DavidOverton.com
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

  • Getting Windows Mobile V5.0 working with SBS 2003

    OK, so I did not realise we had actually written this up, but at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=62797 is the document you need to help you do this. One quick point to make, with Windows Mobile 5.0 you can no longer turn off Certificate Checking, so you will need to buy a certificate that matches one of the roots on the phone - and this list can be changed by each carrier, so do your homework!! Windows Mobile V5 also has the always-up-to-date functionality that people often ask for, so this is just another reason to sell these solutions. Just to add a bit more spice, I also run ALK's Co-Pilot GPS routing tool on my phone - something the "other" devices are not really good at :-) ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Mar 13 2006
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  • eCommerce in Wales

    Hi, I will be presenting at an event in Wales on the 4th April to a number of eCommerce advisors. Is there any special message you would want me to give? The Opportunity Wales programme has delivered over 9,000 eCommerce Review meetings with SMEs in Wales. Outline Programme Schedule 9:00 * 9:30 Registration and Refreshments 9:30 -9:35 Welcome and Introduction 9:35 * 10:40 Session 1 (Includes 10-15 minutes for Q&A interaction in presentation) Microsoft Strategic Update How software will be delivered as a service and the impact this will have on computer hardware, software, devices, upgrades, bandwidth requirements, customisation and configuration, eCommerce integration and the consumer and business user. 10:40 -11:00 Break and Refreshments 11:00 * 12:15 Session 2 (Includes 10-15 minutes for Q&A interaction) Windows Live and Office Live What are these services and offerings and how will these offerings help your business clients. Security and privacy issues and solutions. 5-10 clever things you should know...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Mar 13 2006

  • 10 tips on how you and your customers can easily market their business

    Hi, so one of the often asked questions is "How do I take my business to market without spending a huge amount". While I don't have all the answers, this question is often asked and I have seen answers on both www.bCentral.co.uk - THE UK destination for Small Businesses, but I also saw this article on the US MS site - http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/marketing/customer_service_acquisition/10_low_cost_ways_to_market_your_business.mspx?xid=c0007 - it has the top ten tips that we recommendations and by simply going through the guide and asking your customer "Would you consider doing this", you can start to get the grey matter going. In fact though, don't ask the question above, ask this one - it becomes easier to clear the fog around the benefit of technology "What would be the impact on your business if you did X?" - and try to get that impact down to a financial statement - this is your budget :-) Of note, the Marketing pages on bCentral are not all about product and can be found at http://www.bcentral...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Mar 12 2006

  • I hate doing things that you ask for, but then ignore, while the successes are very sweet indeed

    Hello, time for a bit of a rant. I really enjoy trying to please this community and doing the things you ask for. People often spend more time telling me what we should be doing rather than what is good or great about what I/we do already. So, a couple of things have come up recently, and while we are trying to make them happen, the take-up has been low and it makes we wonder if perhaps we should stop. Brave talk, but perhaps we need to ask the question "are you really, really, really sure you want this?" a bit more before we try to please . Here are a few of the requests that when we try to do things I don't see movement on - I would love to hear if they are plain wrong, delivered in the wrong way, missing a crucial element etc: Technical chat - we have a live meeting booked where I will answer a bunch of "why don't you", or "how can I" type questions. Information can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4622546 - if you want me to discuss certain technology areas, please sign-up and send the question...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Mar 12 2006

  • New Ultra-mobile PC also know as Project Origami

    Hi, this is not necessarily a small business only tool, but it is a computing device that has me excited at a personal level. It is a small PC, about the size of a book. It looks cool, runs Windows and Vista in the future and uses input devices such as your finger. For more information you can go to: http://www.origamiproject.com http://www.microsoft.com/umpc http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/mar06/03-09Mobile.mspx http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=169962 http://www.intel.com/design/mobile/platform/umpc.htm ttfn - as soon as these actually ship I will be buying one with my own money - a big commitment frome me & my wife I can tell you. Oh, did I mention the price point - $599 - $999.. sweeeet ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Mar 9 2006

  • Why become a SBSC Premium partner and how to do it.

    So, you have heard of SBSC, you have probably joined the programme and now you are beginning to hear about the Premium partners. Why do SBSC members become premium partners, especially since there is not always the external recognition around this? 1st off, ask the members of your user group who are premium why they do it. The 1st thing I notice is that many small business partners ask for help in the sales and marketing area. SBSC definately delivers here - the one day course can be an eye opener for opportunities on improving profitability or opening up new service areas. This increases as additional content is made available to you through the process to help with CRM and other areas and the list will continue. Then there is marketing support and telephone pre-sales technical support (T-PTS) - all designed to get other people running doing things you don't have time for, Want someone to hunt down the answer to a technical question - get the T-PTS to do it for you. Want some campaing help or assistance, look...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Mar 8 2006

  • Help me shape the site by telling me what you want

    Hi folks, while I can build this site by my self, I want at least the desire for what if should hold to be by the people for the people. To this end, I have posted a question in the SBSC forum asking for feedback and asking for people to vote in a poll. To get direction to the poll, please go to http://uksbsguy.com/forums/47/ShowThread.aspx and vote (and post) suggestions. The current plan is to try to deliver: Pointers to technology information Pointers to small business information Pointers to user groups A forum for discussion Answers to questions Information about interesting things that are happening that I feel might be of use tit-bits of information that I find interesting, but might be a little off-topic thanks David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Mar 6 2006
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  • Quick note on CRM migration tools

    Hi there, this is just a quick not to say that MS have published a migration tool for MS CRM - more details and link in the forums - http://www.uksbsguy.com/forums/default.aspx . These tools cover two scenarios - Outlook Business Contact Manager and "everything else" :-) ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Mar 6 2006
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  • Do you sell SBS to UK charities - we can help

    I LOVE working with charities in the UK, so much so that I am the treasurer for one in the UK – if anyone wants to give funds or assistance to the Farnborough and District Samaritans (you know, the people you call when you are feeling very low or suicidal) let me know. Anyway, we would love to help other charities, so here is how we can work together. Here is the deal – if you: Send me details on the charity, including their charity number Tell me why they want the SBS server (a paragraph, not war and peace) Promise that we can talk to them within 6 months of it being put in to see how it has helped Then I will try to do you a deal – this has been very successful in the past. Mail me at [email protected]
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sat, Mar 4 2006

  • How the IDC whitepapers can help you choose a new business area - or Turning presentations into information for those who were "not there"

    Hi, So the previous blog entry talked about the IDC information for all those at the Harry B event - Lets explain how they can help you change your business if you were not there. Have you ever wanted to know what people are doing to be successful in a particular area of business that you might want to expand into? I know that I always like to be early into a new segment, but not the 1 st . The IDC whitepapers give you this information on the following technologies and areas – have a look and tell me what you think: Delivering Server Solutions with SBS 2003 From 2005 through 2009, more than one million servers are expected to be installed in small businesses worldwide.* This market opportunity is unmatched by any other segment and is a key opportunity for Microsoft partners. Read this article to get specific guidelines, best practices, and tools for building a business around first-server deployments, entry-level installations, enhanced deployments, and migration projects. *Source: IDC Delivering Maintenance and...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sat, Mar 4 2006

  • IDC and Toolkit links now in the SBSC forum section

    I did promise to post the IDC whitepapers URL and find the Toolkit URL. They are both currently in the global SBS site, but will be moving to the UK SBSC site soon. I have posted the links in tge SBSC forum so people can share experiences on them. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Mar 3 2006
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  • David Overton's technical presentations now in the "My Files" section

    So the Harry B event for me was another great time to chat to people and update everyone on the direction Microsoft was headed. The core elements for me were: 1) Microsoft understands that you have a growing and capable business model today 2) We believe that using our new technologies over the next 18 months there is even more opportunities for partners and customers alike 3) We also believe that making use of the technologies already deployed in customers is a great way to expand your business. This includes Windows Sharepoint Services and the 30 templates available for these – I will post more on these on Monday – MS CRM, Office on the desktop and so on 4) You need to understand our roadmap to choose when to jump on and why The technologies covered in the presentations were: SBS 2003 R2 MS CRM V3 Windows Vista Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 Microsoft Small Business Accounting SBS Longhorn – note this is x64 only, but many servers are already running x64 chips, even though they are running 32-bit...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Mar 3 2006

  • Presentations and "other stuff" coming later

    At the two Community roadshows I promised content on this site - it is coming. I have been disconnected for a little while, but will spend this afternoon updating information. If there is anything in particular you want to discussed, either join and add to the forums, or put in a comment ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Mar 3 2006
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  • Harry Brelsford Visit

    Wow That was a fast and furious two days. Harry B, world famous SBSser has been over presenting information on the secrets of his success and talking about how to get the 70-282 exam under your belt. I have been interspersing his presentations with technology road maps. It has been fun and the feedback has been clear. Keep the technology information coming, but also keep the business info flowing along with all the SBSC benefits. For those who need to know, SBSC can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/sbsc Ttfn David uk sbs
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Mar 2 2006
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