SMB 2008

Download the Conference Guide (PDF)

At SMB Summit™, you'll have access to over 33 Sessions over 4 days, hands on labs, panels, vendor solutions sessions and an interactive exhibit floor featuring leading technology companies. In addition, you'll experience thought-provoking keynote addresses by some of the world's most renowned technology and education leaders.

Real-World Solutions for SMB Consultants, Solution Providers and Resellers.

CLICK HERE to download the Conference Room map.

Day 1: Friday, April 18 - Windows Small Business Server 2008

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Overview
Session 1A: 8:15 - 9:30am
The next version of Small Business Server 2003 code named “Cougar” will prove to be a most significant release for partners. This new product is built on the highly anticipated Windows Server 2008 which is looking like a rock solid server operating system release. The Windows Server 2008 as the base, add to that Exchange Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Server 3.0 along with all the tools and wizards you would expect from the Microsoft small business team and you get a product that can grow your business! Content to include:

Setup and Migration
Session 1B: 9:30 - 10:15am
Cougar simplifies setup and installation of all major technology components, such as Exchange, SharePoint, and WSUS. This session outlines the prerequisites for a successful installation, both as a new server in a peer-to-peer environment and as a migration from earlier versions of Windows SBS.

Networking Part 1
Session 1C: 10:15 - 10:45am
This section covers how to configure SBS for basic Internet connectivity and network functionality. New wizards make connecting to the Internet easier than before. Connect to the Internet Wizard (CTIW), the Internet Address Management Wizard (IAMW), basic firewall configuration, DNS configuration, and the Fix My Network wizard.

Administration and Management
Session 1D: 11:00 - 11:30am
Partners who have worked with previous releases of SBS will appreciate the new look and functionality built into Cougar. Tasks are organically integrated into the console and redundant links and confusing UI have been eliminated, leaving a powerful new management console for novice and veteran administrators alike.

Networking Part 2
Session 1E: 11:30 - 12:00pm
Once basic connectivity is established, administrators can add or configure other networking services. These include advanced DNS for Exchange and Outlook functionality, VPN connections, Terminal Services gateways, and Remote Web Workplace.

Messaging
Session 1F: 12:15 - 12:45pm
Exchange 2007 both simplifies and improves upon previous capabilities. It adds enterprise-strength e-mail and mobile access capability, and lets small businesses have larger data stores for mission-critical e-mail. This session explores some of the new Exchange features found in Cougar, including Forefront Security for Exchange (anti-virus and anti-malware) and Windows Mobile 6.x capability.

Backup, Restore, and Server Storage
Session 1G: 1:45 - 2:15pm
Using technology from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Home Server, Cougar provides granular and brick-level backup and restore functionality for the server and for clients on the network. This session explores how the new functionality works, and shows how to back up and restore a client on the network. Other wizards make it easy to move data files to different partitions or different drives so that administrators no longer need to use white papers to get the job done.

Health and Monitoring
Session 1H: 2:15 - 2:45pm
New and improved updating and monitoring tools have been added to Cougar, making it easier than ever to stay on top of issues before they occur. WSUS 3.0 has been added, making client and server updating easier than ever. New reporting tools and new report formats give administrators the ability to receive a snapshot of how the network is functioning and how clients on the network are behaving.

Client Experience
Session 1I: 2:45 - 3:15pm
Client-side functionality has been improved, from updating the Connect Computer wizard to building the Vista desktop gadget. New improvements to RWW and SharePoint make it simpler for customers to share and manage information. Administration tools have been improved to export GPOs to clients and build business-wide policies for devices and users on the network.

Panel Discussion with Q&A for Windows Small Business Server 2008
Session 1J: 3:45 - 4:45pm
Top partners who have deployed SBS 2008 along with Microsoft Product Support Services share best practices and answer any and all questions on this new server product.

Windows Home Server
Session 1K: 4:45 - 6:00pm
Microsoft Windows Home Server is a “stay at home” server that delivers the benefits of powerful server technology used by many people at work within a simple, easy-to-use solution for the home. Each night it automatically backs up home computers running Windows XP and Windows Vista, provides a central place to organize digital documents and media, and includes a free Windows Live Internet address to access the home server from virtually anywhere and share content with friends and family.

It also monitors the health and security status of home computers and can stream media to other devices in the home, such as the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, allowing people to enjoy digital music, photos and videos on their television.

Partners are using it to back up top company executives computers and laptops automatically. When a disaster occurs or a laptop is stolen, a new client computer is up and running in less than 2 hours!.

Day 2: Saturday, April 19 - Essential Business Server

Essential Business Server 2008 Overview
Session 2A: 8:45 - 9:30am
Windows Essential Business Server is an integrated server infrastructure solution that includes Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, Forefront Security for Exchange, System Center Essentials, the next version of ISA Server and SQL Server 2008. The product is designed for the 1.2 million midsize businesses worldwide, which Microsoft defines as those with between 25 and 250 PCs. EBS will integrate multiple technologies into a single solution that will be easier to deploy and manage. Processes that used to take hours, if not days, to accomplish will be take less time and be less complex. This simplicity will allow IT professionals to be more proactive, giving them more time to focus on their company’s IT goals and maximizing business value. This session will cover:

Setup and Migration
Session 2B: 9:30 - 11:00am
Most Essential Business Server installations will be into existing IT environments. It is important to understand how services are consolidated, which existing services and data sets are migrated automatically, and which ones require IT planning and execution. This session walks through the issues involved with installing into an existing environment, using the migration check lists and data gathering forms. Extensive information is needed to properly analyze the customer environment, plan for a successful deployment, and avoid potential problem areas. The demos are used to illustrate some of the features and decision points found during the migration process.

Administration and Management
Session 2C: 11:15 - 12:30pm
Essential Business Server’s keystone is providing a single consolidated view into the network. With the Administrator Console, IT professionals gain command and control over the most commonly-used services and applications on the network. Real-time status updates plus at-your-fingers access to consoles and wizards gives an unprecedented level of insight into network behavior. This session shows how smart console design plus task-based “fall through” to key tools and dialogs improves time-to-response for IT professionals.

Security and Messaging
Session 2D: 1:30 - 2:30pm
Security and Messaging are closely linked in Essential Business Server. Much of EBS’s infrastructure involves message and traffic filtering. The EBS roles provide a multi-layered approach for network and data protection, and automatically configure multiple Microsoft technologies according to “best practice” documentation. This session shows how security and messaging are interrelated and provides information on how to keep mission-critical mail services running.

Implementation Differences from Standalone Products
Session 2E: 2:30 - 3:00pm
This session goes into detail about how Essential Business Server differs from installation of the separate products. There are some key differences targeted towards the midmarket that require knowledge of how the products interrelate and what changes were made to optimize the role-based environment.

Building a Practice around Essential Business Server 2008
Session 2F: 3:30 - 4:45pm
Discussion of the Windows Essential Server Solutions family of products, review of practice building tools, decision tree tools around which products to choose and ideas for selling into the mid market. This session will be delivered by partners who have deployed these products at customers sites along with Microsoft product management.

Panel Discussion Q&A for Essential Business Server
Session 2G: 4:45 - 6:30pm
Microsoft dev team, PSS, Partners, will answer questions about Essential Business Server.

Day 3/4: Sunday, April 20 / Monday, April 21

Track 1: Owner/Manager

Is Your Business Creating a Life or a Living! Or Creating a Life, Not a Living!
Session 3A: Owner/Manager Track - Sunday, April 20 - 9:00 - 10:15am
In today's "one-strike, you're out" market, how does a small business IT professional manage to maintain a life? Is your business getting more and more successful while your personal life is going downhill rapidly? Then this is the session for you. Your business needs to be a vehicle to create a life, and not be your living! We’ll show you how to maintain a quality of life and balance while maintaining a vehicle that meets the needs of your clients and business - without you striking out! Karl and Stuart have come up with seven great tips that will guide you in the direction to create a life with your business, not a living!

Speaker: Stuart R. Crawford, Dir of Business Development, IT Matters Inc.
Speaker: Karl Palachuk, President, KPE Enterprises

Hiring Your first Employee, how to do it right the first time!
Session 4A: Owner/Manager Track - Sunday, April 20 - 10:45am - 12:00pm

Expanding your business and hiring employees can be a daunting task for new and established partners. When you hire someone you take on added responsibility, yet you are also taking an important step in moving beyond being self-employed. Employees become your face to the community and can make or break your business.
Each of panel of partners has made the move from being self-employed to an employer and will share their experiences both positive and negative. In this session our panel will address the following questions:

Panel Members:
Sean Fullerton, President, EMonarch
Robert Lamm, President, Lamm Technical Resources LLC
John Endter, President, E Squared C

Moderator: Robert Lindley, President, Innovative Systems Inc.

Compensation Strategies
Session 5A: Owner/Manager Track - Sunday, April 20 - 1:00 - 2:15pm
How do you look at compensation? Is it an expense or an investment? When most of us look at our Income Statement, we see an expense. But when we set our corporate objectives, we should be looking at compensation plans as one the most important methods, an investment, of helping us to achieve those objectives.

This presentation will focus on setting corporate objectives and the development of compensation strategies to drive those corporate objectives.

Speaker: Larry Schulze, Co-founder and Principal Consultant, Taylor Business Group

Mergers and Acquisitions - Learn From Partners Who Have Done it Successfully
Session 6A: Owner/Manager Track - Sunday, April 20 - 3:00 - 4:15pm
This panel of seasoned IT veterans has been there and done that when it comes to M&A. These companies have acquired, merged and grown their companies through a strategy of identifying the right company, determining whether a merger or acquisition is the right end result, and executing the deal. The discussion will also feature thoughts around valuation, things to avoid, issues after the deal is done and many other helpful topics that can help you avoid the landmines and identify the opportunities.

Panel Members:
Brad Schow, GM, Compudyne
Steve Knutson, CIO, Marco
Dan Hay, President, isoutsource.com®
David Ohendalski, President, Agnitek

Moderator: Scott Scrogin, Chief Process Officer, Heartland Technology Solutions

Key Business Productivity Indicators that Your Business Needs and How to Implement Them
Session 7A: Owner/Manager Track - Monday, April 21 - 9:00 - 10:15am
In this session you will learn about the key business indicators used to manage and optimize an infrastructure focused IT consulting business. We will discuss:

The presenters will use examples from their own businesses and best practices from industry groups to help you get the insight you need to maximize your consulting practice profitability.

Speaker: Dan Hay, President, isoutsource.com®
Speaker: Lyf Wildenberg, President, MyTech

Growing Your SMB Business - A Panel of Partners Who Are at the Top of Their Game
Session 8A: Owner/Manager Track - Monday, April 21 - 10:45 - 12:00pm
Are you ready to grow your SMB business and want to avoid all the mistakes that others have made? There are many ways to grow you business and this talented panel will share some of their secret sauce. It may include adding a new solution set, building a new practice, becoming more disciplined in how you run your business or any number of other ideas. This session consists of a panel of partners who have made it and are ready to share their mistakes, best practices, and knowledge with you. They are a group of partners that have between them, hundreds of SMB customers and are adding new services and increasing profits every day. They have learned much in the school of hard knocks and have turned their business into the profitable company that every partner wants to achieve.

Panel:
Erik Thorsell, President, Success Computer Consulting, Inc.
Dave Cooksey, CNS
Alex Ziogas, President, AZBS

Moderator: Arlin Sorensen, President, Heartland Technology Solutions

HR - Selection and Screening of IT Employees
Session 9A: Owner/Manager Track - Monday, April 21 - 1:00 - 2:15pm
Too often, IT professionals are hired based on their technical competence without regard to their past personal and professional behavior, ensuring future headaches for managers and increased risk of liability for the employer. You will leave with a plan and a checklist for hiring employees.

In this session, we will discuss interviewing IT professionals to get beyond the information on their resume. We'll discuss:

Speaker: Mike Coffey, President, Imperative Information Group

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Track 2: Sales and Marketing

Marketing Ideas That Work
Session 3B: Sales and Marketing Track - Sunday, April 20 - 9:00 - 10:15am
Larry Hedin and others from HTS will share a series of sales and marketing ideas that leverage vendor and distributor programs allowing your company to attack the market. The presentation will showcase a variety of campaigns and events that HTS has utilized followed by a mini customer evidence case study featuring one of the resulting sales that occurred as a result of successful execution. The goal of this session is to provide ideas you can take back and put to use in your market next week. Details will be provided on how to take advantage of the marketing investments that key vendor partners like Microsoft and HP have invested in and provide to their partner community, many at no cost.

Speaker: Larry Hedin, VP Sales and Marketing, Heartland Technology Solutions

Sales Training
Session 4B: Sales and Marketing Track - Sunday, April 20 - 10:45am - 12:00pm
Why do sales people fail, quit, or take a long time to “ramp up?” The right sales training program makes all the difference! Developing a sales training program for an internal sales team is more than just introducing the line of offerings. It is important that the marketing of the company is taught so all parties involved are on the same page. It is likewise important to impress the established sales process upon the new sales people. Product knowledge is the last priority.

In this session, industry sales trainer and author, Matt Makowicz will illustrate the difference between training a seasoned sales professional new to the industry and a brand new sales person who understands I.T. Matt outlines a winning strategy for creating a sales training program and discusses how to manage sales people to get them up and running in weeks instead of months.

Speaker: Matt Makowicz, President, Ambtion Consulting

WSS 3.0 and Workflow and Solutions
Session 5B: Sales and Marketing Track - Sunday, April 20 - 1:00 - 2:15pm
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, a technology in Windows Server, provides the tools, infrastructure and platform for the development of collaborative applications. How can you make sure that your business stays relevant when the technology is getting simpler, customers are better informed, and seemingly everyone wants to be a managed services provider? And how can partners make the leap from networking VAR to true strategic partner? Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services version 3.0, and 40 new application templates, help organizations of all sizes to collaborate and communicate across organizational and geographic boundaries. Join Erik Thorsell, a top Microsoft partner who is has built a successful WSS 3.0 practice, to learn how they've built a profitable, growing WSS offering for clients that deepens client relationships and generates higher profits.

Speaker: Erik Thorsell, President, Success Computer Consulting, Inc.

Creating a Sales Engine
Session 6B: Sales and Marketing Track - Sunday, April 20 - 3:00 - 4:15pm
How many times have you thrown your hands up in the air out of frustration with either trying to create a sales team or getting one to produce the numbers that you need to maintain and grow your business? That is the toughest job for VAR management: to first create a sales engine from scratch and then manage one that is consistent and self producing. This breakout session provides VAR management with overviews of methodologies and tools that can lead you to a more sound and manageable means to developing a sales department that produces.

Speaker: Larry Schulze, Co-founder and Principal Consultant, Taylor Business Group

How to Position and Build a Business on Managed Services
Session 7B: Sales and Marketing Track - Monday, April 21 - 9:00 - 10:15am
What are the secrets to building a successful, profitable Managed Services Practice? What key deliverables comprise a rock-solid base upon which to build additional annuity-based services? How should Managed Services be positioned and priced for maximum profit? How can delivering Managed Services be used to become the Trusted Advisor and sell 40% more services and solutions to clients much more easily? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this session, as well as the effects that economic downturns can have on traditional IT business models and how to leverage Managed Services to help Solution Providers weather adverse market conditions.

Speaker: Erick Simpson, VP and CIO, Intelligent Enterprise and MSP University

Leveraging Vendor Resources to Drive Your Business (Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Ingram Micro, etc)
Session 8B: Sales and Marketing Track - Monday, April 21 - 10:45 - 12:00pm
In addition to Microsoft, most partners have many vendor relationships they need to manage. A panel of partners will be sharing experiences on how to effectively manage the landscape and creative ways to get vendors and distribution partners to work together effectively as a team. It is difficult to manage too many programs and marketing efforts if they are all disconnected, so the panel will share some of the ways they have been able to work with multiple vendors across many geographies to be effective and efficient.

Panel:
Stuart R. Crawford, Dir of Business Development, IT Matters Inc.
Alex Ziogas, President, AZBS
Michael J. Ritsema, President, i3 Business Solutions
Darren Harbaugh, Partner Community Manager, Microsoft, SMS&P
Ted Hulsy, Marketing, SonicWALL

Moderator: Larry Hedin, VP Sales and Mktg, Heartland Technology Solutions

Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery
Session 9B: Sales and Marketing Track - Monday, April 21 - 1:00 - 2:15pm
Are your customers ready?...... More importantly are you ready?

When was the last time you really looked at your disaster recovery (DR) strategy? Not just the big binder on the shelf that documents downtime procedures. I mean the actual “strategy” to recover your operations. If there were a “disaster” today, could you survive?

One of first steps to ensuring Business Continuity for our customers is to evaluate vendors providing key products and services. As a critical vendor to many of the business we serve… what happens if we can’t provide services? During this session we will discuss how and why an IT company needs to prepare for a disaster. We will also address how to develop a BCP/DR initiative to offer to customers.

Speakers:
Jeff Wood, President, Wood NETworks
Lyf Wildenberg, President/Co-founder, Mytech Partners, Inc.

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Track 3: Service and Technical

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practice Analyzer
Session 3C: Service and Technical Track - Sunday, April 20 - 9:00 - 10:15am
The Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer examines a server that is running Windows Small Business Server 2003 (Windows SBS) and presents a list of information and errors that administrators should review.

The Windows SBS Best Practices Analyzer examines the server and collects configuration information from many sources including:

After collecting information about server configuration, the Windows SBS Best Practices Analyzer verifies that the information is correct and then presents administrators with a list of issues sorted by severity. The list describes each issue and provides a recommendation or possible solution.

Speaker: David Copeland, Microsoft Support Escalation Engineer, Microsoft PSS

Managing Business Risk in a Remotely Connected World
Session 4C: Service and Technical Track - Sunday, April 20 - 10:45 - 12:00pm
Extending remote access for critical business assets to employees, partners and customers is vital for many Internet-enabled businesses of today. Along with the benefits of additional accessibility and increased productivity comes the potential for more business risk. Employee turn-over, weak passwords, and untrusted remote systems all act as catalysts to provide an unprecedented threat landscape for potential business loss. In this session, attendees will be introduced to the concepts of identity assurance (IA) and how IA can be used to securely manage remote access to sensitive business assets, and explore some of the new technologies in Windows Server 2008 that help to reduce these risks.

Speaker: Dana Epp, President, Scorpion Software [Microsoft Security MVP]

Migration for Windows SBS 2008
Session 5C: Service and Technical Track - Sunday, April 20 - 1:00 - 2:15pm
SBS 2008 provides partners with an advanced setup path allowing for an integrated join domain type side by side migration to move from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. This method allows for uninterrupted operation of the existing SBS 2003 domain controller during the migration process and is virtually transparent to clients with little to none client side configuration required. This session will explore the method utilized, the primary phases of the migration process, requirements and design considerations taken into account by the feature team. We will take an in depth look at the preparation steps, the answer file and alternate supported scenarios including migrating from Windows Server 2003 STD and SBS 2008 to SBS 2008 migrations.

Speaker: Chris Almida, Program Manager, Microsoft

Real World VoIP Solutions in the Small Business Marketplace
Session 6C: Service and Technical Track - Sunday, April 20 - 3:00 - 4:15pm
Hear from partners who are deploying VOIP solutions for small businesses and get first hand knowledge of what is working and what doesn't. More importantly, how do you build a practice around VOIP and not go out of business supporting it.

Panel:
Joe Schurman, Evangelyze LLC
Aaron Booker, President, Hardlines
Steve Knutson, CIO, Marco Inc.

Moderator: Doug Renner, President, Peak IP Solutions

Better enabling the remote user with Terminal Services
Session 7C: Service and Technical Track - Monday, April 21 - 9:00 - 10:15am
Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services is an excellent addition for any small or medium size business to enable remote access to applications or desktops from the Internet. This session will cover how your business can better enable your remote workers, with a complete remote access solution while keeping costs and administrative overhead very low. It will also cover how you can quickly add Terminal Services to a Small Business Server or Essential Business Server environment and how Terminal Services is different from remote web workplace.

Speaker: Nick Smith, Senior Network Technical Specialist, Microsoft Corporation

Virtualization – What Windows Server 2008, System Center 2007, and hyper-v mean to you, and how to develop Your Service Offerings!
Session 8C: Service and Technical Track -Monday, April 21 - 10:45 - 12:00pm
Think you know virtualization? Windows Server 2008 offers new hyper-v technology, and can be managed by System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007. This session focuses on the use of virtualization technologies, specifically Windows Server 2008, and what you need to know about virtualization in 2008. Not only will we discuss how to build the technical solutions, but also how to offer them to your customers as services that they will want to buy from you! Services examples include server migrations, test environments, disaster recovery scenarios, with discussion of both implementation and packaging the services.

Speaker: Dave Sobel, CEO, Evolve Technologies

Using Outlook with Business Contact Manager and Office Accounting to Run your Service Business
Session 9C: Service and Technical Track -Monday, April 21 - 1:00 - 2:15pm
This session will show you how to use Outlook with Business Contact Manager and Office Accounting to run your computer network services business. Robert Lindley with ISI will discuss how they implemented and customized this solution for their 8 person office. He will review how they organize account and contact information, manage sales activities, execute marketing campaigns, track service requests and projects, and invoice directly from calendar appointments in Outlook.

Speaker: Robert Lindley, President, Innovative Systems Inc.

Sunday, April 20 - Vendor Presentations
5:00 - 6:00 HP Las Colinas D
5:00 - 6:00 Zenith Las Colinas E
5:00 - 6:00 Autotask Las Colinas F
5:00 - 6:00 Trend Micro Andaman
5:00 - 6:00 D&H Martaban
6:00 - 7:00 N-Able Las Colinas D
6:00 - 7:00 Microsoft Response Point Las Colinas E
6:00 - 7:00 Sonicwall Las Colinas F
6:00 - 7:00 Microsoft Office Accounting Andaman
6:00 - 7:00 Level Platforms Martaban
7:00 - 8:00 HP Las Colinas D
7:00 - 8:00 Microsoft Office Accounting Las Colinas E
7:00 - 8:00 Microsoft Vista Las Colinas F
7:00 - 8:00 Zenith Andaman
7:00 - 8:00 Autotask Martaban
8:00 - 9:00 D&H Las Colinas D
8:00 - 9:00 Microsoft Response Point Las Colinas E
8:00 - 9:00 Level Platforms Las Colinas F
8:00 - 9:00 Trend Micro Andaman
8:00 - 9:00 Sonicwall Martaban

 

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