The Sikh Geek

These guys rock! Sorry Technet Team but what’s happening on the developer side is just way cool! The closest you get to this on the infrastructure side is Unified Messaging (UM). There were some great demos of ASP.NET Ajax (web based and browser), Windows Presentation Foundation (rich client), XAML for both WPF and WPF/E, Expression Products for Web & Multimedia design. Throughout the day there were 10 minute sessions of Office 2007, such as Infopath, manipulating OOXML programmatically and Excel Web Services through MOSS 2007. My word, Microsoft has been busy! The integration between products is the key and sooo much effort has gone into this that we just don’t realise. There is so much potential opportunity to exploit, if only we knew how?

The new version of Visual Studio codenamed “Orcas” is currently on CTP and will further integrate things like Office 2007 development. There was a demo of Virtual Earth and if you haven’t seen it then go and have a look. In my opinion much better than Google Earth as you get the angled views and much, much better resolution. Wow, wow, wow is all I can say. I want to code this stuff!

…and how could I forget LINQ, Language Integrated Query, allowing access to data independent of what that data source is. It might be objects, it might be datasets or it might a be SQL database. Accessing these would be syntatically the same. This is the main language change for C# 3.0. How can you not be excited by that?

UPDATE

I might’ve spoken too soon - Google Earth 4 is out!

The Technet Team came to Nottingham yesterday to talk about Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007.

 L-R Darren Strange, Eileen Brown, Phil Cross, James O’Neil and Steve Lamb at the Q&A Session

It was a packed venue at the East Midlands Conference Centre with over 400 attendees and from a show of hands only about a third had been to a Technet Session. I’m not sure whether this was because Technet has not been this way before or some other reason. Again, from a show of hands the proportion running Vista & Office 2007 was a lot lower than in a similiar poll at the Small Business Symposium. You see these Enterprise guys just don’t have our flexibility and agility. They have to get a form signed in triplicate before they can even sneeze! I definitely think the Small Business Partners have an edge over our larger Partner buddies! Anyway, go check out Technet because it’s got loads of good resources and the Virtual Labs are highly under utilised according to the presenters. Also, the Technet Team blogs are also worth following as well.

The best part of the day was the Q&A session at the end and people were able to text questions during the day. There were an amazing 88 questions sent and were used to start some of the discussions. You can check out the feedback on this on Eileen’s Blog post and learn how many brains a leech has courtesy of Phil Cross of Microsoft!

Amazingly, I met up with an old friend of mine, Steve Rogers, who is now Systems Manager at Coventry University and has now got his MCSE. Obviously, one of my first questions was “wouldn’t you like to register your MCP with iQubed?”. Well, what else would you ask an old mate?

If you’ve been using Office 2007 with SBS 2003 and the Sharepoint Services site in SBS, then you’ll know not everything is well in the Kingdom of Denmark. Sharepoint Services v2 just doesn’t recognise docx files and while you can set the mime type in IIS and even associate the icon gif file, there is something fundamental which means you won’t get the Sharepoint enabled functionality in Word 2007. It’s to do with the fact that the new Office file formats are not a recognised content type in Sharepoint Services v2. You need Sharepoint Services v3, which as we all know has to be installed very very very carefully on SBS 2003 or risk death and destruction!

The Technet & MSDN Roadshows are coming to Nottingham on 20/21 Feb and I’ll be there. I was on the waitlist for the Technet one but I just got my registration confirmed which is great. I’m looking forward to the OfficeLive developer session at the MSDN event on Wed. If you’re going see you there!

Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, has been managing the expectations on the revenue expected for Vista as reported by CIO Insight. Interestingly, Microsoft’s shares have risen by 30% since last June so I think maybe Ballmer is trying to dampen things down a bit. The danger is that Microsoft doesn’t hit some sky high forecasts set by some rather excited analysts, and then get panned for not hitting these targets. Targets, which Microsoft didin’t even set! The money markets are a funny place and work on expectations rather than reality! Analysts are still expecting double digit growth for Microsoft(which is amazing for a company that is so well established), so someone is going to be selling this new technology and it might as well be us. Ride that wave people!

So how does this sound for getting awareness of the “Blue Badge”? Maybe we need to think out of the box? I’m just amazed at the moment with how people are using things like Blogging and YouTube to get “their message” out there. Maybe as a Community we need a coordinated Viral Marketing campaign. Well, that’s about the limit of my input because when it comes to artistic creative ability, I wasn’t blessed in that area! If you’ve got any thoughts, then please get in touch.

This was one of the hot topics from the SBSC Symposia and I recently attended a seminar run by Bull Terrier Systems regarding their hosted Kaseya solution. There are some good solutions out there such as Level Platforms, Kaseya and Hound Dog but I have a problem with these. Since Microsoft mandated that all new products should have a MOM Management Pack, then I would like a solution which plugs in to this. Running MOM for SBSers has been a problem, because the solution has to be cost effective and work over a multi-domain environment where there is no trust relationship between these domains. Microsoft’s System Center Essentials 2007, holds out some hope for those running SBS boxes for customers, although this product is currently in Beta 2.

You know what it is like looking at event logs, they can be very esoteric (that’s the way developers are when reporting back errors to users!). Anything which actually allows a deeper understanding of what’s gone wrong and how to fix it is a good thing. Also, SBS 2003, does a great job out of the box for having a managed services approach and is one of the key reasons to chose it over something like Linux. 

Those boys at NxtGenUG have organised a whole day extravaganza down at Microsoft UK, TVP on 23rd May. You’d better sign-up now because these guys don’t do things by half. Count me in!

If you’ve not been following Steve Clayton’s Blog, then as Al Murray would say, “Shame on you”! Steve’s got an interesting concept around the “Blue Monster” and it symbolising Microsoft’s rebirth and what it’s real focus is, i.e. “To change the world, or go home”. I like this concept and I think Steve is really on to something here but check out this post and it’s got a link to a video of Steve explaining his thoughts.

I think Steve has hit the nail on the head that Microsoft doesn’t go out enough and tell its story. Microsoft give a lot of freedom to it’s staff on their Blogs which I’ve been quite surprised at, but it’s something which I welcome. The Microsoft Small Business Team are going out there and telling “The Story”, even if we don’t always agree with them but at least we can have a debate with them. Maybe they should adopt “The Blue Monster”?

I asked Susanne Dansey if I could conduct an email interview with her and Susanne being Susanne, said no problem! I put some questions together and she returned them the following day. I know I don’t know Susanne as well as other people but I’m amazed at how intelligently she conducts herself. I used to read the praises of her and think yeah right! But it’s all true…and I hate her for her brilliance! It’s no fluke she was recently featured in the Redmond Channel Magazine and I know that the journalist Cynthia Atoji was so impressed by Susanne’s replies. So thanks to Susanne from so many different levels that I can’t even describe it. Check out the interview below and enjoy!

Q. Can you give us an overview of Readycrest?
Readycrest is a Microsoft Small Business Specialist and Certified Partner. We’ve been in operation for coming up to 20 years and we configure, install, and maintain server-based networks such as SBS 2003 as well as digital telephony systems. We are what you would typically call the ‘one-stop-shop’, so our services include the provision of ICT hardware as well as our more proactive services such as software education.

Q. Can you just outline your role at Readycrest?
The title on my business card is Business Development Manager but I believe everyone in a business does this. My role is to look for new ways to work as well as build upon what we have achieved so far. Much of my role involves sales and marketing and thinking of ways to better engage with potential clients. I also do a bit of public speaking both for Microsoft and for local RDAs such as Business Link and talk to businesses about using IT better. In addition, I also help with first line technical support, software training, account management, and anything else I get the opportunity to do.

Q. What it’s like working for the family business? Does your father give you a harder time than other employees because he can’t be seen to be soft on you?
I think it’s the other way around sometimes and I’m harder on him! I have a great amount of respect for anyone who can run their own business and I admire my father for the way he has managed Readycrest so far. A large proportion of my job is to make decisions on behalf of the company and I wouldn’t be able to do this if the trust wasn’t there between me and ‘the boss’.

Being involved in a business where family members are employed can be difficult but problems are easily resolved. What is unique about this type of organisation is that there is usually a deep sense of trust that underlies business activity. If it weren’t for this trust I wouldn’t be doing what I do now at my age. Even when I was younger I was allowed to sit on management meetings and offer feedback to the likes of HP and Microsoft; in any other organisation I would have had to have waited a few years more to get the chance to do that.

Working within a family business can have its drawbacks; I try and keep business talk to a low key when we are out for dinner and it is important to be disciplined and maintain a work/life balance. However, I remember going into a book shop once and browsing a book about small business; it said ‘keep employing the gene pool until you scrape the bottom of the barrel’ – I think the author had a point!

Q. What are the challenges facing Readycrest?
I think we face pretty much the same challenges as many other businesses; recruiting, finding more hours in the day, maintaining the work/life balance etc… We are moving offices in the next few months so we are busy managing this at the same time trying to get on with our day jobs. The team around us at Readycrest is key to our success because we don’t have to rely on the few to keep moving forward. So far we have managed to keep our heads screwed on whilst we watch others lose theirs.

Q. What was it like working with Microsoft on the TAP?

Hard work! And we haven’t finished yet! Unlike public betas, we get to trial new software but we a contractual responsibility to report and analyse it for the purposes of Microsoft feedback multiple times. This can be tricky when we have other work to prioritise but the TAP team within Microsoft have been understanding when it comes to the small business partners. I was talking to other partners on the TAP programme who also agree it isn’t a free meal ticket but if you can get it right and successfully deploy it with your TAP clients then everyone wins. The PR coverage is very useful too; however, we have worked hard on this project for over a year and so you have to be savvy about how you are going to make it worth your while as a partner.

Somebody at the Symposium asked me how to get on the TAP programme and I guess they thought it was a way to get free stuff courtesy of Microsoft. As we should all know, businesses don’t give away anything for nothing and you should think carefully about doing something like this before engaging with partners such as Microsoft. However, do it right and do it well and make sure that it fits with your business model and projects like this or piloting other software such as the OneCare or Small Business Accounting Betas can pay off.

Q. What are the roles you undertake in the SBSC Community?
I don’t have any roles within the SBSC Community. However what I do is spot an opportunity that I can turn my hand to and go and see what I can do with it. At the moment I am helping to lead the Kent SBS Group and I also enjoy helping share my ideas and achievements with other groups to help achieve better business opportunities.  My link with Microsoft has helped channel feedback between them and the community but in recent months others such as Vijay Riyait, Bill Wells, Tim Long, and Julian Wilkinson, have added to the melting pot so that more choices are available to the community.

On a larger scale, I help contribute to the SBS Show and other community podcasts and forums. In addition I network regularly with worldwide group leaders to broaden the UK community horizon by sharing ideas to find new opportunities. I also facilitate the UK and Irish (with a dash of Europe) forum on www.sbs-emea.com.

Oh yes, and I blog fairly regularly about community and small business issues in the hope that I can inspire a few readers to think differently about the way they operate.

Q. What is it that you enjoy about these roles?
I enjoy listening to other business professionals and learning from their experiences. My role within my company means that in order for me to think of new ideas and in order to be inspired I like to mix with those who can help me achieve more in an efficient way. This not only includes partners but those in the IT market who can offer a new angle on my market such as industry vendors.

Q. What frustrates you about the Community?
Lurkers.

Q. What are your thoughts about the recent SBSC Symposia?
On the whole, those who attended got a lot out of it both in terms of ideas and also new contacts within the community and our industry. I would have liked to have seen more people attend and perhaps those who are considering becoming SBSC accredited (i.e. proactive registered partners) should have been encouraged also. I know there is talk to run the same thing again at the end of the year so I would build on their recent success and perhaps allow more vendors to attend to give delegates more choice. I would also allow time for focus on bug bears such as licensing and more importantly piracy and how to educate the public that Action Packs aren’t a free ticket to Microsoft software.

Q. What did you personally get out of the events?
I got the chance to re-enforce bonds with friends and community partners. When I say friends, I talk to so many partners on a daily basis that we find that we have other things in common outside of SBS. I also picked up a few gems myself as well as confirm that I’m going in the right direction.

For me, establishing bonds that go deeper than discussing SBS are important for me. The IT industry changes shape every now and then but it’s still quite a small world so it’s highly likely you’ll bump into a familiar face along the way that can help you wherever you are at the time.

Q. How do you feel when you read all the positive things people write about you like Dave Overton, Vlad Mazek and Susan Bradley?
Embarrassed and quietly flattered.

Q. What made you start writing your Blog?
I had too many ideas I wanted to share with those in the community but I usually had to wait until an event to tell them. Instead I wrote a blog; it keeps me sane.

Q. How do you feel the Blog is going?
I have no idea. I don’t monitor it. I know that when I complain about Microsoft it gets forwarded and discussed internally and it’s nice to receive emails from people who say that they enjoyed certain articles. I’d carry on writing it even if nobody wrote it. I don’t write a diary so this is the closest you’re going to get inside my head!

Q. What are the key technologies for you in the coming years?
Well for me personally, it’s to be able to buy a few pieces of quality ‘tin’ with the right software that will allow me to work and play without worrying about inconvenient downtime. I suppose this would really relate to key themes which I think are; people, enhanced dual-user lifestyles, and security – these encompass the themes SBSCers should already be thinking about which is collaboration, security, mobility, and communication/team working.

However, I do think there will be a point quite soon which we will reach where demands in our personal lives will overtake what we want in our businesses. I think the technology available to businesses now does the job very well already (i.e. no dramatic differences in R2 that will haul everyone over to it) and that it is now the role of partners to encourage them to use what they have better. At home, people will want the same level of technology they get at work at home plus the ability to do so much more. I think the new applications from Vista, Office 2007, SBA, and Home Server begins to address this. Whilst they offer combined solutions that already exist, they offer the convenience that users are looking for.

Q. What are the 3 things that you think Partners should be doing at the moment to optimise their opportunities?
Join your local group (there are now over 20 in the UK and Ireland and hundreds worldwide), keep it simple, and open your mind to the Community. Oh, and only sell what you would buy if you were a customer of yours – that’s a fourth but I couldn’t help it!

Q. Who do you admire in the business and technology world and why?
My father – he puts up with me! He challenges me and challenged my initial involvement in the Community. He plays devil’s advocate with me plenty of times and this gave me confidence in my ideas and choices. I knew what I was doing was right and had to prove it.

Q. Who has influenced you the most in your career?
Apart from my father (again), I would say those partners in the Community who haven’t been afraid to break the mould and share ideas with me. It isn’t just limited to the Community, my friends in Microsoft, HP, and in other countries have helped give me new angles on what I know already.

I also enjoy reading other people’s blogs or autobiographies by people who have lead in their field. My head is like OneNote and I take little nuggets of conversations from everyone I meet and help them influence what I do.

Q. What do you do to relax in your spare time (if you get any?)
I am finally managing to ring fence my spare time from business now and I like to spend it running or exercising, socialising, reading, fiddling with my home PC (I don’t count that as work), and watching rugby now that I don’t play it.

Q. How did you start working with Vlad on the SBS Show? What’s it really like working with him?
Vlad found me in the community, he heard that I had put together www.sbsbpi.co.uk and wanted to see what I was doing for the Community. We clicked (through childish banter and some silly jokes) and we’ve been firm friends since then. Vlad had an idea which was the basis for the SBS Show and Chris Rue and I wanted to help him get it off the ground.

Working with Vlad is a unique experience. To tell you would open your eyes to a world which you may not be ready to experience. It is for the safety of you and others that I don’t tell you.

Q. What are your personal goals?
It’s the same as the thought I keep telling myself when I’m running a half marathon… ‘keep going’.

Q. Would you ever go and start your own business?…and if so doing what?
I’m not sure yet, I’m still learning and am enjoying being bossy without the responsibility!

If I did, it would probably be something completely different.

Q. Are you are a geek? What are your favourite gadgets?
No, I don’t think I’ll achieve Geek status but I’ve been told that I have a ‘passion for technology’ so that’s good enough for me. My favourite gadgets are my Creative Vision M, my Garmin GPS system that I use when I go running, my PDA, my mobile phone, my laptop, my Xbox, and my digital camera. I don’t go anywhere with at least three of these items in my bag although the Xbox can be a bit tricky to fit.

Q. Do you think being a woman in IT is an advantage or a disadvantage? If so why?
Personally, I don’t think about whether it’s an advantage or a disadvantage. I think it’s a disadvantage if anyone in IT doesn’t enjoy what they do as this is detrimental to those around them that rely on them. Male or female, if you can make a difference and enjoy what you do then that’s what matters.

If you’re good at your job then that’s what will make for good business. Long-term success isn’t built on short-term advantages such as looks or whatever else makes for an initial impact.

I recognise that there are more men in this community than females but I don’t think that specific sexes should be encouraged to join something that has, and predominantly in the SMB arena, been built up on a hobby or interest that has turned professional just to make for a balance.

Thanks for your time