In The Know - Charles Van Heusen's Weblog

ASCII and you shall receive - Free Admission to the Reseller Success Summit

I know, I know... lame title, but I couldn't resist it.   Any ways back to the news..  The ASCII group is hosting a 6 city road show feature my favorite Microsoft product, RESPONSE POINT along with session on Software + Services and many other great topics.  It's worth while to show up especially at the February 19th event in Las Angeles because you'll likely get to hear about some exciting news on the Response Point front.

NEW Event > Reseller Success Summit ’09 - Their Secrets, Your Success!

Microsoft Partners Receive A Free VIP All Access Pass! Microsoft partners have an opportunity to learn best strategies directly from other successful partners on what is working in today’s market. This single day event not only provides ways to quickly build partnerships with your peers, but showcases real life success stories from other solution providers that are making strides in today’s economy.

"The event hits home because as a solution provider I do not want to waste any time chasing things that may not work.” Leo Bletnitsky, President, Desktop Valet

Your Event Pass includes:

- Proven strategies in a single-day workshop setting

- Straight talk from successful resellers that are beating the odds

- Focus on VoIP, Managed Services, Storage, Service Automation

- Microsoft partners receive special event access for free (value $850)

- Content, networking, meals, drinks all included with access

- Event stops include Los Angeles, Wash. DC, Chicago, New York, Boston, Tampa

Register at an event close to you!

• Los Angeles, Thursday, February 19th
• Washington D.C., Thursday, April 23rd
• Chicago, Thursday, June 25th
• New York/New Jersey, Thursday, July 30th
• Tampa, Thursday, September 24th
• Boston, Thursday, October 8^th

It’s easy, register and select ‘Guest of Microsoft’ to get your pass today.

Virtualization solutions for Microsoft Small Business Server Essentials Business Server

If you are new to the world of virtualization and are wondering if its the right solution for your customers, you should download this free E-Book from Microsoft on Virtualization.  This is a great read for newcomers to the world of virtualization.  By the way, the only thing new to "Virtualization" is you, virtualization has been around a while, the market is just taking advantage of the technology enhancements that makes it more affordable for the masses.

The book covers the 5 different types of virtualization as well as the business benefits of moving to a virtualization solution.   All in all, its a great read and you can't beat the price.  FREE!

Thanks to Keith Combs and Tim Barrett for their blogs posts to help spread the word on this great book.

No More CALs!! - Windows Server 2008 Licensing Changes

A number of trends, including consolidation and high availability, are driving more deployments and evaluations of Hyper-V. Based on feedback from our customers, we are updating our licensing policies to address these new scenarios enabled by virtualization.

Currently, if your physical server environment is running Windows Server 2003, matching version CALs are required for all users (i.e. Windows Server 2003 CALs). However, if you move your physical Windows Server 2003 Operating System Environments (OSE) to run as virtual machines hosted by Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008 CALs are required. This is per the current use rights. With the change in our licensing policy, Windows Server 2008 CALs are no longer required if you are using Windows Server 2008 solely as a virtualization host. The only exception to this is if you are running Windows Server 2008 virtual machines, which would require Windows Server 2008 CALs.

To help demonstrate the effect of the licensing change, I have included three scenarios below and the resulting requirements.

Scenario 1 – Customer deploying WS08 Workloads

· There is no change in licensing or cal requirements

· This is irrespective of whether the customer deploys WS08 workloads (other than Hyper-v) in a physical or virtual environment

Scenario 2 – Customer only deploys WS08 Hyper-V to consolidate WS03

· WS08 CAL are no longer required

· Customer will still need CALs for the appropriate WS edition (WS03 is this example).

Scenario 3 – Customer deploys WS08 Hyper-V to consolidate WS03 but also has WS08 deployments

· WS08 CAL requirements will apply for WS08 deployment

· A CAL for a particular version of Windows Server allows the user/device to access all instances of that version of Windows Server (and prior versions) across the organization.

We think this change will help ease the adoption of virtualization technology for our customers. If you would like more in depth information on this change, please read the updated Volume Licensing Brief.

Microsoft Response Point - Syspine Sales Promotion !!!!

GET 2 FREE 310M IP PHONES WITH EVERY SYSPINE Base unit ORDERED!   Check out the flyer below and see how you get 2ea. IP 310M Syspine IP Phones with each DOS-A50 (4 or 8 line) base unit order.  The Microsoft RP system is truly hot, and the Syspine Q1 ’09 promo is for every order you place (through participating distributors).

Every Order from Jan. – Mar ’09 gets this deal.  Use it to raise your margins, stock phones, give better deals to clients to close business….what ever you like. 

Simple, instant gratification….the phones are added to every order before your PO ships.  No qualifying rebates submittals or forms.  Order a base unit with the phones you need for the deal, and the 2 extra phones are added …FREE!

Behind the Scenes: EBS 2008 Migration and Planning Preparations Overview w/ Nick King

As my final installment of the 3 part interview series with Nick King, we discussed the planning and migration processes for customers coming from Windows Small Business Server environment, Windows Server environments well as a "Greenfield" environment where the EBS servers would be the first servers on the network.  I felt that this was the most important of all three interviews because you have to go through this process in order to install the EBS servers.

After you listen to the interview, you'll want to download the Windows Essential Business Server Preparation and Planning Guide as well as the Windows Essential Business Server Preparation and Planning Wizard so you can walk through it on your network to determine if your ready for an EBS Deployment.   It's  a great way to become familiar with the tools and to identify any outstanding issues on your network that might interfere with a migration.

If the Video Playback window does not appear below, you will need to install Microsoft Silverlight.

Windows Server 2008 R2 and Beyond!

What a great week, Beta's are flying off the shelves with Windows 7 Client and Windows Server 2008 R2!   The Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta is available for public download (here).  Windows Server 2008 really seemed to hit the mark and I'm excited to see how we've made improvements on a product that was already awesome. 

While you are waiting for the download to complete, I suggest you spend some time reviewing the Windows 7 Readiness Kit so you can get the most of your training and self testing as well as know how to discuss it with customers prior to the products release.    You can access the Readiness Kit (here).

With all of these announcements are you wondering when we might see the products hit the shelves, the roadmap below is the closest I can get you while we are this early in the beta process.   As more people download the products, test it, and provide feedback, we'll be able to determine where we are at and what needs to be accomplished before we get closer to an RTM product.  Frankly, I still think it it WAY TOO EARLY to mention Windows Server 7 (WIndows Server 2008 R2) to customers.  As you can clearly see in the roadmap below, we are shooting for 2010 for its release and Windows Server 2008 SP1 is ROCK Solid.    Granted, I am looking forward to trying out Hyper-V 2.0, as well as seeing how we take advantage of multicore mulitprocessor systems in my testing.

I can understand your interests in the Windows 7 desktop, I am just as excited about it as you are.  Partners with a MSDN or TechNet subscription can download Windows 7 Beta now. All other partners can download Windows 7 Beta starting January 9, 2009 at 12:00 P.M. Pacific Time.

Download

15% Discounts available on SBS 2008 Standard edition starting January 12th!

Get it while is HOT!   Discounts on Office Professional Plus 2007, SBS 2008 standard Edition, Vista Business, and SQL are available today.  Keep in mind the ones for Office, Vista, and SQL expire January 31st so take advantage of it while you can.  The SBS 2008 offer starts January 12th and runs through March 31st so you have time to work that into your upcoming sales discussions.

Contact your Microsoft Authorized Distributor or Reseller for pricing.

Terms and Conditions apply. Visit www.microsoftincentives.com for details.

Are you ready for a No Nonsense, No Marketing Fluff down and dirty understanding of Microsoft Licensing?

If you are, then you need to attend the upcoming 5W50 Webcast being lead by SBSCer, Tim Carney  and our very own "Licensing King", Eric Ligman.  During the webcast Eric and Tim will cover a variety of topics including:

What are the SBS 2008 downgrade rights? How long can I downgrade for? Wait, can I downgrade?

 

If you'd like to sign up for this webcast (register here) or read more about it and other webcasts go to the 5W50 website. 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Small Business Specialist,Licensing

Get a Tan and get Certified for Microsoft Response Point in Miami

Attention Gulf Coast Partners, if you are interested in becoming a Response Point Specialist, here is a great opportunity for you to attend the training and a great conference all at once.

At the upcoming IT Expo East trade show in Miami Beach, Feb. 2 - 4, 2009 we will be hosting with our partners a 2 day Response Point Solution Seminar.

There is no cost for this event. Content covered includes technical discussions with the Microsoft Response Point Development team; OEM technical and architecture discussions; VAR 'Best Practices' presentations, and ITSP 'Best Practicies' presentations. Finally there will be two panel discussions with our OEM & Peripheral partners (Aastra, Clear One, D-Link, Syspine, Quintum, Sangoma) as well as ITSP Partner (Bandwidth.com, Cbeyond, NGT, Packet8, SMB Phone and others). Please visit the IT Expo East links above for more information and registration. Again, note that there is no charge for this two day Response Point solution seminar.