The Sikh Geek

I’ve been trying not to comment on the Microsoft Ad Campaign but I thought Seth Godin probably summed it up for me. If something is broken in Microsoft then a Marketing Campaign isn’t going to fix it. He says :

Microsoft has fallen into a trap that befalls many large companies in search of cred, buzz or respect. They’ve decided to buy some via advertising.

In Bill Buxton’s keynote that I previously blogged about he recounted the story of Steve Jobs and his turn around of Apple by “Industrial Design” and it wasn’t by Ad Campaigns, that came later when Apple had something cool to say.

Seth Godin doesn’t say things are broken in Microsoft but he does make the point when did you last hear a passionate Microsoft employee. Well, I saw a good many passionate Microsoft people at the RemixUK Conference but I understand the point he’s trying to make. Microsoft has become “safe” and “corporate”. Microsoft, the original upstart tech company, fought hard to be accepted into the Corporate boardrooms, now trying to get out of them is not so easy!

UPDATE

I’m a PC, Life Without Walls Site

This is so cool, the videos from the very excellent NLab Social Networks Conference are now available, please check them out for some really great perspectives around Social Networking, including me on the Panel Session. I’ve included a selection of the videos which include a presentation from Steve Clayton (again a huge shout out to him for coming along!) and a presentation from Andrea Saveri, Director of the Institute of the Future at Palo Alto in the US about the "Amplified Individual".

NLab Social Networks Conference 2008 - Panel Discussion from IOCT on Vimeo.

NLab Social Networks Conference 2008 - Steve Clayton from IOCT on

Vimeo.
NLab Social Networks Conference 2008 - Andrea Saveri from IOCT on Vimeo.

I saw this note on Facebook from Andy Trish of NCI Technologies a Gold Certified SBSC Partner based in Cornwall. They are great guys and very very successful. I’ve spent two fun packed WPC trips with these guys and they definitely have my vote, so get on and give them your vote.

NCI Technologies, headed up by Andy Trish, Chris Penrose and John Andrew have achieved finalist status in the CRN Channel awards

The Channel Awards are the most sought after awards in the computer industry, recognising excellence and exceptional performance.

The awards will be presented on Thursday 13 November 2008 at the Battersea Park Events Arena.

The judges have voted to get us to finalist status, now its down to you to vote for who you want to win. Cast your vote by following the link below, please register and vote.

http://www.channelawards.net/ShortlistSMEReseller.asp

Many Thanks

Andy Trish

Ratinder (my wife) and I headed into Leicester Town Centre to check out the new Highcross Shopping Development which has been part of a massive regeneration of Leicester. To my surprise I noticed that we had a brand spanking new Apple Store. Obviously we had to take a look inside and check out the MacBooks and iPhone 3G purely from a competitive standpoint!

Apple really has got itself sorted and even I thought Leicester had somehow arrived because it now has an Apple Shop! Damn, I didn’t want  to feel like this but it’s hard not to be excited by the bright shiny things they have on Display.

The Visitor Guide that I got handed when I went into the Store was interesting as it had a list of Workshops on things like the iPhone, Mac OS X Leopard, iMovie, iPhoto, etc. How about the "Apple Youth Workshops" where families can learn how to compose songs using GarageBand.

I’ve changed the blog url to http://www.sikhgeek.com and titled the blog "The Sikh Geek". It means you might have to update any links and subscribe to the new feed.

It’s so named because I’m a "Sikh" and a "Geek" and they sort of Rhyme

Apologies if this is a pain.

Apologies to people getting HTTP 404 errors on my site at the moment. I’ve been trying to associate a new domain name and point it at the directory holding the blog. This seems to have caused problems and if I tell you the site and domain are hosted by 1and1 you’ll understand the problems

UPDATE

Okay, I think it’s working again, let me know if you find something broken. Thanks to those who pointed out the problems earlier.

Following on from my previous post, I thought I would let you know that the HTG Groups are coming to the UK. The facilitator/moderator will be Dave Sobel of Evolvetech who will be jetting in from the US to guide/support the Group with a first meeting planned in for mid October time.

One thing I wanted to say in public is that I won’t be joining the Group and it has nothing to do with not seeing the value of them. Many people I respect are members of them and really value them. I would certainly encourage those SBSC Partners who are looking for growth to consider joining. For me, as I’ve written previously, lots of things are changing and Ashish and I are putting investment into many aspects of our business Ardent iSys and you just have to make your choice somewhere. Also, we’re a Software Business not an Infrastructure Business which is essentially what the other Partners will be.

One thing that is a regret is that we have to rely on our US Colleagues for something like this which I think is a shame but that’s the reality and why reinvent the wheel?

NEW! Online Peer Group Benefit for Small Business Specialist and Windows Small Business Server Partners

Microsoft announces Online Peer Groups for active Small Business Specialist partners that took the Windows SBS 70-282 exam.

What are the Online Peer Groups?

The online Peer Groups are an opportunity for Microsoft partners to learn, share and complete activities designed to improve their business and professional lives. The content will consist of these six topics over a 12-month period:

1.    Vision, Mission, Values
2.    Business Planning
3.    Sales and Marketing
4.    Budgeting and Finance
5.    HR and Metrics
6.    Vendor Engagement and Wrap-up

The online Peer Groups consist of up to 15 members partners per group.  The meetings are scheduled at uniform times.  Each meeting will focus on practical, useful content and tools that help you improve your business over the upcoming month and beyond. Homework and goal assignments are required and will supplement the learning.  Peer group sharing is also a key part of the best practice exchange and overall learning.

• Must be an active Small Business Specialist (SBSC)
• Passed the SBS 70-282 Exam
• Peer Groups will be conducted in English only (English proficiency required)
• Commitment to participate includes attending peer group sessions and completion of homework
• Pay $600 USD for participation

To learn more or to SUBMIT the nomination form, please visit: http://www.htgmembers.com/online_year1.htm. Form needs to be submitted latest by August 31, 2008 for participation in the FY09 Online Peer Groups. Submitting the form does not guarantee selection. Microsoft and Heartland Technology Groups reserve the right to decline a submission. All peer groups will be conducted in English only.

What Peer Group members have to say:

“Life is too short to learn all these things the hard way. Most of us got in to this business because we are technicians and have to learn how to be businessmen and managers. Sessions like this are the closest thing we can get to having a mentor or hiring a professional corporate President to run the company”

“I entered this program with no specific expectations other than to have the opportunity to interact with and learn from and with my peers. The HTG Online Peer Group experience was simply excellent. Our group had a good mix of firms, in terms of geographic location, company size and experience. This was one of the keys to the value I derived from the program. Most importantly, the program afforded me an opportunity to speak with my peers and interact with them in a very open and collaborative manner and I found that it really forced me to take a critical look at my business model. As a result, I will definitely implement changes in my business this year that are the direct result of my participation in this group. It was worthwhile to take time to work through the exercises, meetings and presentations in order to get the full benefit of a thought-provoking program. I highly recommend this program to any firm that works with SMB clients.”

Last night was our AMITPRO Meeting and it was a chance to meet up with Emily Lambert, who has taken on the role of SBSC Lead for Microsoft (although that is not her entire role). I also got a chance to meet with Gareth Hall, the Windows Server Product Manager who has taken on SBS/EBS as well. It makes a lot of sense and more importantly Gareth holds the sign-off on the money especially in this launch year. Emily is a good choice for this role, I just hope we get some continuity now. The good thing is that the persistence by Gareth Brown and myself that Microsoft’s Small Business efforts should be through the SBS Groups is starting to pay off. Those that have kept the Community going month in, month out and evangelised the Programme deserve this support from Microsoft at the very least. It’s nice to see this recognition of our efforts and when I say "our", I mean all those SBSC Group Leads and Members who have kept the faith. It’s easy to keep the faith when you understand the value of Peer to Peer interaction. We discussed a lot of things but overall I feel very positive going forward. I liked Gareth’s approach and his honesty and also his willingness to push the Corporate boundaries. You know I like people who are willing to do that!

We had a very interesting presentation from Brightpoint and Orange who have joined with Microsoft to deliver a channel model for IT Resellers to provide Windows Mobile devices/Tariffs to end customers and provide an ongoing revenue stream. Brightpoint are the sole distributor of unbranded HTC devices in the UK. HTC are doing some great things especially with their new Diamond Touch devices running Windows Mobile 6.1. The offer looked very attractive to me as Brightpoint will basically do all the hard work for you and provide you with first line technical support as well. This offer has come about from feedback from some of the SBS Groups which Emily visited and then fed this information back to develop a Programme which I think potentially answers a lot of our needs around providing mobile services.

I saw this on JP’s Blog and what an amazing project NanoCity is in India and what makes it even better for me is that it’s planned to be only 25 km from the State Capital of Punjab, Chandigarh. The project plans to build a version of Silicon Valley the size of Manhattan! It is led by Sabeer Bhatia, him of Hotmail fame in conjuction with the State Government of Haryana. There are not many places in the World that would have this sort of ambition and more importantly the money to back it up. I’m guessing Sabeer chose a location near Chandigarh because he was born there.

I hope this project comes off and I look forward to having an office located there!