Microsoft SMB Community Blog

Announcing SPLA Essentials and an update to SPLA Licensing

Microsoft is invested in working together with partners to grow web share. Now, we are announcing several licensing changes to help hosting partners be more agile and grow their business.

The first is a new licensing offering under the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) called SPLA Essentials. SPLA Essentials is for small to medium size hosters and web developers that want to compete in the hosting environment. SPLA Essentials offers partners a simplified agreement that contains core program rights, with an easy online experience to enroll and manage software licenses.  Both licensing offerings under the SPLA program (SPLA and SPLA Essentials) can help partners to grow their business through the millions of Microsoft.NET developers worldwide that are already using Windows Server, and those customers that are running both ASP.NET and PHP on the Windows platform. 

The second is a change to Windows Server use rights. Today, Windows Server SKUs are differentiated based on a technical distinction (authentication). To reduce the complexity and provide more value to partners, Microsoft is changing to a differentiation based on the type of service partners offer (scenario based), and are identifying SKUs specifically for “outsourcing.” This helps support more web scenarios at a lower price point, and makes it easier to understand which offering to license in a dynamic marketplace.

Finally, Microsoft is providing partners the ability to use prior versions of licensed software, providing more flexibility and bringing consistency and alignment with other Volume Licensing programs. This allows a partner to more easily transition their solution to a hosted business model, leveraging the version of Microsoft technology that best meets their business needs.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Keynote kicking off at Worldwide Partner Conference 09

Here at WPC09, the keynotes are just now kicking off.  I put up the full agenda for today earlier, but now it is time to get the day started by hearing from:

Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft

We just finished listening to “Playing for Change,” and they are great!  Here are a few quick pics from the pre-keynote here at #WPC09:

Remember, you can also view online at Digital WPC!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,WPC09,Worldwide Partner Conference,New Orleans,Eric Ligman,Arnold Bogaards,keynote,Steve Ballmer,Allison Watson,Bob Muglia,agenda,Playing for change

del.icio.us Tags: Microsoft,WPC09,Worldwide Partner Conference,New Orleans,Eric Ligman,Arnold Bogaards,keynote,Steve Ballmer,Allison Watson,Bob Muglia,agenda,Playing for change

Check out the online videos of Office 2010 in action!

As mentioned in my, “Microsoft Office 2010 Hits Major Milestone and Enters Technical Preview” post earlier, the Technical Preview of Microsoft Office 2010 is now released.  Yesterday at Worldwide Partner Conference, attendees were able to see Microsoft Office 2010 in action, showing off some of the very cool new features it is going to bring to individuals and workers around the world.  Here is your chance to see some of these features for yourself, in a series of short, online videos of the Microsoft Office 2010 applications.  Take a look for yourself.

Be sure to check out the awesome video & web/smartphone capabilities in PowerPoint 2010 and some of the amazing management and ease of use features in Outlook 2010!  There’s also the web access, edit, and live interaction with the Office 2010 applications!  Did I mention the incredible business intelligence for everyone features in Excel?  I haven’t even talked about the new things in Word 2010 yet…  But instead of me rambling (any more), take a look for yourself.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Microsoft Office 2010 Hits Major Milestone and Enters Technical Preview

Back in June, I put up my, “Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview – How you can get it,” post here on the Blog, talking about how you can sign up to be considered for the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview.  I also mentioned that we would be announcing when the beginning of the Technical Preview would be at a later date.  Well, I am happy to announce that today at Worldwide Partner Conference, the announcement was made, “Microsoft Office 2010 Hits Major Milestone and Enters Technical Preview.”  Another very exciting announcement made today was that all attendees of Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference would receive an invitation to be a part of the Technical Preview and receive access to it!

Just a few of the MANY exciting announcements made on Monday at Worldwide Partner Conference.  By the way, have you been following the sessions on Digital WPC if you aren’t able to join us in person?

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

Agenda for #WPC09 today, Tuesday, July 14th

For all of you @WPC09 this week, here’s a quick overview of the agenda for Tuesday, in case you didn’t look it up on Digital WPC:

Just a quick reminder, my Contest for FREE STUFF is being continued today (Tuesday).  Have you found me yet?  I will be giving out some free clues on where I am through my Twitter account during the day.  I did already give one clue out for Tuesday in this Blog post.

AGENDA

• Registration Hours: 7:00am – 6:00pm
• Schedule Meetings using WPC Connect on www.digitalwpc.com: 7:00am – 6:00pm
• Breakfast: 7:00am – 8:15am

8:30am – 11:00am Vision Keynotes

• Allison Watson, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft
• Bob Muglia, President, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft
• Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft

11:00am – 11:30am Break

11:30am – 12:30pm Solutions Value Keynotes

• Application Platform Optimization, Neil Charney, Auditorium A
• The Business Productivity Opportunity: The Next Wave, Your Customers, and You, Chris Capossela, La Nouvelle C
• Maximizing Your Opportunity with Core Infrastructure, Bob Kelly, Auditorium B
• Microsoft Developer Platform: Return on Innovation, Jason Zander, Auditorium C
• The Partner Story for Azure, Doug Hauger, La Nouvelle AB

11:30pm –12:30pm Hands-on Lab Sessions

• HOL109 Windows Phone with Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Room 264)
• HOL116 Identifying Counterfeit Software and Proof of Licensing (Room 263)
• HOL126 Designing Scorecards with PerformancePoint Services for SharePoint (Room 262)

12:30pm – 2:00pm - Lunch

12:30pm – 6:00pm - Expo Hall Open

12:45pm –1:45pm - Hands-on Lab Sessions

• HOL118 - Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager and SAM (Room 263)
• HOL119 - Optimize Your License Sales Process and Create Customized Quotes for Your Customers with Microsoft LicenseWise (Room 264)
• HOL122 - Building Effective Search Front Ends with ESP for SharePoint: Achieving High Search Quality (Room 262)

2:00pm – 3:00pm Breakout Sessions

• AP002 - Partnering with Azure Services (Room 220-222)
• AP007 - Differentiate Your Applications with Killer Features from the Microsoft Application Platform (Room 281-282)
• AP008 - Microsoft Application Platform Licensing Primer (Room 265-268)
• AP009 - Delivering Application Integration Solutions on the Microsoft Application Platform (Room 278-280)
• BL004 - Speed of Trust - Leading in Crisis (Room La Nouvelle C)
• BL005 - Women in Technology: Leading with Resilience (Room 228-230)
• BP007 - Winning in Unified Communications with Microsoft Office Communications Server (Room La Louisiane C)
• BP008 - Solution Platform Opportunities with Microsoft Office Visio (Room 208-210)
• BP009 - The Power of Insight: Boosting Your Business with Microsoft Business Intelligence (Room La Louisiane AB)
• CI007 - Forefront Business Ready Security Partner Opportunity with Douglas Leland, GM, ISBG (Room 243-244)
• CI008 - Virtualization Solutions: Scenarios and Partner Business Opportunities (Room 252-254)
• CI009 - Live Quiz Show: Optimized Desktop and the Road to Services Value (Room 255-257)
• DYN007 - FY10+ Microsoft Dynamics Partner Strategy (Room 271-273)
• DYN008 - Leverage xRM to differentiate Your Business By Delivering Rapid Value to Your Customers (Room 275-276)
• DYN009 - Mergers and Acquisitions 101 (Room 277)
• MOB003 - Windows Marketplace for Mobile: Seize the Possibilities; Realize the Profit (Room 238-239)
• OEM004 - The OEM Business Value of Windows 7 (Room Auditorium C)
• SM004 - Marketing Survival Strategies for the Attention Economy (Room 225-227)
• SMB003 - Strengthen Your Business by Helping Your Customers Save Time and Get Organized (Room 218-219) – My Session
• SS007 - Reading the Tea Leaves: SaaS Trends and Building Your Competitive Edge (Room 215-216)
• SS009 - How to Scale Your Business and Grow Your Revenue with Microsoft Online Services (Room 217)

2:00pm –3:00pm - Hands-on Lab Sessions

• HOL117 - Notes from the Field: Successfully Delivering SAM Optimization Assessments (Room 263)
• HOL123 - View Pipeline Using Partner Sales Management! (Room 264)
• HOL136 - Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Feature Walkthrough (Room 262)

3:00pm – 3:30pm Break

3:30pm –4:30pm Breakout Sessions

• AP010 Delivering Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence on the Microsoft Application Platform (Room 265-268)
• AP011 Delivering Application Lifecycle Management Solutions on the Microsoft Application Platform (Room 235-236)
• AP012 Getting Your Applications Compatible on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (Room 281-282)
• AP019 Winning with the New Microsoft Web Platform (Room 278-280)
• BL006 Fear is NOT a Strategy! (Room 228-230)
• BP010 Turning Economic Challenges into Business Opportunities Using Microsoft Online Services (Room La Louisiane C) BP011 Ask the Experts: Deployment Partner Services and Your Success (Room 208-210)
• BP012 Winning on the Web: Microsoft SharePoint As an Internet Platform (Room La Louisiane AB)
• CI010 How to Capitalize on the Forefront Launch Wave (Room 243-244)
• CI011 Building the Foundation for a Cloud Computing Infrastructure (Room 252-254)
• CI012 Use Desktop Virtualization to Demonstrate Immediate Cost Saving and Business Flexibility for Your Customers (Room 255-257)
• DYN010 Are You Stuck in Your Comfort Zone? (Room 271-273)
• DYN011 Online Marketing That Pays Off (Room 277)
• DYN012 Certified for Microsoft Dynamics (Room 275-276)
• DYNSL Grow Your Business with Microsoft Dynamics SL (Room Hampton Inn/ Riverside II)
• MOB004 Capitalize on the Windows Phone Business Opportunity (Room 238-239)
• OEM005 Going to Market with Windows 7 (Room Auditorium C)
• SM003 The IAMCP Partnering Maturity Model: Roadmap to Higher Profits and Increased Customer Satisfaction (Room 228-230)
• SM006 ReThink! An Easier Path to Better Business Requirements Documents (Room 225-227)
• SMB004 Help Your Customers Make Smart Business Decisions with Your SMB BI Solution (Room 218-219)
• SS005 IDC Perspective: Partnering in the Cloud (Room 215-216)
• SS006 Azure Services Partner Model and Pricing (Room 220-222)

3:30pm –4:30pm Hands-on Lab Sessions

• HOL127 Deploying Microsoft Exchange with Windows Phones (Room 263)
• HOL134 Capital Planning and Investment Control for Government Using Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) 2007 (Room 264)
• HOL138 Learning the Capabilities of Visio 2010 (Room 262)

4:30pm – 5:00pm Break

5:00pm –6:00pm Breakout Sessions

• AP013 Custom Application Development Roadmap: Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Room 281-282)
• AP014 Maximize the Value of SAP with the Microsoft Application Platform (Room 278-280)
• AP015 Early Look at SQL Server 2008 R2 and project code-named Madison (Room 265-268)
• AP016 Business Opportunities with Windows Internet Explorer 8 (Room 235-236)
• AP020 How Can Microsoft Surface Transform Your Business? (Room 217)
• BL004R Speed of Trust - Leading in Crisis (Room La Nouvelle C)
• BP013 Building Solutions on SharePoint: The Value Delivered Today, and a Sneak Peek at Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2010 (Room La Louisiane AB)
• BP014 Enhancing Enterprise Project Management through Collaboration (Room 208-210)
• BP015 Betting on Office: How You Can Grow Your Business by Winning Customers to the Microsoft Platform (Room La Louisiane C)
• CI013 Grow your Security Revenue Today: Partner Resources and Best Practices (Room 243-244)
• CI014 Efficient and Effective Service Management: Orchestrating Incident, Problem, Change, and Configuration Management across the Microsoft Platform (Room 252-254)
• CI015 Tapping into the Desktop Migration Opportunity (Room 255-257)
• DYN013 Identifying Key Drivers That Impact Profits (Room 271-273)
• DYN014 Reducing Costs by Integrating Marketing, Sales, and Implementation Methodologies (Room 275-276)
• DYN015 Is Your Organizational Model Holding You Back? (Room 277)
• MOB005 Assist Your Customers in This Tough Economy: Increase Their Employee's Productivity and Responsiveness with Windows Phones (Room 238-239)
• OEM006 OEM Windows 7 Technical Session (Room Auditorium C)
• SM007 Growing Despite Economic Uncertainty: Proven Methods for Selling to Small and Midsize Business Customers (Room 225-227)
• SM008 Everybody Sells! Leveraging Your Consulting Workforce "In the Right Way" to Maximize Sales and Deployment (Room 228-230)
• SMB005 Small and Midsized Business (SMB) Growth Opportunities: Jumpstart Your Public Sector Business Today! (Room 218-219)
• SS001R Software-Plus-Services: Bringing it all together across MS Online Services, Partner Hosted and Windows Azure (Room 220-222)
• SS008 Leveraging the Cloud: How ISVs Can Use New Microsoft Programs to Move into the Software-Plus-Services World (Room 215-216)

5:00pm –6:00pm Hands-on Lab Sessions

• HOL101 Windows 7 Enterprise Features (Room 262)
• HOL115 Understanding and Successfully Using an MLS (Room 263)
• HOL139 Create Great IW Demos with the New Demo Showcase (Room 264)

Looking forward to seeing you @Microsoft #WPC09!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Let’s do it again! Contest for FREE STUFF – Just for fun and introducing yourself

This morning kicked off the Contest for FREE STUFF – Just for fun and introducing yourself for Partners here at WPC09 and it was a lot of fun getting to meet and talk with Partners I both knew and had never met before!  After I reloaded today with prizes, I still had people tracking me down at the end of the day, and some smart Partners figured out that by attending my session that I gave today, it would be reaaaaaally easy to find me.  :-)  Others had been following the clues and found me earlier in the day.

Since there are some Partners who were trying to track me down and never did find me, and because I brought a few extra hat and mouse pad giveaways with me, I thought we could do it again to give everyone another chance.  So if you did not win today, and you want to win one of the prizes, tomorrow (Tuesday) will be your chance.  Same rules apply as did today and we’ll go through the day until I am out of goodies.  And to answer some questions I received today, yes, I was posting those clues as I was actually walking through the #WPC09 venue.  So when I remarked on the US Wireless Lounge being by Starbucks, that was me telling you where I was actually walking at that time.  I’ll do some more of that tomorrow as well, but I’ll start you out with a really easy hint tonight:

If you were to follow Sylvester during the time before the first keynote in the morning, you would find me.

Good luck!

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

Check out the local Microsoft Local Engagement Team and SBSC Advisory Board locator online

Here’s an online resource for you to leverage for all of the Partners in the U.S., the Microsoft Local Engagement Map. The Local Engagement Team, comprised of ten locally-based Microsoft Business Development Managers, is a resource to help you successfully drive marketing and sales efforts such as: newsletters, web site content, business expos, seminars, radio programs, social marketing, etc., and is one of the strongest resources for partners that are looking to connect with complementary businesses and organizations in their area. Now through this new online locator, you simply click the area of the country you are interested in and up pops a display introducing you to the local Microsoft Business Development Manager and the SBSC Advisory Board member for the area.

Go ahead, give it a try.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Bookmark on: MSDN , TechNet, and Expression
 

FREE STUFF Contest Hint

Last week, I put up the post about the Contest for FREE STUFF – Just for fun and introducing yourself that I was going to kick off this morning.  Then last night, I posted via my Twitter account that I would be providing some hints about how to find me this morning via Twitter.  So, here is my first hint, which expands upon the one in my Contest for FREE STUFF – Just for fun and introducing yourself post last week…

As I mentioned, to win, you must come up to me, introduce yourself, and tell me you follow the Blog and read about the contest.  Finding me among ~9,000 people may present a slight challenge, but it’s bound to be easier if you know what attire to look for.  So if you are looking for me this morning, I’d highly suggest looking for someone in gray dress pants, a black polo with the Microsoft logo on the left chest and the CPE (Customer & Partner Experience) logo on the right sleeve.  Here’s that CPE logo again for those that missed it in the original post:

I will be providing a few more hints a little later; however, I will be doing those via my Twitter account since I’ll be on the move and posting in real-time, so if you’re interested in those hints to try to win the contest this morning, you may want to follow me via Twitter. 

Good luck!

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

Agenda for #WPC09 today, Monday, July 13th

For all of you @WPC09 this week, here’s a quick overview of the agenda for Monday, in case you didn’t look it up on Digital WPC:

Just a quick reminder, my Contest for FREE STUFF kicks off this morning (Monday).  Have you found me yet?  Who knows, I may even be giving out some free clues on where I am through my Twitter account in the morning…  Here’s a brief reminder of the prizes at stake:

AGENDA

• Registration Hours: 7:00am – 8:00pm
• Schedule Meetings using WPC Connect on www.digitalwpc.com: 7:00am – 6:00pm
• Breakfast: 7:00am – 8:15am

8:30am – 11:00am Vision Keynotes:

• Allison Watson, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft
• Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President, Windows Business Group, Microsoft 
• Stephen Elop, President, Microsoft Business Division, Microsoft

11:00am – 11:30am Break

11:30am – 12:30pm Solutions Value Keynotes

• The Business Productivity Opportunity: The Next Wave, Your Customers, and You, Chris Capossela, La Nouvelle C
• Maximizing Your Opportunity with Core Infrastructure, Bob Kelly, Auditorium B
• Microsoft Dynamics: The Power of Possibilities, Kirill Tatarinov, La Nouvelle AB
• Mobility Solutions, Todd Peters, Auditorium A
• Windows 7 Business Opportunities, Rich Reynolds, Auditorium C

12:30pm – 2:00pm Lunch

2:00pm – 3:00pm Solutions Value Keynotes

• Application Platform Optimization, Neil Charney, Auditorium A
• The Business Productivity Opportunity: The Next Wave, Your Customers, and You, Chris Capossela, La Nouvelle C
• Microsoft Dynamics: The Power of Possibilities, Kirill Tatarinov, La Nouvelle AB
• Windows 7 Business Opportunities, Rich Reynolds, Auditorium C

3:00pm – 3:30pm Break

3:30pm –4:30pm Breakout Sessions

• AP001 Accelerate the Sales Cycle with Microsoft Application Platform Optimization (Room 281-282)
• AP003 How to Increase Profits and Enhance User Experience with Microsoft Silverlight (Room 278-280)
• AP005 Extend Your Application to the Cloud with SQL Azure Database (Room 220-222)
• AP017 Windows 7: What You Need to Know to Get Your Products Ready (Room 235-236)
• BL001 Become a Trusted Advisor and Win Big Business (Room 225-227)
• BL002 Shuffle the Deck: Using Turbulent Times to Sharpen Your Most Valuable Asset (Room 228-230)
• BP001 The Simple Side of Microsoft SharePoint (Room La Louisiane AB)
• BP002 Accelerating Sales Cycles with Partner-Ready Campaigns and Tools (Room 208-210)
• BP003 Microsoft Exchange and the Partner Business Opportunity (Room La Louisiane C)
• CI001 Infrastructure Executives "Unplugged": Q&A with Bob Kelly, Corporate Vice President of Infrastructure Marketing (Room 243-244)
• CI002 Discovering New Business Opportunities with Windows Server 2008 R2 (Room 252-254)
• CI003 Windows Server Portfolio for SMB: Which Server Is Best for Your Customer (and You!) (Room 255-257)
• DYN001 Exploring the Microsoft Dynamics ERP Opportunity (Room 271-273)
• DYN002 Exploring Today's Microsoft Dynamics CRM Opportunity (Room La Nouvelle AB)
• DYN003 Unleash Your Sales Potential (Room 277)
• MOB001 Explore the Upcoming Release of Windows Mobile 6.5 (Room 238-239)
• SM005 Connecting to the Microsoft Partner Network (Room La Nouvelle C)
• SMB001 Increase your Service and Sales Opportunities in SMB with Windows 7 Professional (Room 218-219)
• SS001 Software-Plus-Services: Bringing it all together across MS Online Services, Partner Hosted and Windows Azure (Room 217)
• SS002 Unified Communications in Software-Plus-Services World (Room 215-216)

3:30pm –4:30pm Hands-on Lab Sessions

• HOL103 Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) (Room 262)
• HOL124 Integrating Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Spatial Support with Microsoft Virtual Earth (Room 264)
• HOL130 Excel 2010 for Business Intelligence and Data Analysis (Room 263)

4:30pm – 5:00pm Break

5:00pm –6:00pm Breakout Sessions

• AP004 How to Grow Your Business by Winning the Platform against Oracle (Room 281-282
• AP006 What's New in Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 (Room 265-268)
• AP018 Consolidating Microsoft SQL Server 2008: The 'Why' and the 'How' for Partners (Room 278-280)
• BP004 Business Productivity: Driving Your Business Forward with the Next Wave of BP Solutions (Room La Louisiane AB)
• BP005 Reducing Costs and Maximizing Revenue with Office Business Applications (Room 208-210)
• BP006 Information Management with Microsoft SharePoint and FAST (Room La Louisiane C)
• CI004 Secret to Partner Success: Infrastructure Stories from the Street (Room 243-244)
• CI005 Data Center Management in a New Economy (Room 252-254)
• CI006 Using Optimized Desktops with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to Solve Customer Challenges (Room 255-257)
• DYN004 Grow Your Business with Microsoft Dynamics GP (Room 277)
• DYN005 Grow Your Business with Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Room 275-276)
• DYN006 Grow Your Business with Microsoft Dynamics AX (Room 271-273)
• MOB002 Experience Windows Phone Devices and Applications (Room 238-239)
• SM001 Proposing to Win (Room La Nouvelle C)
• SM002 Turn Up the Heat on Your Prospecting: Harness the Power of Referrals (Room 228-230)
• SMB002 Help Your Customers Reduce IT Costs and Risks and Strengthen Your Business (Room 218-219) – My Session
• SS003 Lap around Windows Azure, Business Edition (Room 220-222)
• SS004 How to Guide Customers through the Software-Plus-Services Decision Making Process (Room 215-216)

5:00pm –6:00pm Hands-on Lab Sessions

• HOL107 New Windows Phone Capabilities (Room 262)
• HOL120 How and When to Bring in Microsoft Financing (Room 264)
• HOL125 The Data Mining Add-in for Excel 2007 - A Hidden Jewel for your SQL Server 2008 Customers (Room 263)

6:00pm – 8:00pm Expo Hall Launch Celebration – NEW!

Hopefully I will see you around @WPC09!  Remember to find me Monday morning to take part in my Contest for FREE STUFF as well and to join me for the SMB002 session Monday afternoon.  Sorry in advance to all of the @Microsoft folks, because the prizes are for Partners only.  You can still come by and say, “Hi,” though as I would love to catch up with all of you.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Have you seen the new Microsoft Partner Network website?

Have you gone out to the Microsoft Partner Program website recently? If so, you are bound to have noticed the new look and brand for the Microsoft Partner Network. If you haven’t gone out there yet, take a few minutes and take a look. As for you at #WPC09 with us this week, there is a lot of fantastic news you are going to be hearing on this topic. :-)

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Tip: Install Windows 7 Alongside Windows Vista for a Dual Boot System

So how many of you out there want to test Windows 7 but don’t have an extra machine to do it on? Well, here’s a solution for you from TechNet Magazine. Create a dual boot system so you can keep your current machine and have the option to boot into Windows 7 when you want instead. You do this through the Disk Management section of the Computer Management console on your Windows Vista machine.

For the steps on how to do it, check out the write-up in TechNet Magazine online.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Contest for FREE STUFF – Just for fun and introducing yourself

For several years now, I have been attending Worldwide Partner Conference and many other conferences throughout the year that focus on Partners and saying how much I enjoy meeting and talking with Partners from all over. With #WPC09 around the corner, this is once again the case. For any of you that have followed my Blog for awhile, you also know that every now and then I like to post special offers up here as a Thank you to those who subscribe and sometimes I combine those with events. For instance, a couple years ago at WPC, I offered Starbucks cards to anyone who came up to me and told me they had seen my “Less Than Coffee” Blog post (while supplies lasted).

Well, I’m thinking it’s time to do something like that again. Just a little fun to reward those that read my Blog and are going to #WPC09. So here it is:

I am going to bring some of the #Microsoft Small Business Specialist Racing Mouse pads and Hats to #WPC09 with me this year (we’ll see how many fit in my bag) and starting Monday at #WPC09, if you come up to me and tell me you are a subscriber of my Blog, I’ll hand out the mouse pads and hats until I run out. Remember though, you actually have to come up, introduce yourself (if I don’t know you), and tell me you are a subscriber of my Blog though. Here are pictures of the mouse pads and hats:

If you don’t know what I look like, my picture is posted on the left-side of the Blog. You can also see it on my Twitter page and on my bio page. Plus, to make it even easier, I will be wearing a shirt with our CPE logo embroidered on the right-hand sleeve (pictured below), so you can look for that too.

I’m really looking forward to seeing you all down @Microsoft #WPC09 this year!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Short video shows how Microsoft Office Live Meeting makes meetings simple and affordable.

In the past, I have put up a few posts here on the Blog regarding Microsoft Office Live Meeting, such as:

• Travel cuts? Save the money and have the meeting “face to face” anyway! – Includes information on how to get a FREE 30 day trial of Microsoft Office Live Meeting
• Yes, $4.49 a month per user for Microsoft Live Meeting through Open Value and Open Value Subscription, plus you can all sell this today
• Some nice updates for Microsoft Online Services announced for July. Check them out. – Announcement of July update of Microsoft Office Live Meeting Standard accounts to allow meeting size being increased to 250 from the 15 per meeting that is used to be.
• Pricing, packaging and partner compensation details about Microsoft Online Services announced at Worldwide Partner Conference – Save even more with the Business Productivity Online Suite vs. individual services

Today, I thought I would share a short video with you that was included in the Microsoft Business Insights newsletter showing just how easy it is to schedule and setup a Microsoft Office Live Meeting directly through Outlook. In fact, it is so easy, the whole video is barely over 1 ½ minutes! So, take a look and see how easy utilizing Microsoft #Office Live Meeting can be for your business.

By the way, if you are attending Worldwide Partner Conference (#WPC09), be sure to join me for the “Strengthen Your Business by Helping Your Customers Save Time and Get Organized” session where Elisabeth Vanderveldt of Conamex International will be highlighting a real-life scenario where they integrated #Microsoft Office Live Meeting into one of their clients and was able to deliver BIG savings for them!

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

Some nice updates for Microsoft Online Services announced for July. Check them out.

In the Microsoft Online Services Service Update for July 2009, the Microsoft Online Services Team disclosed some pretty nice updates that will begin deployment into production data centers on July 7 and are scheduled to be available to all customers by mid-July.

Here are some of the items that will be included in the July service update:

• Migration Support for Hosted Exchange Mailboxes. The Microsoft Online Services Migration Tool is updated with features to allow users to specify hosted Exchange mailboxes as source mailboxes for mailbox data migration.
• Increase for SharePoint Online File Uploads. The maximum file size for documents uploaded to SharePoint Online increases from 50MB to 250MB.
• More Live Meeting Attendees. Meetings hosted in Live Meeting Standard can accommodate up to 250 attendees, an increase from 15 attendees per meeting. This change applies to all users of Live Meeting Standard, including those that own Live Meeting licenses as part of their Business Productivity Online Suite. The upgrade will be available for new customers after July 13; existing Live Meeting customers will be upgraded by August 13.
• Microsoft Online Services Trials for India. India becomes the newest market for Microsoft Online Services and the Business Productivity Online Suite. Trial accounts will be available to organizations in India with this service update. Commercial availability is targeted for Fall 2009.
• Quick Trials. The process for getting a Microsoft Online Services trial is significantly streamlined. With updates to the Microsoft Online Customer Portal, user actions required to set up a trial account are reduced by 75 percent and better integration with Live ID authentication.
• Worldwide User Provisioning. Administrators can assign user licenses to worldwide users, an important addition for multi-national organizations with users in numerous countries. Previously, administrators could only assign user licenses to users located in countries where Microsoft Online Services are marketed and sold. Users located in a country where use of Microsoft products is prohibited or restricted, however, still cannot be provisioned. Customers and Partners should consult with their Microsoft contact for additional information on these prohibitions and restrictions.

For these updates, the Microsoft Online Customer Portal will be offline on Friday, July 10 from 14:00 to 17:30 Pacific Daylight Time (21:00 to 00:30 GMT). During this downtime, organizations will not be able to set up trial accounts, buy subscriptions, or modify current subscriptions. This downtime will not affect the availability of an organization's online services, so users can continue to access them as normal.

If you are interested in hearing more from the Microsoft Online Services Team, you can always follow the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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

U.S. SBSC Advisory Board Members posted for the new year

Each year in the U.S., a new SBSC Advisory Board is chosen with a representative from each of the areas. SBSC Advisory Board members are committed and eager to be the local partner liaison between you and Microsoft. The role of the SBSC Advisory Board is to provide Microsoft with real-life feedback and ground level intelligence about what is important for SBSCs.

To find out who the SBSC Advisory Board member is for your area, you can look them up HERE.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

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