I saw this internally and thought I had better share via the blog - a number of ask the expert technical and sales events!

Are you ready for Windows 7?

The industry is preparing itself for one of the most exciting launches  - Windows 7.  The press is already buzzing with the launch of Windows 7 – are you ready?

“…it starts up relatively quickly, drivers already exist to make to make peripherals such as scanners and printers work with it, and it does clever things that XP, the version of Windows most people still use, just doesn’t”  The Daily Telegraph – 8^th January 2009

To ensure our partners have the opportunity to understand more about Windows 7 advantages, benefits and features, we have launched a monthly series of Windows 7 Live Meeting events.  There will be two strands to this  Ask the Expert (technical) and Sales Success for Windows 7 (sales).    The Live Meeting sessions will  focus on different topics during each session and will last 30 minutes and will contain 15 minutes on “how to” information and a question and answer session for you to pose your questions to our two Windows 7 experts – Jamie Burgess & Laurence Painell.  To register your attendance on the Live Meetings then please click on the relevant link below.

Ask the Expert

·  Technical focused 15 min session designed to tackle key technical issues that partners and customers may be experiencing with Windows 7 and these will be based on questions appearing in Windows 7 technical blogs and TechNet.  These sessions are designed to be interactive, consumable and focused

· Aimed at technical staff and consultants within resellers, system builders and system integrators

· Hosted by Jamie Burgess – Partner Technology Specialist

Date	Time	Ask The Expert
Wednesday 15th April 2009	16.00- 16.45	Getting Applications Compatible with Windows 7
Wednesday 20th May 2009	16.00-16.45	Technical help for OEM & System Builders
Wednesday 17th June 2009	16.00-16.45	Technical training and help for partners
Wednesday 15th July 2009	16.00-16.45	Getting Direct Access & Branch Caching up and running

Sales Success

· Sales focused training to target the questions partners are hearing – how do you sell now when customers are waiting for the next version?  How do you articulate the reasons for customers to migrate to Windows 7 and how does that relate to XP and Vista?

· Aimed at sales staff within resellers, system builders and system integrators

· Hosted by Laurence Painell – Windows 7 Marketing Manager

Date	Time	Sales Success
Thursday 16th April 2009	15.30-16.30	What to sell when customers are holding back (No Better Time)
Thursday 21st May 2009	15.30-16.30	Value propositions of Windows 7 – Small to Mid market
Thursday 18th June 2009	15.30-16.30	Value propositions of Windows 7 – Mid Market (MDOP)
Thursday 16th July 2009	15.30-16.30	Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 – building the compelling remote office & branch office solutions
Thursday 20th August 2009	15.30-16.30	Getting market ready – sales & marketing materials for partners
Thursday 17th September 2009	15.30 - 16.30	Getting your sales force ready & your customers engaged

thanks

David