SBS Crown Jewels To Go

Posted: 1:13 am
April 30, 2006
Events, SMB
1 Comment

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My buddy Chris has the recordings of his recent SBS webcasts online and available for download. This series was fairly good for Chris and the attendance was very awesome. Poor guy did this through a lot of pain and a lot of SBS allstars came to help with the Q&A. If you're thinking about SBS check these links out:

crown jewels archive recordings:
crown jewels of sbs #1: sharepoint & companyweb
crown jewels of sbs #2: wizards, faxing & monitoring
crown jewels of sbs #3: remote web workplace & mobility

crown jewels pdfs:
crown jewels of sbs #1
crown jewels of sbs #2
crown jewels of sbs #3

Congrats Chris! 

SBS Show Strikes Back

Posted: 11:50 pm
April 28, 2006
SBS Show
9 Comments

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SBS ShowThe SBS Show will be making its triumphant return from the extended spring break tomorrow. This is quite exciting because the type of content I'm coming back with is both inspirational and creative. In short, it is not what you would have expected out of the SBS Show because now that people actually know who we are the reception we have from the SMB IT community is fairly impressive. SBS Show has been and always will be about the community and the spirit of getting involved with other IT peers and learning from one another. We can all learn from one another, I hope the SBS Show can help drive that.

So what are we going to cover in the coming SBS Shows? For starters, looking at security consulting as an opportunity. Then utilizing the power of community and networking to make you a better and more comprehensive IT professional. In between we'll play some stuff from the community to let you "meet" some people virtually.

But let me ask you, what would you like to see/hear/do?

Roadshow: No, WSUS can’t do that

Posted: 9:09 pm
April 27, 2006
IT Culture, Microsoft, Security
7 Comments

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As mentioned earlier, I am on the road presenting a part of the security content for Microsoft Technet seminars and meeting partners and professionals all over the state. It is quite exciting and most of all – insightful. As a service provider I make my bacon fixing problems out there and sometimes you don't hear all the problems through your own feedback channels, you have to see people face to face.

The speach of the day: "WSUS doesn't fix stupid. I guarantee that nowhere in WSUS categories will you find a patch class for stupid user keeps on clicking on things. You can't fix stupid, but you can eliminate the amount of things they can be stupid with."

To put it into some context I opened my portion of the Microsoft event by saying that at least half of all the security problems with the Microsoft software are Microsofts fault. Not in terms of them writing insecure operating systems, but in terms of system administrators not applying service packs, patches and hotfixes in a timely manner. I held a quick poll asking people if they waited a few days to deploy critical patches. A surprising number of hands went up. Well folks, this is why your networks get pwned. If you don't have a clear schedule every second Tuesday of the month and plan to spend an hour or two at the Wednesday Technet webcast covering the patchday… well, update your resume. There is this notion that nobody wants to be the first to blow things up. Ok, fair enough – thats what testing is for folks. You test the service pack, you roll, you call PSS if you must to clean things up, you define a process. You don't stick your head in the sand, trust that Microsoft published every single thing that patch fixed and put your security in the hands of 16 year olds that got nothing to do between TRL and American Idol. Cleaning up a box with a broken patch is a hell of a lot easier than cleaning up a rootkit, if you even notice you've been pwned to begin with.

The other half of the security blame falls squarely on the user. You can patch your servers. You flash your firewalls. You can define strict firewall rules. You can turn up logging to find potential problems. You can backup. You can patch your workstations 15 different ways. But you can't fix stupid. If your junior admin got his MCSE from a paper-mill and his solution to NTFS permission problem is elevating end user security roles you've got a case of stupid going on. Give it up, you won't be able to train your accountant. Or your marketing guy. Or your boss (unless I'm your boss, in which case you can suck it monkeys – thats why I'm on a separate server than the rest of you serfs). They are untrainable. But you can train your staff. You can define a plan. You can set a schedule. You control your stupid exposure.

Security is a process. Do you have a clear one?

TS2 SBS Crown Jewels Presentations

Posted: 2:16 pm
April 26, 2006
Events
4 Comments

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My SBS Show sidekick Chris Rue is doing the following webcasts for TS2 guys this week. Check em out but remember that you have to register first.

4/26 – part 1: sharepoint & companyweb
4/27 – part 2: wizards, faxing & monitoring
4/28 – part 3: remote web workplace & mobility

Notes from the road: R2, BB4B, Vista

Posted: 12:46 pm
April 26, 2006
Events, IT Business, IT Culture
10 Comments

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I started my little tour with Microsoft Accross America yesterday and it was pretty eventful. Thanks to those of you that showed up and said hi, I tried to invite everyone that I could. If you gave me your business card you'll certainly know when anything like this happens in your neck of the woods again.

First Best Buy

The first thing I noticed when I pulled up at the event were four Best Buy for Business trucks up front. Small business consultants tend to hate Geek Squad for a number of reasons but I've personally only heard about the "Best Buy for Business" service which I talked about earlier on this blog. This was somewhat different. The difference between two arms of Best Buy computer repair and consulting is considerable.

Best Buy for Business folks wear blue polo shirts and I got a chance to talk to four of them, one of which used to be one of our customers. The operation seems pretty well put together and organized from promotion to actual sales. They had actual business collateral that most small business consultants don't – flyers, brochures, impressive business cards (impresive in a way that they did not make their business cards on their Inkjet, "Printed for free at VistaPrint", or my favorite: "I ran out of cards so here is my customers card with my name and aol.com address on the back"), Windows Mobile phones, etc.

We chatted a little while about the core product and they talked about SBS quite a bit, they do seem to get it. All of the folks I spoke to had certifications, SBS deployment experience, references, things you would expect from an SBS Consultant. As a matter of fact, SBS is front-page on their catalog – with a hefty markup too – Standard Edition for $900+.

The sales process? "Depends on the client." Good answer 🙂 We talked about the approach and basically these "Blue Shirt" consultants are the ones responsible for the sales and consulting parts of the business. Geek Squad (White shirt, Black clip-on) is responsible for deployment and support. The blue shirt would go into the business and keep up the relationship of evaluating, upgrading, managing and monitoring the solution they put in. But how do you get in the door? Well, any time you buy a server you get an offer for someone to evaluate your network. They take a look at the desktops, servers, printers etc and create proposals. Customer can go through the proposal, work out a solution and move on. They do not seem to be interested in the "managed services" but more in the "managed customer" whereby they constantly evaluate customers needs and help facilitate what the customer wants instead of trying to make the current infrastructure run as smoothly as possible. Support is handled on adhoc (break-fix) basis.

Then I talked about something I personally contract out to SBSC folks all the time – "I need a server deployed in ____, how can Best Buy for Business help me?" – The pricing for that is flat. You get a free consulting and evaluation so we can see what needs to be done. To just put up a server, connect it to the network, run through the wizards and connect it to the WAN the charge is $660. If they need to manage the workstations (install a program, /connectcomputer, etc) the charge is $69. If it goes beyond that into break-fix the price can go as high as $660 per workstation if extensive work is required. They can either service the client on-site or take the system back to their office.

Not every Best Buy store has Best Buy for Business – but they do have Geek Squad. As such, the Best Buy for Business service the entire state of Florida that is near a Best Buy — consulting appointments are handled separately from the break-fix appointments. The blue shirt puts together a proposal but the Geek Squad guy implements it. "Bunch of teenagers?" – Not really, every one of us has been working with servers and SBS for years, BB4B would not send someone that just got their certification out for that. I don't believe them, but I personally know a lot of SBSC's that should not be allowed to touch a server (as a matter of fact, I can't imagine how they got certified to begin with) so the difference between majority of small business consultants and Best Buy for Business just may not be there.

All in all, a large portion of small business IT consultants have a good reason to be afraid of Best Buy.

Then SBS R2 and SQL Issues

During the TS2 presentation a number of complaints came up over SBS R2's inclusion of SQL Workgroup Edition. As a matter of fact, one partner refered to it as the SQL Castrated Edition and remarked that even tough SQL 2005 WG has more features than standard 2000 edition, the applications written for full Standard Edition of SQL 2005 may not work. Thats a bit subjective and questionable but a very good point for people looking to get a SQL 2005 based LOB – make sure it can run on Workgroup.

As for the R2 presentation, this was somewhat impressive and I must say I owe Susan Bradley a public apology for making fun of WSUS integration. First off, JJ's presentation was true to the Microsoft message on R2: "Not a lot here, just a midlife release, not a big incentive to upgrade to it, good first server offer but not an upgrade" – But here is what surprised me. I got into a discussion while trying to field one of the questions from the crowd about the criticism of limitations in WSUS in R2. I tried to explain the goal, the idea, the reason it was put together the way it was and what the alternatives are to getting a full WSUS installed.

After about three minutes of going back and forth on what R2 is and what WSUS is I basically leveled with him: "Listen, this is a bundle. This is something that gives a kick start to people that do not patch centrally at all, that have never bothered to roll WSUS out to begin with. (turning to the audience) Let's have a quick poll – how many of you have deployed WSUS at your SBS client sites?" So with my apologies to Ms. Bradley – ZERO. 0. Not a single one out of a room with 100+.

As for the R2 surprise – after JJ finished his R2 dance and the downplaying that goes with R2 not being treated as a major release he asked the audience if they would upgrade to it. To my surprise over a third of the audience (perhaps even a half) raised their hand. WOW. I am not sure what they saw in it but they definitely bit the R2 product. Maybe R2 is far bigger than I thought?

Vista Googles

The high point of the day (at least in the eyes of Microsoft Partners) was the demonstration of Windows Vista beta. As a matter of fact, JJ Antequino pulled off the entire presentation (several Virtual PC images) on Vista as the host OS. Partners seemed to be really impressed and I think the entire crowd is sold on the Ultimate Edition.

Day 1: SBS R2: What is it?

Posted: 11:51 pm
April 22, 2006
Beta, IT Business, SMB
16 Comments

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MY DISCLAIMER: I, Vladimir Mazek, have not been given any private or confidential information regarding SBS R2. All of the information below is public information shared by Microsoft Corp with the public. The rest are my assumptions.

Microsoft Corp's Disclaimer: SBS 2003 R2 is currently in Beta, all terms are subject to change at any time.

SBS R2

Introduction

Much like its big brothers R2, the Microsoft Windows SBS 2003 R2 is the second release in the SBS 2003's lifecycle. Since its initial release in 2003 many things have changed for SBS and many new features have been added through its components service packs. In my opinion it is just Microsoft's way of providing something more current to the people that are just moving to either their first 2003 server or upgrading from the previous platform versions. In case you want to hear it straight from the horses mouth:

"The midlife kicker ahead of the Longhorn Server version of SBS which we expect in the 2007 time-frame."; He continues to say that "its a very tightly targeted release that adds a small number of features that we think are criticial to help you and Microsoft sell new first server features" — Guy Haycock, Sr. SBS Product Manager

That's a public comment from the guy that has to sell SBS 2003 R2, I think he sums it up pretty nicely.

Primary Opportunity

Think of it in terms of how you are selling SBS 2003 today. You are approaching the business owner and pitching them technology thats about three years old – at least in terms of the title alone. So the primary opportunity here is to engage my new accounts with a brand new product. It would sound something like this:

"Longhorn Server has been just a year away for the past two years, it will be on a brand new platform and it will take a little while for your applications and vendors to catch up. BUT, Microsoft just came out with SBS R2 which is based on a mature platform with a ton of support and the very latest technology available."

Sounds better, doesn't it? Sounds reassuring and to be honest I feel more confident making that pitch than the bleeding edge pitch that will come with Longhorn series. Remember, to someone that doesn't know any better you are selling them a Ford Focus '03 – they expect an '06 or '07. 

Secondary Opportunities with R2 Software

There is a lot more to SBS 2003 R2 than just "the latest and the greatest." There are also features in SBS 2003 R2 that are not available in the original release both in terms of software and in terms of the way it is licensed.

The software side includes all the service packs and security patches released to day. There is nothing more frustrating than installing an operating system and then waiting hours for a hundred patches to be downloaded. The beauty of SBS R2 is that it will be shipped with the SBS SP1 built in so you can skip right to Exchange SP2 and SharePoint SP2.

And oh is there a lot of sexy stuff in SBS Service Pack 1. First of all, security updates for everything in the SBS family. Service Pack 1 also brought the ISA 2004 to the mix with the Premium Edition, giving small business even more flexibility, ease of use, reporting and security to the SBS network. Following SP1 came the Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 which clears _THE_ obstacle in the small business computing – packrat business owner and years of worst practices. You know the type I'm talking about very well. The ones that consider Outlook to be their personal file storage. The ones that use SMTP as a file sharing protocol. The ones that don't like to feel limited by their technology. Well, Exchange SP2 makes it possible to bump up that 16 GB limit all the way up to 75 GB. Throw in the Microsoft SharePoint Team Services SP2 and you've got the latest and the greatest the SBS can offer.

Now on to whats actually new in SBS R2 but not easilly available on the web. First off is the integrated WSUS or Windows Software Update Services. Key word being _integrated_. Yes, you can download WSUS for free and install it on your own after reading a white paper or two, going through blogs and newsgroups. With R2 this is seamless and it also includes the business group policies specific to the R2 deployment.

Finally, the cherry on the R2 cake – Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition. This part comes included with the Premium Edition of SBS R2 and has been received by the SBS community with more criticism than fanfare. Personally, I've had to DBA SQL 2000 and I'm happy to see 2005. I like the SQL Server Studio. I like the ability to upgrade to the new SQL Server 2005 and just run it in a separate instance while I move my databases over and I like the fact that I can take my time but leaving databases in SQL Server 2000 compatibility mode without having to switch everything today. Many consider the Microsoft SQL 2005 WG to be "gutted" in terms of features when compared with Microsoft SQL 2005 Standard and look at this move as a step back because SBS 2003 included the Standard Edition of SQL Server 2000. However, Looking at the features of SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition compared to SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition there really is more functionality in what is coming with SBS R2.

Secondary Oppportunities with R2 Licensing

Licensing, licensing, licensing. Perpetual opportunity or something that will land you in jail at the next audit? Hopefully I can start to demystify the opportunity here by saying that it all depends on your timing and your needs.

In terms of timing there are really two opportunities to get into SBS R2 for less or nothing at all. First of all, if you are covered by SBS 2003 Software Assurance you'll get this upgrade free of charge. Remember that SBS 2003 R2 is not out yet but if you bought it after March 1st, 2006 you are covered by the "Technology Guarantee Plan" – you'll get it for free as well. This is a pretty nice move by Microsoft because it doesn't make people upgrade to R2 just a few months after getting SBS 2003.

Finally there is the matter of Expanded CAL rights. What expanded CAL rights allow you to do is bring in an _additional_  (that means one more than the one you have on your SBS) Exchange Server or SQL Server or both into the SBS 2003 network without having to purchase additional CALs. You will still need to purchase an additional license for the Windows 2003 Server and Exchange/SQL but the CALs are covered by R2.

Many Many more details on this in the blog on licensing and Expanded CAL rights.

Conclusion

Microsoft SBS 2003 R2 is a midlife release of Microsoft SBS 2003 that gives you some more features, latest security, latest servers and some licensing incentives. Above all it is still the first server opportunity that SBS has been marketed as for years.

As for when it will come out and how much it will cost – your guess is as good as mine. I've got $5 that it comes out on 7/10/2006 at the Microsoft World Wide Partner Conference Small Business Symposium. This is a big Microsoft event that they announced Small Business Specialist accreditation last year and I've heard Guy Haycock say WWPC about three times so my money is on that. On the other hand, if you're making business purchasing decisions on my $5 bet you need far more help than you realize.

So, excited about R2? Keep this in mind: It's not out yet. It's not free. It will not be 64bit. It is not viewed as a major release. It is not built on top of Windows Server 2003 R2. It is primarily for brand new SBS 2003 deployments and special needs.

Thats all. Keep an eye on this, next up WSUS in SBS R2.

Note: Based on public information from here, here, here and here . 

Orlando: Andre Rieu

Posted: 11:05 am
April 20, 2006
Misc
Comments Off on Orlando: Andre Rieu

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It has been a long while since I acted like a boss around here so today I am just going to walk away from everything for the day and go hang out with Andre Rieu . I'm a big fan of classical music and it, at times, is the reason I don't kill most people I deal with. I grew up in Europe (and the communist part thereof) where Christmas and New Year were not celebrated as much as the annual Johann Strauss concert from the Vienna Philharmonic. I have not missed a single one since 1980 and through the magic of "There is nothing on TV" I stumbled onto a PBS show featuring Andre Rieu. Few years later, Andre is in Orlando and Katie got us the tickets to the concert.

P.S. Johann Strauss ? I'm sure many of my Mule & Chickenfest audience will be puzzled so here you go. It is virtually impossible that you have not heard at least one of his pieces.

SBS 2003 R2 Blog Week

Posted: 11:01 pm
April 19, 2006
Beta
Comments Off on SBS 2003 R2 Blog Week

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So here I sit getting ready for my tour and I realized one thing – I have not been on the road in 2006. I have not given this great State of Florida a chance to beat me up about what SBS 2003 R2 is and is not, whats in it and what was left on the chopping room floor, when it will come out, how it will come out, etc. Now as is common with the roadshow, a large chunk of partners simply does not follow the news coming out of Microsoft and SBS MVP's. The reach is 10% at best. This means I will be standing in front of TS2 as usual, reciting long URL's from my head about where you can get info on R2, why things work the way they do, how to take advantage of the opportunities… the usual Vlad stuff.

Well, you know what? Not this time. This time I'm going to be prepared for you and only give away one URL: vladville.com.

Over the next seven (7) days I intend to blog about everything that the Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) team has told us about R2. One post per day, giving you a chance to ask along the way and let me get the answers. I'll break it into as much detail as humanly possible and try to give someone (who cares) a real primer on SBS R2 and how to take advantage of it. Here is the post summary:

The Seven Days of SBS R2

Day 1: R2 – What is it? Partner Opportunity?
Day 2: Windows Software Upgrade Services
Day 3: SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition
Day 4: Expanded CAL's
Day 5: Questions & Answers from the SBS World
Day 6: SBS 2003 R2 Resources
Day 7: The BIG Surprise

Sound fair enough? Let's hope so. Comments on each post will be open for Q&A and Day 7… well, lets just say… you'll want to tune in for that one.

Palm 700w Gets MSFP

Posted: 7:58 pm
April 19, 2006
Mobility
2 Comments

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Good news for the Treo/Palm fans, your beloved Windows Mobile 5 device finally gets MSFP/AKU2 rom. Yes, you can finally get Push Mail with your device. More at the Engadget Mobile but suffice to say you'll want to get your rom here.

As Engadget warns, make sure you backup your device because rom upgrades tend to wipe your device clean. Hopefully you run Exchange 🙂

How is this interesting? Well, 700w in spite of being the worst WM5 phone available, is likely the second best selling one (behind Sprint's 6700 which already had MSFP) and will hopefully give more people a reason to get with Windows Mobile 5 and reduce the number of times I have to disappoint customers by saying "No, we do not offer Blackberry. Oh, you're willing to pay? $5k for 5 users. Not interested, why, what ever made you change your mind?"  

On The Road With Technet

Posted: 10:55 am
April 19, 2006
Events
18 Comments

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I will be spending a lot of time on the road with Microsoft Technet seminars over the following quarter. I'm presenting the content on SMTP security and answering the usual Exchange & SBS questions as they come up. I'm bringing a little surprise, 70-282 vouchers, Windows 2003 Server Enterprise R2 giveaways and all the other usual stuff. I'm co-presenting with Blain Barton on the Technet side and helping JJ Antequino with the TS2 – I do not know as of yet whats happening with the TS2 pubs but I will check. Anything you'd like to know or have me bring along?  Here are the dates: 

4/25 – Boca Raton

4/27 – Tampa

5/09 – Sarasota 

5/11 – Fort Lauderdale

5/23 – Miami

5/25 – Orlando

6/06 – Gainesville

6/08 – Jacksonville 

Technet , TS2 and other Microsoft SST events (Connections, MSDN) are absolutely free but you need to register for them. Go to www.Microsoft.com/events – I look forward to seeing you out there!