MS Pricing Announced on Response Point (lower), Windows Server 2008

Good morning everyone - MS has updated it pricing for its small business telephone system and announced prcing for its upcoming server launch.

First - check out the new Web site at www.microsoft.com/responsepoint

The Response Point pricing amounts to a price reduction:
· The D-Link VoiceCenter package includes a base unit, a four phone-line analog telephone adapter and five desktop phones for approximately $2,500 $2,999.
· Additional Quanta phones are $159; D-Link will sell additional phones for approximately $139 $149.
· A complete Quanta Syspine package that includes a base unit with built-in analog telephone adapter (ATA) and secure gateway, plus four phones, for approximately $2,500.
· A complete 20-phone system from D-Link or Quanta for less than $5,500.

OK - now the Windows ERver 2008 pricing:

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Windows Server 2008 Standard: $999 (with five Client Access Licenses, or CALs)
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Windows Server 2008 Enterprise: $3,999 (with 25 CALs)
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Windows Server 2008 Datacenter: $2,999 (per processor)
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Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems: $2,999 (per processor)
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Windows Web Server 2008: $469
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Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V: $971 (with five CALs)
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Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V: $3,971 (with 25 CALs)
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Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V: $2,971 (per processor)

Microsoft Response Point Newsgroup created

Hey - a Microsoft Response Point (RP) newsgroup has been created at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/responsepoint/

Please join the fun - it time for fun in the telephony space!

Looking forward!

Harry

It's the Weekend - do you know where your worker bees are?

Seems like we owners work on the weekends while the worker bees rest. Also seems fair to me. Owners enjoy the honey and worker bees make it - so in all fairness - I am working on a later Saturday afternoon and my employees aren't.

Oh well - I think I now go take a hot tub knowing what I know now. :)

harrybbbbb

Right On RP!

Has the Red Sea parted or what? Over two years ago - I started on a telephony journey that included a trip to Vegas to look at a enterprise-level call center telephony solution being squeezed into the SBS space (ouch), free calling, Yahoo, Skype, MSN-based calling, reverting to tradition cordless telephones, paying annual renewal fees for a system that wasn't up to snuff (sorry to go negative) and so on.

That ended yesterday when I installed Microsoft Response Point with seven telephones at our office. Already we are seeing a telephone solution that is right-sized and right-priced! I will comment on this more later but I can't believe it works so well so easily. But do not believe me - call us at 360-779-1140 (main line) and here for yourself!

Question: What is your nickname?

Beatrice meets with Microsoft Response Point PM Richard Sprague in Seattle recently....

Harry

PS - our old telephony server is now being redeploiyed as a testing server....right on RP!

Return of Big BackOffice: Up or Out

Hey-hey

This is a case of the military's phrase for "up" with the introduction of Windows Essential Business Server (formerly code named Centro). What? In the military and other big companies - there is the phrase up or out when you reach mid-career. There is a natural incentive in any channel partner program to motivate partners to ascend upward. Frankly I have found this to be the way American firms naturally think with India and Asia close behind (growth is good). Countries in continental Europe may or may not embrace this up strategy.

For the purposes of this business speak conversation, assume you are a SBSer or Small Business Specialist and you seek to grow into a slightly larger space. That's called "all goodness" and then some in Redmond. It is a neo-classical return to BackOffice which was prominent from the mid-1990s to November of 2001 in the Microsoft SMB infrastructure portfolio. The idea back then and today is to have a multiple server solution for entities just above the small business space (e.g. start at 50 users up to 300 users). Windows Essential Business Server allows you to leverage your small business customer portfolio to grow into larger customers -or more importantly - grow with your successful small business customers who are flying further and faster than they imagined when they started their companies in the proverbial garage.

So let's get technical.

"Windows Essential Business Server is an integrated server infrastructure solution designed for the unique needs of mid-sized organizations, combining the technologies of Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, Forefront Security for Exchange, System Center Essentials, the next version of ISA Server and SQL Server 2008 into an “all-in-one” solution. It will include a Standard and Premium Edition. Windows Essential Business Server will provide a single Client Access License for all included products and offers new technologies which simplify license management. Within the administration console, IT professionals can easily ascertain how many licenses they have, who the licenses are assigned to and - when an employee leaves the company - easily re-assign licenses.

The difference between standard and premium edition is this: Premium includes SQL Server 2008. To me - that is the whole enchilada because I believe everything in the business world pivots off data; data is the reason we are here. Data is the reason we exist. Someday humans will be born with USB 2.0 ports!

Enough nonsense and back to GeekSpeak. Essentially Widows Essential Business Server (WEBS - kinda cute isn't it!) uses a partitioning strategy to put security on a server out front, the domain controller\management functions in the middle and the infrastructure back-end in the, while, background. How about a picture to better convey this concept:

In future issues - we will write more on WEBS and I will expand on the management paradigm stolen from SBS :)

BEST PRATICE: Windows Essential Business Server is really a growth strategy for Small Business Specialists. In pop therapy terms, you now have my permission to grow. It does not reflect disloyalty to the beloved SBS product our your SBSer roots.

I final found out what BOB means

At first - I thought it was my brother in law :)

But the Microsoft OEM\System Builder group called the BOB Team is Builder of Boxes....man - I never knew that before today!!!

Harry

Workaholic weekend - is it the ism.....

Recovery movement rehortic aside - I find myself workig this Saturday AM on some very important business matters and I think back to how I built this company (starting in the garage, etc.). So my question to you dear reader - are you working this weekend too?

harrybbbb