The Sikh Geek

It’s been a great year for me, packed with some great personal experiences and whilst I’m not going to bore people with them in detail, one thing is consistent in all that I’ve done and that is the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Partner Community. I know many people talk of the business value, etc, etc but at the end of the day I’m involved because of the individuals I’ve met and come to respect. It’s enabled me to grow as a person and develop my business. I’m a great believer that we as a Community should be a “broad church” enabling people to grow within it. It is a unique thing in the Microsoft ecosystem because it has a very human face to it. I get far more out of it than I could ever put in and so to all my fellow SBSers out there thanks for everything and I hope you all have a good Christmas and New Year.

…and boy can SBSC Partners Party

One of the cool features of Sharepoint is the ability to link to a document library using WebDAV, so you can drag and drop using Windows Explorer to/from the Document Library. However, when trying to open a document library on my side by side install of WSS 3.0 on SBS 2003 R2, I keep being prompted for user credentials which after three unsuccessful attempts gives the error “Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer”. I can make this Document Library available offline via Outlook 2007, which I believe uses the same WedDAV communication mechanism. I can use the Windows Explorer view in WSS 2.0 on SBS. I can also use Windows Explorer view on a Document Library on another server running MOSS 2007. Therefore, I can only assume there is an issue with the side by side install? I’d be interested to know if anyone else has come across this issue with WSS 3.0 on SBS with Vista/Office 2007 on the client side.

I passed the final exam today on MOSS 2007 and so I’m a Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS) on Sharepoint now. There were two exams during the course, one on WSS 3.0 and the other on MOSS 2007. I learnt loads more about Sharepoint which hopefully I’ll be able to put to good use on future projects. I fancy doing the developer course now with Combined Knowledge.

This is a bit short notice but the next meeting of AMITPRO is on Tue 11th December at the Arden Hotel meeting at 5.00pm for a 5.30pm start. James Cash has arranged for Steve Wright of the Sadler Sales Institute to present as he’s had a significant impact on James’s business.

I won’t be around for the meeting so James will be running things and giving out some pro-forma invoices for next year’s membership. I’m off to a Sharepoint Course tomorrow afternoon for a week which promises to be quite intensive.

Have fun without me

I’ve waited a while before blogging on the recently held Westcoast Small Business Forum. Susanne and the rest of the Westcoast team did a great job in engaging with the Small Business Partners in an open and honest way. There were some really interesting discussions, particularly in the pre-event roundtable where Westcoast’s Chairman, Joe Hemani, and MD, Duncan Forsyth, participated. There were two ideas which I think could really benefit SBSC Partners, Westcoast and Microsoft (…and anyone else who gets involved).

The first idea was around building a community/buying group with Westcoast so that the SBS Community could use its collective strength to get more competitive pricing. Now, I’m not going to speak on behalf of Westcoast and say they definitely committed to doing this but there seemed to be a real willingness to look at this idea seriously. I know sometimes that in the excitement and energy of the moment everything seems possible but when you get back into the day to day business, momentum can be lost. What I would say is that if Westcoast are willing to support us in this way then we as SBSC Partners should be willing to step up to the plate as well.

The other discussion area was engaging in end customer focused events and something I’m very keen on. There doesn’t seem to be the enthusiasm on the Microsoft side for this with the usual arguments that it’s far too expensive, doesn’t get the reach of online campaigns and partners don’t engage. There is a talk of ROI on events but Microsoft recently spent a considerable amount of money on some high profile Startup Business Events with high profile speakers such as Rachel Elnaugh and others. Were SBSC Partners linked in with this? What was the ROI on these events as many participants were pre-start businesses who felt that engaging with a Microsoft Business Partner was not appropriate for them. Also, Emma Richardson of Microsoft said that end user satisfaction with Microsoft had dropped significantly recently. There is nothing like engaging face to face with potential customers in regional events showing that Microsoft and its network of qualified partners are able to serve the needs of Small Businesses. This is something that I’m going to keep pushing on and to say to Microsoft to work with those proactive Partners who are willing to support such activities. I don’t really want to know what we can’t do but what we can do.

One of the Microsoft PSS Team for SBS has a blog which would be worth subscribing to. It’s great to see these guys blogging because I’m sure they’ve got some great knowledge to share with people. I also noticed that Girish has posted on the UKSBSG Yahoo Group and the SBS2K Yahoo Group, which again is great that they are getting involved in this way.

The significance to this event which is in January 2008 in London is it’s one of the last times Bill Gates will be seen in the Microsoft Business before he finally moves to working full-time on his Charitable Foundation. The great news for me is that I’ve just got an invite to this “Invitation Only” event which is pretty cool. I’ve so far seen Craig Mundie and Steve Ballmer up close and personal, so to get to hear and see Bill Gates will be quite an experience.

Thanks for the invite Aileen!