smb partner community magazine - 2009 q2

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Check out our blog at www.smbnation.com

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Q2 2009 | Vol. 3 ■ Issue 5

PUBLISHED BYSMB Nation, Inc.

Bainbridge Island, Washington

Harry Brelsford, PublisherEditorial Staff

EDITORVicki McCown

LAYOUTAl Alarakhia

COVER ART DIRECTORMichael Young

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSCharles Van Heusen

BUSINESS STAFFHarry Brelsford, CEO

Cyndi Moody, Vice PresidentPatti Passinault, Accounting Manager

Jennifer Hall, Events Manager

TELEPHONATION.COMChris Bangs, Webhead

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SMBPartnerCommunityEDITORIAL

By Harry Brelsford, CEO


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Heading In a New Direction!This afternoon, as I was riding my bicycle in

the spring sun, I looked to the right and sawsomething I had not witnessed in a LONG TIMEon Bainbridge Island. You can see it yourself inthe editorial photo below. Yes it’s true! A homethat sold. Surely that is an indicator that thingsare turning around in the global economy.

I decided to dig deeper and look forcorrelations to this simple economic event of asingle home sale. Our third annual SMBsalary/compensation survey provided me thegusto I needed. As you will read in ourPerceptions column and see in the detailedresults online, the SMB sector of the economy,and in particular SMB consultants and SBSersalike, are doing well and we’re optimistic.Approximately 75 percent of the respondentsexpect their economic condition, as measured byINCOME, to INCREASE or stay the same in2009. That is amazing optimism, and if I couldbottle it and sell it, I’d be a billionaire!

But the optimism doesn’t stop there. Ourmain cover story is about SMB startups with asingle mantra during this time of economicmadness: BRING IT ON! These intrepidentrepreneurs only get more enthusiastic whenfacing greater challenges. This is a story of SMBinnovation saving the world!

Las Vegas, Here We Come!Our mission this year is to help you elevate

and extend your professional reach as a TrustedBusiness Advisor. Networking isn’t about cabling anymore but rather your businessacumen, your diplomatic skill set, and your ability to talk to like-minded smallbusiness owners. It’s the business purpose of SMB technology and that is acornerstone of the seventh annual SMB Nation Fall conference being held in Las VegasOctober 2-4, 2009. You are encouraged to view more details at our Web site atwww.smbnation.com.

Welcome to SMB Nation Spring…Give yourself a BIG HUG for attending SMB Nation Spring 2009 at Montclair

State University. If you’re in the audience at my keynote, you are receiving thismagazine in-person, and I personally want to thank you for your commitment toattending this live event. The community thanks you for your ongoing support. I amalways amazed at how we, as SMB channel partners, continuously reinvent ourselves.This occurs in part because we’re life learners and committed to attending professionalgatherings such as SMB Nation Spring. Keep up the good work!

Very truly yours,

Harry BrelsfordPublisher, SMB PCCEO, SMB Nation

This lovely home sold in April 2009 after sitting on the market for

countless months.

And then I found another home that had also sold!

I need your HELP!If you have read my SBS 2008book, could you be so kind as towrite an honest reader review atAmazon and other online booksites. I appreciate it!

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COVER STORY

n the Hindu religion, a cow is yourmother. That’s why the cow has arevered place in countries like India

where cattle belong to an uber-caste andtravel freely with little fear of harm.Mothers are also the source of babies,which leads to population growth andmore consumers consuming! Necessity isthe “Mother of Invention” that leads us toour main point: SMB startups that areemerging and impacting the economy in apowerful way.

It’s a well-known school of thoughtthat many of the very best companies (e.g.,Intel) are created during times of economicturmoil. That is because companies learnhow to run lean and mean. Need relevantexamples? Look no further than twoprominent members of the SMBcommunity. Shortly before the tragic eventsof September 11, 2001, two successful SMBconsulting practices were started andcontinue thriving as I write these words.Aaron Booker, shown on the cover, startedhis well-respected Hardlines technologyconsultancy (located in Bellingham,Washington) September 1, 2001. He quicklylearned how to plant seeds in a recessionand harvest when the crop was ready. Buthe didn’t stop there! Aaron’s latest venture,VarVid, started in spring of 2008 as the USeconomy technically started its contraction(according to economists).

Closer to the epicenter of the “9/11”tragedy and the corresponding economicdownturn in the first part of the century(also driven in part by Y2K and “dot com”scale-backs), was the team of Jennifer andCarl Mazzanti in Hoboken, New Jersey.Two days before Booker started Hardlines,the Mazzantis started eMazzantiTechnologies. This award-winning firmlearned how to grow a start-up business theold-school way during tough times—through hard work and great service. Todaythis Microsoft Gold Partner and SmallBusiness Specialist entity is often featuredin Microsoft case studies andadvertisements. (eMazzanti is featured in atwo-page advertisement in Issue 3-3 of SMBPC magazine.)

2009 Recession Startup Wall of Fame!Can the “economic slowdown startup”strategy from the last recession worktoday? Let’s find out by taking an“executive MBA scan” of severalinteresting startups. We consider these tobe our SMB “Heroes” who are doing their

part, day-by-day, to save the economy!

1. Doyenz. Citing a new automatedvirtual IT approach in the SMB space,Doyenz is a one-year-old, Seattle-basedstartup led by former MicrosoftieAshutosh Tiwary. His sales andmarketing strategy is aligned with theSMB community, in that he has reachedout to the SMB channel and soughtfeedback and advice at every step of hisproduct-development cycle. Hisvirtualized environments that arecombined with the cloud computingparadigm are simply a new way to viewSmall Business Server and other like-minded network infrastructuresolutions. It’s like ordering your SBSmachine from an à la carte menu (addand subtract features, configuresettings) and then downloading thecompleted virtual machine (VM) image.Learn more at www.smbnation.com.

2. Symform. This Seattle-based startup islaunching its Cooperative StorageCloud service at SMB Nation Spring. Itis a low-cost, storage service thatenables IT service providers toefficiently utilize existing capacity andextend onsite backup solutions atcustomer sites. This is accomplishedwith a secure, reliable, and automateddisaster recovery offering, thatorganizations of all sizes can afford.Founded by former Microsoft engineerswith extensive experience building ITinfrastructure products, Symform is theresult of many years spent developingcost-effective solutions to distributeddata management problems. Symformis dedicated to the belief that technologyproducts built on cooperative,participatory principles like the Internetare inherently more affordable,dependable, scalable, and sustainable. Icall it a disruptive, green technology.Monitor at www.symform.com.

3. Sharedband. This UK-based startup’smanaged broadband bonding servicegives SMBs a low-cost way to get faster,reliable Internet connections. Byaggregating different types of broadbandcircuits from different carriers at the IPlayer, they are able to provide thebandwidth and resilience that businessesare looking for at a price they canafford. I consider this one to watch as

VoIP is introduced into small businessesand redundant Internet connectivity plusgreater bandwidth become soup du jour.Visit www.sharedband.com for moreinformation.

4. Varvid. Back to Aaron Booker. A littleknown factoid about Aaron is that hisearly introduction to video productionand social media stuff was fromassisting the wildly popular startup“Wizards of the Coast” gamingcompany (its Magic The Gatheringgame was created by Seattleite PeterAdkins, a personal friend of mine,during the early 1990s recession whenPeter left Boeing). Varvid is a popularsite (www.varvid.com) that interviewsSMB channel partners and provides a“professional makeover” videointerview package. Imagine “Joe theSBSer” having a professional three-minute HD video running in anembedded window on his companyWeb site. But it doesn’t stop there. Canyou say “Facebook”? Part of the magicof Varvid’s offering is that you canexploit social media sites such asFacebook and YouTube by uploadingyour videos for viewing. Visitwww.varvid.com to learn more.

5. RPConnect.net. Long-time SMBcommunity member Dave Bainum fromthe Washington DC-area jumped on theResponse Point train early and wins my“Void Filler” title! Dave detected a needfor telephone system reporting.Specifically, RPConnect.Net is aRiteTech LLC project (Web-based SaaSapplication) which helps extend the

I

Make Babies!SMB Startups Save the Economy! by Harry Brelsford

The founders from Doyenz, Symform,Sharedband, and Varvid discuss their

respective ventures at a Seattle coffee shop in the funky Fremont neighborhood.

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functionality of the Microsoft ResponsePoint IP phone system. RPConnect.Netis the first SaaS expansion of RiteTech’score consulting business. AdditionalSaaS offerings are anticipated in thefuture, including possibly a futureVirtual Appliance (on-site) version ofRPConnect. Visit www.ritetech.net.

6. Pronto Marketing. Imagine out-sourcing your outbound marketing,such as e-mail and print newsletters, tofree you from the mundane productionsteps and allow you to sell more as anSMB consultant. It’s really the “highestand best use” paradigm concerningyour time management. ProntoMarketing “gets it,” and I recentlychatted with its founder Derek Brownwho was the worldwide WindowsSmall Business Server marketingmanager in the SBS 2003 timeframe.“Stepping off the Microsoft mothershipinto my own venture at the brink ofeconomic turbulence was disconcertingat times; however, in many ways, it’s feltlike a blessing, knowing that if we cansucceed in this climate our foundation isrock solid. It’s been inspiring to connectwith strong business leaders who aregrowing their businesses in tough times. Sharing in their passion andhaving their encouragement has made even the tough days full ofrewards. I never looked back!” Visitwww.prontomarketing.com.

7. Third Tier. If you’re in the “know,” thenyou will readily recognize these names.Amy Babinchak teamed with Eriq Nealeand later Chad Gross to create ThirdTier in the midst of this economicdownturn and in one of the hardest hitregions (Detroit area). Third Tierprovides advanced IT support servicesto professionals. It also supportsvendors in the small business spacelooking to assist their customers withadvanced implementation and supportservices. I interpret that to mean astartup such as Third Tier could helpother startups such as RPConnect withproduct support. Not that I’m trying tocreate an arranged marriage here, butthe example works, doesn’t it? Visitwww.thirdtier.net.

8. SMB Photo. I think most of us wantJeremiah Ilges’s job. With his Midwestmanaged services business thriving, hehas been freed up to pursue a startup,SMB Photo, that combines his hobbywith a commercial endeavor. SMBPhoto covers many trade show eventssuch as SMB Nation. It also offers aprofessional photo shoot service at anextremely reasonable price to SMBchannel partners to elevate their

professionalism with a photo portfolio.The idea is that you can have currentphotos and join the “flight to quality”with an update mug shot on YourWebsite, LinkedIn, Facebook, and yourprinted materials. And it’s much morethan a photo shoot. Jeremiah freelyspews invaluable social media andnetworking advice while getting you tocheese up for the camera! Visitwww.smbphoto.com.

9. Netology. One of us makes good!Long-time SBSer Lars Anderson iselevating his “A” game to monetizesome ideas in the small business space.When he reached out to me, notknowing he was writing this article, Iwas immediately impressed. Why?Because Lars lives on the East Coast ofthe US in Connecticut, a state wheremany Wall Street hedge fund managerslive. Lars’s home town of New Canaanhas been especially hard hit in thiseconomic downturn. So this is truly aheartwarming story of creating a newline of work with ideas spawned fromthe depths of a recession. His company,Netology, has created a homegrownSBS 2K to SBS 2K08 migrationapproach using native technologies.Visit www.netologyllc.com. By theway although Lars’s solution soundssimilar to Jeff Middleton’s SBS SwingMigration Kit, there are differences, andsince it is five years old, Jeff’s companyis well-established, not a startup. Visitwww.netologyllc.com.

10. Calyptix. Ben Yarbrough has amazingtiming (and I’m not talking about therecession). Calyptix hit the scene just asthe SBS 2008 product was deep intodevelopment and it became apparentthat a third-party firewall solution wasneeded. Its AE500 fits the exact need ofthe SBS marketplace at the exact timeit’s needed. But, more importantly, Benhas reached out to the SMB communityby sponsoring user group evenings andattending popular SMB events. Visitwww.calyptix.com.

11. Team 747. Located in the Bay Area,Team747 is focused on enabling itspartners to deliver remote desktopservices on our secure platform to“Simply get I.T. there.“ The InstantHelpremote application is the next generationSaaS offering with no hardware,software, or configuration required. Itcomes bundled with utilities that enablechannel partners to drive additionalremote service revenue opportunities.One example is rechargeable remotesupport by the minute, hour, or monthlyrecurring revenue, and more. Visitwww.team747.com.

12. SMB Phone. North to the future is themotto for my home state of Alaska andthis adage can be applied to twoCanadians who have a packagedoffering for the Response Point resellercommunity. SMB Phone offers smallbusiness turnkey telephone solutionsbased on Response Point for the end-user small business customer. Forexample, there is a “Premium 5”business line bundle that a channelpartner can resell and sits right in thesweet spot for Response Point. Learnmore at www.smbphone.com.

Best of the RestI know, I know. I am forgetting to cover

a few more startups here such as Untangle,CoreConnex, et al. So read my SMB Dudeblog at our SMB Nation site to keep up withmy research. That’s the beautiful thingabout our combined media approach: bothprint and blog. This allows article updates!

Plan B: Be the StartupBusiness Coach

Another SMB community citizen,Todd Colbeck, has started a new serviceinside Colbeck Consulting Services. Toddtrains folks to be business coaches. I sat inon his recent two-week intensive Webinar-based boot camp and was thoroughlyIMPRESSED! What I witnessed was anMBA-level course being delivered so thatwe “techies” can elevate up to beingTrusted Business Advisors and grow waybeyond the bits. Todd explained hissolution to me this way. “Business ownersneed new ideas to survive in a downeconomy, and the consultants in my groupare a great resource. Recently we haveprovided not only technical support but ahelpful psychological lift to get our clientsto remain optimistic in the currentenvironment.” Learn more atwww.ccgcoaching.com.

Plan C: Existing InnovationAs part of my research for this article, I

sat in on a Verizon concall to launch its

I recently had coffee with the founders ofTeam 747 on a visit to the Silicon Valley.

What is it about coffee shops and startups?Must be the caffeine!


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redesigned Small Business Center. This isprimarily a customer-facing hostedapplication service and keenly positionedfor the startup that would be attracted to anoff-premise technology suite. What Iespecially liked was here is a Fortune 500company that is innovating new smallbusiness solutions in the recession!

And then there’s Matthew Sutton atSeattle-based HyBlue. At its Queen Anneoffices in the early part of the decade,HyBlue was the original host for the PugetSound Small Business Server (PSSBS) usergroup created by SBS MVP Steven Banks.That’s true grassroots SMB communitysupport. HyBlue’s flagship networkmonitoring product is still popular in ourcommunity today. I recently received an e-mail from Matt announcing something“completely different” that taps into acountercyclical trend I highlighted in theGeekonomics cover story (SMB PC 1Q2009,Issue 3-4): SEX SELLS! Here is the pressrelease on his iBurlesque iPhoneapplication! iBurlesque Now showing onyour iPhone!

Remember those “floaty pens” with the hotgirls that took their clothes off when you tippedthe pen over? Your granddad or uncle probablyhad one and now you can show him the latestversion on your iPhone! We’ve updated thefloaty pen for the iPhone and featured stars fromthe neo-burlesque scene. Just select one of ourlovely performers, tip your phone to the right,and voila! Her outer vestments fade away before

your very eyes! With iBurlesque it’s easy to addnew stars to your iPhone in just a couple ofclicks. We’ve made it easier than ever to updateyour collection. And we’ll be adding morebeautiful performers in the days to come as wellas exciting new features to add even morerealism to their performance.

Visit www.hyblue.com (nice) andhttp://www.iburlesque.biz (naughty).

A Helping Hand!So how does the Big M fit into this

story? To be honest, I wasn’t sure when Istarted my research. Microsoft is now amature company, and I just didn’t see thestartup hook. But then I was reading mybeloved Wall Street Journal and found a storythat featured Dan’l Lewin, an executive atMicrosoft who oversees BizSparkhttp://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/pages/home.aspx). At that point, I had foundmy story hook! It turns out that BizSparkprovides free Microsoft software (fordevelopment and external web site andecommerce purposes) to privately-heldstartups nominated by the community(Microsoft Champs) that are three years ofage or less and have less than $1M UDSrevenue. I will cover this program muchmore in the 4Q2009 SMB PC magazine.Here is a short list of companies thatBizSpark is supporting and, ergo,supporting the “new economy.” • SynapticMash—SynapticMash is a

Seattle-based company that is creating a

collaborative solution for education thatunlocks the data educators need to betterfocus on the business of education.

• Verdiem—Seattle-based startup thatcreates green power solutions for PCs tocut overall business costs.

• Eduify—SV-based Eduify providesstudents with a social networkingplatform that allows them to researchand write papers, avoid plagiarism,search/find resources via mobilesphones, reach friends/share throughFacebook, and become more efficient atcompleting assignments using resourceson the Web.

• Storm Ideas—Storm Ideas (based inScotland) is using Microsoft Silverlight tocreate a rich client application wherepeople can collaborate on images, videos,docs, audio files, etc.

Conclusion: Create Your Future inthe New Economy

We’re all going to emerge from thisrecession older and wiser. Major forcesdriving the recovery will be small businessstartups that innovate us out of the financialdoldrums impacting world economies. Soplease support and honor the efforts of thestartups highlighted here. And maybe youshould take the plunge and try out yournew business idea in the free market. Asyou have read, the timing actually couldn’tbe better!

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Microsoft MVP SummitMarch 2009, Seattle, WA

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GEEKSPEAKby Harry Brelsford

s the salary survey profiled in thePerceptions column shows, themajority of us have over 15+ years

work experience in the IT industry, withmuch of it in the SMB space. You and Iboth know the “bits” of networkinfrastructure, but we’re slightlyperplexed by the social network world.This GeekSpeak column will make senseof one social networking area for you.Everyone talks “search engineoptimization” or SEO, but how many ofus really take the time to DO the SEOthang? I suspect, based on a recentexperiment I will share with you here, notenough folks really “DO IT!”

As part of our outreach efforts forSMB Nation Spring—I worked withseveral speakers on a coordinated blogeffort to better communicate our mission.Here is the GOOD NEWS: You canPARTICIPATE in this exercise in whatmight be your first SMB SEO effort.After you follow my steps and do thisonce, you can then take yourLEARNINGS from here and apply SEOtechniques IMMEDIATELY to your ownSMB consulting practice in two ways: toincrease your own visibility and perhapsto provide this service for your clients!

This is the procedure I highlyrecommend you complete (send me an e-mail with any questions). 1. Study my original blog post on

http://harrybrelsford.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/smbnationfall09/ to seewhat I have accomplished so you willhave the proper context.

2. Do a search in Google for TechnologyConferences (no quotes).

3. Do a blog post on TechnologyConferences.

a) It can be an open-ended discussionas to why you, as a technologyprofessional, feel continuingeducation via technologyconferences is important. Perhapsyou feel being a life learnerincludes attending in-personevents, online Webinars, usergroup meetings, etc.

b) Or it can be a review on any of thetechnology conferences orworkshops you have recentlyattended.

c) This is your post, not mine. So, beauthentic. Say what you want tosay. This is your chance to let loosewith what you really think.

4. Your blog should have the followingelements. Very Important!a) Use the term or keyword phrase

Technology Conferences in thetitle.

b) Use the term or keyword phraseTechnology Conferences in thebody of the blog post at least fourtimes but no more than eight times.

c) Link to my TechnologyConferences blog post:http://harrybrelsford.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/smbnationfall09/i) Talk about our blog post in

context on what you thoughtabout the message we aredelivering on technologyconferences. You might citeSMB Nation Fall as an exampleof a technology conference anda continuing educationopportunity.

ii) Capitalize on your own storieson how you think technology

conferences can help someoneelevate their professional life,become more professional,etc…

5. Link to at least two (2) page one(“Page 1”) sites from the aboveGoogle search on TechnologyConferences. You could include apage from Microsoft Windows Live,Yahoo, or Lycos as well. An exampleof a “Page 1” result when I searchedwas a Technology Maine eventcalendar that is great!a) No more than four links to the

Technology Conferences page onesearch results.

6. E-mail me your static blog post URLso I can update my original blog withyour blog entry (I will reference you).This cross-reference is a “good thing”in that we create a handshake andboth score “bonus points” with thesearch/indexing engines. Think of itas good for you, good for me. I can be reached on e-mail [email protected].

Here is what I know to be truehistorically about this exercise. Basic SEOtechniques time and some work and thatis spooky scary to most people. A eventspeaker with whom I went through thisexercise told me he teaches SEO conceptsto business customers but had neverdone a coordinated blog with ahandshake. Another speaker engaged inthis whole area for the first time and wasthrilled. The remaining 20 speakers in mysample group did nothing, provingthey’re good at talking but not doing. Solike the shoe company says, “JUST DO IT!”

ASMB CEO Does SEO!

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SMB Nation Fall Conference Grand Prize Winner!February 2009, Crested Butte, Colorado


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BUSINESSSPEAKby Harry Brelsford

his is the story about my own ERPepiphany I experienced over the pasttwo years. This article also explores

the ERP consulting possibilities for you, theSMB channel partner seeking to become atrusted business advisor.

Defining ERPTraditionally, ERP (which technically

stands for “enterprise resource planning”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning) is a company-widecomputer software system used to manageand coordinate all the resources,information, and functions for a businessfrom shared data stored. It is comprised ofmodules ranging from supply chainmanagement, financials, customerrelationship management, and workflow.The operative word is “enterprise,” and thebig question is whether the ERP concepteven applies to SMB. By the end of thisarticle, I will assert my argument that ERPhas a place in small business (mine inparticular) and that you can make a six-figure living ($$$$$$) as an ERP consultantin SMB.

The context of ERP in SMB and how itties into our overarching theme of being aTrusted Business Advisor is the underlyingreason I wrote this article. I define ERP asthat point at which the MCSE meets theMBA/CPA, and that is my current sermonto the masses about being conversant inBusinessSpeak. Nothing exemplifies thisbetter than ERP in the SMB space in myhumble opinion.

The PlayersWhen I started this article, I observed

a wide range of industry solutions, but Istruggled about Microsoft. It seemed itsERP messaging was really aimed at coremiddle markets or higher. But didMicrosoft have a “play” in the “S” of SMB?I posted this question up to Facebook,LinkedIn, and Twitter. I was surprised howmuch feedback I received in the first 30minutes of posting up. One notablecomment came from David Medd, VicePresident - Professional Solutions at FineSolutions, Inc. In a past life, David was onthe Worldwide Windows Small BusinessServer marketing team at MicrosoftRedmond, so he certainly “gets it” andeagerly shared that his firm isimplementing Microsoft ERP solutions forcompanies with as few as four employees.David shared, “Dynamics GP and AX are

great solutions for companies whohave outgrown Quickbooks andare looking for control,automation, and processefficiencies. Fine Solutions hasseveral SMB companies usingDynamics GP, including a not-for-profit medical facility in Portlandwith three accounting users; aSeattle-based, 15-employee, foodindustry startup; and a Spokane,WA, waste collection company.For service firms, such asengineers, accountants, architects,or consultants, Dynamics AX isusually the best Microsoft ERPoffering— enabling powerful projectfinancial management, employee resourceplanning and scheduling, and industry-specific invoicing and sub-contractormanagement functionality. Both havegreat interoperability with Office 2007 andSharePoint, enabling a simplified butpowerful way to build workflowautomation and powerful business-intelligence solutions.”

At SMB Nation, we use NetSuite tomanage everything we do. We’ve gonefrom shoebox accounting and fishbowlsfull of business cards to a lean, meanrecession-proof machine! I spend my timein the sale force management module, alsoknown as CRM. The operations staff playsin the accounting modules. Where ERPreally plays out is we have disciplinedworkflow and efficient operations. Oneexample concerns the traditional workflowassociated with book publishing. Whenyou purchase our Small Business Server 2008Blueprint book directly from us, your orderis automatically processed from theshopping cart to pulling a book frominventory to shipping the book. It’s scaryefficient. Because of NetSuite, I no longerhave chest pains. And some other industryplayers agree with me. Read on.

As you might know, we have a longrelationship with HP. So it was veryexciting to see an HP team with NetSuite inearly November 2008 enlist over 15,000 HPVARs to resell and support the cloud-basedNetSuite ERP software solution in the SMBspace. I will keep you posted on how thisinitiative plays out, because NetSuitehistorically has favored selling direct ratherthan aggressively using the channel.

Readers will recall that I featuredxTuple in the last issue of the magazine(Issue 3-4, 1Q2009) as an SMB community

member. Since that article was published, Ihave attended a detailed briefing on xTuplePostbooks Edition, which is pricedperfectly for small businesses: FREE! Thishosted, open-source ERP solution (which isalso available in Windows and Macversions) has been built on communitycollaboration for common features (see itsCommunity page at the xTuple site) andvia “sponsored development” for customfeatures. Here is how sponsoreddevelopment works. A customer engagesxTuple to customize a feature, for whichthe customer is billed. If this is somethingeveryone can use, the functionality is rolledout broadly. During my tour, I observedthat the CRM module, by xTuple’s ownadmission, wasn’t a threat toSaleforce.com. But its manufacturingmodule was extremely strong. The freeversion of PostBooks did not e-mail outalerts but the paid versions have thisfeature. Most importantly, xTuple ischannel-friendly and is actively seekingSMB channel partners.

You never know where a Googlesearch will lead you. In researching thisarticle, Google led me to Everest Software,an ERP solution that is strictly Microsoft-based and on-premise. In speaking withcompany cofounder Ali Jani, I learned thathe was a channel partner who served realcustomers (just like me) before foundingEverest Software. His ERP solution wasinspired by his consulting experiences,much like the way Arnie Bellini startedConnectWise (which I discuss in amoment). One nugget I mined from mytalk with Jani was his use of the term“business operating system.” He was incomplete alignment with my thinking thatan ERP system is really a merger ofbusiness consultants and geeks. That’s

T

To Be or Not to Be ERP!

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BUSINESSSPEAK

what a business operating system is. Janiconcluded by surfacing a “look in themirror” comment I was intrigued by. Heindicated that the majority of EverestSoftware’s ERP sales are direct. It is notchannel unfriendly. But Everest Softwarehas found it difficult to find qualified SMBchannel partners to fully support the multi-disciplinary aspects of an ERP system.Jani’s company ended up doing the heavylifting anyway. I understand what he issaying, and I countered that our guys areexcited about the margins on the sale of theERP software and, more importantly, the“Trusted Business Advisor” consultingopportunities that emerge from an ERPimplementation (such as structuring amarketing call-down program using theCRM module of the ERP system).

Further research revealed theQuickBooks Enterprise is beingconsidered the ERP solution for the “restof us” in the SMB space. Here is what Imean. Solutions like my NetSuiteimplementation are about 1 percent ofannual revenue. It is a hosted solution andwe pay a recurring fee for the ERPsolution each year. It’s not especiallycheap but the value received is so highthat I’m happy to pay it. But other smallbusinesses need a lower-cost ERP-typesolution from a mainstream vendor. EnterIntuit and its QuickBooks EnterpriseSuite. This is the next step for folks whohave outgrown QuickBooks itself andwant to pay as little as possible for acompatible solution from the samevendor. Long-time SBSer Ernest Cook(Better Idea Group) is actively ERPconsulting with QuickBooks Enterpriseand recently sent out an e-mail newsletterpromoting special pricing on this product.When I interviewed Andrew Abrams,Executive Director for Technology In ABox (Intuit’s First Solution Provider!), Iasked if an “SBSer” or SMB consultantcould enjoy a six-figure, white collarmanagement consulting practice with aniche of ERP in the SMB space. He repliedthat he and his colleagues already do sowith QuickBooks Enterprise. Abrams hasa thriving practice that has himimplementing ERP in small businessesnationwide. His frequent flyer programsalso attest to his success.

Other SolutionsSeattle-based Randy Cederblom

weighed in on the SMB ERP consultingdebate with some interesting insightsabout the small business arena. “Most ofmy SBS clients use Outlook, BCM, orACT,” Cederblom shared. “The larger SBSclients with, say, six or more sales folks

most often use LOB apps, usually SQL-based. My general opinion is that mostERP systems are too cumbersome for SMBclients. They track stuff that’s notbusiness-critical. They lack efficiency, sothey are abandoned or replaced by‘pockets’ of sales folks implementing theirown ACT or BCM. Most successful salesfolks are pretty sharp about what theyneed to know to sell and service theirclients. Often this is at odds with thebusiness managers who know only P&Land don’t understand the priorities ofhow to find and close a sale.”

What about some well-known ERP-like solutions right in our community, suchas Autotask and ConnectWise? I spokewith Bob Vogel at Autotask and HalEdwards at ConnectWise and concludedthat these amazingly powerful managedservices platforms, while acting like anERP system in many ways, are niched on

running an SMB consultancy. Thesesolutions are, to be blunt, not orientedtowards implementation inside a smallbusiness such as manufacturing.

A Final Thought!When I invested in NetSuite two years

ago and started the lengthy and expensiveprocess to get our act together (it took a lotof staff time, CEO time, etc.), my belief waswe could quickly grow to 5X revenue withthis amazing infrastructure and literallynot invest another dime. Then the greatrecession hit in late 2008, making 500percent growth look a wee bit suspect. Itwas frustrating to have ERP all in place justas the economy hiccupped. But then, overtime, I realized that the efficiency andeffectiveness of NetSuite probably savedmy company. ERP has allowed me tosurvive, and I’ll thrive another day.

Becoming an SMB ERP ConsultantOne of the first SBSers—Denver, Colorado, SBS user-group leader emeritus

Alan Shratter (Solutions, Inc.)—is exactly the kind of person I wrote this article for.He has a small SMB consultancy, holds the CPA title, and has both the business-side and techie-side down pat. I often speak with Alan from my mobile telephonewhen I’m out walking Astro, the beloved English Springer Spaniel mascot at SMBNation. Over the winter, Alan and I talked about next steps, and he expressed aninterest in being an ERP consultant in the SMB space where he could use all of histalents and make good coin. That led to this article asking the basic question: Canyou make it as an ERP consultant in SMB?

To answer that, I spoke with Todd Colbeck, principal at the ColbeckConsulting Group in Miami, Florida. His advice to Alan would be the following: 1) When you sell this product, you will probably need to get buy-in from all

stakeholders (marketing, sales, support, etc.). This might make for a long salesprocess.

2) This product would be good for companies with teams operatinginternationally (call center in India, sales in three to five different countries,outsourced marketing to a private firm, etc.)

3) This product will be a lot easier to sell with a low upfront cost and a monthlysubscription fee. Big-ticket items are going to be more challenging in thecurrent economy.

I think SBSers/SMB consultants would be great as a marketing affiliate/lead-generation source at first glance.

My own observation about helping Alan is this. His heart is in the right place,and he is sincere in his intentions. However, he has run into some barriers to entryalong the way. For example, NetSuite has an expensive price tag to become a“partner” that essentially entails a $7,500 USD outlay by Alan before he can learnthe product, make his first sale, etc. I have asked NetSuite to consider somethingakin to a Microsoft Action Pack ($299 per year) entry vehicle so Alan can at leastuse and learn the software. I have also asked NetSuite to create a “NorthwindTraders” sample database so Alan has a sample company to show off. In a recenttelephone call with a well-known sales kit marketing guru with the first name“Robin,” Alan and I were unable to show off NetSuite with sample data becauseI couldn’t divulge real SMB Nation financial data in such a call.

I will keep you posted on Alan’s progress to become an SMB ERP consultant!

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BASBiT’s SBS 2008 Build DayJanuary 2009, San Francisco, CA

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Robin Robin’s Technology Marketing Boot CampApril 2009, Nashville, TN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IT Business Owner From Ohio Wins New Jaguar And Spokesperson PositionFor Exceptional Growth In Sales And Profits In A Down Economy

Franklin, TN-April 7, 2009 – TechnologyMarketing Toolkit, Inc. – To a standingovation, Randy Hall, President of WorldlanTechnology, LLC accepted the keys to his newJaguar car and was declared Spokespersonand winner of the “Better Your Best”competition by Robin Robins, President ofTechnology Marketing Toolkit, Inc. forachieving exceptional growth in sales andprofits at the 2009 Marketing & MoneyMaking Boot Camp, held April 2 - 4 inNashville, Tennessee for IT business owners.

A distinguished gathering of the of thecountry’s top experts in the IT industry met atthis event to share best practices andrecession-proof marketing strategies for their technology businesses. The eventfeatured the members of Robin Robins’ Genius League Coaching Programcompeting for Spokesperson Position and the new car with show-and-tellmarketing strategies they’ve used to achieve an average increase of 209% in profits,50.6% increase in recurring revenue and 45.2% increase in new clients.

“I can’t say that I’m a natural salesperson or a smarter than my peers. Icertainly don’t live in a booming area and we have seen the negative impact thisdown economy has had on businesses. But the one advantage I have is a marketingsystem that works,” stated a proud Randy Hall. “I also have a strongdetermination to succeed, to help others as I do so, and to be an honest, caringperson, employer, father and husband. And when you have those fundamentals,you can do anything.”

“I’ve challenged my members to rise above the recession and do whatever ittakes to make 2009 their most profitable year ever and I have put my new Jaguaron the line to inspire their action,” Robin Robins says. “Choosing the winner wasa very difficult decision because all of the contestants had tremendous growth andsuccess over the last year. They are all winners.”

Randy Hall, President of WorldlanTechnology, LLC being handed the keys tohis new Jaguar by his marketing coach,Robin Robins, President of TechnologyMarketing Toolkit, Inc.

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by Harry Brelsford

PERCEPTIONS

3rd Annual SMB Salary Survey!ood news! We’re a successful andoptimistic lot. Choosing a careerpath as an SMB consultant and

channel partner has rewarded us in goodtimes and allowed us to survive andthrive in bad. We’re sleeping soundly atnight, masters of our own destiny asowners of our consultancies and notbeholden to a boss or layoff threat. It’s thebest of times amongst the worst of times,and you believe you’re going to getthrough this economic epoch.

Welcome to our third annual salarysurvey. Stick with me, as I truly believethe surprising results will daze andamaze you. This year we asked about allthat standard stuff—like education,experience, and income—that allows usto have year-over-year comparisons. Butwe have now added interesting questionsallowing you to determine who/what isHOT or NOT in the worlds of socialnetworking and blogging.

The 411 It’s an Attention Deficit Disorder

(ADD) world where folks likeinformation instantly. I’m not one tostand in the way of the social mega trend,so here you go—just the facts from oursalary survey followed by in-depthanalysis.

Who’s HOT and Who’s NOT!We added several new questions to

better understand you, —where you goand what you do. Along the way, we gotto know you better. You have a high needfor affiliation, with 58.8% of “you”belonging to a SBS or SMB IT Pro USERGROUP! Other notable affinity groupmentions included (in order of strengthand over 10%): • Robin Robin’s Marketing Groups• MSP University• SMB Technology Network (SMB TN)• Jeff Middleton’s SBS Swing

Kit/Groups• CompTIA• MSP Service Network• ASCII Group

Lagging in the single digits wereHTG Peer Group, IAMCP, ICCA,NASBA, and Culminis. Up in the blogsphereblogosphere, the topfive bloggers that you follow are: 1. Susan Bradley – SBSDIVA (50%)

2. The Official SBS Blog (42.2%)3. Karl Palachuk – Small Busisness

Thoughts (24%)4. You had me at EHLO (20.8%)5. Robin Robin’s Marketing Genius

(19.5%)

Note that even though my SMBDude blog pulled the highest number at52.6%, I’ve recused myself from this listbecause I conducted this poll. ( Whatwould you expect!). I was also sad to seethe MS Small Biz Blog from Eric Ligmanonly pull 16.2% of responses and notcrack the Top 5.

When it comes to informationhunger vis-à-vis the newsgroups, yougather your information from these topnewsgroup sites, listed in order ofstrength. • Microsoft SBS Technical Support

Newsgroups (official Microsoft) (36.1%)

• Yahoo! SBS Newsgroup (sbs2k) (25.7%)• Yahoo! Small Business IT Consultants

(smallbizIT) (25%)• Yahoo! MS Small Biz (mssmallbiz)

(22.9%)• Smallbizserver.net newsgroup forums

(22.2%)

With respect to social networking,the sites and tools you use are: • LinkedIn (75.4%)• Facekbook (64.5%)• Twitter (25.4%)

The magazines your read includeRedmond Channel Partner, VAR Business,CRN, ChannelPro SMB, SMB PC (that’sus!), TechNet, Windows IT Pro. Themagazines on this short list with thehighest read rate were Windows IT Pro(80.l3% open rate) and Redmond ChannelPartner magazine (77.6% of you whoreceive it actually read it). In the

G Core Data from Respondents • Have a four-year undergraduate degree• Have been in the IT industry for 15+ years• Have worked in the SMB segment for 9 to 12 years• Is located in the USA (83.5%) but could be in Canada, Ireland, Australia,

India, Germany, the Netherlands• Is self-employed as the owner of the a consulting entity (75.6%)• Is a one-person consulting entity (26%). Overall 63% of the respondents

worked in a consulting practice with five or fewer employees/co-workersor less.

• Serves 15 customers individually, – so a five-person SMB consulting entitywould have 75 customers.• The customer has, on average, 15 desktops but it seems like just about

everyone has the “one large customer” out there (even though the pollingdata didn’t pick this up well with the “mean” statistical measure).

• How did you make it? Compensation occurs in three ways: contractor,employee wages (W2 in the USA), or owner draw, and we found it was acombination of the three. The bulk (60.8%) of the compensation reported byrespondent’s compensation came in the form of a paycheck as an employeeof his/her consulting entity.

•The most common response for overall consulting revenue at the company-wide level was $1M to $3M at 17.5% of the answers. But there was really noconsensus, as revenue was spread out over numerous response categories.You should read our blog to see the full results.

• Now the GOOD STUFF. How much DID YOU MAKE? There are twoanswers here. • The most common answer at 12.1% was $101,000 to $125,000 USD. • But the weighted average was approximately $80,000 USD for the third

year in a row. Let’s face it—the SMB consultant has a take -home pay of$80K USD and he/she = HAPPY ABOUT IT! It’s a good life for manycompared to the humble beginnings many respondents had.

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PERCEPTIONS

electronic realm, the Windows Secrets e-mail newsletter was the most mentionedas read.

More HOW DO YOU MAKEYOUR MONEY?!

Let me ask the following question.Does the term “Value-aAdded Reseller”(VAR) still make any sense or is that anold- school phrase? I suggest we look foranother term to define us, such as like“Trusted Business Advisor” because ofthe following data.

What percentage of your revenue comesfrom product sales versus services? Product sales (26.7%)Services (74.64%)

And talk about headroom. When asked aquestion about managed services as yourrevenue source, you replied with thefollowing eye-opener (short answer =very little). 0 to 10 percent 32.3%10 to 20 percent 18.3%20 to 30 percent 10.2%30 to 40 percent 9.7%40 to 50 percent 4.8%50 to 60 percent 3.2%60 to 70 percent 9.7%70 to 80 percent 6.5%Above 80 percent 5.4%

The above shocking numbers wouldsuggest good days ahead idea for Arnie(ConnectWise) and Bob (Autotask) andother players like Tigerpaw!

The Best for Last!Alrighty, I’m not going to hold out

any longer! This is a serious STOP THEPRESS and run RUN A SPECIALEDITION moment. Approximately 75%of the respondents expect their

compensation to remain the same (that’s31% of the lot) or INCREASE in 2009.That is amazing optimism, and I share itwith you. The chart reveals the fullresponse set.

When asked to find words todescribe your feelings about the future(related to the economic cycle, yourbusiness model, etc.), here are selectedphrases that cover the full spectrum: Wecontinue to grow; Smooth seas ahead!;Holding strong; poised for growth; Needs tobe stronger with more business action;“LessFewer HW/SW Sales, more ManagedServices!;” So far, not much effect; Sucks bigtime!; Ducky…

Correlations to the 2009 SMBInsight Report

I have read with interest Microsoft’srecent SMB-related survey and selectedseveral items that relate to our own salarysurvey. Note there is a slight difference intiming and methodology. Our salarysurvey had over 225 respondents(worldwide SMB Nation tribal members)in late April 2009; the Microsoft 2009 SMBInsight Report is based on 603 SmallBusiness Specialist (SBSC) interviews inthe US, the UK, Canada, France, Brazil,and India in February 2009.

Highlights fromthe 2009 SMB InsightReport include: • SMB IT Spending:

55% of SBSCsforecast the same orhigher spendingamong SMBs.

• Reducing staff and ITcosts are the mostoften cited survivaltechnique cited bySMBs customers toSBSC consultants.The “relationship” ofthe SBSC to thecustomer will involveassisting in findingthese cost reductionsin 2009.

• Backup, IT consolida-tion, virtualization,mobile solutions, andsecurity lead theopportunities in 2009.

• Unified communi-cations (UC) have thehighest level ofdemand amongproductivity tools.VoIP ME! A best

practice would be to visit our SMBVoIP site, Telephonation(www.telephonation.com) whichalready has more traffic than ourtraditional SMB Nation web site(www.smbnation.com).

SummaryHere’s what the numbers don’tnecessarily tell you. Maybe you couldhave made more money if you were alawyer or doctor. But you LIKE whatyou do and that’s why you do it. I hearthis time and time again with in myHallway 101 conversations with SMBconsultants. Most of you wouldn’t tradeyour day job for nay — except morefishing time. It’s not just the money, butyou derive significant happiness andprofessional satisfaction from what youdo. It’s called community, and we’re allin this together. So here’s a toast tohappiness, health, and wealth! Thiscolumn spoke directly towards thewealth component— and you’re on yourown for the other two (happiness andhealth). Cheers!

Drop by over 50%Drop between 26% and 49%

Drop by 21% to 25%Drop by 16% to 20%Drop by 11% to 15%Drop by 6% to 10%Drop by 1% to 5%

EVENIncrease by 1% to 5%

Increase by 6% to 10%Increase by 11% to 15%Increase by 16% to 20%Increase by 21% to 25%Increase by 26% to 49%

Increase by over 50%

0.5%1.9%6.3%1.9%4.3%5.8%3.8%

31.7%

11.5%13.5%7.7%1.4%4.8%1.0%3.8%

ResponsePercent

For the 2009 tax year, please predict how yourindividual compensation will be impacted

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MORE!Seen on the SMB Scene!


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1. MacWorld “town hall meeting” (Jan 2009)2. Seen at MacWorld!3. Meeting with Brian Livingston at Windows Secrets4. Microsoft’s Puget Sound Local Engagement Team

(LET) meeting (Jan 2009)5. Seen at BASBiTS (San Francisco SMB consultants)

meeting (Feb 2009)6. Visiting LinkedIn!7. Over 30 people attended the BASBiTS meeting8. BASBiTS group leaders fight over SBS 2008 book!9. Matt Wass De Czege (Cisco) visits the SMB Nation

offices on Bainbridge Island!10. The Cisco UC 500 SMB Telephony11. SMB Nation Holiday Party (Dec 2008)

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ITEXPO Telephony ConferenceJanuary 2009, Miami, FL


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Microsoft South Africa Hosts SMB Nation!March 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

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TECHNOLOGY WATCH

TotalTel rolls out Response Pointinfomercial and recruits partners

TotalTel® aC o v i s t aCommunicationscompany is aninnovative, full-service, facilities-

based provider of traditional and nextgeneration communication services andproducts, serving the business market forover 25 years. The company is a CLEC in48 states, as well as a certified Microsoft®Response Point ™ ITSP and Syspine®distribution partner offering a one-stopshop Response Point solution.

In preparation for their infomercialairing in 80+ markets throughout theU.S., the company is seeking qualifiedResponse Point VARs for installation andsupport. If you have the rightqualifications, please contact us atwww.TotalTel.com or 1-800-817-4000 tolearn more about this opportunity.

Microsoft announces FIVE newexams for Small Business

Specialists!Moving forward, all new SBSC partnersmust employ or contract at least oneperson by location who has passed 1 ofthe following 5 eligible technical exams:• 70-653 TS: Windows Small Business

Server 2008, Configuring NEW!• 70-654 TS: Windows Essential Business

Server 2008, Configuring NEW!• 70-631 TS: Windows SharePoint

Services 3.0, Configuring• 70-236 TS: Exchange Server 2007,

Configuring• 70-655 TS: Windows Vista, Pre-

Installing for OEMs NEW!

What if I have a previous exam? Ifyou’ve passed either the 70-282 TS:Designing, Deploying, and Managing aNetwork Solution for Small- andMedium-Sized Business (most likely) or74-134 TS: Preinstalling MicrosoftProducts and Technologies for yourdesignation, your exam credentials mustbe updated by October 31, 2010. Learnmore at www.microsoft.com/learning.

Heaps of D&H news!D&H is very busy rightnow expanding its reachand creating opportuni-ties for SMB consultants.Here’s news!

• D&H Shows: Mid-Atlantic SummerTechnology Show (June 2nd, Hershey,PA), New England Technology Show(August, 11th, Boston, MA), CanadaTechnology Show (September 10th,Toronto, ON), Mid-Atlantic FallTechnology Show (October 6th,Hershey, PA).

• D&H issues $38M in credit forpartners. The distributor isstrengthening its commitment to SMBresellers to help them in this economy,including the addition of $38M incredit through the new BusinessAssurance program.

• Guidance for VARs to captureeconomic stimulus business! D&H isassembling resources and programs tohelp resellers take advantage ofbusiness opportunities generated bythe new administration’s EconomicStimulus Plan, a.k.a. the AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act of2009. Offerings will include a D&H TVwebisode exploring the plan, D&HSpecialists to help develop individualmarket solutions, and CreditSpecialists to help facilitate new bids.

• Go Green! D&H has implemented anew “green” web tool to helpcustomers identify ecologicallyconservative products when they’researching on www.dandh.com.

Learn more at www.dandh.com.

AVG Release Internet SecuritySBS Edition 8.0

AVG reported therelease of its SBS2008-compliantsolution in early

March. The AVG solution is targeted tosmall businesses with a single-server,such as SBS 2008. AVG is a long-timemember of the SMB Nation tribe and hasa deep understanding of this “space.”

EMC’s Iomega and SMB NASI recently visited withthe SMB group at EMCjust as it was on thecusp of releasing a newSMB NAS product. Ican now let the cat out

of the bag. Check out the StorCenter ix2and the StorCenter Pro ix4-100 NASproducts that are VMware ReadyCertified. Pricing starts just under $300.Visit www.iomega.com.

WEBCASTS!• May 28th, 10:00-11:30AM “Tiered

Storage in the Cloud – How to apply thelatest in Online Backup Strategies”Cloud Storage is more complex then youmight think - backup / restore and nowarchive with tiered storage will alwaysbe the prime users. Learn how VARs,MSPs and trusted advisors createrevenue opportunities with cloud-basedonline data protection services includingthe new tiered storage services. Learnhow tiered storage addresses the latestcompliance regulations to create long-term relationships and multi-yearannuity revenue streams for yourbusiness. Storage Guardian Inc. will takeyou through the best practices to managedata through its lifecycle – fromoperationally-critical thru to stagnantthru to destruction. With their tieredstorage services the transition throughthe lifecycle stages are easily managed.Review how archive storage differs frombackup storage yet is easilyimplemented as part of StorageGuardian’s data protection services.Complete the webinar with the strategicreview of enterprise-grade cloud storageservices versus consumer-grade andwhy enterprise-grade is your true future.

• June 10th 11:00AM-12:30PM “AreHosted Applications Right For YourSMB Customers?” There are alternativesto on-premise server solutions in themarket. These on-line applications arecreating opportunities for you, the SMBchannel partner, and increasingproductivity for your customers. Soattend this webinar hosted by GoogleApps to answer the all importantquestion: are hosted applications rightfor your SMB customers?

To sign-up for these webcasts, please visitwww.smbnation.com and look underEvents!

Applause!I would like to thank you for contributing to thegrowth of my business! We have recentlymerged with another company whose owner Imet at SMB Nation 2006. This has propelled usinto the next phase of our business growth.Thank you for that!Rene Sloos,VP Solutions, BulletProof Infotechwww.bulletproofIT.ca

Article continues at our BLOG atwww.smbnation.com


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TS2NAMIby Charles Van Heusen

n April 1st, Microsoft announcedthe newest server solution to jointhe Windows Server family,

Windows 2008 Foundation Server. Thepremise behind this new offering is toprovide the budget conscious smallbusinesses with an entry level serversolution that provides them with file andprint sharing, remote access, and securityfeatures at an affordable price.

While Microsoft offers the WindowsSmall Business Server (all-in-one)solution that incorporates Exchange andSQL for messaging and database needs,Windows 2008 Foundation server istargeted as a general purpose server forcompanies with up to 15 users and will beoffered at a substantially lower pricepoint than Small Business Server.

This server is based upon WindowsServer 2008 Standard edition, but hassome key differences I want to point out.• X64 Bit Processor Support Only• Up to 8 GB Memory Supported• 1 Socket Support Only• No Virtualization / Hyper-V Support• No Core Server Support• 15 User Limitation

While we have the 15 user limitation,the nice part is there are no WindowsCALs needed for the connection to theserver. The only time you’ll need topurchase CALs is when you implementTerminal Services on the server. TerminalServices Gateway will support a total of50 connections across the 15 users. If youare not implementing Terminal Services,you still have the two Remote DesktopAdministration connections to supporttheir system under your managedservices contracts. The server has fullActive Directory support allowing you tosecure your customers environmentwhile providing the

If you are wondering where to buy it,Windows 2008 Foundation Server is anOEM only offering. Dell, HP, and IBM arealready working on offerings and weshould have ship dates available soon.It’s also coming down through theSystem Builder channel, so the white boxproviders can create affordable solutionsfor their customers that prefer to workwith their local partners.

During the first 6 months ofavailability, Microsoft will take a portion

of the initial sales from the FoundationServer and contribute it to two non-profits, Teelcentre.org and TechSoup.

If you’d like to learn more aboutWindows Foundation Server 2008, pleasevisit • http://www.microsoft.com/

windowsserver2008/en/us/foundation.aspx

• Windows Server Foundation AcademyLive:https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc

• Windows Server division blog:http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/default.aspx

To learn more about the non-profitorganizations please visitTelecentre.org –http://www.telecentre.org andTechsoup: http://www.techsoup.org

O

Windows 2008 Foundation ServerEmpowering the Budget Conscious Small Business

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smb partner community magazine - 2009 q2

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