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This site is my way to share my views and general business and IT information with you about Microsoft, IT solutions for ISVs, technologists and businesses, large and small.  

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  • Not sure about the value of partner - here is a good list of reasons

    I was asked to record a little video as to why people should join the partner programme, especially with regard to selling to small businesses. It is worth looking at the video if you are not sure of the value around the levels. However, one nice thing about the site is the list of benefits you get - are you making use of all of them yet? http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/programme/registered/default.aspx?page=overview These include: Hands-On Labs Online Classroom training Quarterly not-for-distribution software* Partner Marketing Centre access Project Guides Business-critical phone support Microsoft Managed Newsgroups Partner Solution Profiler Then, if you join the SBSC programme you also get: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/sbsc/ A Small Business Specialist badge so you can differentiate yourself in a busy market Connection with customers looking for IT suppliers in your area Access to our pilot of free pre-sales technical support Customisable sales and marketing collateral aligned with Microsoft marketing...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Mar 17 2006

  • Freezing in Bristol

    Yesterday I spent a couple of hours with the Bristol Partner Group (a Partner Group is a User Group, expect all it's members are partners). It was a great time listening to peoples needs and offering information from Microsoft. I have posted a note to the forum http://uksbsguy.com/forums/thread/102.aspx with all the details. It has also raised some great questions along the way that have been posted to the SBS and training areas. I have created a training forum found at http://uksbsguy.com/forums/21/ShowForum.aspx where you can choose to get e-mails when anything changes and I will post training information as I find it for you. ttfn David P.S. Why freezing in Bristol... well the reception was very warming, but once i left I found myself spending 90 minutes on a freezing cold platform waiting for a train heading Reading way.
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Mar 17 2006

  • CRM V3.0 Demo tools (inc VPC)

    I have posted details in the forums, but there are a great set of tools to help you learn, use and sell MS CRM V3.0. This information was provided by Dan Best at the Bristol Partner Group ... good on ya Dan . About the only bad thing is that I was not aware of it until Dan told me. Anyway, go to the forum posting for more information, but the basic link is http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a8edfc7b-01d8-4500-845b-01370d4eed21&DisplayLang=en and the forum to discuss these can be found at http://uksbsguy.com/forums/thread/140.aspx ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Mar 19 2006
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  • Site up and down - the moral of the story is to not do config when you are tired

    Sometimes it is possible to do some really, really stupid things. I thought I would share it with you all as 1) you may have noticed a little less availability to the site and 2) this is just to prove that I am human too What did I do, well, I was playing with ISA 2004 on the SBS system that this site runs on and changing the rules. It was late at night and my timetable has been busy to say the least recently, so I decided to fiddle with http headers in SBS. The problem was that I changed the headers to be blocked, rather than the headers to use, so the site was passing all content for uksbsguy.com through, but blocking any headers from that site .. major badness ANyway, this is fixed, when looking at it in the cold light of day, and you should see the site be 100% available again. Oh, now where did I put my halo..... ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Mar 21 2006

  • Vista and Office roadmap changes

    Hi, many of you may have seen me present Vista and Office at recent events and I thought it was only fair that I updated you on the changes that have been annoucned over the past few days. Two press releases have been made, both confirming the ship and launch plans for the products, which now falls before and after January. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/mar06/03-24OfficeTimingPR.mspx covers the Office plan and annoucnes that the product with RTM in October and a release to Software Assurance customers will happen pre-Christmas and an aligned launch with Vista will happend in January. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/mar06/03-21WindowsVistaDeliveryPR.mspx states pretty much the same, with Software Assurance customers getting access pre-Christmas and the launch (obviously as it is joint), in January. This is being described in the press releases as a business and consumer launch, but since many small business customers do not have Software Assurance, they will be in the January group...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Mar 24 2006

  • Security Discussion

    While many people poo-poo the site, have a look at the get safe online site – it does do the job that people are asking for. John and Peter raised some interesting points. Some customers just do not believe that security is a threat they have to pay attention to, or that it requires real management to fix. This is something we can start to work towards. We do have materials on bCentral.co.uk around security which is key for business and obviously the www.microsoft.com/security newsletters to our partners. I was also asked “how long should I wait before I apply a patch”. This is always a difficult question in the real world, but you basically have to weigh between – what is the impact if I don’t apply the patch and what is the worst case if I do. On the “If I do not” front, then the system could be compromised, data lost or the server turned into a bot. If it is really nasty, it could also gather information from the employees potentially impacting both the business and it’s staff personally. On the flip site,...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Mar 30 2006

  • Video's everywhere

    Hello, I have started added video links into the site - have a look under http://uksbsguy.com/files , but until I do so, you might also want to have a look at the following items on the Microsoft Partner blog site ( http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog ) http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo01-gettingemailanywhere.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo03-realtimecommunications.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo04-datavisualisation.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo05-portals.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo06-electronicforms.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo08a-businesssolutions.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo08b-businesssolutions.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo08c-businesssolutions.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo11-crm.wvx http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/demo13-enterpriseprojectmanagement.wvx ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Mar 31 2006

  • Off topic- another feature played with in Vista

    Hello again everyone, I have been playing with a new feature in Vista . It is the the ability to dictate directly into the operating system or application, so for example this blog was dictated using a the headset and Windows Vista speech recognition of my UK accent. While it can be frustrating while windows lands my voice one benefit at least is that I no longer have to spell check what type type is this is automatically performed by the voice recognition technology. It can even be set to use my local language so words which would normally be spelt in the American way such as a magazine are now starting the English way. While this technology is not knew I had spent many hours in the past training this sort of behaviour into applications before where is now it is taken over a short amount of time to get it right. The process of correcting its mistakes is also very nice as is the way in which you can now move around other applications including Internet explorer by showing that numbers for all of the places where...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Apr 4 2006

  • Microsoft makes Virtual Server Free and buys Pro-Clarity

    Well folks, I could not tell you this was coming (and only knew about the price change in Virtual Server), but it is quite a day for news. VS becoming free means that all you who wanted to look at it for Swing Migrations, or small projects can now do so, although check the requirements for licesnes inside the VMs. Anyway, the two News items are: April 3, 2006 • Microsoft Agrees to Acquire ProClarity, Enhancing Business Intelligence Offering Leader in advanced analytics adds to Microsoft’s comprehensive BI capabilities. • Q&A: Bringing the Benefits of Virtualization Technology to the Mainstream Microsoft delivers Linux support and makes Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 available to customers at no charge as part of its ongoing effort to radically simplify IT management. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Apr 4 2006

  • So what did Microsoft ever do for me - or latest offers and help with licensing?

    One of the things that I am often hearing is how Microsoft could do more for opur partners - and I don't disagree, but in many cases the things I am asked for are already available. One of the goals of SBSC is to enable me to spend my time with better quality partners, and for Microsoft to direct customers to those quality partners. There are lots of other benefits and purposes too, such as providing focused support and offers, listening to your needs and delivering on them etc. Two things that people have asked me for recently are: Help understanding what "offers" Microsoft has running at the moment - check out http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/sales_and_marketing/promotions/default.aspx?page=latest for a full list Help me configure against my license needs -See the license configurator - http://members.microsoft.com/partner/uk/sales_and_marketing/gearup/ One nice feature of the configurator is that you can compare various license types. We are also running a couple of campaigns at the moment, but the one I...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Apr 9 2006

  • Thinking about SLAs to improve your business, or better documentation or swinging?

    We are priviledged to have some of the SBS GREATs speaking over the next 3 nights on these subjects and more and if you wanted to join in, now is a great time to "come on over" to the Partner Groups. Details of the events can be found at http://www.sbsbpi.co.uk and you will find people speaking in Dublin (Jeff Middleton on Swing Migration), London tonight (Karl and Matt on documentation and SLAs), Birmingham on Tuesday (Karl, Jeff (I think) and Matt on documentation, swing migration and SLAs) and then in Thames Valley on Wednesday with Karl and Matt again. On the subject of SLAs, I have posted a short piece in the forum at http://uksbsguy.com/forums/thread/258.aspx for people to expand the discussion around. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Apr 10 2006

  • Are your SBS customers wanting to move off SBS to bigger things?

    I often tell people about organisations that have outgrown their SBS system. Many people are not aware that the answer to this problem is the Transition Pack. For those who are, they often worry about "what is involved" and "how long will it take". Believe it or not, I have not used the transition pack yet, so while my copy is on order, I thought that I would share this resource to help you understand more. It covers everything from licensing, to documentation through to process. http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2006/01/12/417350.aspx Let me know what you think David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Apr 13 2006

  • Cool backup e-mail when it has succeeded & tape changing scripts

    Hi guys, I just saw this and decided it is so awesome (as someone told me this one featured paid for an alternative backup product). Put simply, Marina Roos has documented a 2 minute process to add e-mail alerts when backups succeed. The details can be found at http://www.smallbizserver.net/Default.aspx?tabid=266&articleType=ArticleView&articleId=143 At the same time, I was asked in the forums about compression of tapes and I found Sean Daniels blog, which had a auto tape changing scripts in it. The article can be found at http://seanda.blogspot.com/2004/10/sbs-2003-backup-hack_05.html enjoy the new week ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Apr 24 2006
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  • Ever wanted a "Microsoft" show that your customers could look at on how to use a server

    This is just a very quick one. I found this interesting little tool on the web which is almost customer safe, but explains the value of a server. Download, customise the powerpoints and use when ever you are at an exhibition etc. This is the " Information Worker’s Guide to the Windows SBS Computer Network " and according to the site performs the following: Through a series of interlinked PowerPoint shows or "modules," the "Information Worker's Guide to the Windows SBS Computer Network" provides users with a high-level overview of the Windows SBS network. As they progress through the modules, users learn how Windows SBS can help them keep company data secure, improve personal and team productivity, and communicate more effectively with customers and co-workers. Along the way, they are introduced to Windows SBS features and functionality and to the basic scenarios of working remotely and staying connected. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d566b19a-63c9-48d4-8add-ed7f99c9024c&displaylang...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Apr 21 2006

  • MS-CRM and Mappoint for your customer map needs, of course it works with SBS

    I promised it a while ago, but it is finally here. Jedi Master Simon Hutson has finally documented the quick process of getting Mappoint services and MS-CRM working together. All the details including a downlaod are located in his blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/ukcrm/archive/2006/05/04/590006.aspx ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, May 5 2006
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  • Microsoft CRM V3 on SBS 2003 Livemeeting presentation from "An Hour with Dave" for SBSC members

    Hi, SBSC members get a special ability to request livemeetings on any topic they want. This months was on MS-CRM. I provided an overview and then details as to how to join the partner programme, get training and further information. Given the fact that as a MS partner you can get discount off the price of the software when you have passed your exams, this can be an important source of income or differentiation for you. The presentation can be found at http://uksbsguy.com/files/445/download.aspx and I will post the URL for the recording in a day or two. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, May 17 2006
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  • New Microsoft web site design tool – Expression Web Designer

    Microsoft is launching a number of products over the next two years, which means a number of products coming into beta. Many of these cans be used by skilled small business IT consultants to build better solutions for customers. One such tool is the Expression Web Designer. It is designed to be highly accurate to online standards, ensuring greater compliance with a variety of browsers. It also makes extensive use of CSS to ensure a greater standard across sites. Finally, providing access to data and enabling data manipulation tasks through the browser is a key capability. To see more and downloads the product, go to http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/default.mspx and watch the videos and start playing today. Ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, May 18 2006
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  • getting 8 people to service 30,000 parnters is nothing compared to getting <1000 partners to service 4.1M busineses - that is the reality for UK SBSC members

    My boss, Steve Clayton recently noted how hard the job that the team I am part of has. We are responsible for working with, understanding and helping all UK partners, irrespective of size. To this end, he as written an excellent article " 30k divided by 8 just doesn't work ". This got me thinking, the ratio we have here is 1:3750 (PTS to Partners), but in the small business space where we have less than 1000 in the UK, to the 4.1M UK small businesses, we start to see a ratio of twice that at the moment, so while we feel pain, it really highlights just how difficult it is in the partner market. At the same time, it shows that for each partner, working together in community is very sensible as the number of times you are likely to compete with a fellow partner is a rounding error on a percentage. To this end, Susanne Dansey wrote an excellent posting http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/7 discussing the community and this was followed up by http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/8 and then http://www.uksmbgirl...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, May 23 2006

  • Vista beta 2 is now available – what can it do for Small Businesses

    If you get TechNet or MSDN , you have access to Beta 2 of Windows Vista now. If you don’t, then I am afraid you will have to wait a little bit longer. To find out when you can download if you do not have access, go to http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/get_it.mspx to pre-register for the Community Tech Preview. The official Microsoft page at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/forbiz/smallbiz.mspx for information as to why it is applicable for small businesses is a little thin today. However, I have been talking to small businesses and small business partners for a while and the 3 hot topics on Vista appear to be: Make me safer Make it easier to do what I want to do Make my PC more reliable Depending on your point of view, these are either really simple, or really complex, but in terms of Vista, this is how I think it breaks down. There are obviously thousands of Vista features, but these too me start to make it a no-brainer Make me safer Better security features (admin users and virtualization...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, May 25 2006

  • Office 2007 beta 2 is now downloadable – you can play with it online or download it

    Hi there, this is just a very quick post to say that Office 2007 beta 2 is available. For more info on how to play with Office, go to http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview - to understand how to get ready for the online test drive, go to http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx?showIntro=n and if you want to download or order CD’s/DVDs now, go to http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/getthebeta.mspx?showIntro=n . Small Business Information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/smallbusiness/highlights.mspx and this is actually a very good quality set of information. Thinking specifically about the desktop and areas where small business owners can immediately see value, I see this coming in the following areas: Manage information better How many people are going to have less information next year Reduce the duplication Be more productive Loose the fear factor Stop using Office the 1996 way Look professional Make your documents look several notches above everyone elses...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, May 25 2006
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  • How to feedback on Office Beta 2007 easily with the smiley and sad faces

    This is such a simple concept and such a great way to offer feedback. Simply press the faces if you are happy or sad with Office and a screenshot and your comments. How easy is that? You can download the tool or read more at http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/05/26/607768.aspx . If you want a deeper discussion, you can find out more at http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx Ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Jun 2 2006

  • Tell us how the Technology Assessment Toolkit helps you and earn cash

    You can get the Technology Toolkit from http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/sales_and_marketing/partner_initiatives/rightserver/default.aspx?page=sell which provides information on this tool and how it can help you spot, sell and close deals. If the toolkit is very useful then SBSC Members can also report their success to Microsoft and earn money to spend in the MS Merchandise store. To get details on the offer (which is available all over the world) can be found at https://www.mssboffers.com/Default.aspx ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Jun 2 2006

  • Windows Server 2003 and Virtual Server 2005 R2 - learn more with PTS-TV and Dave Sayers talking Virtualisation

    If you laughed at my exploits on PTS-TV - and even if you did not, go to PTS-TV and see DAve Sayers talk about Virtualisation. http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/pts-tv ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Jun 13 2006

  • More on how to debug a crash (BSOD) from the dump file, or want some amazing Windows diagnostic and support tools

    I was not at Tech-Ed this year, but people like Susan Bradley and Vlad Mazek were. While they blogged on lots of interesting subjects, one that I thought I would bring up would be the how to examine a crash dump file. This was presented by Mark Russinovich who runs the amazing www.sysinternals.com site. To see the Tech-Ed presentation, go to http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032298075&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Jun 21 2006

  • Site look and feel updated

    I found some amazing site themes at http://japan.communityserver.info/ and have updated the default site with this. If you wish to change it back, click http://uksbsguy.com/user/EditProfile.aspx and select the site theme of "default for CS2.0". You might also notice the Posts on this site Zoom Cloud showing you a cloud of the keywords mentioned on the site. See the site in it's full glory at http://uksbsguy.com ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Jun 23 2006
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