Microsoft SMB Community Blog

How to save $150* & $890* on Windows Server 2008 Standard & Enterprise today

What if I told you that you could save $150* on your purchase of Windows Server 2008 Standard today? Or what about saving $890* on your purchase of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise today? Would that get your attention? Let me show you how:

As you know, at Microsoft we offer a few different ways to acquire licenses to run our software depending on your needs and interest:

1. OEM – For software acquired with a new PC or Server (consumers or businesses)
2. Retail Box – For end consumers
3. Volume Licensing – For business customers
4. Online services – For those desiring hosted solutions (Software + Services, such as the Business Productivity Online Suite, or any other Microsoft hosted technology hosted by Microsoft Partners or Microsoft itself)

When it comes to Microsoft Windows Server 2008, many clients will acquire it pre-installed through OEM licensing on new server hardware; however, some choose not to go this route for a few reasons:

1. They want to have transfer rights for their Windows Server license in the future and OEM licenses do not have transfer rights
   • Please remember, you could add Software Assurance to your OEM Server license within 90 days of the OEM software purchase to accomplish this. See how this works here.
2. They choose to manage all of their licenses online through their Volume License agreements for electronic license protection. See more about this here.
3. They already own the server hardware they are going to install the software on
4. They want a physical box of software (Retail Box).  Remember though, if you choose this option, DON’T lose our physical paper license that comes in the box or you no longer have a license to run the software anymore.
5. Any number of other reasons

If you are acquiring your Windows Server 2008 Server not pre-installed on your new server hardware, then your two options are:

1. Acquire a Retail Box of Windows Server 2008 software
2. Acquire licenses for Windows Server 2008 through Volume Licensing (like Open License, Open Value, Open Value Subscription, Select, or Enterprise Agreement), with or without Software Assurance.

When choosing between these two options, the decision should be relatively easy, and one will save you a lot of money, which is the purpose of this post. Here is how:

Take a look at the Estimated Retail Prices for Retail Box versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise. (NOTE: I am using U.S. dollars in this example, so you would need to check the ERPs in your country if you are outside of the U.S.) You will see that the Estimate Retail Price for Windows Server 2008 Standard with 5 Client Access Licenses (CALs) is $1,029 and for Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with 25 CALs is $3,999. Now, compare that with the Estimated Retail Prices of those same products offered through the Open License Volume Licensing program (U.S. Open License Retail Price List here): Windows Server 2008 Standard (Part #P73-04982) is $726, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise (Part #P72-04219) is $2,358, Windows Server 2008 User CAL (Part #R18-02709) is $30, and Windows Server 2008 Device CAL (Part #R18-02729) is $30. So if you total them up:

• Windows Server 2008 Standard Server with 5 CALs is: $726 + (5*$30) = $876. This is a $153 savings (that’s almost 15% off!) over the Retail Box ERP for the same items, plus it gets you electronic license protection for your licenses so you cannot lose them, plus you can now acquire all of your Microsoft software, with no minimum purchase amounts, through Open License since the Windows Server fulfills your minimum initial order amount. If you want the additional benefits of Software Assurance, then you would choose the Open Value Volume Licensing program instead of Open License.
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Server with 25 CALs is: $2,358 + (25*$30) = $3,108. This is an $891 savings (that’s over 22% off!) over the Retail Box ERP for the same items, plus it gets you electronic license protection for your licenses so you cannot lose them, plus you can now acquire all of your Microsoft software, with no minimum purchase amounts, through Open License since the Windows Server fulfills your minimum initial order amount. If you want the additional benefits of Software Assurance, then you would choose the Open Value Volume Licensing program instead of Open License.

In addition to the flat savings listed above simply by choosing Volume Licensing for your Microsoft Windows Server 2008 purchases, you may also be eligible for ongoing Microsoft promotions to get even more savings, such as the Microsoft Big Easy Partner Subsidy promotion.

So as you can see, by utilizing the Volume Licensing programs for your business, you can save money and get additional benefits for your business. Hopefully this post is able to help you and your colleagues out.

*NOTE: All prices referenced are U.S. Estimated Retail Prices. Prices may vary by reseller.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

34 top online resources on improving organizational collaboration with SharePoint

Here’s a resource that came across my inbox today from a colleague here at Microsoft that I thought looked very interesting and that you might all enjoy, especially given the high level of interest that any of the SharePoint posts I have put up have received from all of you. It is a collection of 34 top online resources on improving organizational collaboration with SharePoint that IT Professionals can use to: Increase their technical readiness, accelerate deployment and platform adoption, and realize greater overall business value.

1. Capacity Planning for SharePoint Server Farms
2. Deployment overview (SharePoint Server 2010)
3. Manage service applications and services (SharePoint Server 2010)
4. Workflow deployment processes (SharePoint Server 2010)
5. Plan browser support (SharePoint Foundation 2010)
6. Plan browser support (SharePoint Server 2010)
7. Plan sites and site collections (SharePoint Server 2010)
8. Plan for collaboration sites (SharePoint Foundation 2010)
9. Plan document management
10. Plan security for sites and content (SharePoint Server 2010)
11. Plan workflow security and user management (SharePoint Server 2010)
12. Plan to deploy Search Server 2008 or Search Server 2008 Express
13. Install Search Server 2008 or Search Server 2008 Express
14. Configure the farm for search (Search Server 2008)
15. Create a site collection (SharePoint Server 2010)
16. My Site settings (SharePoint Server 2010)
17. Web content management operations (SharePoint Server 2010)
18. Manage enterprise search (SharePoint Server 2010)
19. Manage search topology (SharePoint Server 2010)
20. Plan the end-user search experience (Search Server 2008)
21. Deploy Office Web Apps (SharePoint Server 2010)
22. Manage Access Services
23. PerformancePoint Services management
24. Manage a Visio Graphics Service application (SharePoint Server 2010)
25. Manage Excel Services
26. Manage InfoPath Forms Services (SharePoint Server 2010)
27. Workflow administration (SharePoint Server 2010)
28. Managing privacy (SharePoint Server 2010)
29. User permissions and permission levels (SharePoint Server 2010)
30. Plan for social computing and collaboration
31. Plan an Enterprise wiki
32. Plan for Business Connectivity Services (SharePoint Server 2010)
33. Managed metadata operations (SharePoint Server 2010)
34. Overview of SharePoint 2010 Investment areas for IT Professionals

I hope these resources are helpful for you and I’d love any input or feedback you have on them.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Check out the new Bing release! Very nice!

Ok, I will be the first to admit that I am a big Bing fan, and not because I work for Microsoft, but because of what Bing delivers and the way it delivers it.  Today, the newest U.S. release of Bing was rolled out at a launch event in San Francisco and is packed with great core search improvements and new features including a new Bing for Mobile application for Windows Mobile; a new mobile browser experience; an updated Bing Toolbar; and stunning new mapping functionality based on Silverlight technology.   Take a look at some of these examples:

Great Results

• By better understanding user intent we deliver enhanced results for people, places and things. Try cities, products, health, organizations or celebrities.
• Enhanced previews of results help reduce wasted clicks. Try top websites, Facebook profiles or YouTube videos. (To trigger the preview hover your mouse over the arrow on the right side of each search result.)
• Stay up to date with social media using Twitter Search – the only search engine that is integrated with Twitter.

A Richer, More Organized Experience

• A new homepage with task-based shortcuts and multi-session history help you make faster decisions.
• Visual Search results to help people process information 20% faster than text. Try our new galleries with richer whole page results like movies, cars and cameras.
• A new, improved Bing Video experience brings together content from Hulu, CBS, Viacom and across the web in one place with a great playback experience.
• Enhanced results pages for weather or events and many more topics.
• Get computed answers with Wolfram Alpha. Try body mass results or nutrition results for example.

Simplified Key Tasks

We continue to invest in our core scenarios to help users complete tasks more easily:

• Shopping – get expert and user reviews, not to mention saving money with and cashback offer pages.
• Travel – research directly from the search results page with flights answers, hotel answers and gorgeous city slideshows.
• Local –  a new maps beta provides accurate local results with streetside view, fast and intuitive drag and drop routes and Map Apps for better local results
• Health – research medical topics, such as enhanced condition results, or enhanced medication results.

You can read more about this new update in the post made on the Bing Team Blog and be sure to check out the Bing site to see for yourself!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Several promotions ending December 31st! Use them before they are gone

Yesterday I posted about how you can help your clients get Up to 20% savings on Microsoft Office plus get an upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 included through the “Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 No Better Time Promotion,” we have going on right now, but that you should hurry to take advantage of that offer before it expires on December 31, 2009.  Well, there are actually several promotions we have in market right now that are slated to go away after December 31, 2009.  I thought I would point them out to you in case you might be able to take advantage of one or more of them to help your clients save some extra money prior to the new year:

The reseller promotions that are slated to end December 31, 2009 are:

• Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 No Better Time Promotion

• Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 Step Up Promotion

• Microsoft Forefront Protection Security Promotion

• Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 Enterprise Edition Promotion

• Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 Standard Edition Promotion

• Microsoft Enterprise Subscription Agreement Promotion (For clients with 250+ PCs)

Did you know about these promotions already?  If yes, great.  If not, then you might want to keep an eye on the Microsoft Reseller Promotions page on the Microsoft Partner Network site for information on new promotions, existing promotions, and expiring promotions.  The links I have included here are for the Microsoft Partner Network Global site, not any one specific country, so what you see there are NOT U.S. specific offers, they are global offers.  If you are a U.S. Partner, you will absolutely want to check out the Microsoft Incentives website as well, where you will find information on U.S. offers, such as the Big Easy Partner Subsidy Promotion, that are going on now.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Up to 20% savings on Microsoft Office plus get an upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 included!

What if I told you that now you can save your clients up to 20% on their Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 purchases and they can receive the upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 when it releases, all included?  That’s right, through the “Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 No Better Time Promotion,” your clients can get the best of both worlds right now.  For starters, they can get access to Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 to use in their businesses today at up to a 20% savings.  Then, when Microsoft Office 2010 releases, they will get access to the new version at that time for their business!  In addition to this, they can also get access to other great benefits* such as:

• Ability to spread their payments over 3 years
• Training vouchers to use to send employees to get trained on their Microsoft software
• E-Learning courses that provide access to self-paced, interactive training that is developed by Microsoft experts
• Rights to install Microsoft Office on a home computer in addition to your work computer
• And more…

* Additional benefits included will vary based on licensing program purchases are made through and quantity of qualifying licenses acquired.

Find out all about the “Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 No Better Time Promotion,” that you can use with your clients to help them save money today and get more from tomorrow by clicking the link to the “Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 No Better Time Promotion,” on the Microsoft Partner Portal.  But you might want to hurry as this offer ends December 31, 2009!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

A time for thanks – Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you

It is that time of year again, that many of us celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving.  A time to gather with friends and family as well as reflect back on the prior year and give thanks for all of the blessings and good fortunes we have to be thankful for.  Because of this, I want to take this opportunity to break away from our regular content here on the Blog and use this time to say, “Thank you.” 

Over this past year at work, I have had the opportunity to work as a member of two new teams here at Microsoft.  First as a new member of the Worldwide Partner Group Team starting late last October, then again in July as a member of the Worldwide SMS&P Product Management Team.  Getting to meet and work with all of these new team members has been a wonderful experience and I look forward to continuing those relationships moving forward.  Also through these new teams, I have also had the opportunity to meet and interact with so many Partners from around the world through numerous different venues such as meetings, presentations, Live Meetings, the Blog, TWITTER, other social media engines, and many other ways.  As I have said countless times before, our Partners are the face of Microsoft to our customers everywhere.  It is with our Partners that we succeed together and it is to them that I am incredibly thankful for all that you do every day, including helping your clients address their needs through technology solutions, including those offered by Microsoft. 

On the personal side, I am also thankful for the wonderful family and friends I have and have had the pleasure to share this past year with.  Whether it is the new friends we have here in our new home of Washington state or our long-time friends from back in the Midwest.  Including personal friends I have met in everyday life to co-workers and Microsoft Partners from around the world that have become my friends as well.  From my immediate family that I have the joy of waking up to in the morning and going home to every night to extended family members, either still with us today or those we unfortunately lost this past year, but who were generous enough to have shared their time here on Earth with us to make our lives that much richer and fuller.  A very sincere thank you to all of you. 

As one of my favorite quotes states, “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” – Pericles

So to all of you that I have the privilege and opportunity to communicate with, work with, and connect with day in and day out, regardless if it is every day, or only a few times per year, a sincere thank you for bringing everything you have woven into my life.  I hope that in some way I have been able to return the favor at least in some small way to you.

With that, let me end by wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving, whether it is a holiday for you or not, and a heartfelt, “Thank You,” for everything this past year.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Microsoft Silverlight information and resources for you

For those of you that followed PDC09 this week, one of the announcements you heard about is the availability of the Silverlight 4 developer beta, which is now available.  Since then, there has been even more communications and excitement around Silverlight and the rich experiences it can bring to life.  Seeing this trend taking place, I thought I would take a moment to put together some Silverlight resources for you, in case you are looking for more information about Silverlight.  Please note, this list is not fully-inclusive, just a quick list of some that I thought would may be helpful for you:

• Silverlight community blogs - Updates from our MVP community
• Silverlight Blogs
  • Here are some who will be providing more updates to Silverlight 4 Beta:
    • Tim Heuer
    • Jesse Liberty
    • John Papa
    • Adam Kinney
• Get help from the Silverlight.net Forums
  • Help From the Silverlight 4 Beta Forums
• Silverlight community site
• Silverlight Toolkit
• Get Started with Silverlight
• Silverlight News RSS Feed
• Silverlight online video tutorials collection
• Silverlight Community samples
• Silverlight 4 Beta Hands On Labs
• Silverlight 4 Beta videos
• Silverlight Quickstarts
• Silverlight Whitepapers
• Silverlight Books

I hope these resources and sources of information are helpful for you in your quest to learn more about and begin/continue developing with Microsoft Silverlight.

By the way, be sure to check out the Winter Olympics live and on-demand in HD & with Live Smooth Streaming with Silverlight.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

SharePoint 2010 beta available for download now – Announced at PDC09 today!

In my earlier post, “Microsoft Office 2010 Beta available for download – Announced at PDC09 today!,” I told you that the Microsoft Office 2010 beta program was announced and is now available for download.  Well, just as exciting was the announcement that in addition to the Microsoft Office 2010 beta now becoming available, the SharePoint 2010 beta was also announced and is available for download today.  SharePoint continues to be one of the most exciting and hottest solutions around and now is your chance to try out the beta of the new 2010 version!

In addition to downloading and trying out the new SharePoint 2010 beta, be sure to check out the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 site where you can find even more information and resources about this exciting new release, such as:

• Sneak Peek overview video
• IT Professional video
• Developer video
• SharePoint 2010 system requirements
• “Get Ready” tips for IT Pros and Developers looking to move to SharePoint 2010
• FAQs
• and much more…

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta available for download – Announced at PDC09 today!

Earlier this year, we announced the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview program for testers to participate in and since then, a popular topic and question has been, “When will the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta be available for download?”  Well, the answer to that question has been announced and that answer is NOW!  Today at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) Microsoft unveiled the public beta of Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Project 2010, Visio 2010, Office Web Apps for businesses and Office Mobile 2010.

According to Kurt DelBene, senior vice president of the Office Business Productivity Group at Microsoft, “We’re excited to announce the public beta of the 2010 versions of Office, SharePoint Server, Visio, Project and Office Web Apps for business customers. Office Mobile 2010 has also reached the beta milestone. Starting today people can download the beta products online HERE.”

We are hoping to have millions of people download and test the products, as we depend on that feedback to shape the final product. To get the broadest range of feedback we are making this beta available in seven languages — English, Spanish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Russian, French and German — more than any other Office beta program in the past.

In addition, Office Mobile 2010 is also now available in beta, making the Office experience across the PC, phone and browser a reality. Office Mobile 2010 includes mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and new SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010, and is available worldwide in Windows Marketplace for Mobile for Windows Mobile 6.5 phones.

If you want to read more about the announcement, you can do so at the Microsoft Press Pass announcement page for the Office 2010 Beta.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

What desktop operating systems qualify for the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade through Volume Licensing?

A short while ago, I put up my, “What versions of Windows qualify for the Windows 7 Retail Box upgrade?” post here on the blog and received this follow-up question shortly afterwards, “Ok, I see what qualifies for the Retail Box Windows 7 Upgrade, but what about the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade through Volume Licensing?” That is a great question and on I have not posted about since we did so in the Windows Vista time. So let’s take a look at what qualifies for the Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade through Microsoft’s Volume Licensing programs, such as Open License, Open Value, Select, and Enterprise Agreement. Here is the answer to this question, as well as where you can find it in the future.

Let’s start with where you can find this answer today and in the future. For our Volume Licensing programs, there are a couple resources you should be aware of:

• Product Use Rights (PUR) document - When a product license is purchased through a Microsoft Volume Licensing program, the Product Use Rights (PUR) and the Volume Licensing program agreement contain product-specific terms and conditions for how the software can be used. The PUR is updated quarterly. The PUR in effect as of the beginning of the licensed period for a particular product version applies to the use of that product version throughout the licensed period.
• Product List for Volume Licensing - Published monthly, the Microsoft Product List for Volume Licensing provides information about Microsoft software and Microsoft Online Services acquired through Volume Licensing programs. This document includes:
  • Availability of new products
  • Discontinuation of products
  • Available promotions
  • Point values
  • Product migration paths
  • Software Assurance benefits
  • Other notes and information specific to products
  • Appendices for special terms, Software Assurance renewals, and programs

You can access both of the documents above at the “About Licensing” page. Inside the Product List, there is a section that talks about the Windows 7 Professional Upgrades included in Volume Licensing and inside that section is the following chart that shows what the qualifying desktop Operating System licenses are to qualify for the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade through Microsoft’s Volume Licensing programs:

- Click to view full size

Find the version of Windows you have today down the left-hand side and then you can see which Microsoft Volume License programs that qualifies for the Windows 7 Professional upgrade in (you’ll see an “X” in the columns of the programs you qualify for). Since there are several abbreviations above for the various licensing programs, let me try to clarify those:

• New EA: – This is a new Enterprise Agreement
• New OV-CW: This is a new Open Value Company-wide agreement
• Existing EA/OV-CW: An existing Enterprise Agreement or Open Value Company-wide agreement
• Select: Select & Select Plus
• Open (All except academic and OV-CW): Open License & Open Value (all non-company-wide)
• Academic

There is one point to remember when purchasing Microsoft Windows licensing through Volume Licensing, the only way to purchase a full Windows Desktop Operating System License is through either OEM or Retail Box.  All Windows licenses sold through any Volume Licensing program is an Upgrade only, not a full Windows license.  This is nothing new and has been the case for well over a decade.

I hope this helps answer your questions on what qualifies for the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade through the Microsoft Volume Licensing programs, as well as where you can find this answer in the future.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Exchange Server 2010 announced today – Resources and information for Partners

Today at Tech-Ed Europe 2009, Stephen Elop announced the launch of Exchange Server 2010, which is a very exciting offering for customers and Partners around the world. On the Microsoft Partner Portal, we have a collection of information at resources for our Microsoft Partners on the Exchange Server 2010 page, including:

• Three steps to Partner Readiness:

1. Learn about Exchange Server 2010
   • Watch the webcast - with Senior Technical Product Manager Ian Hameroff to learn about new features and technologies in Exchange Server 2010.
   • Experience the new efficiency launch event - virtually and learn how innovations in Exchange Server 2010, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Microsoft Forefront security offer familiar, integrated solutions that help you address cost, innovation, and productivity challenges.
2. Prepare to Sell and Support Exchange Server 2010
   • Sales Professionals: Complete the Online Sales Training - Learn how to effectively market and license Exchange Server 2010 with this 60-minute, 100-level online tutorial that covers new features, functions, and benefits.
   • IT Pros: Take the Exchange Ignite Beta Technical Training - Get hands-on labs online, covering topics such as architecture, setup, deployment, tools, migration, security, transport, unified messaging, governance, archiving, storage, and high availability.
3. Drive Your Exchange Server Marketing Efforts
   • Joint Launch in a Box - Use these resources to build launch momentum for your solutions focused on unified communications—messaging, voice, and video—across the applications and devices that your customers use every day

• Links to download and install the trial of the software
• Additional resources, including:

• And more!

Head on out to the Exchange Server 2010 page page on the Microsoft Partner Network site to start accessing this information today, if you haven’t already.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Windows Server 2008 R2 training course for developers on Channel 9 today

Today, Channel 9 launches the Windows Server 2008 R2 Training Course for Developers.  Channel 9 has always been about giving Developers insight into new Microsoft platform technologies.  The Channel 9 Learning Center extends that objective with self-paced learning experiences. 

Windows Server 2008 R2, “Not your average R2!”

Explore this significant Windows Server release via a self-paced training course of videos and hands-on-labs with a focus on performance, web, management, and other server solution scenarios.   Learn about developing applications for “many-core” scale, enable efficient “trigger-started” services, explore new Windows PowerShell features, create integrated solutions with the File Classification Infrastructure, build Web Platform extensions, and automate your dev-test environment with VHD and Hyper-V API’s.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Microsoft launches Community Connections – Connecting Partners, customers, and organizations with Windows 7

For those of you that attended SMB Nation in Las Vegas, you may have heard the announcement of Community Connections made by Dave Waldrop, a fantastic opportunity to bring together Microsoft Partners with customers and Local Business Community Organizations interested in learning about Microsoft Windows 7, with a very exciting offer to bring it together. Here are the details of what Community Connections is and what it means for you:

Community Connections is an offer that brings together local Microsoft Partners with Local Business Community Organizations (LBCO), such as a Chamber of Commerce, to help them get access to Windows 7 and services from local Microsoft Partners to assist them do their Windows 7 installations. Community Connections provides:

• Two (2) free copies of Windows 7 for the LBCO
• $150 services voucher to be applied to the installation of Windows at the LBCO by a local Microsoft Partner
• Assistance from the Microsoft Local Engagement Team to conduct live Windows 7 events with local Microsoft Partners – event materials, product offers, and funding
• $150 services voucher to be applied to the installation of Windows 7 at the customer’s location by a local Microsoft Partner

So what exactly is a Local Business Community Organization (LBCO)?

• Eligible organizations: Non-profit 501(c) 3’s, 4’s, and 6’s: Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, Business Leagues, and Diversity organizations
• Non-eligible organizations: Government funded agencies, schools, non-business community organizations

In essence, the way Community Connections works is:

An LBCO signs up for Community Connections and chooses a local Microsoft Partner to work with. The LBCO receives two (2) copies of Windows 7 and a $150 services voucher. The LBCO uses the $150 services voucher with the local Microsoft Partner to help pay for the installation of the Windows 7 software they received. The LBCO and local Microsoft Partner then host an event for local businesses about Windows 7 using resources provided by the Microsoft Local Engagement Team. Businesses who attend the event and purchase qualifying Windows 7 upgrades through Volume Licensing afterwards can then register to receive a $150 services voucher to use with the local Microsoft Partner to help pay for their Windows 7 installation.

Ready to find out more? Microsoft Partners should head out to the Microsoft Local Engagement Toolkit page (see screenshot below), view the recorded session (#1) and encourage LBCO’s in your area to view the Live Meeting from November 3^rd (#2). Then connect with your LBCO’s and have them register to participate in Microsoft Community Connections (#3).

- Click to see full-size

This offer is a limited-time offer, so be sure to get out to the Microsoft Local Engagement Toolkit page and get started with the Community Connections program today.  Community Connections, another way Microsoft is investing in our Partners to help you be successful. 

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Support for Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008 R2 coming

Just a quick update for you about a topic that some of you have raised.  In case you did not see it, the Microsoft Exchange Team announced earlier this week that based on the feedback we have received, the decision has been made to create and issue an update for Exchange 2007 enabling full support for Windows Server 2008 R2.  According to the Microsoft Exchange Team’s blog post:

“Earlier this year we made a decision in one direction, and due to the feedback we have received on this blog and elsewhere, we have reconsidered.  In the coming calendar year we will issue an update for Exchange 2007 enabling full support of Windows Server 2008 R2.”

• Kevin Allison - GM Exchange Customer Experience

For those of you doing work with Microsoft Exchange Server, you may want to sign up to follow the Microsoft Exchange Server Team Blog for the latest news from them, in addition to being able to provide feedback to us on Microsoft Exchange.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

The Big Easy Partner Subsidy Program is back!

I am very happy to be able to let you know that for a limited time, that the Big Easy offer is back in the U.S. and Canada! That’s right, from now through January 2, 2010, when your customers make a qualifying purchase of Microsoft technologies and submit their redemption request, Microsoft will send the customer a check (made out to you) for funds to help pay for your services as a Microsoft Partner! As was the case with previous releases of the Big Easy promotion, your clients can increase the amount of the Partner subsidy they receive in the following ways:

• Purchase products from more than one product group. For instance, by purchasing qualifying Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows Server licenses at the same time, they would receive a higher subsidy for each of those products vs. purchasing them separately.
• Licenses with Software Assurance – Acquiring licenses with Software Assurance instead of just licenses increases the subsidy amount for each one.
• Advanced or Enterprise Editions – The Advanced and Enterprise Editions of the products qualify for higher subsidy amounts than non Advanced or Enterprise Editions

Want to see what products are included in the Big Easy promotion? Take a look at the Included Product list on the Microsoft Incentives page. The team even posted a short video that you can watch to see how the Big Easy works. You can find all of the information on the Big Easy Offer, including an online calculator so you can see what your subsidy amount would be for various customer opportunities, on the Big Easy Offer page. For our Microsoft Partners in Canada, you will want to check out the Canadian Big Easy Offer page.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights