Davesbs Blog

MLSS, I passed!

A big thanks go out to Lesley March the (used to work at Microsoft but now works with them) licensing trainer and James Henderson, the Scottish Partner Manager.

Lesley was about the best at explaining Microsoft -isms I have ever encountered, from either the training or marketing perspective! Also, doing the 7 courses in one day is quite hard work for us partners and for Lesley! The MLSS is normally done over 2 days at least I think. Time to think about those 23 Software Assurance benefits

Thanks to James for organising the event and for showing willing by taking the course himself. He admitted later that he didn’t know quite as much as he could when it comes to the SMB side of licensing and the issues us SBSC partners face daily regarding licensing our clients software.

Saw James the next night at the Edinburgh SBS Users Group meeting which was the most lively I have ever seen it. James gave a run down of the changes at Microsoft Scotland (and UK) when they move the Edinburgh office to Waverly Gate (Google-Waverly Gate Microsoft, for details in the press). This new headquarters will include a technology center and new Partner suite. These will be Partner driven and can only make Microsoft Scotland a more responsive and less ‘provincial’ outpost

On Wednesday 28^th May I will be attending a Microsoft Licensing Sales Specialist training day in Edinburgh.

I am actually looking forward to this, mainly as a way to help my clients with the minefield that is MSFT licensing. It may be quite gruelling being a whole day event but it is to incorporate tangible rewards unlike many IT training days where you come away with sales bumph or short notes.

To quote from the invitation email, the day will “take you through all the modules in the MLSS certification programme as well as taking you through each of the exams and hopefully allowing you to gain the Microsoft Licensing Sales Specialist accreditation.”

Places are limited at these events and I don’t know where else they are being held but they look very valuable. Those who do manage to attend will hopefully be able to give some insight back to other MSFT partners through the newsgroups or local User Groups etc.

Have a look on the MSFT partner website for details.

If anyone who isn’t going wants a specific question answered, drop me a line or comment to this and I will do my best to get an answer from MSFT Licensing trainers.

Hooray, it’s finally here…the news we have all been waiting for…drum roll please………………………………..

Yes it’s that announcement. Microsoft have been fined again!

News headlines everywhere: ‘EU fines Microsoft record $1.4bn’

You didn’t think I was going to blog about, what is it, Windows Server 2008 or something like that?

How can this happen on a day that quite rightly should change the corporate computing world like nothing since Windows NT? That’s my take on it.

Now, it’s not Microsoft’s fault that this news comes out on the very same day that Server 2008 is launched, just like it is not altogether Microsoft’s fault that some parts of Vista don’t work because other companies haven’t written new drivers or updated their software.

IT IS Microsoft’s fault that this launch has been, well not even a sideline but a non-entity. Where is the reasoning, the business case, the techie explanation, the fanfare, the ticker-tape parade, Steve Ballmer saying something remotely eye-catching?

Whilst a Server OS is never going to capture the hearts and minds of average Joe users, it should get techies and business people/press excited.

Fact is however, unless you are extremely geeky or work for Microsoft, this launch has (I will repeat) been a non-entity. Even most techie people have not really bothered to keep up with the news. Anecdotal evidence from my very small straw poll I grant you but none the less there has been no huge groundswell of interest or fanfare.

Microsoft have been criticised for years that their software is insecure, bloated, badly written, over-priced etc etc etc…. yawn.

Well here is (was) a chance to show that they have changed. Server Core, self-healing NTFS, Virtualisation and Powershell to name a few things that really should get businesses as well as techs frothing at the mouth over.

What do we get instead: ‘EU fines Microsoft record $1.4bn’

Why oh why?

I was at an Edinburgh SBS user group meeting last night with a presentation about Microsoft Office Accounting.

I have been on the beta test of Microsoft Office Accounting since the beginning and hoped it would kick the traditional accountancy software market up the bum! 

Looks like it has.

Apparently, double the expected amount of accountants have signed up since the November launch and the official consumer launch is in early March.

It really looks to be a Sage and Quickbooks killer. It is somewhat in between the two of them regards ease of use and functions but is so much more intuitive if you use Outlook 2007, BCM and MOA together.

Many thanks to Duncan from Icelantic for the excellent presentation.

He has been using MOA (with BCM and Outlook 2007) for over a year in a production environment and is having excellent feedback from clients regards MOA. Many are accountants who say they will swap from Sage.

Also Angus from Amber Computing has been installing the Express version and again getting very good responses from clients.

I use Quickbooks 2003 at the moment but will be swapping over to MOA in April for the next tax year.

All we need now are some bookkeepers to really get to learn MOA and offer accounts setup services etc and I think this will really take of in the UK.

There has been a lot of chatter in the newsgroups recently about Microsoft licensing and what to do if you think the legality of clients software is suspect.

Here is my opinion. Funny that, it being my blog

Simple, get them to become legitimate (or legal) or walk away.

Let’s clarify this. Why I said legitimate or legal is because these can be two seperate things. Why? well frankly, just because Microsoft and it’s lawers say something should be the case, it doesn’t mean that it is the law.

It is Microsofts opinion, in their favour, of what it’s lawers interperit the law to be. For it to be seen as legal, it must be put through the proper judicial process. Yes, a court case. Some Microsoft license agreements have been through this process whilst others haven’t.

As a responsible business partner of your client (and business partner of Microsoft), you sell them the product and should do everything in your power to make sure they are buying and using it in a legitimate and/or legal fashion. Simple. You are not the Microsoft police like some have suggested and no-one really expects you to be so… but you also have to be a proper business partner to the client.

Would a solicitor or accountant turn a blind eye to a bit of ‘you didn’t see that did you’? Some might but I don’t want to do business with them and neither do I want to do business with clients who expect me to go against my own advice and potentially leave myself and the client open to legal action. That’s why I said walk away. The slight loss in revenue from this now grade c or d client is not worth the hassle.

Choose the right clients who want your advice for a reason, who see the value in their IT infrastructure and see you as a businees advisor and you can build on this.

Then again, Microsoft have to look at simplifying their licensing………Oh god don’t start that one

I was having a friendly discussion in the pub at the weekend and was introduced to a college lecturer. He spoke quite fluently about IT in his college even though he admitted he is not very technically minded.

Then it came…Why Vista he asked, it knackers things, so his techie people tell him? Windows 98 which he has at home is fine GRRRR!

Except, it isn’t fine. His PC was falling apart at the seams, things just weren’t working. The more I questioned the more it became like a broken record. Why had Microsoft not left things alone. The fact that his quite clearly 18million year old dial-up modem wasn’t working was obviously Microsofts fault. They only update things in order to screw money out of poor victims like him. (This did stay friendly I hasten to add and many more pints were sunk during the discussions!)

And then the explanation of why Vista is so bad. According to his techie department, Vista had made printers stop working! Oh really. How about the fact that the printers in question were well known branded lasers of years ago vintage. Who makes them? It doesn’t bloody matter, it is not Microsoft thats for sure!

Forgive me for stating the bleeding obvious but love or loathe Vista, it is not Microsofts fault if half-arsed software and hardware companies do not bring out updated product for this operating system.

It has been on sale for over a year, beta’d for many years etc etc.

Like all operating systems before and probably in the future, people just do not like change and moan.

Get over it, buy a decent specced PC with Vista on it or seek out XP if you must but remember, would you choose to drive around in an old bashed up car that has been patched to the hilt or a new shiny ‘reliable’ one