|
July, 2005 |
|
SILICON EAST REPORTS FROM THE |
|
Earlier this month I attended Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Minneapolis. This gathering of over 6,000 of Microsoft’s Certified Partners from around the world is an opportunity to exchange ideas and learn new best practices from our peers, as well as Microsoft’s management right up to and including CEO Steve Ballmer (here’s his speech emphasizing the utter importance of partners to Microsoft). This year’s conference, the third I’ve personally attended, certainly delivered.
Over the last couple of years, small businesses like our clients have taken on greater and greater importance to Microsoft. Microsoft has recognized that one of the largely untapped growth markets for them is small businesses. Most small businesses are extremely unsophisticated with respect to information technology, but are rapidly recognizing that they must modernize or lose to competition. Along with the other members of Microsoft’s Small Business Advisory Council, I’ve been urging Microsoft for some time to formalize their partner program for partners serving small business. One of the major announcements at this year’s partner conference was the establishment of a Microsoft Small Business Specialist designation for partners serving this segment. I’m proud to say that Sam Birnbaum of our staff helped develop the Microsoft course associated with this designation, and Joe Kaplovitz authored many of the exam questions.
Along the same lines of supporting small business, Microsoft announced a new product – Microsoft Small Business Accounting 2006. This product is aimed squarely at Quickbooks, and for certain will take a good piece of that market. SBA has a great user interface, is really simple to use, and maybe most importantly, is bundled with and links directly to Microsoft Office. So, for example, your customer list is part of your Outlook address book, you can generate financial reports directly into Excel and then further manipulate and analyze them, and you can link to product lists and prices maintained in an Access database. Hopefully, this gives you a taste of what’s possible. There’s even more – a direct link to ADP payroll, online banking, credit card processing, shipping links to FedEx and UPS, and an intensive support program for accounting firms. And when you outgrow SBA, there are clear migration paths to more sophisticated accounting packages. You can learn more here. SBA will be available in September (we have demo copies now), and we’ll be ready to install and support it once released.
And finally, the next release of Windows, long anticipated and code-named “Longhorn,” will be released in 2006 as Microsoft Windows Vista. The most important thing you need to know today is that, unlike some major brands, the workstations we are currently supplying will be upgradeable to Windows Vista.
Fortune Magazine Recognizes our Success
The current summer issue of Fortune Small Business recognizes the pioneering work we’ve done in the area of Windows mobility, by describing how this technology transformed one of our long-time clients, Pinnacle Communities, into a technology-driven twenty-first century model of business efficiency. It’s an inspiring article, and if you haven’t begun to explore with us the opportunities Windows Mobile (aka Blackberry killer) presents, we’d be pleased to demo one of our phones to you. http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/roi/0,15704,1072614,00.html
Digital Connect Magazine
I was recently asked to join the Editorial Advisory Board of Digital Connect magazine. Digital Connect is the go-to source for information about the digital convergence revolution happening today. Digital Connect was just named best new U.S. business publication with a circulation of under 80,000 by the American Society of Business Publication Editors. The magazine also won three design awards from ASBPE. Last month, the magazine featured a full-page editorial I submitted, based upon my technology tour of Asia earlier this year. There’s no doubt that it’s being read, as I’ve received calls and e-mail from across the country … http://www.digitalconnectmag.com/voices/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=163700615
SonicWALL
In May I attended SonicWALL’s Peak Performance partner conference. Aside from great technical presentations, our keynote speaker was Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard Business School. Ms. Kanter spoke on the subject of “Confidence” in business, and I highly recommend her book by the same name, especially if you’re a fan of almost any sport.
SonicWALL continues to be the leader in providing appliances that protect computer networks from the many types of threats that can do serious damage. Their success has been widely recognized, and they are now the number one vendor of these solutions. Silicon East strategically partnered with SonicWALL many years ago, and stayed with them as their product line evolved. Just three weeks ago, we were elevated to SonicWALL Gold Partner, the highest level of partnership they recognize. We are very proud to have this designation bestowed upon us, and look forward to many more years working with SonicWALL.
Our Newest Employee
Silicon East continues to grow. Some of you may have already had the pleasure of meeting our newest employee, Shaun Lillianthal. Shaun recently graduated from Columbia University with his bachelor’s degree. He’s now hard at work getting his Microsoft certifications. We hope you will join with us in welcoming Shaun, and we look forward to sharing his skills and expertise with you for many years to come.
Thanks for reading, Marc
Copyright 2005 Silicon East Inc. |