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Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM

AUGUST 2006 | Vol. 1 � Issue 2

PUBLISHED BY

SMB Nation, Inc.Bainbridge Island, Washington

Harry Brelsford, PublisherEditorial Staff

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Beatrice MulzerEDITOR Barbara Wallace

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Robin Robins, USASusanne Dansey, UK

LAYOUT Al AlarakhiaCOVER ART DIRECTOR Michael Young

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Mark Mulvany, IrelandDiego Salato, Italy

Nick Pieters, BelgiumLeen Kleijwegt, Netherlands

Andy Wendel, GermanyDean Calvert, Australia

Steven Teiger, IsraelSuresh Ramani, IndiaAndrew Watson, UKStuart Raj, Indonesia

Mikael Nystroem, SwedenShelagh Harrop, South Africa

Dana Epp, CanadaKen Thoreson, USAAnne Stanton, USA

BUSINESS STAFFHarry Brelsford, CEO

Beatrice Mulzer, Vice PresidentAlicia Christen, Office Manager

Kristal Sagdahl, CirculationAndrew Watson, Sales Manager EMEA

SMB Nation, Inc.PO Box 10179

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 USA

Telephone: 360-779-1140Fax: 360-779-1140

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© Copyright 2006 SMB Nation Inc.All Rights Reserved

Please contact us for reprints andreproduction of content.

Page 2 www.smbnation.com SMB Partner Community - August 2006

SMBPartnerCommunity

Reap What You Sow-ism!Welcome back. We greatly appreciate your feedback on the first issue of SMBPartner Community magazine and believe we’ve struck a nerve with you in twoways (and perhaps more): community message and business purpose.

Community MessageCall it a softer and gentler information technology era compared to the “Yuppie”1980s and the IPO 1990s. Today’s small business IT consultant is seeking someform of personal fulfillment beyond professional gains. You are looking for waysto give back. Perhaps you’ve been motivated by Bill Gates’ move over to hischaritable foundation? Whatever the reason – it’s all goodness. Here are a coupleof examples of doing right by your Small Business Specialist Community.

Midwest ValuesAllen Miller, a Small Business Specialist from Cincinnati, OH, USA, has launchedwww.smallbusinessspecialist.org. His goal is to provide free business advice toaspiring Small Business Owners or their IT Decision Makers on IT relatedquestions. He has teamed with SBS-MVP Kevin Royalty, Kentucky SBS user groupleader Tim Barrett and others. “We are here to make your life easier and hopefullyimpress upon you the value of engaging your own consultant for an ongoingrelationship,” Miller shared.

Spare ChangeFunny how small things add up big. During our worldwide tour lastyear with Microsoft and HP to promote the Small Business SpecialistCommunity, we kept our “spare change” from each country and

donated it to the Solaidom Dominican Republic (DR) School Project(www.lesateliersdechantal.org) to better the lives of earnest educators and eagerstudents in an emerging economy.

EDITORIALHarry Brelsford and Beatrice Mulzer

Students from the Dominican Republic School

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM

SMB Partner Community - August 2006 www.smbnation.com Page 3

The $1,085 USD donation is but a small way for us, acting ina socially responsible fiduciary capacity, to transfer some ofour Small Business Specialist success back to gratefulrecipients. It’s a hallmark of our business practices here atSMB Partner Community magazine.

Triple Bottom LineSo why did we pick Alyssa’s DR school project cause?Because she impressed us with her “triple bottom linecommitment” at her own consulting practice (where she hasassisted Small Business Specialists with promotions andgraphic design engagements). “My company, Oro Azul, is atriple bottom line business (people, profit, planet), meaningthat where possible [we are] working to improve the lives ofpeople in communities locally and internationally as well asworking with environmental projects.” Johnson told us.“Oro Azul is committed to managing the company andmeasuring success in a way that balances these facets.”

BEST PRACTICE: Get involved in a community projecthelping others with your Small Business Specialist expertiseand watch your goodwill come back to you ten-fold.

Think Again!If you think that American CEOs only peruse hobbies likeshooting video and riding bicycles, besides makingdonations, start taking notes. We caught Harry Brelsford

(CEO, SMB Nation), walking the floor at the MicrosoftWorld Partner Conference in Boston, July 11-13, promotingSMB Partner Community Magazine. Measures like theseshow the commitment and tenacity it takes to be successfulin any business endeavor, especially if you are the helm ofyour business. Our commitment to you is to help make youfinancially more profitable by showing you the path of leastresistance. Hence this issue will give you a new perspectiveon franchising, the 70-282 exam and, most of all, the SmallBusiness Symposium – Microsoft’s way of handing you thetools to build a successful future as a Small BusinessSpecialist and reap what you sow!

Alyssa Johnson (right) receives the donation in 20 differentcurrencies from SMB Nation’s Harry Brelsford (center) and

Beatrice Mulzer (left)

Publisher Harry Brelsford at the Microsoft World PartnerConference in Boston, MA.

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM

Maturity Matching:Emergence of SMB Franchises


oly shifting supply curves! The SMB consultingmarketplace is growing up and maturing. You andI are chronologically aging and many of us have

joined the “no hair or gray hair” class of SMB consultants.Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 is merelyweeks away from starting its tenth year of life. At the sametime, the SMB consulting field is growing rapidly with newentrants who encounter little or low barriers to entry in thisprofession. Microsoft’s capable Small Business SpecialistCommunity is driving many of the fundamental factorsspurring SMB consulting growth.

Something easily realized and recognized by businessprofessionals is the concept of maturity matching;investment durations are “matched.” For example, long-term debt is used for long-term capital investments. Andyou would never use a second home mortgage to finance afrivolous vacation. You likely get the point, but how doesthis relate to a consulting practice operated by a SmallBusiness Specialist? Because the SBS 2003 product is mature,there is an important need to align your business practicesas a Small Business Specialist. Mature software = maturesolutions mindset. Read On.

Winging It: Startup PhaseTypically, when you first start out in small business

technology consulting, you will do anything for anycustomer to keep the doors open and the lights on. But

because your practice is immature, perhaps you are caughtup in an endless installation cycle, going from one customerto the next. But these green business practices lead to anexperience base that allows you to build an ongoing concernthat is ultimately viable (or else you are likely not readingthis magazine). But you are still relatively “immature” inyour ways.

So you can naturally and organically go and grow to thenext stage (foundation) and create your own policies,procedures and standardization. Now we’re talkingincreased business maturity and likely increasedprofitability. But you could have taken a shorter path to getto the same location – that of being a franchisee.

That begs the question - so why would you consider afranchise in the world of SMB technology consulting? Tofind out, we visited with a franchise expert in Castle Rock,Colorado USA. “For one thing, a franchise is a safety net.”shared Tamyra Wallace, a franchise consultant withFranChoice. “Franchises have a much higher success ratethan simple startups.” Wallace also observed that thefranchise construct provides the ability to grow quickly andopen offices in different locations – the business model caneasily be replicated.

Electronic E-mythingWhat do Dean, Dana and Michael have in common? The

answer is a love for pie shops! What? Notable SMB

Maturity Matching:Emergence of SMB Franchises

by Harry Brelsford

H

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM


consultants and Microsoft MVPs Dean Calvert (SmallBusiness Specialist, Australia) and Dana Epp (Canada) havepassionately embraced Michael Gerber’s “The E-MythRevisited” book that profiles an overworked pie shop ownerwho needs to “re-boot” her professional life to achieveincreased profitability and pride. Gerber’s book takes thepie shop owner through the world of franchise thinking,resulting in a mature, sustainable business with a happyowner. The lessons learned are simple yet can be applied toany form of small business, including the Small BusinessSpecialist serving small business customers.

Dana Epp shared that E-myth “…taught me to work ONmy business, and not IN it. To make the business serve me,rather than me being a slave to it. And it finally made merealize that to receive the WINs I want in life to meet myprimary aim, I have to look at my business as the product,not the commodity I am selling.” Okay – so do you “buyinto” the franchise thinking? “Yes - I buy into the BusinessFranchise Prototyping method. That building measurablesystems and reproducible workflow serve a purpose toallow ordinary people to create extraordinary results, eachand every time. And that is extremely valuable. However, inmy business, I do not believe I can, or want, to franchise thebusiness. But that doesn’t mean I can’t benefit from theBusiness Franchise Prototyping that most successfulfranchises use in their own business model.” Epppassionately proffered.

When asked whether the franchise concept was right foreach and every Small Business Specialist – Epp hedged withthe following response. “Depends. Most Small BusinessSpecialist community members really are not business owners.They are JOB owners. They are “technicians” who are slaves totheir business, and not really ‘entrepreneurs.’ They havesettled on the fact that they can make a living in a break/fixworld, when that world is passing them by. Some are verysuccessful at that. Yet I believe Small Business SpecialistCommunity members want more out of their relationships andtheir business. If they were to apply E-myth principles andbuild systems to create reproducible results each and everytime someone from the company went on site ...they wouldfinally have the chance to get more out of their business.” Weleft Dana on his Vancouver BC house deck savoring a bottle ofGewürztraminer, he must be doing something right.

What Do You Get With A Franchise?A “franchise” means different things to different people.

For some, it’s a legal concept where one is the franchisee andthe other party is the franchisor. For others, it’s a way ofthinking. For everyone involved, it’s a “business model.”

So exactly what do you get with a franchise? •Home office support. Having a corporate headquarters

to support you is certainly a franchise benefit.Affiliating with an organization allows you, the smallbusiness technology consultant, to enjoy theefficiencies of larger organizations (without having tobelong to a large organization yourself!). Two examplesof home office support include business and technicalsupport. Perhaps you have a perplexing businesssituation and you’re interested in receiving businessadvice – this is a reasonable support expectation. Orpossibly you are stuck with an “I can’t print” on a newUSB printer and need home office technical support.

•Training. Something nearly all franchises provide istraining. In the SMB technology world, this trainingwould typically be technical but can also includebusiness education.

•Advertising. So why wouldn’t you just go it alone andavoid the fees associated with a franchise (See chart onpage 8). Because a franchise organization canaccomplish something that is difficult for theindividual to effectively achieve: image advertising.Think of it this way. If you owned a Subway sandwichfranchise, you would look to the home office to runadvertising during the Super Bowl football game topromote your individual store.

•Branding. The power of branding is not to beunderestimated. Trying to create a recognizable brandidentity as an individual is exceedingly difficult. A franchise organization can do this with muchgreater ease.

•Quality Assurance. In theory, the SBS2003 deploymentin San Diego should be exactly the “same” highquality as one in Singapore. That’s what customersexpect from a franchise (e.g. fast food). The good newsis that the SBS 2003 product, along with other matureSMB applications, lends itself to successful setupsirrespective of geographic locations.

Patents, Copyrights and Protected Territory!Investors like irrefutable rights that protect their financialinvestments. In the USA legal system, this takes the formof, but is not limited to:

•Patents on inventions•Copyrights on works•Protected territory for your business•Deeds on real property

It’s long been widely considered that much of the USA’shistoric economic success relates to its protections forprivate business from pirating, takeover and theft.Emerging countries, where this magazine has manyreaders, are trying to implement such protections toencourage investment.

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM

•Instant Business Model. Time for the good stuff – the realreason a Small Business Specialist would considerjoining a franchise organization. It concerns riskreduction by employing an instant business model.Theoretically, a franchise should be a “de-bugged”business model that allows you to avoid the pitfalls andbumps of starting your own business. Practicallyspeaking – folks who take the franchise approach have amuch greater success rate than standalone counterparts.

•Standardization and Replication. The lay personconsidering a franchise organization is typicallylooking towards the “best practices” developed by thefranchise founders that allow the business model to“leverage up” standard procedures and a provenreplication. I’ve personally also felt the 42 steps in theSBS 2003 setup process (Standard Edition) was hand-in-glove with the franchise concept.

•Peer-to-peer interaction. A hidden jewel in thefranchise model is the business and professionalfriendships that develop and foster positive peer-to-peer interaction. Here is what I mean. Our surveys atSMB Nation show that you, the Small BusinessSpecialist reading this article, are a sole proprietorwith roughly two dozen small business customers.You are lonely because you work alone and you’reseeking some sort of affiliation group of peers tocelebrate the highs and mourn the lows with. Somefind this in taverns, pubs and bars. Others in usergroups and franchise organizations.

•Protected Geography. Your mileage will vary heredepending on the type of franchise organization youconnect with. But the conceptis simple. You purchase afranchise that includes aterritory that affords yousome protective borders.Think of this as a moatsurrounding your businesscustomers from othercompetitors. I am exag-gerating to make a point butdon’t forget that protectedgeography could very well beone of the primary benefits toholding a franchise.

•Requirements. Traditionallya franchise requires anindividual to meet certainnet worth requirements orotherwise be a “sophisticatedinvestor.” The idea is thatan already accomplished

individual from one industry (e.g. dentist) will besuccessful as a restaurant owner (pick any popularfast food franchise to complete your mental image).SMB technology franchises, which are profiled below,are not as strict in financial screening but can verywell insist you meet other quality bars such as beinga Small Business Specialist!

•Cost Sharing. During the course of my worldwideworkshops last year, several attendees brought forth afranchise concept worth noting. When you belong toan organization such as a franchise group, you cansave on your costs with bulk purchases, vendordiscounts and the like. Think of this as a 1960s food co-op frequented by hippies and you’ve got the conceptaccurately visioned. At some level, this is one of thequalities of organizations such as ASCII and SMBTNwhich secure price breaks from hardware andsoftware vendors in the SMB space.

Having purposefully painted a rosy picture offranchises, it’s now time for journalistic balance. Arefranchises a free good without cost? (No.) So what does afranchise cost? Different franchise organizations chargediffering fee amounts and in different ways. Essentially twocost components are at play: down payment and ongoingfees. You might expect to pay something like $20,000 USD topurchase a SMB franchise for your home town plus pay thefranchisor 15 percent of gross revenues as an ongoing fee.Your mileage (kilometers) may vary here.

Tamyra Wallace, the franchising expert, created thefollowing table that sums up the franchise opportunity:

Ownership Comparisons

Potential Risk Factor

Cost

Training

Proven Operating System

Ongoing Support

Royalty Payments

Up-front Fee

Brand Name Recognition

National Marketing Fund

Marketing Help

Group Buying Power

Your Own SMB Technology Consulting

Business

High

Whatever You Want to Spend

None

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Business Opportunity

(purchasing an existing SMB consultancy)

Moderate

UsuallyModerate

Possibly

Yes

No

No

Yes

Maybe

No

Maybe

Maybe

SMB Technology Franchise

Lower

Moderate toHigh

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes


Source: Tamyra Wallace, FranChoice

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM


ObjectionsWhen delivering worldwide Small Business Specialist

workshops and discussing the franchise concept, thefollowing attendee objections were noted:

•I don’t want to be a sandwich making robot. Somesmall business technology consultants took offence tobeing replicators and pride themselves on beingcreative innovators.

•You can’t “franchise” computer troubleshootingscenarios. This objection correctly observes thattechnology maladies are often solved with thoughtand decision tree analysis\branching and aren’t thesame every time. See Resources at the end of thisarticle for the URL to SMB Nation TV where a PortlandOregon workshop attendee objected to the franchiseconcept on these grounds.

•I want my own identity. This independent maverickentrepreneur spirit is fundamentally at odds with theaffinity group affiliation and identification assetsinherent in franchise organizations.

Small Business Specialist Communityfriendly franchises

Private SectorismsSMB PC magazine interviewed several leading SMBcomputer franchise organizations that embrace the SmallBusiness Specialist Community.

Q: When we chatted recently – you spoke of “megatrends” affecting small business technology serviceproviders and, in the future, these people will alignthemselves with some type of affinity groups likefranchises….can you expand on that?A: In the SOHO market, which is where most of the independentself-startups focus, there are some fundamental shifts happeningthat’s making it harder to compete. For the last six to seven yearsthere has been a substantial amount of “easy money”(relativelyspeaking) in this market from things like virus & spywarecleanup and basic hardware repair, but we’re seeing this part ofour market starting to shrink. It’s still substantial, but theimprovements in virus/spyware defense plus the incredibly low

price of replacement computers nowadays means that this side ofthe business will continue to decrease. On top of that we’reseeing increased competition from both national chains (BestBuy’s Geek Squad primarily) and from online services such asWindows Live One Care.

The key to surviving and thriving in today’s SOHO marketis in giving customers what they want - fewer problems and moreproductivity from their technology. Many of the strategies fordoing this are new to today’s technology service providers, so thisis where the combined group expertise of a franchise orassociation can really help. For example, a consultant mightdecide that Voice-over-IP is an area that their customers canbenefit from. If they are part of a franchise or association they canleverage their group of “partners”to research the best solution andthen negotiate a group buying deal that can save them aconsiderable amount on their costs from the chosen vendor(s).

Q: What is your take on Gerber’s e-myth…how is itplaying out at ComputerTroubleshooters? A: Like a lot of good ideas, I first heard about the E-Myth fromsome other Computer Troubleshooters talking about it on ourforums.They were so positive about it that I bought my own copyfrom Amazon.com that same day. After reading it I ordered twocases of the books from a local book shop, and started passingthem out to any Computer Troubleshooter who asked. Since thenwe’ve also partnered with E-Myth worldwide to provide trainingat our annual conferences as well as some other materials.

The E-Myth concepts have been incredibly well receivedwithin Computer Troubleshooters, I think because they are adirect antidote for a problem in our industry we call “Nice GuySyndrome.” The challenge with our industry is that most folkswho start a technology service business are coming from acorporate IT environment, and they start their own businessbecause they enjoy working for themselves and helping others.But business operations is not usually our (speaking as atechnician) strongpoint, and so often the “helping others” partresults in not charging for all your time and just generally nottaking the time to structure your business to make money. Inessence they’ve built a job, not a business, and often not a greatpaying job, so the typical lifespan of an independent technologyservice provider is less than three years. The E-Myth principlesteach us how to work ON our business as much (or more) thanworking IN our business - how to structure what we do so that weare fairly compensated, the customer gets great service, and thewhole business is sustainable long-term. This not only benefitsthe tech, it benefits their customers too since they aren’t going tohave to find a new service provider every three to four years.

Q: Today – where does most of the business come from foryour franchisees? Home office? Small office? A: According to our last surveys, over 60% of our overallbusiness comes from home offices, with about 30% from small

Computer Troubleshooters(www.computertroubleshooters.com)Chip Reaves, USA Regional ManagerNotable: Embraces E-myth

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM

www.smbnation.com SMB Partner Community - August 2006

business and 10% from our national accounts program. Somelocations are 90% small business, others are 90% home office,but those are the national averages. Even though many of ourmost profitable franchisees are making a surprising amount ofmoney from the home market, our main focus is on attractingmore small business customers as we see these as moresustainable and profitable in the long term.

Q: What is your take on Microsoft’s Small BusinessSpecialist program? A: I like it - to be honest it’s the first Microsoft program thataddresses the needs of the SOHO market. Previously the MCSEwas too enterprise-oriented, and the MCP was too vague (toomany areas an MCP could be focused on). The System Builderprogram was popular with many of our franchisees, but since wesell Dell or other systems more often than we build our own itdoesn’t really fit us. The SBSC program comes closest toproviding tools and training that fit with what we do.

Q: For those who don’t know about CMIT, pleaseintroduce yourself properly!A: CM IT Solutions is a franchise providing IT services andsupport to small and mid-size businesses. Currently we have 100locations in 32 states. Our customers depend on us for ongoingtechnology advice and look to us to recommend strategies thatwill increase security, enhance productivity, maximize efficiencyand most importantly - boost revenue!

Q; Sources in the industry brought to our attention yourcommitment to Microsoft’s Small Business SpecialistCommunity. Why?A: CMIT is taking the unusual step as each franchise is working tobecome Microsoft Small Business Specialist certified. We believethe certification will be a key success ingredient for our system.

Q: You sound like a “learning and earning” organization.A: It is very important that each CMIT team continuously buildstheir knowledge and skills so they can provide businesses withthe best possible technology services and information, which inturn helps their business get better results. CM IT Solutions isdedicated to meeting a business’s every IT need. Earning theMicrosoft Small Business Specialist certification allows us toaccomplish this goal.

Q: What small and medium technology niches doesConcerto Networks, Inc. serve as a franchise organization?A: Any business, small or large, needs technology in order toachieve business goals and obtain operational efficiency.However, small businesses are often unable to employ their owninternal technology staff or aren’t sure where to turn for helpdespite their ever growing technology needs. That’s where atechnology partner like Concerto Networks, who can providesolutions for all of their client’s business technology needs, isinvaluable to SMBs. And SMBs are indeed spending money ontechnology. Current SMB technology spending is a multi-billiondollar industry worldwide and it represents nearly all types ofSMB industries. Our franchise owners have clients ranging froma one-person office to larger enterprises of 50 employees or more,and in a variety of industries from medical and real estate toadvertising and manufacturing. We seek to create the simpleoffice for every type of client we service, so they can focus ontheir business and not their technology worries.

Q: Is the franchise concept for everyone in the smallbusiness technology consulting space? Why\why not? A: The exploding demand for nationally-branded, expert-outsourced support provides an exciting business opportunity forseasoned professionals ready to run their own technologyfranchises. Concerto Networks is not the ordinary “computerservice” franchise. Concerto Networks is a business technologysolutions franchise that provides its franchisees the benefits ofmulti-national branding, state-of-the-art systems and processes,and the collaboration and support of an international network ofConcerto Networks franchisees, area developers and masterfranchise owners. Despite the advantages of owning a franchise,however, it may not be for everyone. When awarding franchiseswe seek candidates that desire to provide professional, proactivesolutions to their customers and who are interested inparticipating in an “entrepreneurial teamwork” environment inwhich processes are followed in order to support the growth ofour international brand. By building consistency across ourfranchise network we all grow the brand together.

When it comes to deciding whether to join a franchise or goit alone, we encourage our franchise candidates to do their duediligence and to evaluate their own goals. There are certainlyplenty of businesses in need of support out there; the question iswhere are you today and where do you want to be tomorrow?

CMIT (www.cmit.biz)Georgia Jones, ExecutiveNotable: Female-led organization in aman’s world! Origins traced back to“computer moms.”

Concerto Networks(www.concertonetworks.com)Mr. Raymond Hivoral, Founder andCEO of Concerto Networks, Inc.,Notable: Positioning as white collarprofessionals in the small business space.

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM

The power of the franchise brand can represent great growthpotential, support and equity in your business. Since our initialfranchise offering in January 2004, already Concerto Networkshas established the foundation to build and support aninternational franchise network to provide services beyondcomputer repair for the small-medium sized businessmarketplace. Concerto Networks orchestrates the differenttechnologies for our customers, creating the Simple Office™.

Q: Why are SMBs looking for more than just hourly ratesfor computer repair and how is Concerto Networks, Inc.answering that need?A: Concerto Networks goes well beyond traditionaltroubleshooting and repair of computers and networks,providing a comprehensive solution designed to help SMBsplan, manage and optimize their technology to get the maximumbenefit from their investment. Instead of reacting to technologywhen problems arise, which could mean downtime or increasedcosts, we seek to provide a more proactive solution for ourclients, for several reasons. We use a holistic and proactiveapproach to IT support and management, including integratingcomputers, voice and data, wired and wireless communications,Website services, Internet connectivity, security safeguards andother hardware and software to create the optimal solution foreach individual business’ needs. This holistic approachmaximizes return on investment, minimizes downtime, andboosts productivity, providing savings and value to customers farbeyond the typical “break/fix” approach. Now, not only do thesolutions that our providers bring to business make their clients’lives easier, they also make good financial sense for the bottomline and for business resource management.

And then there is Geeks On Callwith its solutions approach. “We arecompletely committed to deletingcustomer downtime.” CEO RichardCole passionately shares. “Weaccomplish this in a couple of ways.First, we have a very high-quality barwith our franchises. Technicians are

certified, trained and tested before ever going to a customersite in the field. Second, our solutions focus is a customerfocus. Technicians are made to understand that it’s all aboutmaking the customer productive and profitable with IT.”

Keep up the good work Richard!

This firm, with 13 offices and plans for 60+, views IT servicedelivery as a craft. In fact, its name means IT craftsman. Withover 3,000 SOHO customers, this firm enjoys organizationaleconomies of scale that allow it to charge customers asignificantly lower rate (we heard around 35 Euros or 1/3the going rate) for services. Very cute company cars. Moreon this firm in a future issue.

SummaryA sub-theme running across this article is the need to elevateyourself as a professional holding the Small BusinessSpecialist title. Often we immerse ourselves so profoundlyin the-day-to-day operations that we literally get tunnelvision. While being caught up in running the business, it is

easy to lose sight oforiginal goals. Taking astep back andentertaining differentbusiness models thatyou might not havepreviously consideredwill allow you to betterchart your course acrossthe small businesstechnology consultingmap. Good luck! �

RESOURCESVisit SMB Nation TV(www.smbnation.tv) forvideo blog (VLOG)interviews related tothis article.


Geeks On Call(www.geeksoncall.com)Richard T. Cole, Chairman and CEONotable: “…we literally become the‘outsourced’ IT department for theSMB space. The business owner canthen focus on what he doesbest….running his business”

IT-Hantverkarna(www.ithantverkarna.se) SwedenNotable: A fast-rising smallbusiness technology franchise in

Sweden that has earned the respect of the localMicrosoft office.

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM


July 10th, 2006 was a landmark day this year in Boston.

eople in yellow t-shirts were floating abouteverywhere at the Westin Waterfront hotel one dayprior to Microsoft’s well-attended World Partner

Conference (WPC). Needless to say, these were all SmallBusiness Specialists that had come to attend the first everMicrosoft Small Business Symposium. The worldwide SmallBusiness Specialist team had, with great effort and finesse,put together a one-day concerto of educational and businessworkshops for over 450 Microsoft small- and medium-business (SMB) partners and handed out the yellow shirts tocertified Small Business Specialists.

Highlights were not only excellent keynotes deliveredfrom small business industry experts during the morning,but also the afternoon breakout sessions that focused onbuilding business skills and identifying businessopportunities with Microsoft technologies. Sure enough, oneattendee commented to me that there weren’t enoughtechnical sessions – so let’s just cut to the chase and take alook at this scenario.

What is it that SMB customers really want? Do theywant to have the technology-focused geek that uses strangeterminology, speaking only in acronyms and tech-babble?Or do they want a technology-focused consultant who canhave a discussion on “bottom-line” and “cash-flowmanagement”? Simply put, SMB customers will feel muchmore comfortable working with a Small Business Specialistwho can speak the same language as they do. And that is thelanguage of business.

Unfortunately, being a great tech does not makesomeone a great business person. But a tech that can add“business lingo” to his skill set will far supersede the onewho doesn’t. Microsoft has recognized this gap and offersopportunities – hence the Small Business Specialist program– to bridge the gap. If given a choice between a trainingsession on either Windows Vista, or licensing training,which one are you likely to choose? And what question isthe SMB customer likely going to ask you – “What is new inWindows Vista?” or are they more likely to say, “How muchare these licenses going to cost and is there a discount?”

Therefore, a multitude of sales and marketing, licensing, andother training is made available by Microsoft to help youoffer high-quality solutions and grow your business.

I went about and asked some yellow shirts what theirthoughts of the Symposium were. Amy Luby, CEO ofMobitech (www.mobitechonline.com) observed, “Overall,the Symposium was a great event. At first, I thought thekeynotes were not very relevant to the small VAR, but uponfurther reflection, I began to realize that with theconsolidation that is inevitable in the technology marketplace, and the large competitors that will eat up many of ourS clients in the SMB space, the more relevant they reallybecame. My hope is that Microsoft will include an SMBTrack next year [at WPC].” She then continued “Microsoft isconducting a pilot in our area and we have taken advantageof that. Microsoft has placed a marketing manager whosesole job is to connect with the Partner’s sales and marketingteams and support them. It’s a great concept and has helpedmy sales people out tremendously.”

But the yellow buzz didn’t stop with the end of the one-day Symposium, the theme was carried over through WPC,most significantly presented through the “yellow lounge.”The yellow lounge was a special area set aside and staffed by

YellCODE

UK meets in the yellow lounge. Left to right on the yellowcouch: Susanne Dansey, David Overton, an unidentified yellow

shirt and Robbie Upcroft.

P

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM


the worldwide Small Business Specialist team. Here SmallBusiness Specialists were able to meet and greet fellowyellow shirts, relax or have a chat. Larry Doyle, owner ofNetforce Ltd. (www.netforce.ie) and a World Partner AwardFinalist at WPC thought that the Symposium was“…excellent, it was a great opportunity to meet up withsimilar resellers from around the world, especially the guysI met at the Amsterdam SMB Nation event. The yellowlounge was great, especially after I found it! Very useful forarranging to meet with people, and I got to meet up withsome of the SBS stars as well.”

Vlad Mazek, CEO of OwnWebNow(www.ownwebnow.com) shared, “The Symposium was thebest-organized SMB event I have ever been to. The loungewas the center of the SMB Community. You could spend 20minutes there and see all the prominent authors, instructors,Microsoft managers and community leaders.”

Small Business AwardThe Sales & Marketing Partner of the Year award for SmallBusiness Specialists went to AXXIS Technology(www.axxis.com.au) Australia. The owner, MathewDickerson elaborates on what one should do with an awardsuch as this. “You need to make sure you work on theexposure that you get when you win an award,” Matthewtold us. “If you just tuck your achievement away in abottom drawer and never use it again it is not going to do

you any good.” AXXIS has won over 15 local, internationaland state awards in the last six years and uses those to backup their marketing. “And that gives a lot of credibility inthe marketplace. We get a lot of clients because of that. Weget clients that come to us looking for a fantastic solution.They are not focused on the price, they are focused on thesolution. We don’t get clients that come along asking howmuch is something.” But still, winning the award doesn’tcome easy. “Filling out the award entry takes quite a lot oftime, but the other part of this is that during the awardentry I always find out or learn something about mybusiness. It’s an external look at your business so it’s achance to stand back a step and have a look. You areanswering questions that someone else has written and youare writing answers that someone else is going to read. Andin doing that it’s a bit of a self-analysis. I don’t know howmany times I have filled out an award entry and I actually

thought, ‘Well, that is a good question andI’d like to go do that as well as we could.’And then I take a lookat the way we dothings in a certain wayand think about howwe can modify that. To me, that is a bit of a bonus.”

That is a healthyattitude to have, sinceAXXIS has beenputting in for this

award for the last four years, and modified the entry everyyear. Mathews advises that if you want to win next year, “Step one, put the award entry in.” He also recommendslooking at your business more analytically, from a moreexternal point of view. A big part is, “Make sure you read thequestion and answer it in its entirety!” So what separatedAxxis from the rest of the crowd? “I don’t know for sure butI think there are a few things. We had achievable gains ordemonstrable gains for the client. The fact they could sit

ow!by Beatrice Mulzer

Small Business Specialists populate the WPC keynote in yellow!

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM


back and analyze and say yes, we have now achieved 29%more face to face time and 20% more productivity out ofyour solution.”

Small Business Panel During the main WPC conference, Microsoft’s WorldwideSmall Business Specialist team presented a small businesspanel on the Business Leadership track where theparticipants shared their winning strategies and secrets. Thesession was devoid of many PowerPoint slides (read“PowerPoint light”) and that allowed extensive questionsfrom audience members. Two takeaways:

1. Oil at $70 USD per barrel makes small business thrive in Calgary (Stuart Crawford). Let the good times roll and rule in this oil town.

2. I don’t pay commissions to my sales people (Nigel Mulholland, Northern Ireland). Nigel pays a salary so the sales people don’t place customers in nonsensesolutions.

Partner ToolsOne hot item that has been reallywell-received is the TechnologyAssessment Toolkit. “I have foundit useful for clients who areimpressed with the additional air ofprofessionalism it lends to the salesprocess,” says Amy Luby. LarryDoyle favors the Demo Showcase.“It’s awesome, the fact thateverything is included andassuming you have 2 GB in thelaptop, you can run virtual SBS &CRM demos. Because of the DemoShowcase I have also been able toadd Live Communications Server

to our portfolio of ‘must have’ solutions for some clients.” Microsoft continues to serve up valuable business tools

to partners. For the partners who are not receiving theAction Pack or taking advantage of the available training orprograms, there are Dan and Stan. Haven’t met Stan andDan yet? Keep your eyes open for them at a futureMicrosoft event.

From right to left: Award winner Mathew Dickerson of AXXISTechnology, Karl Palachuk of K.P. Enterprises and Elmer mingleat the Small Business Symposium.

Award

Sales & MarketingPartner of the Year




Technology InnovationPartner of the Year




Country

Australia

Ireland

Canada

United States

United Kingdom

Canada

Singapore

United States

Partner

AXXIS Technology

Netforce

IT Matters

Evolve Technologies

Vigence

Interprom

Idealsoft

FWConsulting

Award Status

Winner

Finalist

Finalist

Finalist

Winner

Finalist

Finalist

Finalist

Small Business Specialist

The 2006 Small Business Specialist Winner and Finalist lineupFrom left to right: SMB PC magazinepublisher Harry Brelsford (in yellow);

Nigel Mulholland, Nitec Solutions,Northern Ireland; Stuart Crawford,

IT Matters, Canada; Tim Loney,SolutionsIS, USA; Maggie Chan,

Microsoft; Andrea Russel,Sr. Marketing Manager, Small

Business Specialist Community.

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:17 AM


SMB Partner Community magazine launches!Last but certainly not least was the end-of-day launch partyfor SMB Partner Community magazine! About 300 peopleattended and heard our story as a partner communitymagazine written by Small Business Specialists for SmallBusiness Specialists! We appreciate the warm receptionwe’ve received; we enjoy your ongoing feedback even more!

And the final word about the Symposium and Code Yellow?As one partner put it, “The Symposium was a great idea andshould be continued at other events as it is great for smallerpartners like ourselves to integrate, meet and greet withother Small Business Specialists and Microsoft.” �

Eva Skidmore, Marketing Manager, Microsoft US PartnerMarketing and Harry Brelsford, CEO, SMB Nation. Can you seeStan and Dan?

One of our first SMB Partner Community magazine readers,Victor O’Ferrall, New York.

n 2005, Microsoft toured the U.S., reaching out to over2,000 partners, and found great feedback that helped inthe development of the next version of SBS. Now that SBS

2003 R2 has arrived, you can learn more about the benefitsand opportunities of SBS 2003 R2.

The Partner Group Tour is made up of members of theMicrosoft SBS Development team, Windows Vista and 2007Microsoft Office system. The Tour will visit 13 cities inSeptember this year. The event’s goal is to help partnersgrow revenue using Microsoft products and solutions that fitthe SMB market. Windows Mobile 5.0 integration with SBS2003, the Technical Assessment Toolkit Version 2.0 andSharePoint Services Version 3 will also be showcased byMicrosoft team members.

For more information and to register for this event, go to:http://www.msreadiness.com/il_abstract.asp?eid=5008925

Once again – The Microsoft Small Business Server(SBS) 2003 Partner Group Tour takes to the road!

Technology Watch

I September 06, 2006 Redmond, Washington

September 11, 2006 Portland, Oregon

September 12, 2006 Sacramento, California

September 13, 2006 San Diego, California

September 14, 2006 Irvine, California

September 18, 2006 New Albany, Indiana

September 19, 2006 Southfield, Michigan

September 20, 2006 Indianapolis, Indiana

September 21, 2006 Aurora, Colorado

September 25, 2006 Waltham, Massachusetts

September 26, 2006 New York, New York

September 27, 2006 Charlotte, North Carolina

September 28, 2006 Tampa, Florida

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


by Harry Brelsford

AA few years ago, there was a popular book from a PacificNorthwest author reciting “everything you know, youlearned in kindergarten.” This book was about lessons in lifelearned at a young age that should guide adult behavior(sharing, fair play, etc.). If you were to update that writingfor the Internet world of newsgroups and unsolicited e-mail,you might also add:

•Don’t purchase stocks based on Internet chat room tips•Filter and discern what you read about the 70-282

exam in on-line newsgroups

Several months ago – Microsoft refreshed the 70-282certification exam. This is one of the exams that you cansuccessfully pass in order to become a Small BusinessSpecialist (the other exam is the 74-134 exam focused onsystem builders). Shortly thereafter, the popularnewsgroups (Small Business Server and Small BusinessSpecialist Community newsgroups hosted by Microsoft,Yahoo and private sites) started to become populated withposts that commented on the 70-282 certification exam.Some posts were complimentary; other posts were critical.Such is life in the on-line newsgroups.

Watch What You Say In PublicIt is important to remember that when you take the 70-

282 examination, you do agree to an on-screen non-disclosure agreement that essentially prevents you fromdiscussing the specifics of the examination with others. Tobe honest – in preparing this article – I reviewed manynewsgroup posts and I believe a few “posters” crossed theNDA line. That’s not exactly the behavior we’re seeking in

bona fide Small Business Specialists!Also – I was unable to “re-take” the 70-282 exam again as

I’ve already passed it and proudly hold the Small BusinessSpecialist title. Once you have passed a Microsoft certificationexam, you cannot take it again for quality assurance andprivacy purposes. So this article required other forms oflegitimate investigative reporting. You’re certainly not goingto catch me violating my NDA in this article!

Just The Facts Please!Here is the current situation.

•The 70-282 examination is a great exam that accuratelyassesses the business technology skill set of the small and medium business (SMB) technology partner.

•It is not an SBS exam. While you, like I, love SBS, it’s important to put that love struck blindness aside for a moment. The 70-282 examination is about Microsoftproducts and solutions in the SMB space. Granted – historically many, if not most, of the questions were keen on SBS.

•Domain exam objectives remain relevant. This is where I spent a lot of time researching this article andworked closely with sources inside Microsoft. Bottomline? The 70-282 certification exam adheres to the domain text objectives published at the Microsoft Learning site (www.microsoft.com/learning). Such was the case yesterday, today and tomorrow. Period. That’s good news on our home front as our infamous 70-282 “red book” at SMB Nation Press remains relevant for the aspiring Small Business Specialist’s consumption.

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


•Test writing techniques. Test writers in an academic orprofessional environment will often populate an examwith nonsense answers to through you off. I should know as I taught at the University-level for a dozen years in the early years of my career. So if you see possible answers that appear to be distracters more than bona-fide technical questions, there may be a plausible explanation; where Microsoft mentions a specific product, you may in truth don’t need to knowthe product but rather understand the scenario of the question. It’s not really fair or accurate to make posts on the newsgroups saying “…the !@#$^& 70-282 examtested me on this and that product.” Having nonsenseanswers does not constitute a departure from honoring the domain test objectives.

•Mis-information and expectations. So you believe what you’ve heard on the newsgroups about the 70-282 exam, you walk into the testing center with a chipon your shoulder and perhaps you under-perform in your test-taking attempt. It makes sense to me. Insteadof focusing on passing the test, you were more interested in online drama. When you retake the 70-282 exam, might I suggest you reboot your attitude and leave the gossip in the garbage.

ExclusivitySo what if Microsoft refreshed the 70-282 exam? It was

approaching 3 years in age and needed an update to keep itrelevant in my opinion. At a minimum, Microsoft’scommitment to devote bandwidth and resources to refreshthe 70-282 exam signals that it wants to maintain a certainelement of exclusivity associated with the Small BusinessSpecialist title! Do you really want to have “paper” SmallBusiness Specialists in our community? �

So talk back to me (send mail to [email protected]). We’llprint selected reader response to this article in a future magazine.

Microsoft’s Statement on the 70-282 ExamWe know that maintaining the value of the MCP credentialis as important to you as it is to us. As part of our ongoingeffort to keep Microsoft certifications strong, credible, andvalued, we will monitor and update content periodically tohelp protect program integrity and exam security. Theseupdates are just one of the many steps we take towardskeeping exams as security-enhanced as possible. This helpsmaintain the value of Microsoft certifications and ensuresthat only qualified information technology professionals areidentified as MCPs.

Training Resources for Microsoft Exam 70-282:Designing, Deploying, and Managing a Network

Solution for a Small- and Medium-Sized Business

Microsoft Preparation Guide:http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-282.asp

Free available 70-282 Exam Prep Session Web TrainingSeminars:

SBSC 70-282 Exam Prep Session 1

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15003788

SBSC 70-282 Exam Prep Session 2

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=1500378

In order to become a Small Business Specialist, you must also

successfully complete the Sales and Marketing Assessment.

You can find training at the Microsoft Partner University site

at http://www.msreadiness.com/OL_abstract.asp?eid=5007108,

(this is separate login from the partner site).

Free online skills assessment – http://www.microsoft.com/

learning/assessment/ind/default.mspx > click on Assessment

Topics.> Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM

arc Harrison of Silicon East, Inc was approachedby home builder Pinnacle Companies (NewJersey, USA), who had been tasked by the Extreme

Makeover: Home Edition ABC hit reality series with therebuilding of the Llanes family, Bergenfield, NJ home.

The Llanes familysuffers from severedisabilities. Due to ahereditary condition,Isabel, the grand-mother, and Vincente,the father, are blind.The two teenagedaughters, Guinevereand Carrie, have thesame hereditarydisease, and are alsogoing blind. The son,Zeb, is deaf; andMaria, the mother, iscurrently recoveringfrom cancer surgery.

The goal of theproject was to use as much technology as possible toimprove the quality of their lives. Marc was brought onboard as the overall technology coordinator to manage theproject implementation. Marc’s first step was to approachthe Microsoft Accessibility group, leveraging their expertise

and helping tochoose the righttechnology. Itturned out to bea great movebecause theAccess ib i l i tygroup wasinstrumental inprocuring anddonating thetechnologies.

Some of thet e c h n o l o g i e sused in thisextreme homemakeover were screen readers, book readers, voice synthesisand voice-recognition software to aid the blind familymembers, and make computer interaction as easy aspossible. A system that converts speech to text and speech tosign language on a computer screen was implemented forthe deaf son, which now enables him to communicatedirectly with each family member, something he was neverable to do before. Previously, his mother had to act as theintermediary and facilitate communications.

Marc shares, “The home now has a wired PC-basedintercom which has voice recognition capabilities as well asthe ability to go to the Internet to get information.” You canask the system,“What will theweather betomorrow?” and asynthesized voicewill read theinformation backfrom the system. Theintercom system alsoautomates functionslike turning lights onand off, adjustingroom temperature,and opening andclosing shades andblinds. Anythingthat could beautomated was.

by Beatrice Mulzer

Home Automation Makeover

M

Centerpiece

The Silicon East teamSam, Marc, Gary and Shaun.

Marc Harrison (Silicon East) and Brian Stolar of PinnacleCompanies (the builder of the home). Pinnacle Companies is a client to Silicon East and very progressive in the adoptionof technology in homes.

Terminating CAT-5s and installingwireless access points – Marc overseeing

the work of a low-voltage technician.

Marc and Tanya McQueen from theconstruction designer team. Tanyaadded her artistic decorating and

design spin onto the home.


Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM

“There are digital talking book players, Braille displays,a Braille printer that can be controlled wirelessly bycomputers throughout the house, bank note readers,vibrating alarms and smoke sensors that give spokenwarnings.” Marc says. “It took a total of twenty differenttechnology companies to bring it all together. “

As for Silicon East’s role, Marc thanks his entire SiliconEast team for doing a monumental job. “It wasn’t untilWednesday night, with about 18 hours before the family gothome, that we were really able to get to work. We workedfeverishly as furniture was put in place to unpack, set-up,and configure all of the computers and assistive technologyfor the family. By my calculation we went 46 hours with justa three-hour break for sleep. And we wouldn’t leave untilthey literally threw us out so the final house cleaning couldtake place. But in the end the Silicon East tradition of alwaysmaking it work prevailed, and everything almostmiraculously came together. There is just so muchtechnology in this home and my belief is that we’ve giventhis family literally a new start in life. Most of us taketechnology almost for granted today, and for me it was atrue epiphany to recognize that what we were doing wouldliterally deeply change the lives of this family.” Marc walkedaway from this project a changed person. He says, “If youever have the opportunity, you must take time from your lifeto contribute to one of these projects.”

Marc also extends a big thank-you to all the partnerswho came through for Silicon East with very meaningfuldonations. Included are Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard,SonicWALL, and Intel. �

Marc in front of the Llanes’new home (the old one was demolished) expandingthe living space for the family from approx. 1000 sq. ft to 2,2000 sq. ft.

The entire house was torn down and rebuilt within seven days– an incredible feat undertaken by THOUSANDS of

volunteers, working around the clock.

We are unable to show interior pictures of the home. To see theinside and get the full story you will have to catch the showaround mid-September, usually airing Sundays 8/7 CST. Go tohttp://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/ for more information.

Jon Corzine, the most technical savy governor New Jersey ever had (and a friend of Bill Gates),

discussing the 30 MB FiOS fiber optic service Verizon put into the home.


Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


?

Franchises: Yea or Nay?

“I think Franchises are agreat idea. It’s something Ihave been looking to do forabout one year now becauseI get a little of my workfrom an ISV back in the UK,he has a software packagethat he sells to vehicleaccident repair centers. Itmanages the whole workflow,tracking time and materials. I installSBS Premium to run his application on. Butbecause we work nationally I am running all acrossEngland and it is difficult for me to cover the entire area.So I am looking at building this business together andstart franchising outlets that are too far for me to handleand start partnering with SBS partners in the other areas.”

Tom Crosbie, Crosbie IT Ltd. United Kingdom

“Franchises are a good idea ifyou are not an entrepreneuryourself but like to run yourown business. I alreadyhave my own business and just passed the Small

Business Specialist Certifica-tion yesterday and consider it

an added bonus. I like runningmy own business and having the

responsibilities and everything thatcomes along with it. “

Philippe Moufflet,Boston Computer Support Experts, United States

International sales compen-sation guru Ken Thoreson,who met with us at WPCBoston in mid-July, offeredthat franchises can be theright business model for theright person. “The successrate for franchises, whetherrestaurants, cleaning or SMBconsulting or are much higher andmake sense because the modules,methodologies and processes are generally inplace for a person to execute upon.”

Ken Thoreson,. Acumen Management, Vonore, TN, USA

nother month of community survey has broughtsome interesting insights from across the globe. Thismonth we asked small business technology

consultants (and all Small Business Specialists!) what theirthoughts were on the franchising business model.

On the one hand, you might view franchises as stiflingcreativity and turning everyone into “sandwich-makingrobots.” Our hometown of Bainbridge Island has actuallybanned franchise restaurants in order to keep Mom’s diner(locally owned) from closing down. This is an extreme caseand not reflected by the small business technologyconsultants who responded below.

Results

A

Thinking Technology, Ltd. is the#1 reseller of Small BusinessServer in Hong Kong. When weasked Simon Wong andCharles Ngai about thefranchise business model,

they both said that, “thefranchise business model is

an excellent way for peoplejust entering the technology

business, especially if they don’thave much experience in running a business.”

Simong Wong & Charles Ngai, Hong Kong, ThinkingTechnology, Ltd., Hong Kong.

Survey Question of the MonthThis month, please click over to www.smbnation.com andcomplete the survey where weask for your opinion on retailestablishments in the SMBconsulting space. This includesmany readers who have a“storefront.”

Perceptions

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


caught Marie McFadden on a Saturday afternoon with acup of coffee in her hand. She had just taken a little nap– deservedly so - after returning on a red-eye from

Seattle, WA, having been seated next to a one -year-old baby.But despite the long night, Marie is her usual perky self andstarts sharing exciting news for Microsoft Small BusinessSpecialists! The Small Business Specialist Communitymanaged newsgroup was just launched this July andMicrosoft anticipates that SBSC’s will find a lot of value inthis as they are helping their clients.

“We are super, super excited about this offering. It’s amanaged newsgroup and it is only available to SmallBusiness Specialists” says Marie, “We have a four (4) hourresponse time for the initial response and any follow upresponses, between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. PST Monday-Friday(excluding holidays).” There is a team of engineersdedicated to this newsgroup and the supported productsinclude most of the Office product stack, Windows Server,Exchange Server, Terminal Server, Windows XP and SmallBusiness Server. “We feel these are the products that mostSmall Business Specialists hit on all the time.” If SmallBusiness Specialists encounter support needs that are notcovered in the Small Business Specialist CommunityManaged Newsgroup, there are always the other partnermanaged newsgroups, giving you currently a choice of 78newsgroups to pick from.

Biggest challenge: “Making sure that we did everything rightgetting the newsgroup offering out there, looking at currentnumbers of Small Business Specialists and anticipating thenumber of Small Business Specialists in the coming year. Wewant to make sure that we have enough staff on board so thepartner experience in that community is top notch.”

Lessons learned: Murphy’s law! “Give yourself plenty oftime. We learned that we need to give ourselves more timethen we think we need. You learn it every time and youthink you got it and the next time you are learning the samething – call it optimism!“

by Beatrice Mulzer

I

Meet Marie McFadden!Title: Global Managed Newsgroup Lead

Location: Charlotte, NC

Responsibilities: Manages the partner managednewsgroups, helping the support delivery teamswith technical or process questions. Ensures thatthere is readiness in place for upcoming productse.g. Exchange 2007, Vista and Office 2007launches coming up.

Education: Marie holds a Bachelors and anMBA in Science and Business. She also has theMCSE title for Windows Server NT 4.0, 2000and 2003, and was one of the first to achievethe MCSA.

Age: 46 years young!

Work Experience: June 2006 marked Marie’snine year anniversary as a Microsoft employee.She worked seven years prior to that for anenvironmental consulting firm managing theirIT, office, training and management. Prior tothat she worked at Burroughs which laterbecame Unisys.

Philosophy: You should be really passionateabout what you are doing for a living. Youspend so much time on the job, you have tolove what you are doing. Because that is whatdrives you to be the best you can and to help others.

Easy access to the Small Business Specialist Managed Newsgroup via theSmall Business Specialist Home Page on the Microsoft global partner site.

Microsoft Insider

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


Next steps: “It is all about the partner experience. The mostexciting thing in the newsgroups right now is that we arepreparing for the upcoming product launches. This is goingto be a great year, especially for Small Business Specialists,with all the products coming out. “

Partner Feedback: Marie points out one newsgroup inparticular ”…there are partners visiting in the newsgroupthat if they see anything that they like or dislike and wouldlike to comment or recommend improvements on, we havea newsgroup called Partner Feedback. That is a great place topost your thoughts, or ask questions about Licensing orAction Pack or anything that really doesn’t fit in any of thetechnical categories that we provided. The Partner Feedbacknewsgroup is like the voice of the partner and I would reallylove to hear what is on everyone’s mind.”

“One of the really great things about Microsoft is thateveryone helps everyone else because the primary goal is tohelp the partner and help the customer. There are too manyproducts to know everything about them. And if I have aproblem related to Exchange I can talk to the support teamthat does only Exchange and we work together to resolvethe issue.”

The final word? “If partners give us their thoughts inPartner Feedback, that will help us improve support in thecommunity to meet partners’ needs.” �

Start using the Partner Feedback and Questions newsgroup for all non-technical inquiries and comments!

New & Exclusive to SBSCSmall Business Specialist Community Managed Newsgroups

4 Hour response time from 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. PSTMonday-Friday!

Where can I find the newsgroup? Go to the special SBSCpage on the US Microsoft Partner portal and click on thehyperlink (https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40021525?PS=3 - shown above) or enter “Small BusinessSpecialist Community Managed Newsgroups” into theSearch box on the partner site.

Marie visiting Zhou Zhang village just outside of Shanghai

Visit www.smbnation.tv to hear interviews and perspectives related to articles in SMB Partner Community magazine and the Small Business Specialist Community!

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


kay, I admit that I embellished a bit on the headline –but you just learned the most important lesson I havefor you today. If it’s not immediately clear to you,

then it will be revealed later on in this article. But first, let megive you my thoughts leading up to this headline and article.

In an article I read from PC Magazine titled OvereagerSpam Filters Cause Headaches, an AOL spokesperson wasquoted saying, “We are forced to bounce up to 80 percent ofall incoming Internet e-mail as suspected spam. Our spam-blocking software is now blocking 2 to 2.4 billion messagesevery day.”

Now before you spam-haters start getting happy aboutthis news, there is an underlying lesson here that shouldconcern you as a business owner and legitimate marketer:AOL customers did not complain about having a completestranger screen and withhold their personal messages, eventhough some of the messages were, without a doubt,incorrectly identified as spam. Could there have beenmessages, promotions, and offers from companies theygenuinely want to hear from? Of course! But these small feware greatly overshadowed by the dump truck of off-target,boring, offensive, and “professional” spam that fills up ourinbox every day.

This is just a small example of a growing consumer andgovernment trend towards abolishing any and all types of“push” marketing.

Without a doubt, we are quickly moving towards a“pull” or permission-only selling environment wherecustomers are in 100% control and must be compelledthrough positioning and excellent marketing to desperatelyseek you out instead of feeling as though they can ignore,delete, or lock you out of their lives without consequence.

The Do Not Call List, Junk Fax laws, the CAN-SPAMAct, and even HIPAA are all in full force and are only gettingmore restrictive about how you can (or can’t) promote yourservices — and your prospects are 100% in favor of it. Asworrying as this is to any legitimate marketer, I can’t say thatit isn’t justified.

So many bad marketers have ruined it for the rest of usby shoving their boring, off-target, no-value sales pitches inour faces constantly, and in places they are not welcome.Instead of working on making their marketing moreinteresting and relevant to the recipient, they just up the

frequency and find new and more annoying ways tointerrupt us. That is why consumers are fighting back.

I recently saw a full-page newspaper ad for a cardealership that simply said, “We at Southgate Chevrolet areproud to be a General Motors Dealership. We know that theChevrolet vehicles we sell are as good as or better thananything out there.” Those were the only words on the pageand the rest of the ad was taken up by white space; notestimonials, no headlines, no guarantees, no offer, andcertainly lacking any type of persuasive sales presentationfor their cars or their dealership.

Can you believe the stupidity of this ad? Here’s thetranslation: “We have nothing special, unique, or valuable tooffer our customers. We have no good reason why youshould buy our cars, other than the comfort you will get outof knowing that the crap we sell is no worse than the crapeveryone else is selling. BUT, we’re proud to say that.”Amazingly, they spent a LOT of money to run this anti-salespromotion for their dealership.

So what does this have to do with my outrageousheadline?

If you want to have any kind of success in marketing toyour clients, you better make sure you are delivering themost relevant, compelling, and interesting marketingmessages to the most targeted, high-probability prospectsfor one simple reason:

If your “professional”, plain-vanilla marketinglooks exactly like everyone else’s and does notclearly and instantly communicate how you aregoing to resolve your prospect’s top concerns,wants, or needs, or if it does not promise to delivera result they desperately want (as the headline forthis article did), it is viewed as an intrusion and isautomatically deleted, ignored, or trashed.My headline was outrageous, but I bet it stopped you in

your tracks and compelled you to read this article. If you’veread this far, I at least have a chance to sell you on my ideasand possibly even my services. Plain, boring, “professional”marketing does NOT accomplish this. It gets deleted,trashed, ignored, and filtered.

The next time you are sitting down to write a sales letteror any promotion, ask yourself, “What would I have topromise to deliver to my customers to make them want to

by Robin Robins

O

How To Get Your ClientsTo Crawl Naked Over Rusty Nails andBroken Glass To Read Your Marketing Promotions

Money Shaker

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


crawl naked over rusty nails and broken glass to respond orbuy?” Is it doable? Maybe not to that extreme, but if youstart with that goal in mind, you are certainly in a muchbetter position to come up with a more compelling offerthan “we focus on IT so you can focus on running yourbusiness,” or, “we make IT easy,” or, “reliable IT support.” Iwould only hope that your services would fulfill on thesepromises! What’s so amazingabout being reliable? While it maybe true that you are more reliablethan the next guy, just saying it isjust not compelling.

If you are like the vastmajority of computer consultants,you’ve probably used one ormore of those phrases in yourmarketing. It might even be yourtagline on your business card.These terms are horriblysimplistic and obvious and that iswhy your marketing is producingzero results. These genericplatitudes get your messagetrashed before it even has achance to get read, much lessacted on. Change your message topromise salvation from a problemor to deliver a result yourprospects want, and they willWELCOME your communications. This is the core principleof getting prospects to seek you out. This is not a newconcept, and it is being enforced now more than ever.

To overcome the invisible fence put up by all prospects,I’m coaching my private clients to pick vertical niches andfocus on sending results-based marketing campaigns thatemphasize actual case studies and raving fan clients.

For example, I have a client that recently set up awireless network and document imaging solution for an eyeclinic. He has a written and audio testimonial of that clientsaying the solution helped them increase sales for otherprocedures, cut patient wait times in half, reduced bottomline costs, and made the entire office more productive. He isnow using that case study to promote the results to all othereye clinics and doctors in his area. So far, this has proven tobe far more successful at attracting new clients than ageneric flyer talking about document imaging solutions andHIPAA compliance.

I have another client that wrote an entire story about aCPA who walked into his office one morning to discoverhis office had been burglarized. The thief stole everything– laptops, servers, routers, and printers, from his office.

Fortunately, my client had set up an off-site backup of hisdata and had this CPA up and running again within 24hours. Here’s the headline to other CPAs: “What WouldYou Do If You Walked Into Your Office and DiscoveredSomeone Had Stolen All of Your Computer EquipmentHousing Your Client’s Sensitive Data? Read on to see what[Name] of [Company] did when this devastating event

happened to him…”The only downside of

segmenting your list andtargeting vertical niches is that itadds up to more work for you insegmenting your list, gettingtestimonials, and developing casestudies; however, the results andreturn for the extra work pay offexponentially.

The way I see it, you haveone of two choices: either you stepup the time and effort you investinto creating marketing messagesthat are truly relevant and basedon promising results, or you’ll justhave to settle for the pittance ofresponses captured by genericmarketing, and learn to be happywith what you have.

What’s your decision? �

Robin Robins has over 14 years experience in direct sales andmarketing. Robin is an independent marketing consultant, salestrainer, and author that specializes in low risk, low-costmarketing strategies for small computer resellers, solutionproviders, and IT consulting firms. To learn more about Robin,visit her online at www.technologymarketingtoolkit.com

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


mall business is big business – and don’t we know it!

But what exactly is “small business,” and what makesit big?

It all comes down to your perspective and has nothingat all to do with hourly chargeout rates, sales totals, staffnumbers or even how much profit you make. One dealworth $5,000 can be awfully big business to one person andsmall to another.

Recently one of the major distributors in Australiaappears to have lost some sight of how big small businesscan be. I won’t mention their name. However, they are oneof the largest distributors here. They sent a letter to a largenumber of resellers, telling them their trading accounts werebeing closed due to them not putting through enoughbusiness. This includes those who pay for the goods beforethey are even shipped!

Now, in isolation a lot of these resellers wouldn’t putthrough a lot of business each month. So looking at things inthis short-sighted way, it would seem to make businesssense for them to make this change — considering the costof transaction for low-volume resellers compared to theprofit they might make from the transaction. But theyhaven’t factored in the “community” factor – specifically thecommunity of Small Business Server user group members.

The traffic on the mailing lists for the user groups hasbeen nothing short of incredible. Members are voicingtheir pain over these changes. They are asking aboutalternative sources for some of the products thisdistributor handles, even to the extent of discussing theformation of a buying group.

What this shows is that the distributor was looking onlyat its own business as part of this change. It simply isn’taware of the community of resellers in its marketplace.

Some time ago, I was involved in a Microsoft partnerroadshow which included representatives from Trend Microand Hewlett Packard. Trend Micro understood the SMBcommunity. They’d already been “inducted” and wereengaging with the user groups. HP Australia was not sokeen and took some convincing to become “SBS friendly.”The history speaks for itself. HP released a number ofProLiant servers bundled with SBS and their sales took off.They have continued to ask the community for feedbackabout new server bundles (configuration and pricing) andthe community in turn has embraced their products.

Microsoft has certainly shown it sees the potential in the

SMB space, as have Trend Micro and HP. (I’m talking aboutAustralia here rather than a global perspective, so thingsmay vary where you are.) It’s time now to take this messageto the rest of the channel, impacting other vendors and now,more importantly perhaps, the distributors that take theseproducts to the reseller community.

Individually we can only make a small impact on theworld around us. Together, as a growing and vocalcommunity, we can take on the “big guys” and show themthat small business really can be big business for them.

Our plan with this distributor, and it may well amount tonothing, is to gather our collective numbers and make themaware of the community they are affecting. The business theystand to lose individually may not be much, but collectivelyit can be huge. Perhaps we’ll get an exemption to their recentchanges for members of the SBS user groups or perhaps wewon’t. But at least they will know that there’s a communityof small businesses throughout the country that are notafraid to speak up and demand to be heard.

We can show them that small business is big business.Don’t be afraid to engage with the SMB community you

are a part of and to raise your collective voice – make achange to the world you live in.

In other news, the SBS user groups around Australiacontinue to be a rather rowdy lot and have been discussingthese hot topics at meetings:

•Mobile phones/devices•Quoting systems – making it easier to prepare quotes

and keep them up to date•Managed services (this seems to be a hot topic all over

the place)•Data protection – this includes replication to off-site

storage locations (but Australia tends to have limited bandwidth options and data can be soooo expensive)

•VoIP for SMB•Virtualisation of SBS•Disaster recovery solutions – including drive imaging

The other big news is that SBS has managed to squeezeits way into TechEd Australia. On August 24 we’re going tohave five cabana sessions, which is a first for Australia. Lastyear we only had 2 sessions covering “SBS2003 SP1” and“Security with SBS.” The sessions for this year will be:

•SBS2003 R2 – patching is just the start of it

by Dean Calvert

G’day folks!

S

Global Perspective

Continued of page 32 (see Global)

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM

elling people about Microsoft resources is animportant part of my job, so this month I wanted toshare a few of my favorites.

One great resource is the Microsoft Gear Up site, whichhosts sales, marketing and training information at www.ms-gearup.com. Even if you don’t sell software, it has a wealthof useful information. I love the two-page product andsolution abstracts included with the Sales Tool Kit; I evenkeep a copy on my Windows Mobile device, just in case. Ifyou do sell software then check out the LicensingConfigurator, which can now create fully-customizablecustomer proposals. The Sales Support Center on the sitecan be used to send trial software directly to your customers,and Microsoft even picks up the shipping costs. Plus there’sa lot more!

Attending SMB Nation in September? If so, you maywant to visit the newly-renovated Microsoft Visitor Centerwhile you’re in Redmond. Located in building 127, at 4420148th Avenue NE, the Visitor Center is open to the publicMonday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Exhibitsshowcase everything from the very first personal computer

to some of today’s most exciting technologies for home andbusiness. Geeky goodness!

At the Worldwide Partner Conference, I was amazed tomeet some U.S. Partners who didn’t know about the U.S.Partner Readiness site at www.MSReadiness.com. Withhundreds of free or heavily-subsidized training courses, it’sa fantastic resource! There’s even a page for Small BusinessSpecialist technical and sales/marketing training materials. TS2’s webcasts are also featured onwww.MSReadiness.com/TS2; if you can’t join us live, youcan watch the on-demand recording later.

Speaking of the Worldwide Partner Conference, mark iton your calendar. Next year’s conference will take place July10-12 in Denver, Colorado. This year’s conference wastargeted more at the SMB space than ever before, and nextyear’s should be even better! �

Fred Pullen is a Microsoft Across America TS2 presenter basedin Denver, Colorado. Should he start organizing next year’sWPC party?

T

by Fred Pullen TS2Nami

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TS 2 Dates for you to mark down! In the coming months, TS2 will bring you information on pertinent SMB solutions. This will consist of information on Windows

Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office System introducing SharePoint Services 3.0, the new SharePoint Designer. The Small BusinessTechnology Assessment Toolkit, and more importantly how you can use it to identify sales opportunities, will also be presented.

To register go to http://www.ts2seminars.com/tourdates.htm

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


ndividual Small Business Specialists offer quick answers,depth of wisdom and a wealth of creative resources tosmall businesses around the world. They are agile, sharp

and also human. It is the human strength of character andcaring that shines when working with a Small BusinessSpecialist. It is their individualism that brings an increasedrisk for the small business, the risk that something couldhappen to their dependable IT professional. An individualSmall Business Specialist offsets this risk by being involvedwith community and partnering with peers to protect theinterests of their small business customers.

Most Small Business Specialists often become a part ofthe small businesses they serve. Their toolkits and resourceshave been developed through the sheer quick wit and smallbusiness “know how” that is required to survive in this fast-paced world. They may be entrepreneurs, techno-geeks,gurus, managers or sales and marketing experts. A SmallBusiness Specialist masters many skills. Yet they alsorecognize the power of shared knowledge and reach out tocreate even more success than they could alone. Thus,technologists and IT professionals have created local andonline “communities.” These groups welcome all thoseinterested in simply jumping in, and either participating orlurking. Joining the community is a GREAT way to reducerisk while also creating more opportunities for your business.

Take for instance a tiny group I know of with less than60,000 people. The competing IT professionals in this groupwelcome the opportunity to meet monthly and shareinformation. Why would competitors share? Does that notconflict with the very nature of competition? In more than onecommunity, most members of the information technologyconsulting profession must be generalists and they also haveunique interests and skills. These complementary skills andinterests are discovered by others who also get to know eachother. They learn whom to trust and whom to keep at arm’slength. In this context, more business is generated than anindividual could have on his own.

One fine example of this that I heard about was a small ITfirm who was supporting a Small Business Server (SBS) forthe local town offices. The owner of the small IT firm movedto a new area and immediately recommended one of hisassociates from the local user group to take over the account.This associate did not have to invest any time to win the deal,he simply walked into a new managed services account forhundreds of dollars a month. The second project I learnedabout was a local consultant who handled the entire

infrastructure for a specific company. The company hadtroubles with their database requiring database administratorexpertise. Once again a member of the user group was able tostep into the project, solve the problem, save face for the longterm consultant, offer efficiency in resolution to the client andmake some immediate profit. Needless to say, moreopportunities are not only discovered, but they are closed intonew business and profits for all involved.

The key here is a combination of skill sets. Someone whois an expert at Small Business Servers, might also have aunique understanding of plastics manufacturing and databaseapplications. These combinations are in themselves a uniqueresource! Experts in paperless office, wiring, photography,databases, Windows servers, DNS, MAC and reportingservices all have their unique opportunities. The communityoffers a place for partners to work according to their interestswhile also being generalists for their small business clients.

The New York SBS IT Professional Group started as asmall group of core professionals who understood thepotential of community. There were some key people whoknew they needed to attend to see what it was all about anda handful of unknowns. Two years later the New York SBSIT Professional Group is still meeting monthly and has over170 small business partners who, after months of reallycrafting and creating their “community” and getting toknow each other, are trading more business thanimaginable. It is not just the core original members who aregetting this business. New partners are discovering thegroup on a regular basis and benefiting quickly.

There are other benefits from starting and/orparticipating in even the smallest groups of IT professionalsfocused on small business. Take for instance the opportunityto host and talk with vendors offering solutions and productsfor your customers. One vendor recently released a new SMBprogram. In fact, the program is particularly tempting for ITprofessionals because it offers a number of free solutions.But have you thought about the benefits when talking withany of the consultants who have tried the program? In arecent discussion with numerous consultants I discoveredthat the documentation for the products are still from theenterprise model and inches thick! The software also containsfiles not needed by small businesses. Yet because it exists, ittakes up a huge footprint of disk space. This footprint affectsbackups. Feedback was also helpful regarding the process forremoving the solution once installed, something not that easyto do. This kind of information is critical to vendors if they are

by Anne Stanton

I

The Small BusinessIT Professional Community

Community

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


interested in having their program succeed. It can also saveconsultants hundreds of lost billable hours.

When you pool the resources of multiple professionalsinto a discussion with a vendor, the tone of the meetingchanges from one of being “sold to,” to one of being informedand educated about the unique technical aspects of thevendor’s products! You have the culture to facilitate a win, notonly for you as a small IT professional, but for the vendor whowants to get its message out cost-effectively and efficiently.Leveraging the small IT professional group as a way to getmore from vendor relationships has proven to be extremelysuccessful! Nowhere is this better seen then in the adoption ofa number of vendor products whose business developmentteams have become members of the community. Not to “sell”,but as humans committed to sharing, both in asking for inputso they can fine tune their products to their customers’ needs,and in helping and educating in their areas of expertise.Simply ask the CEOs of Autotask and Connectwise, twovendors who have discovered the power of community.

We also take this concept further. An internationalcommunity of the leaders of these local IT professionalgroups has come together to share information on running alocal IT professional group. They have also collaborativelypulled together a voice and a framework for educatingvendors. Members also have a louder voice to the enterprisecorporations that create the products clients are interestedin. The International SBS Group Leaders have a web page atwww.sbsgroups.com, listing many of the SBSC ITprofessional groups On this page, they also have a list ofvendors who have committed to posting a specific contactperson, a direct phone number and a direct e-mail addressfor any member of the community to approach. The vendorlist on the sbsgroups.com web site continues to grow.

As the Small Business Specialist meets new customers

and/or vendors the Small Business Specialist is then moreempowered to talk not only about their business needs, but

also about their involvement with thousandsof other IT professionals who might beinterested in that vendor’s products -particularly those that are a successful fit forthe current small business opportunity. Thecustomer and/or the vendor then not onlybenefits from the expertise of the localconsultant, but also from the collective voice ofthousands of the consultant’s peers in the samespace.

Being involved in community means: • Opportunities• Profits • Connections• Answers• Access to real field-tested knowledge

• Peer-to-peer trust• Resources•A chance to form study groups and achieve more

certifications•Vacation coverage•A regular refreshment of knowledge•And much more

The limit of our abilities is defined more by our own egosthen by any other obstacle. Being involved in communitytests the ego by requiring the IT professional to open up alittle bit and to perhaps admit that he does not knoweverything. Sometimes it is hard to get started, but ITprofessionals among their trusted peers can admit theirlimitations and grow beyond the limits of their own strengthsand weaknesses. A micro-sized IT professional would be wiseto invest time in a community of his or her peers. �

“If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyondyour ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision torelinquish the need to control, the need to be approved,and the need to judge.Those are the three things the egois doing all the time. It’s very important to be aware ofthem every time they come up.” Deepak Chopra 1947

Anne Stanton is a CRM MVP, the president of The NorwichGroup and a Principal in GlobalBrain LLC: Business ComputerSolutions. She is a widely known consultant who often partnerswith other SBSC professionals to bring customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) expertise to small businesses professionalsand their clients worldwide. Anne can be reached [email protected]

Visit www.sbsgroups.com to learn more about the International Community!

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM


•Disaster Recovery for SBS•SharePoint – demystifying SharePoint Services in SBS•Exchange – Preparation and recovery of data in SBS 2003•Mobility and Small Business Servers

If you’re in the neighborhood, make sure you drop in forthese sessions. International visitors will be entitled to a freeVegemite sandwich!

Finally, it was a real treat to spend time with friends atthe Small Business Symposium and Microsoft WorldwidePartner Conference in Boston. The Symposium was a greatevent, particularly since it was the first of its kind. Hats offto Microsoft and the team that put it all together. Thenumber of topics presented, the quality of the speakers andof course the cocktail party for the launch of this magazinewere all top rate. I look forward to attending the Symposiumnext year to learn and share more.

So remember, big business has nothing to do with thephysical size of your business. Engage with the communityaround you, make a difference to the world you live in andyou too can be a big business. Something I’ve beenteaching my son, Reece, for the last few years is thatBatman is the best superhero of all. Why? Because he’s justan ordinary man doing extraordinary things. You too canbe Batman (or Batwoman). You can be a superhero to thepeople on whose businesses you make a positive impact.By doing this, you can become the biggest business you canpossibly ever hope to be.

Here’s to a great year ahead and I hope to see you atSMB Nation in Redmond in September. �

Dean Calvert is Managing Director and Principal Consultantfor Calvert Technologies (www.calvert.net.au), a MicrosoftCertified Partner and the first Small Business Specialist inAdelaide, Australia (the wine capital of the world). Dean alsofacilitates the Adelaide SBS user/partner group and has spokenat various events throughout Australia & the US (includingSMB Nation!). Dean can be reached at [email protected].

Global (Continued from page 26)

CA Protection Suites are the industry’s first, fully integrated security, storage and desktop

migration solutions for SMBs. Visit ca.com/smb

What’s Stan got that Dan wants? Find out at:

https://partner.microsoft.com/us/seestangetactionpack

Help Wanted:

Full-time senior technology position. Primarilyfield service, installation and support of localbusiness. Must have at least two years fieldexperience in a broad range of system integrationand troubleshooting skills. Must have own vehicle(mileage paid). Must have Microsoft 70-282 orequivalent Small Business Server certification andgood, real-world experience with Server 2003,

Exchange Server, and Small Business Server. Other MScertifications are a plus. Should be familiar with the enterpriseeditions of Symantec/Veritas, McAfee, SonicWALL, and othermainstream system utilities. Total customer support skills arerequired. Very good customer relationship skills required. Abilityto work alone, on-site in many varied and challenging technicalsupport scenarios.

Full time position, generous rate to qualified, medical and otherbenefits.

Contact: Joe Engel - JRE Consulting, Inc.Portland, OR 503-281-3291 [email protected]

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:18 AM

Aug 2006 8/7/06 9:19 AM

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