Recent Articles
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MSPs Think Microsoft’s SCE Could Best All Managed Services Platforms
Microsoft isn’t talking yet about how it plans to market System Center Essentials 2007 to managed service providers and won’t even acknowledge that it will, but some already working with Microsoft Operations Manager and SCE betas say it could best all other MSP platforms and own the vendor market. SCE installed at a customer site…
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4,200 Partner Downloads of Vista Assessment Tools
Twenty-six hundred partners have downloaded 4,200 copies of Microsoft’s Business & Technology Assessment Toolkit since it debuted four weeks ago, Microsoft boasts. Partners have downloaded 20,000 copies of the old and new versions since August, and they are increasing deal sizes according to statements made by partners on the software maker’s site. “We insisted on…
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Dell, EMC Hook Up Again on Entry-Level Storage System
Dell, in its first major product announcement since Michael Dell replaced Kevin Rollins as CEO on Jan. 31, revealed Feb. 20 that it has joined forces again with data storage market leader EMC to launch a new storage system designed for small to midsize businesses. The Round Rock, Texas-based company, more well known for its…
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Rose-Colored Windows
Microsoft has been releasing Economic Impact studies on the effects of Vista in various metros and regions, but the vista appears too rosy. The eight reports (one on Illinois was announced Feb. 12, but unavailable as of publication), commissioned by Redmond and performed by IDC, divine a significant surge in IT employment and revenue to…
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‘Where’s the Wow?’ It’s on ABC
The mass-market advertising for Windows Vista is here and it’s impressive, according to Microsoft Watch’s Joe Wilcox. Wilcox called the campaign, which he caught during an episode of ABC television’s “Lost,” “approachable and familiar,” like Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” The fact that the campaign is quality is something VARs can use to their advantage, even…
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Microsoft Fogs up the Window
Microsoft hosted a live Web meeting Feb. 7 to clear up the vista on its retail strategy to reach small and midsize businesses and how it relates to SMB VARs, but the end result was a smudgy view. Eric Ligman, senior manager of community engagement on Redmond’s U.S. Small Business Team, clearly spelled out Microsoft’s…
