THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA" : SBS User Group info

Microsoft Updates SBS Partners on SBS 2003 R2, Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office system

bradley — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 03:56:00 GMT

Microsoft Updates SBS Partners on SBS 2003 R2, Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office system

Overview:

Expect standing room only for these partner networking events. Microsoft is excited to share product and solution information with SMB partners to help them grow their revenue.

The Microsoft SBS Development team along with the Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office system have announced plans to visit 13 U.S. cities this September as part of the 3rd U.S. SBS partner group tour. The goal of this tour is to take the Small Business partners and Microsoft team members to the next level of partnership and create even greater success with these Microsoft products. In an effort to better connect with the SBS partners, Microsoft team members will be speakers at each of 13 partner group meetings.

As an attendee at this free event, a few of the things you will learn first-hand:

The benefits and opportunities of SBS 2003 R2

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Version 3

Windows Vista and 2007 Office system features that you need to know about

How partners are making money with the Technical Assessment Toolkit ver 2.0

Windows Mobile 5.0 Integration with SBS 2003

Learn about the free customizable tools from Microsoft for demand generation

Microsoft will also be soliciting your feedback

Locations:

Redmond, WA 9/6/2006

Portland, OR 9/11/2006

Sacramento, CA 9/12/2006

San Diego, CA 9/13/2006

Irvine, CA 9/14/2006

New Albany, IN 9/18/2006

Southfield, MI 9/19/2006

Indianapolis, IL 9/20/2006

Aurora, CO 9/21/2006

Waltham, MA 9/25/2006

New York, NY 9/26/2006

Charlotte, NC 9/27/2006

Tampa, FL 9/28/2006

SMBNation brochure is on the web..

bradley — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 06:23:00 GMT

The SMBnation brochure is up on the web and looks like they are starting to fill out the roster of speakers.... I'll not be a speaker this year so I'll have fun just attending the event. For those that are SBS group members... make sure you check with your SBS group for a discount code.

You can also check out the webcasts on http://www.smbnation.tv/.

SMBTN Fresno meeting tonight, Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

bradley — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 13:39:00 GMT

TOPICS:
Group policy
WPC recap (pricing of R2)
Recap of Patch Tuesday (IIS patch)

Pizza/softdrinks at 6:30 p.m.
1991 N. Gateway
Fresno 93727

RSVP any special pizza requests to sbradcpa@pacbell.net

SMBTN Fresno group meeting

bradley — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 04:02:00 GMT

Thursday June 29th, the Tidbits from Teched will be presented at 6:30 p.m. at 1991 N. Gateway. Pizza and drinks will be served.

You can RSVP by sending an email to Sbradcpa-at-pacbell.net

See you there!

We'll be handing out User Group DVDs and Technology Assessment cdroms.

Vista's UAC

bradley — Fri, 19 May 2006 03:34:00 GMT

Tonight for the SMBTN Fresno group we had a demo on Vista... well ...sorta a demo on Vista...we talked about the different versions.. we talked about the Bitlocker full disk encryption and what not.. but what I really and truly wanted to fully demo was UAC... and well.. I sorta UAC'd myself a smidge too much. You see I attempted this weekend to take the Vista that wasn't domain joined and do a /connectcomputer on it... and well it sorta got /_sbs_netsetup_stuck instead. First off to even get it to got to the proper web page I had to RunAs Admin in IE to get it to allow the site.. and I put in the info and it got ready to go to launch to _sbs_netsetup...and now Vista when I boot it up.. gets sort of 'stuck'... as it's needing admin access and the password of _sbs_netsetup to run.. and well. uh... I sorta don't know that password. So then when I was fully enabling it to be RWW-able I realized in the current build that I had to make it a member of Remote Users Group.. sort of how we policy enable on the server. So I realized that the machine wasn't fully domain joined in the "user account" section.. and now it won't see any other admin user other than _sbs_netsetup... and well. um... I don't know what that password is....

So it was a really good demonstration of how "not" to do UAC. And I discussed that it really was something for the home user crowd and that even the folks in Microsoftland acknowledge that it has a lot of back and forth discussion on it. I really wanted to demo/show the event logs in Vista..because to me they really are the big change that I see affecting me and my role.... so I told the gang ... and honestly we need to revisit Vista on a later build...that we'd go over auditing and stuff... but there (hopefully) was enough for everyone to realize that ... well as one person said it.... it's a Macintosh......

..but I still says the UAC..where it flips to a darkened background.... freaks me out and gives me a heart attack when it does it...

SMBTN Fresno - Meeting on Vista

bradley — Thu, 18 May 2006 03:41:00 GMT

The next SMBTN Fresno meeting on the topic of Vista will be held at 1991 North Gateway,

RSVP to sbradcpa@pacbell.net and give your preference of Pizza please!

1. What is it?

2. How many versions are there?

3. What's Bitlocker?

4. What's the new features?

5. When is it coming out?

...and more...

Finding a SBSer

bradley — Mon, 15 May 2006 19:17:00 GMT

Two times in recent days I've been pinged about 'finding' an SBSer. DIYers needed a smidge more help from someone in their area and everyone they called didn't 'get' SBS.

There's a couple of ways to 'find an SBSer'

Find an SBSCer and ask that firm how many SBS installs they have done
Find an SBSgroup and you'll immediately find someone who's plugged into the community

Okay Ms. Smarty pants ... I bet you are saying.. exactly how "do" I find an SBSCer? Piece of cake for those in the USA...other countries will have this as well is my understanding.. so you go to the Small Business site and you click in that upper right corner and see what SBSCer is near you. What's a SBSCer? A firm that has a person that is a small business specialist. Now.. I would argue this isn't quite enough... you also need to ask him or her how many SBS boxes they've installed.

Next.. find someone who has connected with a SBSgroup and attend a meeting or contact the leader of the group. Someone who takes an evening out of their day to ensure they are hooking into peer help and resources ...means that person is plugged into the community and someone you want to hook up with yourself. Check out the groups at www.sbsgroups.com for locations near you.

At last resort....you can ping me too... via the contact box...but truly there are SBSers out there that would love to hear from you.

Next month's SMBTN Fresno

bradley — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 07:22:00 GMT

Will be on the topic of Vista

and the month after that on Exchange....

For anyone in the area.. just send an email to smbtn-fresno-subscribe@yahoogroups.com if you are interested in getting the announcements.

So you want to be a SBSC?

bradley — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 21:59:00 GMT

David asks... "I have just started my own consulting business focusing on small businesses in the engineering and manufacturing verticle. I have taken the courses for the MCSA and was planning to take the exams shortly. I may go for the Small Business Specialist first now that I have seen the Summit's webcast. I have just received a small dell server with SBS 2003 on it and have already reloaded it once. FUN - It is soooo cool what they have done with this product! OK, the reason for contacting you. What books do you recommend for the Small Business Specialist Exam and any others that would round out a best practices for the product? Do you have a book(s)? Thanks for any help you can provide!"

The book I'd recommend is Harry and Beatrice's 70-282 guide.

As far as other resources... I'd like to first point you to this resource on the Web which has Microsoft's official literature...and then let me point you to a prior blog post about books on SBS. I've done chapters in two books...and I'm reviewing another by Charlie Russel that will be specifically on the SBS 2003 R2 version.

...the key to passing the SBSC exam is to "think Microsoft". Meaning that make sure you know the minimum specs of SBS and think it terms of "okay this isn't how I'd do this in the real world ...but I'll bet that's the one that is close to the real world".

As far as best practices... just come out to the communities or find a SBS group near you and ask... but maybe we need to think about a SBS setup wiki that wouldn't just go into "how do I set up the server" but would help in setting up all the OTHER stuff... login scripts, antivirus setups, all the other 'tweaking' we do after the server is set up... something to consider.. a community setup guide maybe... anyone else think that's a good idea?

SMBTN-Fresno meeting on Thursday

bradley — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 05:44:00 GMT

Just a reminder that there will be a meeting on Thursday at the Fresno Airport Holiday Inn for the Fresno SMBTN chapter.

The topic this month will be on antivirus and spam and we will discuss what vars and vaps like and dislike about Antivirus (and their vendors and their reseller programs)

Just a friendly piece of advice after the McAfee kills Excel ...and Oracle...and just about everything else.....

Don't "identify viruses" and "delete"

"Quarantine" them. Then when your A/V vendor decides to build a bad dat file... you won't end up with a screwed up system that you'll need them to build a tool to fix you back up.

Where: Fresno Airport Holiday Inn

When: Thurday 3/16/2006

What time: 6:30 p.m. to whenever

Giveaways: 70-282 Prep Exam guide books

SMBTN-Fresno WSUSup?

bradley — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 06:25:00 GMT

SMBTN-Fresno

WSUSup?

Meeting on February 16th

Bring your laptop as we're going to be discussing the nuances of 
Microsoft Update, WSUS and Patch Mangement in General.  We'll discuss 
the issues of that week's patch Tuesday, discuss tools and resources for 
investigating issues, the patch testing process, how you can set up 
patch test networks, Virtualization and more.  The discussion will also 
be briefly touching on the concept of "managed services" and patch 
management and the impact on your engagement letters.

When:  February 16
Time:  6:30 p.m
Where:  Airport Holiday Inn - Yosemite room
Clinton and Gateway by the Airport
Light refreshments served

RSVP to Susan at sbradcpa@pacbell.net (or this blog post)



Tentative future topic:
March -- AntiVirus/Spyware Roundup
April - SBSC .. Small Business Specialist
May --Managed Services and tools/tricks/markeplace

So how can small firms share?

bradley — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 03:57:00 GMT

Greg asks about the concept of partner groups in a follow up to my post about the first Fresno meeting... and there's a couple of ground rules about the Partner group that was discussed at the meeting I didn't blog about.

First off, let me state again, that each of us have niches. You may think that you are a generalist, but I'll bet you are not. I for one do a lot more in computer forensics, accounting deployments. Another person last night was a wiz bang at access databases. Another at training. So already while each person had installed SBS networks, each one had a niche from the get go.

Then the gentlemen's agreement of no poaching and vacation help. The 'no poaching' rule is that when a person wants to take a vacation, they they just cover for that person, but will not take the client nor leave business cards behind. There's a gentlemen's (or woman's) agreement.

Okay Greg? Question for ya...when's the last time you had a vacation? Can you go on vacation and not panic that something will happen?

Next, about your clients. If you are going to be in here for the long haul, you won't be a 'generalist' that your client is willing to replace you with, you will be the "Outsourced Chief Technology Officer" of that firm. You will be a trusted advisor. The person who guide them in their technology decisions and choices. Part of the reason that I'm so jazzed about the "Small Business Specialist" credential is that I envision it growing to a place where small firms will understand that that credential means that this person is this trusted advisor.

As far as revenue sharing, sometimes you do get in a pinch and need an extra pair of hands so some of the groups make a business rule of whatever that person bills, the person doing the job for that other person gets 70%, the person who has the client gets 30%.

And sometimes you don't have the competition you think you do.....you know I work for an accounting firm and my sister used to work for another accounting firm a few years' back and we never competed with one another. Because she tended to specialize in a certain type of clients... and I tended to specialize in another. So while Greg may be right that he's a generalist in deployment... I'll betcha he's got a few 'types' of clients that are in a certain industry. I'll bet there's something that he's got a smidge of a niche about.

So Greg? It's the tech knowledge sharing, it's the business practices sharing, it's the war stories sharing [like I acknowledged that Attorneys are at least less techonology savvy than Accountants] that you can get in these meetings. What you don't get is direct competition. There is more than enough firms that need servers to go around.

So Greg... to support SBS you have to be a generalist...but I'll bet you've got a niche hiding in you somewhere....

SMBTN Fresno first meeting

bradley — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 20:44:00 GMT

The first meeting of the SMBTN Fresno Partner group met last night at the Fresno Airport Holiday Inn.

Graciously making the long trip up from San Diego was Roger Otterson, the smaller trip up from Bakersfield was Ed Roberts, and the trip down from San Francisco was Steve Lai. As Steve said, probably the first time the California SBS MVPs have been in the same room in the state of California [we tend to get together in Redmond for some unknown reason].

The night's meeting was organizational where we've decided on a meeting night of a Thursday [most likely the Thursday after patch Tuesday] and we all said, no to a Monday meeting and NEVER meet on the holiest of evenings, "Patch Tuesday". Besides, meeting on a post Patch Tuesday evening means that we will have the recap from "Dead body Wednesday".

The concept of a partner group, where there is enough business in the small business marketplace, that we all have niches and specialities, that we all gain from our shared peer group was discussed.

A survey of future topics was gathered with top vote getters being WSUS [hey, as the patch Queen did you expect that I wouldn't put that on the list?], Small Business Specialist, and the Managed Service Model being top vote getters. (that reminds me I need to blog on some of my thoughts on Managed Service Model being a true 'Secure network' model ...but that's another blog post....)

Not quite as many people showed up as I would have liked...but it was a start, and I got several RSVP cancellations saying that business got in the way... dang... that annoying business stuff....

Next meeting is tentatively set for February 16th, 2006 starting at 6:30 p.m. and I will confirm the date and time as soon as I can.

You in Fresno and want to join a SMB Partner group?

bradley — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 06:26:00 GMT

Join us January 23rd for the first meeting of the Fresno Branch of the 
SMB Technology Network.

SMBTN [www.smbtn.org] is a growing group of computer consultants and 
professionals in California and we are starting a Partner group in the 
Fresno Area.

Our first meeting will be January 23rd, at the Fresno Airport Holiday 
Inn starting at 6 p.m. [refreshments and finger food provided free of 
charge]

The meeting is expected to be in the Yosemite room but please check the 
board for SMBTN-Fresno upon arrival.  The hotel is located across from 
the Airport in Fresno.
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/direction/fatap

Come and be ready to win books [SBS unleashed, SBS Admin Guide] and 
other giveaways and learn how joining a SMB Partner group can help you 
in your business.

There is no fee to join the Fresno group and to join in the peer sharing.

As a consultant or reseller in the SMB market space, you know how 
difficult it can be to grow your business.  The SMBTN offers three major 
components to help you:

Education through monthly meetings, In the Field seminars, and our 
annual conference, helping you stay abreast of the latest SMB trends and 
technologies.

Collaboration with vendors and manufacturers, including special programs 
and hands-on training.

Networking with peers and at client facing events, helping you to expand 
your business.

Please RSVP to Susan Bradley in Fresno, California to her 
email address at sbradcpa@pacbell.net

If you are interested in this group, please RSVP to Susan or join this 
Yahoolistserve.  If you are not interested, but know of someone that 
might be, please feel free to pass along this invite.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SMBTNFresno/

It is a small world, isn't it?

bradley — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 01:03:00 GMT

Warning -- listening to the music at the beginning of this SBS Podcast may get it stuck in your brain....

I was listening to the SBS Podcast, who's theme is about community and I just loved some of the comments in the show this week about how we all win when we share.

Now I do need to clear up a few things... First off... I'm Lutheran and not Catholic....so .. you can probably skip the ring kissing and just tell folks to give me a hug instead Now how I ended up not liking Coffee and addicted to Mountain Dew AND raised in the Lutheran church.... I have no idea..... google or msnsearch on the long standing relationship between Lutherans and Coffee...anyway.....and secondly... I'm just one person and one view. You really want to hear and listen to a lot of people and not just me. And you know what really rocks about the SBS world? Is when we realize that we can sooooooo help each other when we reach out to one another.

I'm going to a user group meeting tomorrow night in Fresno. Now its' not a SBS meeting, it's a IT techy one, so I won't get all that good SBS business processes stuff like Susanne and Amy talk about, but it's still a mini bit of my geek get togethers where I don't have to lower down the tech talk. And there's usually an added benefit that we techs can play stump the techy sales guy.

Now what Chris did not tell you was how we two really met. You see we first met virtually. Both of us had gone to a CPA Tech conference and not met one another there. But he did meet Anne. So he, I and Anne started swapping emails post conference and it was finally AT SMBnation that I got to meet up with a kindred spirit.

And that's exactly what the SBS experience is indeed all about. We are kindred spirits out here.

So point your browser to www.sbsgroups.com and find yourself a group of kindreds.

Interested in CRM 3.0? November 10th in Vancouver is where you want to be!

bradley — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:00:00 GMT

Canada once again is first to the UserGroups for Scott Colson on CRM 3.0!

VANCOUVER: Microsoft Small Business Server User Group - Build stronger customer relationships with Microsoft CRM.

Event Code: 1032285155

Date: November 10, 2005 6:30PM - November 10, 2005 8:30PM

Language: English

Location:

Microsoft Canada

1111 W. Georgia Street, Suite 1100

Vancouver, British Columbia

Canada

V6E 4M4

General Event Information

Products: Microsoft Business Solutions CRM, Small Business Server

Recommended Audience: IT Professional

Description:Microsoft CRM is a flexible and customizable platform

that can be configured to meet unique business needs. Join Scott

Colson of Autonomix Inc. to review the overall structure of

Microsoft CRM, explore its native Outlook experience, learn how to

create custom entities, and set up workflow rules to automate common

business processes. Demonstrations will be performed using Microsoft

CRM 3.0 installed on Windows Small Business Server 2003, with

highlights of new 3.0 features exclusive to the Small Business

Edition.

AGENDA

6:00 PM – 6:30 PM Registration

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Presentation

8:00 PM – 8:30 PM Questions and Answers

So ya wanna be a consultant?

bradley — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 00:56:00 GMT

So Matt in the mailbag says that he's planning to become a consultant in the next 6 to 8 months and is studying right now for the Small Business Specialist exam.

Matt....here are some more ideas to help you in your journey....

Join a partner group - the web site at www.sbsgroups.com lists the locations around the world for a group in your area to meet and talk with your fellow consultant. Find out what they do and how they do it.
Sign up for the Microsoft partner program. Get the action pack and roll up your sleeves and start learning.
Follow the blogs and forums at www.mssmallbiz.com
Sign up for the SBS listserve resources:
sbs2k@yahoogroups.com for the technical one
smallbizit@yahoogroups.com for the sales/business one
mssmallbiz@yahoogroups.com for sales/licensing, etc.
Use the WOW factor. Set up SBS yourself and use it. Get a Audiovox or other Mobile device that seemlessly connects to SBS. Show the WOW.

SBS Partner group tour

bradley — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 23:45:00 GMT

Speaking of another group tour, the SBS Partner group tour is kicking off shortly!

The Microsoft SBS Product and Development teams have announced plans to visit 12 U.S. cities this October as part of the second U.S. SBS Partner Group Tour. The goal of this tour is to take the Small Business Partners and Microsoft Team Members to the next level of partnership and create even greater success with SBS going forward. In an effort to better connect with the SBS Partners, Microsoft team members will be guests at each of 12 Partner group meetings. As an attendee at this two-hour free event, you will learn first-hand the benefits of moving your customers to SBS 2003 and the opportunities that await you. Microsoft will also be soliciting your feedback on your future needs. Make a connection with the Microsoft team, see the potential of SBS, and make your voice heard!

Oct 10, 2005

5:30PM-8:30PM Downers Grove, Illinois

Oct 11, 2005

6:00PM-9:00PM Madison, Wisconsin

Oct 12, 2005

6:00PM-9:00PM Eureka, Missouri

Oct 13, 2005

5:30PM-8:30PM Indianapolis, Indiana

Oct 17, 2005

6:30PM-8:30PM New York, New York

Oct 18, 2005

6:00PM-8:00PM Waltham, Massachusetts

Oct 19, 2005

6:00PM-8:00PM Washington, D.C.

Oct 20, 2005

6:00PM-9:00PM Greensboro, North Carolina

Oct 24, 2005

6:30PM-8:30PM Alpharetta, Georgia

Oct 25, 2005

6:00PM-9:00PM Orlando, Florida

Oct 26, 2005

6:30PM-8:30PM Tampa, Florida

Oct 27, 2005

6:00PM-9:00PM Fort Lauderdale, Florida

East Coast SBSers ARE YOU READY for the SBS TOUR?

bradley — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 00:18:00 GMT

Click here to sign up!

October 10th - Downers Grove, IL
Ocober 11th - Madison, WI
October 12th, Eureka, MO
October 13th, Indianapolis, IN
October 17th, New York, NY
October 18th, Waltham, MA
October 19th, Washington DC
October 20th, Greensboro, NC
October 24th, Alpharetta, GA
October 25th, Orlando, FL
October 26, Tampa, FL

Whoohooo... just like last Spring's SBS tour this looks to be a great event as well

The topics will be...

Building a successful business model with Windows Small Business Server 2003
SBS 2003 SP1 Follow up
Small Business products update
Small Business Specialist Community
R2 Next release features
Q&A: tell us what you want

[sorry ...forgot the link to sign up]

NEWSFLASH: Elvis spotted near the Gulf Coast of Florida

bradley — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 23:03:00 GMT

Well the headline got your attention didn't it?

Okay so it's not Elvis ...

but rather Jeff Middleton's SwingMigration Tour that is on the road again.

You near the Gulf Coast June 23 ?

Jeff Middleton SBS-MVP is presenting on Swing Migration to the Gulf Coast
SMB Partners Group. It's a new group in the area, and they are looking to
invite anyone interested to join with the group.  Come support a local
community and meet some folks from the worldwide community!

To Register:
http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=103062

Jeff will be providing a presentation on how to migrate SBS or Windows
domains with the extremely popular approach of Swing Migration:

o        This unique technical solution can redefine your SMB business and
server support model, even put an end to the "business shutdown" or "the
long-weekend server upgrade" approach to Windows Server and SBS upgrades.
o        Directly shifting any Windows domain from NT4/SBS 4.x through
Win200x over to SBS/Windows 200x become possible, even BackOffice 2000 to
SBS 2003 while maintaining the original Active Directory. Swing Migration
delivers a clean installed Windows OS platform, (with or without hardware
replacement), retains the same server-name, same domain. Keep the same
Exchange Information Store if you like.
o        No user profile impact, ADMT is not required, no SID changes, no
UNC namespace break, just a transparent server upgrade that includes the
confidence of not impacting the workstations. This documented process keeps
a customer's domain in production, allows a full server replacement for
complicated Exchange based organizations on a single domain controller such
as SBS operating as a file server as well. Your technician can work offsite,
offline, open-timeline and with nothing to undo if unexpected issues arise.


In addition, Jeff is providing as a door prize a donated item worth $2500.

That ought to keep folks guessing!