Why do I need Small Business Server 2008 for my business?

Because it is an awesome product!

SBS 2008 takes the great feature set we have in SBS 2003 and augments and improves on them to provide a small business owner a great server solution!

Some small business specific reasons:

• A single Web site to access my e-mail, my internal Companyweb site, and my office computer with the Remote Web Workplace remote access portal.
• My Windows Mobile Phone was easy to set up with SBS to synchronize my calendar, contacts, tasks, and e-mail.
• I can get access to my office e-mail quickly with the Web based Outlook Web Access.
• Access to my office computer from any place that I can open an Internet Explorer browser.
• Excellent server spam and virus protection out of the box saves me time and money.
• Centralized backup and recovery assures me that my data is safe … and the backups are encrypted!
• We can simply manage who gets access to what data on our office network.

In a previous post that was an addition to some other lists on the topic, we talked about some of the key features in SBS 2008 that we think rock: SBS 2008 - Top 10 Wow and Top 10 Learning.

One of my other passions is cars. I have had oil in the veins since a very young age working on high horsepower Mopar, Chevy, and Ford projects! :)

Specifically, one of the finest North American produced performance sedans is the Ford Taurus SHO (pronounced show). I currently own a 1997 Taurus SHO. It is not because I own one that I say that is one of the best. It is because of what the product is and how that product has performed for me the user that I can say the SHO is one of the best with confidence.

Recently, Ford unveiled the new 2010 Taurus SHO boasting a 360bhp twin turbo charged V6 and significant performance and handling enhancements at the Chicago Auto SHO.

A video of the unveiling is on You Tube: 2010 Taurus SHO introduction.

Two very important elements are in that video:

1. Mr. Jim Farley gave full recognition to the source of the drive behind releasing the new SHO: The SHO Enthusiast Community (1:38 minutes into the video).
2. Various enthusiasts were interviewed as part of the introduction! (5:32+ minutes)

Ford has made a point of letting the enthusiast community know that they were significant in the new SHO’s creation. In fact, they were invited to be a part of focus groups as well as have front row seats for the unveiling.

Now, let’s have a look at Microsoft and the new Small Business Server 2008:

• Live Search: SBS 2008 Marketing.
• Google Search: SBS 2008 Marketing.

And:

• Live Search: I need a server for my business.
• Google Search: I need a server for my business.

Add a “Do” in front of the “I” for the searches and Microsoft’s Australian SBS page is about 15 links down on Live. The Australian link is number 2 on Google.ca. Note that Google.ca is the Locale specific engine for our searches.

Kudos to Microsoft Australia for being up there in the results! :) Australia also has one of the best high performance automobile markets in the world too!

So, okay … there is virtually nothing in the above searches on the why Small Business Server 2008 is good for a small business owner.

Top that off with hardly any marketing of SBS 2008 in the traditional media forms that we have seen here.

The SBS question has been asked before: Where is our oomph?

Augment that by asking, “Where is the drive to make SBS 2008 the most popular and talked about small business server product ever?”

Marketing a product can be a difficult thing. Ford, IMNSHO, is getting it right with the new SHO and GM was definitely getting it right with the new high performance Cadillac models as well as others ... at least they were until they cancelled the high performance program (Google News Search) until further notice.

The missed opportunity here, when it comes to marketing Small Business Server 2008, is the ability to tap into the SBS Enthusiast community. That community includes I.T. folks like us and small business owners who use the product and know how it can improve small business operations significantly.

Small business owners need to see and hear other small business owners express their views passionately on how SBS 2008 has made a truly remarkable difference in their business operations. They need to see the features in action to get the creative “what if” business juices flowing in their brains.

Tie that passion into the SBS brand and we will have a real winner here … just like the SHO!

Further reading:

• Dana Epp: Top 10 WOW Features on SBS 2008 which will make me switch from SBS 2003.
• Susan Bradley: The top ten wow's of SBS 2008.
• MPECS Inc. Blog: Hey Microsoft - SBS Marketing Ideas for us Canucks and others.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac!

Windows Live Writer

The General Gets Our Vote - HHR SS Panel Arrives in 6-8 Weeks!

I love cars. :D

I started working on them in my late teens, and grew attached to the smells, sounds, and speed of 350 horsepower small blocks, 400-500 big blocks, and later the multi-valve small displacement engines pulling all sorts of cars into all sorts of crazy speeds.

For the last 6 years or more, I have owned a 1997 Ford Taurus V8 SHO.

It has been a very reliable, very fast, and very maneuverable mode of transport. For both street and track I could ask for nothing better for my money.

But, at 10 years, the reliability ratio to the age of the car is starting to equalize. No serious repairs done to date ... yet. So, do we want to spend any money on a 10 year old car versus putting that money into a new one?

From a business perspective the answer is a resounding no!

On the hunt for a replacement in the last year or so, there were many contenders to replace the SHO. But, none really stood out from the pack.

The key elements that needed to carry forward from the SHO:

• Reasonable power (200bhp+).
• Too many times in this city the power is required to escape others concentrating on other things.
• The power is important for highway travelling which we do a fair amount of for our business.
• Reasonable fuel consumption (when not into the throttle).
• SHO gets 340KM on 60 litres consistently for years in the city.
• Handling must be on par or vary close to the SHO's Semi Active Ride Control.
• Better product carrying capabilities than the trunk or back seat of the SHO.

While doing an install at a client site, the phone system technician was in working on setting up the phone system integration into the SBS network with me. He had an Chevrolet HHR Panel as his company transport.

What caught my eye was the lack of glass in the rear passenger doors. Right away, the element of security came to mind for any system or component contents that may be in the vehicle while parked.

The other thing that struck me were the lines. On the Wikipedia entry for the HHR (Heritage High Roof), the styling cues pull from the 1940's era Chevy Suburban 2 door. Neat.

This last weekend the dealer provided an HHR SS that was the standard 4 door layout for me to scoot about with on errands and to take Monique for a spin.

What a lot of fun that drive was. The vehicle is stable at any speed, in corners, into twists and turns, and flat out a blast from "not to 60" in a shade over 6 seconds.

GM's quality, fit, and finish have come a long way over the last couple of decades ... and that really shows through in the HHR I got to play with.

So, we signed on the dotted line for one. We should see it in about 6 to 8 weeks.

Anyone looking for an excellent second car, or primary get-about, that has power to spare, the Taurus SHO is now available. ;)

Any suggestions for logos and the like for the sides and back? The HHR SS Panel will be black with an ebony interior.

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.

Windows Live Search versus Google

We have left the default Windows Live Search in Windows Vista x64 IE7 on this particular workstation to see how it compares with Google.

We need to install a second child seat anchor in my V8 Taurus SHO. The closest Ford dealer is City Ford.

Do a search via the browser's built-in Windows Live Search and this is what we get:


Note that we put "City Ford" in quotes which is supposed to delineate the search to those exact words. It did not, instead it gave Edmonton City as the top series of search results.

Yes, there is the City Ford Sales link at the top right, but a second click does not count.

Here is Google's results:


They were bang on with the search results with no quotes. We even received a map to the location plus all of the relevant contact info for the dealership. No second click!

Note to Microsoft: There is a very good reason why the graphs near the middle of this SearchEngineLand.com article show your search share slipping. The above search result comparison clearly demonstrates the reason.

UPDATE: Might as well show Microsoft a bit more. :(

Yahoo.ca's results:


The top two links are totally relevant just as Google's results were. No map though.

UPDATE 2: The link that eluded us earlier: Todd Bishop's Blog: Reports: Microsoft's search market share slips.

UPDATE 2007-09-27: As per our Microsoft friend in the comments, we were consistently getting the same results as we tried the same search again and again. At least initially. Perhaps there is a new search.live.com Web farm and DNS was a little slow on our end of the world to get there? Anyway, this is the NEW results we just received for the same search:


Bingo! Now that's what we are talking about! Excellent improvement! If the Windows Live Search Team continues to make service improvements such as these, we may actually see those curves start to move up!

In our case, the default search in IE will stay at Windows Live for now!

Kudos to the Windows Live Search Team for the huge improvement.

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: How not to handle a mistake!?!

It is very important for our clients to know where we stand if we make a mistake. We must take responsibility for it. We must make every effort to make it right. They need to know that.

In the long run, it builds trust between us and our clients.

Yes, we may loose a couple. But, if the mistake we made costs them, do you blame them for leaving? No. Hopefully we are given another chance though.

For example, Toyota's newly released Tundra full sized trucks have had a cam failure problem on what looks like early production run versions of the vehicle with a certain cam supplier's product in the engine. The number of cam failures have been relatively minor compared to the volume of trucks produced, but Toyota has implemented a replace the whole thing for free policy.

Not just fix it, replace it.

An article on the subject: autoblog: Toyota expresses regret for Tundra camshaft failures on internet forums.

Ford on the other hand, has a different stance on a cam failure issue that affects the Ford Taurus SHO V8 engine co-produced with Yamaha. Around 20,000 of these hand built in Atlanta vehicles were sold across the 1996-99 life of the car. The 1997 year was the largest run of the vehicle.

Some would say that the number of cars produced warrants a "no response" attitude. Some would say that it isn't worth Ford's time to recognize and take responsibility for the issue.

The number of known affected vehicles is approaching 5% (1,000) of the entire product run.

This is not a statistical anomaly as the Tundra's failures will be over the entire production run of the Tundra.

Wikipedia: Ford Yamaha V8 engine.

V8SHO.com: Cam Failure Links.

Ford took the same stand with the vehicle fires due to a faulty seal in the break booster, and with the ~1997-2000 F-150 door latch failures.

As a result, owners of the affected vehicles have had to initiate class action lawsuits to get any recompense or recognition for their problems.

So I ask you:

• Which company took the best approach with their clients? Ford or Toyota?
• Which company will build long standing relationships with their clients? Ford or Toyota?
• Which company took responsibility for the quality of their products? Ford or Toyota?

There are many of these types of questions that we can ask about the above similar situation between Ford and Toyota and how either company handled problems with their respective products.

Those questions in turn need to be asked towards our own companies and our own attitudes with regards to the products and services we provide our clients.

For whose best interest do we operate our business? That is a critical question, and the answer to it colours everything we say and do as representatives our company and the products and services provided by it.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists