practical sales and marketing sessions as well two workshops.

From Microsoft Australia:

The Australia Partner Team have worked hard to assemble a critical agenda to help you gain a competitive advantage, and deliver you the tools and business intelligence you need to compete and win in the current economy. This year’s agenda is focused on helping you - our frontline Partners - engage, grow and monetise the opportunities that Microsoft will deliver in FY10.

You can now view the Agenda overview here. Make sure you check back at the Partner Portal in the next week, as you’ll be able to customise your own agenda and preview the content!

News just released - Philip Fawcett, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Research has been locked for the Locknote on Friday 4th September. Philip provides an amazing insight into Future Trends, New Technology and Principals of Breakthrough Technology. Not to be missed! Want to know more about Philip Fawcett, click here to find out!

New to this years conference – We have an entire stream allocated to Enterprise / Corporate Accounts, Public Sector & SMB customer segments! Specific ISV, Hosting, S+S sessions are also targeted in this years agenda! Take a closer look here.

Secure your place – register today!

ENDS

I hope to see you there!

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

WPC09 New Orleans - Jazzed To Be Here!

2009-07-13T08:00:00.004+10:00

New Orleans is a great city for a partner conference, southern hospitality, great weather and some of the best eating I've experienced in a long time.

Each year WPC is a great opportunity to catch up with other partners and Microsoft execs on a kind of level playing field. Everyone is playing away and a sense of openness of communication generally prevails, making for some genuinely interesting exchanges of ideas.

The agenda for this years WPC has been restructured significantly and I'm finding it much easier to navigate the content that I'm looking for. For me, last years agenda was really disappointing with alot of subject/content mismatch.

At Monday's keynote Allison Watson (Corporate VP, Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group) announced the new Microsoft Partner Network and outlined the transition that will take place from the current Microsoft Partner Program over the next 18 months or so. Already there are some interesting consipiracy theories about exactly what shape this will take and what it will mean for partners in the SMB space and for the Small Business Specialist program. I'm looking forward to sitting down with Sarah Arnold later today, where Wayne Small and myself will be getting more details and raising some of the questions coming out of the user groups and wider SMB community. I'm looking forward to bringing further information to you.

I've also got a number of meetings to attend in my new role as SBSC PAL and I'm anxious to find out more about the role and how I can assist partners and Microsoft to get more value out of working together and to navigate some of the fantastic opportunity being driven my many innovative products Microsoft will be brining to market over the next few years.

As always in this industry, change dominates and its a reminder of why we have chosen to make our careers and businesses in this industry - its dynamic, exciting and we get the buzz of being a conduit for innovation and productivity in the community.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Networking with Partners - Good For Business

2009-06-13T17:47:00.005+10:00

I had the pleasure of catching up with Ryan 'Fuzzy' Spillane of Correct Solutions this week in Brisbane and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to 'chew the fat' and exchange experiences running SMB IT businesses.

Ryan and Wayne Small have a fantastic and long established business in Sydney and are the 'go to' partner that other partners turn to when things get messy. Whilst their business model is very different to ours - as some of you know its managed services or nothing at all here at Directions Technology - I certainly picked up a few great ideas from Ryan's approach to running his business and confirmed a few of my own thoughts too.

So if you are sitting on the fence about attending Microsoft WPC, APC or TechEd, maybe you need to evaluate the networking benefits of attending these events. To me, just the face time we get with Microsoft execs at these events makes it worthwhile. Not to mention its a great way to step away from the day to day running of your business and get some perspective on things. For many business owners who still work day to day on their business, this is sorely needed.

Anyway, I enjoyed my chat with Ryan so much time completely ran away with me and I found myself running late for a Penfolds Grange wine tasting I was supposed to be at. Luckily I didn't miss any of the good stuff which included two esteemed vintages, the '81 and the delicious '89.

Wine Trivia: The name Grange came from the cottage where the Penfolds family lived, a 1951 Grange is undrinkable but now worth $60,000 and the starting price for this year’s vintage is $650.

I think I need to work on boosting our revenues at Directions so I can lay down a few bottles of the 2004 vintage, released last month!

ICT Factor Brisbane - Getting Good IT to SMBs

2009-06-06T16:52:00.006+10:00

I'm privleged to have been invited to present at the Queensland Government's ICT Factor conference in Brisbane later this month.

This is a great initiative designed to help businesses learn more about how they can use information technology to reduce costs, increase reach and improve efficiency. There's a full program including speakers, exhibtors and presentation from both local users, technologists and ICT companies.

Alot of the content is tailored to assist SMBs with four streams to choose from:

Human Resources
Retail
Tourism & Hospitality
Accounting & Finance

I'll be talking to Accounting and Finance business owners and leaders about smart ways to use technology to grow their businesses.

You can find out more about the event at the ICT Factor web page.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Count Down to WPC 09 - New Orleans

2009-06-06T14:28:00.012+10:00

We're just over a month out from this years Microsoft Worldwide Partner conference and I have a list as long as my arm to complete before we head off. Before we leave, we have to get a couple of new recruits bedded in, review various options for new office premises, get end of financial year preparations in order and I need to finish writing by presentation for the ICT Factor Conference. Not to mention getting to grips with being Microsoft's Australian SBSC PAL for 09-10!

Last year's WPC was held in Houston, a city which left me thoroughly uncharmed (possibly something to do with having spent two weeks in New York before WPC and a week in Bora Bora afterwards). So I'm really looking forward to New Orleans - a city famed for its history, food and music.

The format of this years conference has been changed to allow for Solutions Track Breakout Sessions, Segment/Industry Breakout Sessions and Business Model Breakouts with keynotes from the usual suspects like Kevin Turner, Allison Watson and Steve Ballmer. Lets hope Allison's not making another music video this year! One special keynote that is sure to be popular with the partners is Wednesday morning's session with Jack Welch. There's also a golf tournament and the WPC Day of Giving where you can roll up your sleeves and help out with the ongoing rebuilding work in New Orleans.

Aside from getting involved with a whole bunch of PAL related activities, I'm also hoping to get more out of meeting other partners using WPC Connect this year.

If you haven't already registered its not too late!

You can find out all about WPC09 and New Orleans by checking out these links:

Info on WPC09
https://partner.microsoft.com/40018508
http://www.digitalwpc.com/

Conference Agenda
http://www.digitalwpc.com/Agenda/

Things to See and Do
http://www.neworleansonline.com/
http://www.neworleanscvb.com/

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Microsoft Software Benefits Go Digital

2009-06-05T09:07:00.006+10:00

Microsoft have recently announced a change to distribution of software benefits - meaning you'll be able to download software for internal use.

In some ways this a good thing, as managing physical media can get a little difficult - who hasn't wasted time trying to find the disk you need - especially if you've got behind on filing them away. Downloadable media should help you get what you need faster. Physical media will still be available to order (at a cost)

More details direct from Microsoft :

The partner community provided us with feedback to improve access and management of software benefits—we listened. We’re pleased to announce that you can now digitally access your software benefits from one, central location at any time. The advantages of the Microsoft Partner Program digital distribution solution: By directly downloading your internal-use software, you can gain access to software and updates the moment they’re made available—no need to wait for your Microsoft Action Pack Subscription or Microsoft Gold Certified or Certified Partner box shipment. Benefits include:

Faster and more flexible: Access software immediately—24x7 availability.
Greater visibility: View all of your software benefits summarized in a license statement.*
Improved software benefits management: Add or remove users and manage their access to downloads, keys, and a license statement.
Decreased environmental impact: Help reduce the amount of waste from manufacturing, shipping, and disposing of disk kits.
*Available August, 2009.

What you need to know about this beneficial, new change:

At launch, you’ll be defaulted to receive Digital-Only software distribution or Digital-Plus-Physical software distribution, depending on your location.* View the frequently asked questions for details.
If you’re defaulted to receive Digital-Only software distribution, you can always order physical media (software discs)—additional fees may apply. Visit your local Microsoft Partner Program portal for information on fees and expenses.
If you’re defaulted to receive Digital-Plus-Physical software distribution, you must wait until re-enrollment to change to Digital-Only.
Software benefits will always be available digitally, even when you’re receiving physical media.
Access to software keys and license statement will only be available digitally, even when you’re receiving physical media.
Marketing and sales resources are available online—in a few weeks, you’ll receive a communication to access these resources.
Microsoft Gold Certified and Certified Partners will still be shipped Microsoft Partner Program plaques and certificates as appropriate.
*Certain locations will receive physical media (software discs) due to digital accessibility issues.

How to get digital access:
From this link, you can access your software benefits today. You can use a step-by-step instruction guide for assistance. How to order physical media and when you can make changes:If you aren’t automatically receiving physical media for your location, you can order it at any time—additional fees may apply. You’ll still have digital access to your software benefits.

For more information:
Check here for the latest details specific to your location and to review frequently asked questions. If you need support, please contact your local Regional Service Center.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.

Welcome To the SMB Technology Manifesto

2009-05-31T14:23:00.009+10:00

In the midst of the 'Global Financial Crisis', Swine Flu and a period of intense busy-ness at Directions Technology, I am honoured to have been nominated as Microsoft SBSC PAL for Australia for 2009-10.

I'm really honoured to have been chosen by the partner community for this important role. While I'm still feeling my way around to find out the best way to engage with the community and Microsoft, I am looking forward to meeting more of you and finding out about your real world experiences at the frontline.

I'm going to be upfront about the fact that I don't have anything like the level of technical expertise that most members of the Small Business Specialist Community possess. My job at Directions Technology is to manage client accounts, develop marketing strategies and lead sales activities. This sees me talk to our clients all day every day and gives me a pretty good insight into what small and medium business owners and managers want from us as their technology partners and trusted advisors. At the end of the day, if we can't understand our clients needs, communicate with them and deliver on their requirements and expectations, all our efforts are for naught.

We are busier than we've ever been at Directions Technology, and I feel fortunate that we've chosen to really focus on boosting our sales and marketing activities over the last 12 - 18 months.

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference is just around the corner, and I'll be making some time in the next week or so to strategise how we are going to make the most of our time in New Orleans. I've had a brief peek at the program which looks promising.

I welcome your comments and if you'd like to contact me directly, shoot me an email.

Keira McIntosh is the General Manager at Directions Technology - an Australia owned small business providing managed and reliable IT Support in Brisbane. You can also find her on Twitter and Linked In.