Redmond Channel Partner Online | Print Columns Archive


September 2008
Selling Microsoft How Do You Measure Sales Success? Some easy dashboard metrics for partners who want to squeeze as much as they can from their strategic sales-management plans. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Playing the Deployment Card Microsoft aims to have partners making more strategic software deployments a priority in the next year. by Paul DeGroot

August 2008
Channel Call S+S Starting Gun Fired Microsoft's software and services combo takes a running start at competitors with "deskless" versions of its Office tools. by Scott Bekker
Directions Recognizing Net Reality Hosting partners live on the edge as Microsoft plays in their cloud. by Paul DeGroot

July 2008
Channel Call RCP Has the 411 at the WPC News, video, blogs -- we give you the scoop on Microsoft's annual event for partners. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Building a Virtual Practice As Redmond's virtualization solutions mature, there's still time for partners to get into the virtualization game on the ground floor. by Dave Sobel
Dynamics Perspective Getting Dynamic(s) in the Cloud Microsoft takes baby steps to deliver Dynamics solutions in the cloud, with a bit of a hybrid approach for now. by Joshua Greenbaum
Directions Optimize IT, Optimize Sales Microsoft's Infrastructure Optimization strategies makes for better IT, and the practices can be applied to better sales. by Paul DeGroot

June 2008
Channel Call Make the Most of Your WPC Experience It's the mother-of-all-networking-events and you'll need a good strategy to make the event pay off for your own business. by Keith Lubner
Channel Call SharePoint Joins the Microsoft Pantheon SharePoint's sales now put it alongside Office and Windows in any discussion having to do with Microsoft's technology and sales successes. by Scott Bekker
Selling Microsoft Taking a Vertical View What does it take to tackle a niche market? Ken has some advice before jumping in. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Hey, Microsoft: Don't Shoot the Message Microsoft's message is at times layered thick with marketspeak, so it's up to all of us to let Microsoft know whether or not we hear their message clearly. by Paul DeGroot

May 2008
Partner View Buried Treasure: Uncovering SharePoint's Riches Clients will see the light once you show how SharePoint can help them implement collaborative Web applications. by Ryan Thomas
Selling Microsoft 10 Tips for Selling Successfully When Times Are Tough Microsoft partners can blunt the impact of the recession by maintaining focus with these handy tips. by Ken Thoreson
Directions New Wisdom for Old Services As Microsoft moves into the online hosting space, partners need to pay close attention to not only what the company is saying, but what it's actually doing as well. by Paul DeGroot

April 2008
Partner View Making a Successful -- and Safe -- Migration to Exchange Server 2007 Tapping Exchange for its best features may mean partnering with the right vendor to get you the full 64-bit experience. by Randy De Meno
Directions Cloudy Future for Business IT Cloud-based computing gets legs, and so does business in the cloud. by Paul DeGroot
Partner Advocate Finding a Niche in SaaS Microsoft Partner Program members tell us that they struggle to figure out how to shoehorn Software as a Service into existing business models. by Scott Bekker

March 2008
Partner Advocate There Will Be Conflict In a mirror of the hot political debates, Microsoft struggles to drive home distinct messages to customers and partners, employees and investors. by Scott Bekker
Partner View 5 Strategies for Effective Lead Management Between leads and sales lies a mystery. Here are a few ways to make the process more transparent and improve the lead-to-sales ratio. by Charles Watson
Dynamics Perspective Dynamics at the Crossroads Will an executive shuffle stifle or spur convergence in Microsoft's Business division? by Joshua Greenbaum
Directions Microsoft's EBC: Symbol of Openness, Great Partner Perk At Building 33 on the Microsoft campus, you'll find a partner incubator that insiders call the "East Wing." by Paul DeGroot
Selling Microsoft Boost Accountability, Insight -- and Sales Step back to get a better view of your partner relationships. More effective: Appoint an advisory board to help you gain better sales insight. by Ken Thoreson

February 2008
Partner Advocate A Marriage Made in the Midmarket Essential Business Server makes its debut in the wake of the Windows 2008 launch wave. Watch the sales roll in. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Business-Continuity Planning: Myths and Mistakes Now that you have a plan, it's time to make sure it works. Practice, in this case, makes perfect. by Brace Rennels
Directions Pushing Partners to Plan for Success To break into the enterprise sales segment, you first have to prove to Microsoft that you have the right stuff. by Paul DeGroot

January 2008
Partner Advocate Dell Goes Indirect All eyes are on Round Rock as the computer seller changes direction and makes a visibly stronger channel play. by Scott Bekker
Dynamics Perspective Dynamics Perspective Is there an SAP market left for Dynamics? by Joshua Greenbaum
Selling Microsoft The Art of Discovery: Connecting the Dots Salespeople can get to the basic questions just by pretending to see from the prospect's POV. by Ken Thoreson

December 2007
Partner Advocate 11 Deals that Changed the Channel in 2007 Channel partners saw a lot of upheaval in 2007 among their big vendor partners. Here's a recap of the year's most significant deals. by Scott Bekker
Partner View SAM and Core IO: A Dynamic Duo Are you a bit fat in software and hardware assets? It's time to reassess your IT resources and Microsoft's Core IO can help streamline that process. by David E. Yashar
Directions Software as a Question Mark (Saa?) The mystery is what how Microsoft plans to handle the online counterparts to its service offerings. by Paul DeGroot

November 2007
Partner Advocate Money, Politics & Technology We can't say for certain if there's a correlation between the shaping of technology policy and contributions, but we can tell you how much Microsoft money is being funneled to politicos' coffers. by Scott Bekker
Marketing Microsoft The Perfect Match: Make the Right Offer at the Right Time Developing your relationship with clients before you even think of closing the deal. by M.H. McIntosh
Directions Microsoft, MCS and Partners: A Most Delicate Dance Microsoft makes another run at bringing in new enterprise-grade integration business via its consulting force. Will it work this go-round? by Paul DeGroot

October 2007
Partner Advocate The Channel and the Credit Crunch by Scott Bekker
Partner View VoIP: Bend Boundaries, Save Money VoIP can empower clients to overcome the constraints of time and location, allowing customers to stay in touch. by Chuck Rutledge
Selling Microsoft Leveraging Partnerships to Improve Sales Partnering up with other partners can only help you provide a better level of service to current and potential customers. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Tight Relationships Require Trust What would partnering look like if you had all the money, hardware and people you could imagine to throw into your relationship with Microsoft? by Paul DeGroot
Channel Call Add Vendor Relationships to Your Mid-Year Review by Keith Lubner

September 2007
Partner Advocate A Disambiguation Page for 'Microsoft Services' Herewith, a guide to the many services that partners can take advantage of, as defined within the Microsoft parlance. by Scott Bekker
Dynamics Perspective Microsoft's Business Intelligence Challenge Dynamics partners can play a role in shifting Microsoft's BI strategy from tools to applications. by Joshua Greenbaum
Marketing Microsoft Making the Most of Your Marketing Budget Focus your marketing dollars in these two areas -- Web sites/search and database-driven marketing -- and the sales and leads will follow. by M.H. McIntosh
Directions Microsoft Faces Reality About the Future of Computing Will the desktop computing model last into the next decade? Microsoft thinks so, yet it's begun to prepare for a future where desktops reign no longer. by Paul DeGroot

August 2007
Partner Advocate Ambiguous Adventure: Microsoft and Managed Services Whether or not partners will be part of Redmond's latest foray remains to be seen. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Getting a Handle on Peer-to-Peer Applications Watch out for security pitfalls, such as increasingly popular instant messaging apps. by Ari Tammam
Selling Microsoft Are You on Target? Conduct strategic business planning and ask key questions -- especially if your company is missing its year-end goals. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Microsoft, Services and Partners: Survival of the Fittest Partners need to be nimble when Redmond ventures into new territories, but they also have to wait. by Paul DeGroot

July 2007
Partner Advocate Are Too Many Partners Striking Gold? Questions loom as Microsoft hints at changes to Partner Program. by Scott Bekker
Partner View A Clear Opportunity for Partners Identity management is gaining prominence as a way to authenticate users across multiple platforms. by David Doane
Marketing Microsoft Small Business Equals Big Sales Revenue Partners can get seen in the small business space through some basic marketing moves. by M.H. McIntosh
Directions All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go Take steps ahead of time to ensure a successful Microsoft partnership on products that will succeed. by Paul DeGroot

June 2007
Windows Tip Sheet All About Your Hard Drive Look Mom, take 2: No-script hard drive info, this time using WMIC. by Jeffery Hicks
Partner Advocate SaaS in the MIX At the MIX07 conference, Microsoft's Ozzie suggested that "choices for software and service deployment" would arise with the implementation of Microsoft's Software Plus Services plans. by Scott Bekker
Dynamics Perspective Microsoft Office Reaches for the Back Office Creating user interfaces for ERP systems just got a little more complicated for developers. by Joshua Greenbaum
Partner View Should You Jump Into CRM? Partners need to answer key questions before deciding to get into the customer relationship management business. by Jerry Weinstock
Selling Microsoft Pre-Call Prep: There's No Substitute Take steps to ensure you are prepared for that important sales call. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Small Partner, Big Noise To get noticed, and get business, be strategic in communicating with Microsoft. by Paul DeGroot
Channel Call The Magic Ingredient: Executive Commitment Getting partner-company executives in the mix will be essential to your success. by Keith Lubner

May 2007
Partner Advocate The SMB Feeding Frenzy It's not small-minded at all for partners to think about the small-to-medium business market. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Selecting a Managed Security Services Provider Look for a provider that can deliver an end-to-end view across the network. by Rob Aragao
Marketing Microsoft Marketing Maxims: Pithy Sayings, Proven Truths Here are six sayings to help keep partners focused on their marketing message. by M.H. McIntosh
Directions Will Greater Influence Lead to Greater Affluence? Microsoft's Partner Influence Program is a step in the right direction, especially when partners could be selling Linux instead. by Paul DeGroot
Channel Call Marketing Expectations: It Takes Two to Tango Tips and tricks for getting the most out of your vendor partnerships by Keith Lubner

April 2007
Directions Standing on the Platform of a Giant What company has technology that may not be leading edge, but is often easier to deploy and has the support of thousands who use it and have created a myriad number of solutions that might fit you and your partner's needs? by Paul DeGroot
Partner Advocate Channeling Disruption IDC predicts new developments in the channel that will have you rethinking your approach to partnering in the months and years to come. by Scott Bekker

March 2007
Partner Advocate Gloom and Doom Stormclouds loom on the partner horizon. by Scott Bekker
Partner View The Services Solution Litmus Test Ask the right questions before going ahead. by Phil Aldrich
Selling Microsoft Building Belief for Sales Success Tell the company's story to your team. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Channel Surfing for Partners Filter out Vista noise -- it's really about business customers. by Paul DeGroot
Dynamics Perspective Dynamics and Global Systems Integrators: A Complex Dance Lessons from ERP past pertain to Microsoft too. by Joshua Greenbaum
Channel Call The Vendor's Channel Program -- It's All in the Details The key to determining a program's success is knowing to keep a close eye on the small stuff. by Keith Lubner

February 2007
Partner Advocate It's Happening! After many delays, Vista sees daylight. You can now get busy. by Scott Bekker
Channel Call Picking a Partner is Like Buying a Car Kick the tires, so to speak, before you jump into your next vendor and technology partnerships. by Keith Lubner
Marketing Microsoft Essential Gear for Catching Redmond's New Wave Companies might be migrating later, but get ready now so you can sell to them when the time is right. by M.H. McIntosh
Directions Microsoft's Partner Program: Buffet or A La Carte? People Ready, indeed. Microsoft's Partner Program should follow suit, with offerings that make it Partner Ready. by Paul DeGroot

January 2007
Partner Advocate New Campaigns Signal a Shift in Gears Microsoft offers creative ways to get more business out of Vista, and partners are the primary beneficiaries of those moves. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Steering SMBs Toward Managed Services SMBs can't afford to hire a qualified IT staff to administer their networks. Partners who provide managed services can step in. by Michael Proper
Channel Call Making the Partner-Vendor Marriage Last Guidelines for a prosperous partnership that can last, well, 'til death do you part. by Keith Lubner
Selling Microsoft Playing to Win: Using Sales Contests to Hit Your Goals Goals and ideas for growing sales organically -- and adding some fun to the process. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Industry Builder Tells You a Lot About Microsoft While the program isn't scalable, its structure exemplifies Microsoft's preferred partner role. by Paul DeGroot

December 2006
Windows Tip Sheet Clean Up Your Room Two-steps to sanity ... er ... a cleaner server. by Jeffery Hicks
Tech Line Auditing Locally Shared Folders Here?s a script that enumerates all shared folders on all computers in your domain. by Chris Wolf
Security Watch Hacker Toolkit Cloaks Browser Exploits Plus: Yahoo! e-mail addresses getting rejected by U.K. site, and yet another Microsoft exploit -- this time for PowerPoint. by Russ Cooper
Partner Advocate It's Happening! After many delays, Vista sees daylight. You can now get busy. by Scott Bekker
Partner View How Partners Working with SMBs Can Learn from Enterprise IT Want to adapt enterprise best practices to run your small business? Here are five lessons for doing so. by Ennio Carboni
Marketing Microsoft Should Blogging Be on Your To-Do List? Dismiss blogging and you might miss out on one of the easiest ways to reach your market online. by M.H. McIntosh
Selling Microsoft Sales Management: How Do You Stack Up? Use this handy scorecard to gauge your sales effort at year end. by Ken Thoreson
Directions What I Learned at MS101 for Partners At MS101, partners get a glimpse behind the Redmond curtain. by Paul DeGroot

November 2006
Redmond Negotiator Microsoft's Stealth Price Hike Microsoft helps its quarter but hurts its customers by holding back details on price hikes -- more than quadruple on some products -- during the all-important October budget season. by Scott Braden
Partner Advocate Profitability, Skills Shortage, Solution Finder, More The Worldwide Partner Group gears up to offer partners a slew of services to help their customers get ready for Windows Vista and Office 2007. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Life as a Small Fish in Microsoft's Big Pond Microsoft offers tools but not much help for smaller partners -- it's up to you to work up your strategy and deploy those tools to meet your goals. by Ron Huxtable
Marketing Microsoft Quotes that Define Marketing What's marketing? Here's how the pros define that job role. by M.H. McIntosh
Selling Microsoft Your Most Important Sales Investment: Yourself A few simple tricks for staying ahead in the selling game. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Profiting from Microsoft's Profitability Microsoft's goals are to make partners profitable. How do you intend to make sure it meets that goal? by Paul DeGroot

October 2006
Directions Partners: The New Distribution Vehicle Microsoft's partner program, now 380,000 companies strong, might have more to do with the company's success than even Microsoft initially imagined. by Paul DeGroot
Selling Microsoft The 10 Traits Buyers Seek in Sales Superstars Selling yourself is the first step. by Ken Thoreson
Marketing Microsoft Build Your Business for Less Through Marketing What's a more cost-effective way of making a sale? Saving the one-to-one approach until the end. by M.H. McIntosh
Partner Advocate MSPP Web Site Gets a Facelift For a once-drab site, a little polish goes a long way. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Protect and Optimize Exchange Environments Paying close attention to the particulars of your e-mail boundary can save you a lot of security grief. by Michael Donnelly

September 2006
Partner Advocate Microsoft's Hard Edge There's a new tone in the Partner Program. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Protecting Information Beyond Perimeter Defenses Bluetooth, WiFi, Blackberrys, USB flash drives ... the IT landscape continues to expand beyond traditional servers and desktops, and so should your diligence to maintain security "out there." by Christine Ewing
Marketing Microsoft Prove Your Marketing Is Paying Off Tips on obtaining an ROI on your marketing efforts. by M.H. McIntosh
Selling Microsoft Striking a Balance: Competition and Collaboration Building solid relationships with customers will win out against the aggressive, pushy sales strategy any day. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Bringing Live to Life for Partners How will Windows Live translate to new business for partners? We'll have to wait for an answer. by Paul DeGroot

August 2006
Redmond Negotiator SA 'Reparations' vs 'Incentives': What's in a Name? The real scoop on how Microsoft is handling accounts burned by Software Assurance, and what you can do about it. by Scott Braden
Partner Advocate More Hat-Changing in Microsoft Executive Ranks The high-level executive org chart at Microsoft begins looking less like a London road map. by Scott Bekker
Partner View Setting Up Shop Abroad Running out of selling territory? Extend it overseas. by Derek Torres
Marketing Microsoft Dialing for Dollars or Wasting Your Money? Take control of your telemarketing effort, whether you outsource or make them part of your team. by M.H. McIntosh
Directions Mind the Gap Does your business fill a niche where Microsoft doesn't play now? It may not be the case for too long. by Paul DeGroot
Partner Points RCPmag.com Reader Letters Why some won't worry about Best Buy encroaching on their SBS territories. Plus, one reader goes virtual. by RCPmag.com Readers
Selling Microsoft You Don't Just Hire a Sales Team -- You Build It The wrong approach: Find enough warm bodies to fill sales positions. Instead, here's how to build a team that'll be in it for the long haul. by Ken Thoreson

July 2006
Partner Advocate The Mother of All Partner Conferences The biggest gathering of your peers takes place this July in Boston at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference by Scott Bekker
The Microsoft View Getting People Ready Empowering people who keep businesses running is at the heart of better software technology development at Microsoft. by Margo Day
Marketing Microsoft Don't Doom Your Own Marketing Event Planning a marketing event? Here are some tips for successfully promotional copy that will get people to attend it. by M.H. McIntosh
Partner View The Value of Reseller Training Centers Starting up a training center related to your services carries with it high cost and lots of work, but the return on investment can prove to be worthwhile. by Jim Airdo
Selling Microsoft Sales and Marketing: Friends, Not Foes Money is left on the table when sales and marketing can't work together. Here are four key relationship challenges that both sides can agree to work on. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Darwin and Intelligent (Software) Design Is Microsoft software always the wisest choice to guarantee a project's survival? by Paul DeGroot
Partner Points Partner Points: RCP Reader Letters Small biz vs. Best Buy; limitations virtual server technology. by RCPmag.com Readers

June 2006
Partner Advocate Push for Answers on Software as a Service Partners have good reason to be concerned as Microsoft grows its SaaS business. by Scott Bekker
Partner View The Best Estimate Even with a well-defined project plan, it's best to let the customer know that an estimate on deliverables is just that -- an estimate. by Jeff Rudolph
MSP View So You Want To Be an MSP... Sure, you can dive right on into managed services, but you'll be doing your company a favor if you tread carefully and review your business plan to fit your new goals. by Charles Weaver
Directions Striking the Balance in Partnership Recognizing those "whoa" moments and those "vive la diff?rence" between you and other Microsoft partners that you work and/or compete with. by Paul DeGroot
Partner Points RCPmag.com Readers Respond Small (biz) complaint; software as a service advocate speaks up; sold on selling tips. by RCPmag.com Readers

May 2006
Partner Advocate An Engineer's Last Stand Schedule slips are common and expected with software development projects; Windows Vista's can be blamed on a focus on quality. by Scott Bekker
Partner Points Windows Vista Delays Software as a service, Windows Vista delays get on the last nerves of readers this time out. by Readers of Redmond magazine
Partner View Selling to the Big Dogs More C-level execs are at the negotiation tables. Learn how to sell to them. by Ken Michael
Marketing Microsoft 'Good Enough' and 'Get It Done' Stuck in a marketing rut? Try these techniques for spinning out of it. by M.H. McIntosh
Selling Microsoft Growth and Value: Partners in Success Growth can happen as long as there's clear vision among the company's leaders and managers. by Ken Thoreson
Directions The Dog Ate My License Imagine that! Microsoft doesn't eat its own dogfood. by Paul DeGroot

April 2006
Partner Advocate Catching the Desktop Train Microsoft is readying two major end-user products, Vista and Office 2007, to roll on through by the end of 2006. by Scott Bekker
Directions Flying Low with Microsoft Important deals can be made with even low-level reps of Microsoft. by Paul DeGroot
Marketing Microsoft Making 1 + 1 = 3 Take advantage of Microsoft's online resources to boost your marketing strategies. by M.H. McIntosh
The Microsoft View A Nurturing Role Microsoft is committed to helping partners grow. by Margo Day
Partner View 3 Steps for Maintaining Regulatory Compliance Secure your corporate IT infrastructure by assessing, assigning and auditing. by Stephen Dress
Selling Microsoft Building a Sales Team That Manages Itself Turn your company's benchwarmers into sales scorers with these tips. by Ken Thoreson

March 2006
Redmond Negotiator Microsoft's 'New' SA Results in Same-Old Story Despite the press coverage you might be reading about Software Assurance's new benefits, don't change your approach just yet. by Scott Braden
Partner Points Readers Respond, March 2006 Readers talk back on Action Pack abusers, recruiting, blueprinting, and the IAMCP prez chimes in.
Partner Advocate Partners Take Control Reader feedback makes Redmond Channel Partner go round. by Scott Bekker
Directions You're in Charge, So Charge Partners should take advantage of Microsoft's highly rated partner program. by Paul DeGroot
Marketing Microsoft A Tasty Recipe for Lead Generation Mac's guide to marketing for good, juicy sales leads. by M.H. McIntosh
The Microsoft View Serving Small Business in a Big Way Microsoft is working to help partners see potential in the small business market. by Margo Day
Partner View A World of Change for Content Distribution New channels for distributing content are opening up great business opportunities. by Srikanth Desikan
Selling Microsoft Align Sales Compensation with Your Goals A compensation plan that works. by Ken Thoreson

January 2006
Partner Advocate Watch Out, I'm a Partner Now Now that anyone can register to become a Microsoft Partner, how does that affect the partner community? by Scott Bekker
Partner View Getting More out of Active Directory Go ahead -- you can call 'em the "5 Golden Truths of Active Directory" by Brandon Woo
Marketing Microsoft Give Your Prospects Personas How persona-based marketing can be used to full effect to aim your message at the right target. by M.H. McIntosh
The Microsoft View Partnering with Partners to Build Your Business The channel is there to grow your business as well as ours. by Margo Day
Selling Microsoft How Do You Rate? Here's a balanced scorecard for your company's performance. by Ken Thoreson
Directions The Opportunity Cost of the Microsoft Defense A lesson can be learned from Microsoft's strategy to squeeze the competition out of markets until it's the only one left standing. by Paul DeGroot

November 2005
Partner Advocate You've Got Homework Desmond's last column requests feedback from readers on some future story ideas. by Paul Desmond
Marketing Microsoft Tips for Leading Prospects to Your Web Site Follow these helpful tips to ensure your company's Web site sits at the top of prospective customers' search results. by M.H. McIntosh
The Microsoft View Business Wisdom from the Rainforest The evolution of Microsoft partner businesses parallels the a walking tree in the Costa Rica rainforest. by Margo Day
Selling Microsoft The Essence of Training Achieve success with your sales training program. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Turning Freeloaders into Business Partners Certified and Gold Certified Partners are still lacking in numbers. by Paul DeGroot

September 2005
Beta Man What I Beta Tested on My Summer Vacation Microsoft beta products: A look at what's coming, when it's coming and why you should care. by Don Jones
Security Advisor Know Your Rights (Management) Does Microsoft have the right Digital Rights Management (DRM) solution for you? by Joern Wettern
TEN Names for Longhorn Server A comical take on what we might expect from Redmond when it releases its new server -- whenever that may be. by Paul Desmond
Directions Crashing the Channel Party Whether online or in person, Microsoft's partner program is always jumpin'. by Paul DeGroot
The Microsoft View The Time for Certification Is Now What you can do to attain your chosen partnership level, and how Microsoft can help. by Robert Crissman
Marketing Microsoft Win the Sales Race with Vertical Marketing More than ever companies are turning to specialists for their technical solutions. Make sure you're one of them, and your customers know it. by M.H. McIntosh
Partner Advocate Let's Fix Licensing We can sit back and wait for Microsoft to tackle this all-important issue, or we can propose our own solution. by Paul Desmond
ISV View On Being Partner-Centric True partner-centric companies develop software with partner integration in mind. by Jeffrey D. Mills
Partner View Find and Exploit Your Differentiator Want a competitive edge in the marketplace? Tap into that which makes you unique. by Jim Buchanan
Selling Microsoft Hiring Smart Don't get stuck with an empty suit! Follow these five tips for finding the best sales fit for your company. by Ken Thoreson
Partner Points Readers Respond September 2005 Picking out must reads, partnering with others and award-winning tales.

July 2005
Partner Advocate We're on Your Side Welcome to Redmond Channel Partner* magazine, here to serve your interests and act as your advocate with Microsoft and your customers.* by Paul Desmond
Marketing Microsoft Need More Leads? Fix Your Web Site Follow these seven tips to improve your company's online presence and ensure your prospects become customers. by M.H. McIntosh
Partner View Selling Microsoft's Security Story The Trustworthy Computing initiative has brought significant improvements to some of Microsoft's technologies. Be sure you're taking advantage of them. by Daniel Schaan
The Microsoft View Growing and Prospering with Customers By becoming trusted technology advisors, Microsoft Partners can thrive as their customers prosper. by Margo Day
Selling Microsoft Planning for Profit and Growth A successful plan should describe where you want your business to go, so you can spend time working on the business, not just in the business. by Ken Thoreson
Directions Playing to Win on Microsoft's Turf Understanding Microsoft's core goal is key to making your relationship work. by Paul DeGroot
Partner Points Readers Respond July 2005 Readers welcome RCP and look forward to having a forum where they can voice their opinions to Microsoft and the channel itself. Plus, some responses to the question, "What Would You Do If You Ran Microsoft?"

June 2005
Script Tips Mail at the Ready Quick way to provide e-mail on your systems via scripting. by Don Jones
Windows Insider The Security Configuration Wizard With Windows 2003 SP1, you get a single, authoritative source of lockdown settings you can deploy with a single stroke that are fully supported by Microsoft. by Bill Boswell

May 2005
Beta Man When I'm 64 Get ready to upgrade to Win2003 x64. by Don Jones

April 2005
Beta Man Out, Foul Spyware! Beta Man looks at the recently released beta Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware software. by Don Jones
Windows Insider Notify with WMI Find out how to use Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) for system notifications without having to write scripts. by Bill Boswell
Mr. Script Scriptomatic Redux Scriptomatic Version 2 improves upon some of the limitations of the previous iteration of this handy scripting tool. by Chris Brooke
Marching Orders The Death of Paper MCSEs This MCSE doesn't think he'd be able to pass the new performance-based questions recently added to the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator exams. by Keith Ward

March 2005
Beta Man WUS Expands Patching Portfolio With its public beta under way, WUS shows off more of its fine-tuned features. by Don Jones
Windows Insider Smooth Deployment Wrinkles with ADS Bill looks at the pros (lots) and cons (few) of Microsoft's Automated Deployment Services tool. by Bill Boswell
Security Advisor Data at Rest Is a Sitting Duck Recommendations for reducing risk to your stored data, whatever its form. by Roberta Bragg
Mr. Script Getting Creative with HTAs Chris shows how you can take your HTAs one step further. by Chris Brooke

February 2005
Beta Man One Welcome Service Pack Our Beta Man offers an early look at what Windows Server 2003 SP1 will bring. by Don Jones
Windows Insider (Almost) Painless Schema Mods You might want to take a few precautionary steps prior to initiating ADPREP. by Bill Boswell
Mr. Script An HTA Reality Check Simplify your administrative life with HTAs. by Chris Brooke
Security Advisor Top 3 Encryption Myths Misconceptions of encryption keep us from obtaining the full range of benefits it offers. by Roberta Bragg

January 2005
Beta Man New Command-Line Option MSH offers a powerful new approach to Windows command-line scripting. by Don Jones
Windows Insider Linux-Windows Single Sign-On Follow these steps and have your users logging on at their Linux/Unix desktops with their Windows accounts. by Bill Boswell
Security Advisor Keys to the Domain Available now, DomainKeys is one promising entry into the fight against spam. by Roberta Bragg
Mr. Script Going Hyper-Active Build scripts that work more like applications so you can monitor progress and display results in a formatted manner. by Chris Brooke
Tips and Tricks Encryption All Around With Windows 2003, you can use the Encryption File Systems to give multiple users access to the same encrypted files. by Derek Melber

December 2004
Beta Man Finding Gold in Yukon Not your father's SQL Server, administrators will find comfort in Yukon, while developers are left out in the cold. by Don Jones
Tips and Tricks Help for Lost Files Windows Server 2003's Volume Shadow Copy Service will help admins get off the restore treadmill. by Derek Melber
Mr. Script Remote Scripting for SP2 Is Windows XP SP2 bringing your remote admin scripts down? Mr. Script has the answer you've been looking for. by Chris Brooke

November 2004
Beta Man Easy AD Troubleshooting NetPro's Directory Troubleshooter fills the Active Directory management void. by Don Jones
Mr. Script Scripting DSN Creation Mr. Script explains how you can edit the Registry with scripting to automate the creation of Data Source Names. by Chris Brooke
Security Advisor The Solution to Spam Roberta Bragg looks at Sender ID, the new anti-spam technology being developed by Microsoft. by Roberta Bragg
Tips and Tricks Reaching Password Nirvana Using password filters and longer passphrases will help keep your passwords from being cracked. by Derek Melber

October 2004
Beta Man Updates Made Easy Make way for WUS! Don Jones takes an early look at this SUS upgrade, with its expanded grouping, security and control features. by Don Jones
Windows Insider Master and Command Line Using the Windows GUI is fine?if you want to go slow. Learn to use the command line and move into the administration fast lane. by Bill Boswell
Mr. Script Easy Database Creation Three scripts that will make creating and populating your databases a breeze. by Chris Brooke
Security Advisor 5 Steps to Certificate Bliss Whether you decide to build your own PKI for security or use a third party, planning is paramount. by Roberta Bragg
Tips and Tricks Gaining Group Control Using GPOs to control local groups on any computer in the AD domain. by Derek Melber

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