Some IT Pro Business Guidance Pearls

Here are some bits and pieces of business wisdom that I’ve gathered over the years. Much of my initial business formation came from my first employer out here Larry MacDonald while working for Logical Computer Company.

• Keep a business journal (for me it’s my blog, Twitter, and forum helps)
• Document everything (take pictures of everything with SmartPhone, use Snip in Windows ALL THE TIME)
• Create build documentation for everything
• We have builds for clusters, Exchange setups, Exchange migrations, SBS setups, SBS Migrations, More
• Be consistent (build documentation helps)
• Use Tasks in Outlook and on the phone to track everything
• Be disciplined in tracking, responding, and being present to clients
• Spend 10%-20% on R&D
• Spend 10%-15% on lunches, dinners, and such with others
• Put 10% away for a rainy day
• Get involved with user groups or start one
• Get a _good_ accountant and keep them

As far as recurring revenue:

• IMSNHO, blended is better than full MSP
• ~$60/User to $110/User for:
• Server OS patch, Server App patch, and Microsoft App patch/install management
• Desktop OS patch and Microsoft App patch management
• A/V Management along with e-mail sanitation (we use ExchangeDefender)
• Remote Server Monitoring and management included
• On-site not included
• Phone and e-mail support beyond 15 minutes not included
• Offer backup rotation with quarterly full bare metal or hypervisor restore
• $150-$250 per OS per month
• Need a dedicated box for this (Intel S1400FP4 with 96GB ECC, and RAID 6 across spindles or SSDs)

Services

• Non-contract break/fix:
• $250/Hr immediate response
• $200/Hr 4 hour response
• $175/Hr 24 hour response
• Contract on above
• 4 Hour response included
• Immediate response at 1.5 rate
• Time Blocks offered at discounted rates

*Response being an acknowledgement of the request/ticket.

There are a lot of benefits over time as far as financial stability but also client relationships become a lot more stable and long term with support contracts in place versus a break/fix model.

We soon discover the clients that value our IT services and those that don’t when we move into the above model. What business that runs a fleet does not have a crew of mechanics to maintain that fleet? Why is IT infrastructure any different?

A major plus is in the routines that we build up. Our schedule gets a lot more stable and predictable. While we are still at our client’s beck and call we now have an established set of boundaries as far as how, when, and where the help would be provided.

We can have a few more evenings a week pursuing other things and _not_ looking at screens! ;)

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

V6 Excessive Oil Consumption and IT Networks

One would wonder what an engine’s excessive oil consumption might have to do with an IT network.

And, why would one want to keep an ongoing maintenance contract in place for their IT infrastructure when it just seems to work on its own?

Years ago I was working in an engine remanufacturing facility. We worked on everything from the Geo 3 cylinder all the way up to The Big Three’s big block engines with a few Cummins and CAT engines in between.

A fellow with a relatively new Ford pickup brought it in to the shop to see why the engine was going through a litre with every tank of gas.

After we ran tests on the engine it turned out that his three or four year old engine was cabbaged. No compression.

After a series of questions back to the owner it was discovered that he had not changed the oil since he had purchased the truck. The owner’s manual indicated zero maintenance to 160KM was his response.

A good part of the plant’s crew were on hand to see what was going on under the valve covers and the intake that hid the block’s valley.

The oil, that is the oil that was still liquid, kept channels cut into the oil that had gelled up. The oil gel (sludge) was everywhere flowing oil was not. It was not difficult to see the flow patterns in the oil galleries and return passages in this particular motor. The patterns in the oil pan were nothing short of fractal and amazing.

Needless to say the fellow did not get his core deposit back as the block from his truck was virtually useless.

Since an IT Solution is a very complicated set of components brought together to suit a client’s needs one cannot expect that solution to run in tip-top shape without ongoing maintenance.

On top of that if an auto manufacturer issues a recall due to a sticking throttle that may cause uncontrolled acceleration will the owner keep driving their vehicle or schedule the needed maintenance? They will probably schedule the needed maintenance at the soonest possible time.

There is a need to stay on top of patches. From operating system patches to very important security patches the network needs to be maintained and kept tuned up for the best overall performance.

Many Line of Business (LoB) applications introduce ongoing changes to the network setup. Sage, Intuit, Thompson-Reuters, CCH, and many other LoBs require server side updates and SQL integration that need ongoing care.

That is what we do. We design, integrate, and support highly complex IT Solutions that provide a stable platform for the life of the IT Solution.

We believe that a well managed IT Solution gives our clients the best value for their IT Budget. And, depending on the industry our prospective client is in the above may be one of the ways we approach this particular discussion.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
www.thirdtier.net/enterprise-solutions-for-small-business/

Windows Live Writer

Intel Remote Management 3 A Must

Today, the cost of adding in the Intel Remote Management 3 (RMM3) module in most Intel Server Systems or server boards is very low. To our clients it is actually worth about one visit. So, why not have one installed where we can so that on-site time is reduced?

For Dell we have the DRAC i6 Enterprise, HP has the iLO with Advanced license, and there are others.

What these components do for us is provide a number of out-of-band management features. That means that we do not need an OS to work with the server.

• Console access to the OS, BIOS, firmware, and other server components.
• This is done by redirected KVM session over HTTPS.
• Ability to reset the server, power it up, or power it down.
• Check the server’s sensor logs for errors.

The initial setup of the RMM3 is done in the BIOS of the server. We enable USER3, rename the user, give it a password, and make sure that it has Administrator permissions.

When we first hit the IP address of the RMM3 we need to log on using the above created user:

The page that we will be greeted with will be a summary of the system.

From an RMM3 on an SR1625URR Server System:

From an RMM3 on an SR1630HGPRX Server System:

The FRU Information link gives us our server’s PBA (Part/Model Number), serial number, and other needed information if we are in need of support or warranty replacement.

The Server Health tab gives us a view of the server’s sensor status along with access to the server’s internal Event Log.

The SR1625URR’s sensor readings:

The SR1630HGPRX sensor readings:

Note the difference in the number of sensors between the server systems. The SR1625URR is a dual Intel Xeon Nehalem 5000 series 1U server while the SR1630HGPRX is an Intel Xeon Nehalem 3000 series 1U server.

While all of the above features are very helpful as far as keeping an eye on the server’s health and for troubleshooting purposes the key RMM3 feature is its ability to give us console access to the server’s OS.

Once we click the Launch Console button we will need to approve some Java security warnings before the redirected KVM session begins.

Once we do get our session we are “sitting in front of the server”.

This is a screenshot of the SR1625URR’s KVM session:

We currently have both 1U server’s RMM3 network ports connected to our own internal network. Once we have plugged in the needed optical disk for the OS install if needed and/or USB flash drives we no longer need to be standing at the workbench to run a fresh OS install as is the case in the above screenshot.

We can have a technician run several OS installs and post install configurations while working at their own station.

Once these servers are ready to go into production, the RMM3 Ethernet ports will be set with an ISP delivered static IP address and a GoDaddy certificate will be installed to eliminate the SSL warnings for the Web portal.

When it comes to a standard access method such as Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Services or TS/RDS via TS/RDS Gateway we are stuck if the underlying services get knocked out by an update or something breaks along the way.

Using the RMM3/DRAC/iLO to run those updates means that we do not need to be concerned about the underlying services plus we can watch the server reboot through its BIOS POST as well as RAID Controller POST status indicators.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Dell iDRAC6 Enterprise Required For Remote Console/KVM

Dell has restructured their DRAC (Dell Remote Access Controller) model features.

On DRAC version 5 remote console KVM redirection was included out of the box.

With the advent of iDRAC6 we now see two versions of the product:

1. iDRAC6 Express
2. iDRAC6 Enterprise

Since out-of-band remote console KVM access is absolutely critical for those of us that manage a lot of servers at remote locations, we need to be absolutely sure that the server’s remote access product meets our needs.

We will be quoting some information from the following Dell document:

• Dell PowerEdge R710 Technical Guidebook (PDF)

On page 49 we find a comparison between the iDRAC6 Express and the iDRAC6 Enterprise products:

Note bullet item number 2 under iDRAC6 Enterprise states:

• Remote video, keyboard, and mouse control with Virtual Console.

So, we now know that all of our remote clients that order Dell servers must have the iDRAC6 Enterprise product installed on the box to give us full out-of-band BMC and console access.

Why Out-Of-Band Access?

We require an iDRAC, DRAC, RMM3, iLO with Advanced license, and other out-of-band management abilities on our remote servers for some of the following reasons:

• We can fully recover a server by booting to OS DVD or USB flash and restoring from attached backup without client intervention.
• We can manage the server from the console (sitting at the keyboard and mouse) when running updates so we don’t lose our connection via RWW or TS/RDS Gateway.
• We can remotely power cycle a server that has an OS that is not responding.
• We can remotely update server component’s firmware.

Essentially, with an out-of-band management device we have the same access to the box as we would if we were standing in the room with it.

Further reading:

• Dell Support: Console redirect with iDRAC 6 Express v1.10 (PowerEdge R710)
• User asking about why they cannot find the KVM/Console feature on iDRAC6 Express. Dell’s response was “iDRAC6 Enterprise required”.
• Dell Enterprise Technology Center: 03-25-09 Dell Enterprise Launch Chat Transcript
• Chat transcript quoted in the above support question that talks about what features are tied to which iDRAC6 version.
• Exploring the iDRAC for Dell PowerEdge Blade Servers

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Managed Services Training Day

Managed Services Training

We facilitated a training session this morning with an I.T. firm’s team on how to implement a similar hybrid managed services model to ours.

We addressed the need to understand our clients and how they utilize their technology, how their utilization can be improved, as well as how assess those needs.

We also delved into how to present our managed services in such a way that the business owner realizes just how valuable they are. The value discussion is where the deal is won or lost.

From augmenting our existing client’s managed services with ExchangeDefender to facilitating their licensing using SPLA to enable a low monthly payment we discussed the many ways that we can pull together hardware, software, licensing, and our services to provide a great managed services offering.

In the end everyone appreciated the training and gave 100% positive feedback.

MPECS Inc’s Managed Services Offering

For us, our implementing of a hybrid managed services platform has eased the feast and famine cycle significantly. By doing so, we are better able to bring on part time technicians to help out with our client support needs and as we grow to look at bringing on a part time sales person. In both cases we hope to move towards a full time staff.

We make our monthly managed services charges a part of any quote or proposal that is going out to a prospective client. During our conversations with the owner/contact we would have discussed those services and their value.

An analogy that can be used with the owner/contact would be along the lines of a car needing regular oil changes, brake work, tires, cleaning, and the like as part of their ongoing ownership expenses. We expect those charges for our vehicles, we should also expect them for our IT infrastructure.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Memory Distributor Mobel Gone – Considerations For the Future

We have done business off and on with Mobel Electronics based out of Quebec for as long as I have been in this industry.

We found out that they are no longer in business:

Note the last update of the site was this Spring. The site is still there but the phone numbers are disconnected.

There are any number of reasons why the companies we have seen go belly up over the last year or so.

The economy may definitely play a part in their demise, but there are other factors for those of us that provide I.T. related products and services to keep in mind.

One factor is the oncoming Cloud push and all of the logistics of saddling client’s data up there.

Getting to know the various Cloud vendors and their offerings and how those offerings can augment the solutions we provide our clients is critical to the longevity of our I.T. business.

For big enterprise, cutting wholesale the various internal I.T. departments to outsourcing business needs like e-mail, SharePoint, and other related services is an almost no-brainer.

At this point, and perhaps this is premature, we see that the SMB I.T. solutions will probably incorporate a blend of Cloud and in-house solutions for the near future due to specific Line of Business application needs.

Another factor in all of this is the ability to get beyond sitting there waiting for the phone to ring. For consumers of I.T. technologies, which most SMB companies are, the information for getting their company connected, accessible via the Internet, and some sort of mobile phone access will be acquired via search results.

Getting our name out there and in those search results can be done in any number of ways, but keeping a commitment to those methods and working hard at it is key to their success . . . much like the efforts we need to put into keeping our business growing.

This blog, for example, only started yielding business requests after being around almost 2 years!

No effort = no success.

A final factor to consider is partnerships. What companies are we going to partner up with to provide our clients with the best possible solutions for their business needs?

These partners may include hardware and software manufacturers, distribution channels for the hardware and software products we purchase, frontline tier 1 product manufacturers, and Cloud vendors.

The companies we team with will directly reflect the skill set we provide to our clients. If we limit our partnerships to only a few vendors that make it fairly easy to get to know their products and services, then we may end up in a lot of trouble.

Learning any new product offering is critical to our success going forward. The deeper the Cloud reaches into the traditional SMB company the more our knowledge and skill set will be the key to growing our I.T. services company.

And one more thought: The deeper the Cloud reaches into the traditional SMB company, the harder Managed Services providers will be hit.

Monthly revenues will need to come from another source.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Why We Use ExchangeDefender

A while back we had a client that had booked a series of flights online.

A few minutes later, an e-mail with an attachment happened to arrive in his inbox with the airline’s “itinerary”. Without even thinking about it he opened the e-mail and the attachment and that was the point of no return.

The A/V, Trend, did not stop it.

So, we ended up in a bad situation that got worse when we discovered that the local laptop backups were not being done.

We had tried the cloud A/V and spam filtering that Trend had but we ended up having way too much grief with their service.

In comes Own Web Now’s ExchangeDefender.

The analogy we use when explaining why we prefer having the filtering done in the cloud before e-mail enters the corporate network works quite well.

The Anti-Virus program is like a 6’6” 275Lb bouncer that sits close to the front door. They can move about the place with relative ease and have access to all entry points in the place.

For the most part, the bouncer – name him/her whatever – catches any baddies that try to get in through the doors or the windows.

But, every once in a while a slim and short baddie does get by the bouncer because baddie is just too quick and new.

It then takes a bit of training for the bouncer to pick up on the new baddie and squash them at the point of entry. That delay can cause a big problem if the biddies' siblings happen to try and get in too.

With that imagery in mind, we can explain how Vlad’s service is set up to do just that long before the baddie even reaches the door. They get squashed out on the street! ;)

And, because the service is dedicated to this task alone, the filtering that is done will be that much better than anything the Anti-Virus vendors can do in real-time.

This morning, this was in an Inbox:

The file was culled before it reached the corporate network. A file culled out there is a file not clicked on by a user. Leaving that file to some form of Exchange based filtering or the endpoint workstation is a dangerous game we are no longer willing to play.

Given the fact that the cost of the ExchangeDefender service is very minimal relative to the level of services received it is not a difficult sell. We also include the ExchangeDefender service in our Hybrid Managed Services plans to add value to them too.

And, once our clients are onboard with our services and ExchangeDefender they do notice a big difference in the amount of time they no longer spend processing all of the junk e-mail.

Being a partner with Own Web Now is an important part of our business model (previous blog post). As we build up our client’s usage of the OWN services, the more confident we are going forward.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Upgraded Recovery and Migration Test Server

One of the benefits of providing Intel based hardware is the ability to recycle their parts, or the entire box depending on our requirements for a server.

As part of most client server upgrades we remove any of the old hardware from the client’s site. Depending on the hardware configuration, the box will end up in our phenomenal Alberta Electronics Recycling Program, or put into some noncritical service needs such as our lab.

This screenshot is the result of combining components from two servers we recently upgraded at client sites:

Intel Pentium D server with RAID and hot swap

The internals came from one server and the chassis from another.

This particular box will replace our older recovery test server that was used to provide our regional and remote clients with their quarterly backup recovery testing services.

Now, we will be able to use this particular box to recover not only our existing SBS 2003 clients using ShadowProtect, we will be able to use the Hardware Independent Restore capabilities in SP as well due to the newer hardware on this box.

This “new” unit will give us the ability to restore the larger server configurations that are running either SBS 2008 Backup or Windows Server 2008 x64 Backup without worrying about storage limitations (3TB in some cases) or hardware capacity problems. We will set the drives to a RAID 0 stripe to reach that level of data volume. The added benefit is a performance boost with striping the array across the six spindles.

Having this new box gives us the ability to run SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migration tests for our client’s production SBS servers using their newly configured server box along side of this one. It is our preference to run the two SBS OSs on hardware when possible. Another benefit to the “new” lab box is the hardware is actually quite similar to our clients existing SBS 2003 server configurations!

And finally, the RAID controller in this box is an Intel SRCS16 PCI-X. We will be able to now start our Hardware Independent Restore testing using the built-in SBS 2008 Backup as well as the Windows Server 2008 Backup!

The box configuration:

• Intel SE7230NH1-E server board.
• Intel Pentium D 945 3.4GHz CPU.
• Intel SRCS16 RAID Controller.
• Intel AXX6SATADB 6 Drive Hot Swap Backplane.
• 8GB Kingston KVR667D2E4/2Gi (will be added to the system).
• 1.5TB (6x 500GB Seagate ES.2 in RAID 1+0) (will be added to the system).
• An Intel SC5295DP-E server chassis rounds out the configuration.

An external USB DVDRW is used to provide optical media access for all of our lab based boxes.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

An Opportunity for Passive Income with OWN

There is no silver bullet when it comes to generating income in a business so that we can pay our employees and ourselves a living wage.

To build a business, there is no other way than working very hard for our goals whatever they may be. One “catch phrase” that has stuck with me through the many ups and downs of running our business is Passive Income.

What is Passive Income?

It is cash flow that comes in whether we are working or not. One would hope that the retirement fund, if we have one, would represent a form of passive income. Though, with today’s economy along with the taxes we would pay on that income in the long run there really are questions about its viability as a retirement fund in the first place.

Now, obviously passive income does not grow on trees. Otherwise, the beaches in nice places like Fiji, Tahiti, and the like would be filled with umbrella drink sipping folks.

One thing to keep in mind is that once the garden is planted, that does not mean the work is over. It takes a lot of work to come through the growing season with a good yield of fruits and vegetables.

There is not a lot of difference between that garden and working a business in this industry or any other for that matter.

It takes a lot of hard work.

Many have jumped on the Managed Services delivery platform as a way to generate their passive income. The catch to MSP is to balance the value the client receives with the income we receive. That can be a tough balance to catch if we are not experienced enough in our business dealings, hardware support, software support, or have an experienced team around us to come up with some solid costs for the 12 month or longer MSP contract with the client.

So, once we came up with the magic number, the next step was to convince our clients that MSP was the best way to go. In our case, we focus our attentions on the professional accounting industry. It was not hard to see that calculator going in the partner’s heads when we first proposed the MSP model and fees to them.

Needless to say that in our case, we ended up doing a blended Managed Services model with a tiered structure that our accounting clients worked with us on to provide the best value for them and for us.
Not bad eh? :)

Now, we are slowly working our way through the various MSP and related products out there to augment our services offering to provide more value for that monthly fee.

The one gold mine we have fortunately come across is the service provider OWN or Own Web Now.
We have a partnership with OWN as a Services Provider. We are slowly moving our clients over to ExchangeDefender and now are talking to key clients about Hosted Exchange and SharePoint.

One key feature to OWN is the true partnership relationship they have with us. We will never find OWN in our client’s inbox direct selling their services.

They recognize and value us and what we do for their business.

The other very important feature to reselling OWN services is that passive income. We do the leg work to bring our clients on board, we get to invoice them monthly as part of our managed services offering, and Vlad and his crew get to do all of the hard work for us. ;)

Establishing business partnerships with service providers like OWN will be the butter to our Hybrid MSP services hardware and software bread as we move forward.

Ultimately, we get to offer a nice suite of services without having to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide our clients with some sort of SLA. It is a win-win situation to be in!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac!
Windows Live Writer

Some further thoughts on SBS 2008 Wow and MSP Hybrid

The system we are working on has some time to go before the factory recovery is complete ... and no free workstation. :)
SBS 2008 has a new reporting and backup system in place.
As has been mentioned here before, we provide a managed services hybrid to most of our clients that include rotating their backups every two weeks. We read our SBS daily reports every morning over tea or coffee ... and we get paid to do that.
The new reporting setup in SBS 2008 provides an awesome way, and an included one at that, to introduce a monthly billing structure to clients.
The SBS 2008 reports blow away what we receive from SBS 2003 because they include workstation status too. To repeat: All workstations on the network have their status published in the reports.
What better way than that to get going on introducing a proactive infrastructure management setup with the client.
How can you beat that? License System Center Essentials 2007 ... or other MSP product ... when a good portion of the shop's clients are online with the proactive monitoring. And with this type of setup, the value of the service increases, so too does the revenue stream!
After all, we are already receiving the SBS daily status report e-mail are we not? If not, then that is a business opportunity and steady revenue stream being missed!
The next step: Adding services such as ExchangeDefender and AuthAnvil and more to further develop the services repertoire. From there, it is backup rotations, off-site storage, and whatever service we can dream of.
The sky is the limit ... we need only get out of our break/fix box and head on up! :)
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
http://blog.mpecsinc.ca/
Sent from an SBS integrated Windows Mobile Phone.

SBS 2008 and Custom Reports - Share yours ...

Looking for a small way to help the greater SBS community?

Then the SBS Code Plex is for you.

The site has been put together for people to share their custom report queries they have created for SBS 2008. Susan Bradley has left an email address on the site to get in touch with her so that you too can contribute code.

You will need to register with the site and include your CodePlex username in the email to Susan in order for her to add you to the group of contributors.

For SBS 2008 reporting, a lot has changed. And, one of the most significant changes is the ability to really work those reports to put out information that is very relevant to our particular client environment.

Links:

• CodePlex
• MSDN: SBS 2008: Creating a Custom Alert
• MSDN: SBS 2008 SDK
• MSDN: SBS 2008 API Reference

For those of us who are not into coding, this new development on the SBS front will be a little daunting. So, check out the code that has been shared on the site so that you can get familiar with the code structure.

After creating a few custom queries, they should come fairly easy.

Also, this is a good way to get comfortable with getting introduced to PowerShell if you have not seen it yet!

And, of course, feel free to download the code and implement it on your SBS 2008 installations as you require!

Way to go SBSers!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS 2008 - The Daily and Weekly Reports

There are two types of reports in SBS 2008 by default:

1. Daily Summary Report
2. Weekly Detailed Report

This is what the SBS 2008 Daily Summary looks like:

SBS Summary Network Report

The weekly report has a Details hyperlink on the right hand side that would break out all of the items under each heading:

Detailed Network Report

After clicking on the Details link:

Security Details

We will now have a lot more information given to us via the built-in SBS reports. Also, the Reports section in the SBS console also gives us the ability to generate any number of report types at a moment's notice. As a result, it will be a lot easier to get to know a particular SBS box and its regular behaviours.

The new reports will also give those of us who have not taken the step into Managed Services the ability to at least bill on a monthly basis for the reports monitoring ... if we are not already doing so! They can also provide the foundation from which to build a case for a product like System Center Essentials to provide a more detailed monitoring setup ... and thus more revenue.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

A Sample Billable Time Schedule when Managed Services won't do

Here is a sample billable time schedule:

• Preferred client status: $XXX/hr
• Minimum 4 hour response to initial query with scheduling for on-site/remote support to follow
• Minimum ½ hour in ½ hour increments
• Evenings (18:00 – 08:00) and Weekends (Friday 18:00 to Monday 08:00) +$XXX/hr
• Support Contract/Hosting client 25hr Time Block: $X,XXX.00 ($XXX/hr) (invoiced up front)
• Priority Response Time – maximum 4 hours to respond to initial query
• Minimum 15 minutes in 15 minute increments
• Time tracking reports issued monthly when there is activity to you
• Small questions not billed (relative to their frequency of course!)
• Evenings (18:00 – 08:00) and Weekends (Friday 18:00 to Monday 08:00) at time block rate.
• A new Time Block will be invoiced with a balance of 5 hours left or if time balance is not enough to complete a requested support task.
• Non-hosting infrastructure emergency response time – 4 hours or less: $XXX/hr
• MS Application On-Site Training for 1 User: $395.00 (3hrs)
• MS Application On-Site Training for 2 Users: $695.00 (3hrs)
• MS Application On-Site Training for 3 Users: $895.00 (3hrs)
• Windows SharePoint Services (internal Web site) same as MS application training fee structure.
• Data Recovery Services start at $500.00

The above fee schedule is essentially a copy and paste from a typical fee schedule we would send to a client that is not interested in a Managed Services after explaining its benefits.

Time Blocks can be configured in whatever increments suit us with the rates reflected in the size of the Time Block and the type of client service needs we will be dealing with.

The above fee schedule provides us a solid baseline to work from. Consistency when quoting on fees is very important as it makes it easier for us to keep track of what is essentially three tiers of clients:

1. Managed Services
2. Support Contract on Time Block
3. Billable Time Only or Open Support Contract

In turn, we can quickly ascertain at which response level a client is at. We can also keep track of which clients value our products and services by the amount they spend with us and make sure we keep them happy!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS Hosting? MS SPLA is the answer

Lately we have been in contact with a number of small companies requiring SBS features and abilities but are not necessarily in a position to outlay that kind of cash up front.

These companies tend to be 2-5 seats with most of their users on the road. Some are even home based businesses that do not require the need for office space as their users are almost completely remote based.

An option that has become viable for us to get involved with is the Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement or SPLA.

What the SPLA enables us to do is setup either hardware dedicated or virtual SBS networks on our servers for the smaller companies to use.

The licensing revenue of Microsoft products under SPLA is per user per month. We essentially pay for what we use to provide our clients with the hosted SBS solution. And, the cost per month is very reasonable.

So, for a typical small business we may setup the following on a virtual server:

• SBS 2K3 R2 Standard
• Windows XP Pro or Vista Business desktops
• Office Standard 2003/7
• SharePoint Version 3

The advantages for the clients are manifold:

• No large outlay of cash for infrastructure - fees are month by month with a small setup fee
• Client does not need a dedicated physical location
• MS server, workstation, and applications hosted are patch managed
• ShadowProtect based backups - no, "I forgot to change the ..."
• Data is centrally accessible via share and/or SharePoint sites
• No need for new or updated hardware for their users
• Software Assurance covers any MS product for upgrades or downgrades

Besides a Managed Services focus, SBS hosting services can further stabilize an I.T. company's revenue stream by providing additional diversity and consistency.

For any company contemplating adding this type of service to their services portfolio however, there are a number of very important things to keep in mind:

• A reliable Internet Connection - preferably managed and/or fibre
• Hardware capacity to provide an excellent level of service
• Hardware, location, Internet connection redundancy
• UPS and/or power generation capabilities
• A good data backup system
• Disaster Recovery Planning in place
• A secured facility to protect the infrastructure
• Proper cooling for the hardware delivering the hosted services
• A lawyer approved service agreement

For us, it is our preference to meet our prospective hosting clients fact to face before considering them for our SBS based hosting solutions. We prefer to get to know them and their business first. From there we can tailor an SBS hosting solution to meet their specific business needs.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS Install - Workstation Laundry and Professionalism

Part of what distinguishes us as professionals is in the way we do things and how things end up when we are done.

Some aspects of our professionalism are:

• We are meticulous
• Our results are consistent
• We keep extensive check lists (a blogged SBS example) for all aspects of the work we do.
• We utilize the Wiki feature in WSS v3 in a side-by-side install on our own SBS boxes for:
• Procedural Manuals
• Client Relations Manuals
• Professionalism Manuals
• Technical Manuals
• We have that Wiki accessible via RWW
• We keep WSS based document libraries of all needed base scripts accessible to us via RWW
• Group Policy Software install scripts for Office 2007
• Custom logon batch files
• We keep WSS based image libraries of all screenshots needed for reference
• We keep WSS based folders available for our technicians to upload screenshots to along with some notes on them for later addition to the Wiki.
• Our policies and procedures (P&Ps) are well documented and available to our technicians all the time.
• Our technicians can comment on those P&Ps, updating the P&P Wikis on the go.

No matter what SBS fresh install we do or SBS install we walk into after the fact, our workstations, servers, shares, and other infrastructure aspects are as similar in their structure and appearance as we can get them within reason.

Maintaining consistency makes it much easier for any of our technicians to walk into a situation blind and know with relative confidence what is going on at any given client.

This is what distinguishes a professional from the one who flies by the seat of their pants.

We pay attention to the details.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS - No "Safely Remove Hardware" Icon?

An option for our managed services clients is to pop in to their location to rotate their encrypted ShadowProtect USB backup drives off-site on a set schedule.

Today on a client's SBS server, we could could not find the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon:

There was no reference to properly removing the USB hard drive anywhere on the system.

After a brief search, we came up with:

1. Right click on the desktop
2. New
3. Shortcut
4. Cut and paste the following into "Type the location of the item":
• RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL HotPlug.dll
5. Next
6. Name it: Safely Remove Hardware
7. Finish

Once done, we end up with:

Shortcut Icon (Vista)

To give the icon a little bit more visual relevance, we can change the icon's appearance:

1. Right Click on the icon
2. Left Click Properties
3. Click the Change Icon button
4. Copy and Paste the following:
• %windir%\system32\HotPlug.dll
5. Click OK once
6. Choose the icon desired
7. OK
8. OK

We end up with something like:

Shortcut Icon Modified (Vista)

Double click on the new icon and we get the ability to safely remove the USB hard drive:

Safely Remove Hardware

Click on the item we need to remove, click the Stop button, and voila ... we have the ability to swap out the USB hard drives.

Once the shortcut is created, it can be used on any Windows box. One can keep a copy of the shortcut on their Technician's Thumb Drive for future use.

Shortcut courtesy of: neil's world: Create a Safely Remove Hardware shortcut.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Business Principles: Converting the Business Model to Managed Services

Karl Palachuk has an excellent series of articles on converting an I.T. business model to managed services: Managed Services in a Month.

There are a number of parts to the series, and all are very well rounded in their explanation of the methodology for the conversion.

One of the biggest benefits of the conversion process is getting a different perspective on the business that we run. It forces us to examine everything we do, how we do it, and whether it is beneficial to our clients and us or not.

As far as managed services go, there are a number of excellent benefits:

• Improved and steady cash flow.
• Billing ahead as opposed to terms behind the service.
• Client Support Contracts/Agreements.
• Prepaid hardware and software.
• Enforcing the finance charges for overdue invoices.
• Managed Services tiered pricing structure - Silver, Gold, Platinum or the like.
• Client management and selection.

There are a lot of words out there indicating that I.T. support companies need to convert their business model or else. It is a common thread we have seen often.

Given Karl's excellent perspective on the subject, there is a much more positive reason to convert: It will grow our business and smooth out the feast or famine cash flow situations. It will deepen our business relationship with already established clientele, and provide a way for us to lock in new clients.

So, please give it some thought:

1. Managed Services in a Month.
2. Managed Services in a Month - Part One.
3. Managed Services in a Month - Part Two.
4. Managed Services in a Month - Part Three.
5. Managed Services in a Month - Part Four.
6. Managed Services in a Month - Part Five.
7. Managed Services in a Month - Part Six.
8. Managed Services in a Month - Part Seven.
9. Managed Services in a Month - Part Eight.
10. Final Thoughts: Managed Services in a Month.

For those of us who own and manage our own small businesses, we have already taken a huge risk and started our own company. That, in and of itself, is probably one of the most stressful decisions one can make short of mortgaging a house. That mortgage, and our family's livelihood now depends on us all the more! ;)

So, after careful evaluation of Karl's articles, it is not hard to see that one can indeed take on his suggestions and do it!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.