Happy New Year! Welcome to 2012!!!

Lose weight, work out more and work less are my New Year’s resolutions. Add to that – do more “cloud” and I’ve got my marching orders for the next year. I’m fired up, motivated and excited. And hopefully I can get you excited about that last point. I believe it’s possibility the year of the cloud and I’ll explain why in a moment. Also discussed is the story of a long-time SMB Nation tribal member who has gone political (no – he is not on the ballot for the upcoming caucus), an animation on defining cloud and our call for SMB 150 nominations. Plus, you'll want to book early for MVP Nation for March 2-3, in Redmond.

Enjoy the read! And don’t forget to attend our MVP Nation coming up March 2-3, 2012 at Microsoft Redmond focused on Windows 8.

Cheers…harrybbb

P.S: Join us for the Webinar this week! New Revenue Streams Can Have You Rolling in the Green. Jan 12, 2012 from 10:00am-11:00am Pacific.
Speakers: Tom Poole, Founder and Chairman of SMB Nation, Inc., Jeff Bloom, Channel Account Manager at Avaya and John Gaillard, VP of Sales for Catalyst Telecom.

Year of the Cloud!?!?!

I’m not saying that the current cloud environment is “Party like its 1999,” made famous in the hit song by Prince, but there is ample evidence to support positive momentum in cloud computing. Therefore, I’m going on the record as saying – one year hence – barring unforeseen world events, you can possibly anticipate TIME magazine to name “Cloud” as Person of the Year! Here’s why:

Our own Tom Poole, CEO for SMB Nation, was “there” in the 1990s internet era. He started Senior.com in early 1995 (that’s early) and sold it in 2000. Drafting behind Tom’s tribal knowledge, it appears that the “Cloud” computing era is somewhere between the early Internet era (think Spry’s Internet in A Box (1994 – sold to CompuServe in 1995) and the dot-bomb bust in 2001. As of early January 2012 – I put us at the “mid-point” in the Cloud era, which would be comparative to the Internet era, so let’s call it 1998 all over again – and quickly heading into the “1999” party feeling. I think it’s more than a simply mean/average calculation. Really, we’re talking about Cloud legitimacy.

I’ll use a few parallels to make my point.

Early-itis. When the Internet-era descended on us, connection speeds were slow (I remember downloading a NASA picture via modem and it was painful). It was hard to imagine what uses the Internet had. I just wanted to get back to work at LAN speed! We didn’t know what we didn’t know. “Yesterday” (the past couple of years) in the Cloud-era had a similar feeling.

Credit cards. I noticed that I took the Internet more seriously when myself and others started to share credit card information with applications service providers (ASPs) such as Amazon.com (went online 1995). If memory serves me correctly, it was circa 1997/1998 when I made my first Amazon purchase. Today with Cloud, much of the skepticism found in the both the early Internet era and the Cloud era is disappearing. Witness how businesses are trusting critical customer list information to Salesforce.com, Netsuite and other CRM providers. And who doesn’t prepare taxes online anymore?

Acceptance. My 83-year old mom now gets the New York Times on her Kindle “from the cloud” and doesn’t think much about it. My sons only know Cloud computing via their tablet and mobile devices, shunning desktop PCs like the plague. Cloud resistance is futile. Submit I say to you!

Almost 1999. While I’m not saying Cloud 2012 is necessarily Internet 1999, we are on the cusp of that phenomenon. I might be off plus/minus a few months. The point is, make portfolio adjustments now to capitalize on the Cloud opportunity tomorrow. Witness a few pointers from 1999 that could easily be soothsayers for 2012:

• 1999: Drugstore.com files to raise $67.5M
• 1999: Expedia spun off from Microsoft
• 1999: Jeff Bezos at Amazon named “Person of the Year” by Time magazine

At SMB Nation, we are very interested in where this young market will go and how it will affect all aspects of our Channel. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates from the Cloud Sector, and be sure to check out our sister site, Cloudnation.co for today’s news!

Have you considered migrating your current messaging system to Microsoft’s Office 365 cloud-based messaging and collaboration solution? If not, you should – the benefits for your business are off the charts in terms of functionality, availability and outright cost savings. And if you’re intimidated by thought of a long, over-budget and under-staffed migration process, don’t be – it’s easier than you think.

In this Windows IT Pro technical brief by Quest Software, learn how your company can benefit from enterprise-class cloud email capabilities. Get an overview of Office 365, the advantages of using a cloud solution, the path to follow when moving to Office 365 and the best way to quickly, easily and safely perform a successful migration. You’ll see what to consider when planning your migration, various scenarios to consider and powerful solutions to speed your migration so your organization reaps the benefits of Office 365. Read this technical brief today.

Hometown SBSer is a Do-Gooder!

Long-time SBSer (and past SMB Nation employee) Van AuBuchon from Lynnwood, WA, (a Seattle suburb) has been elected to the local city council for his community. Many readers will remember Van’s contributions to SMB Nation in the 2003-2008 time frame. Van was especially keen on the Intel system builder partner program and represented and protected the interests of system builders everywhere in the SMB channel community. Even today, Van remains an active technology consultant/system builder serving small businesses in North Seattle. But the real news is that Van’s love and affection for politics has paid off! Van was elected to his city council position by a mere ten votes defeating an entrenched incumbent in a very close race.

There is a lesson for all SMB Nation tribal members here. Seize the day and do what you love – success will follow. In the case of Van, it’s the local political process. You might start right there and follow Van’s footsteps. Run for office and serve the same community that has benefitted you!

Idea2 - Cloud Services

Check out this guest video from SMB Partner Grace Schroeder at idea2!

SMB 150 Nominations OPEN!

It’s that time again, folks! We’ve teamed with the SMB Technology Network trade group to undertake the well-received SMB 150 list project. Last year, quite frankly, we were OVERWHELMED by the response, excitement and enthusiasm!

This year the SMB 150 program has some exciting improvements:

• Nominations accepted! Click HERE to nominate yourself or a like-minded accomplished SMB IT leader. You know how you are; you know who they are! Just do it!

• Voting. In early 2012, a ballot will be presented with all of the nominations. Each candidate will have a photo and a biography/sales pitch/statement seeking your vote!

• Judges. We have recruited a panel of esteemed industry judges we’ll announce soon to oversee the election. The judges input will be weighted along with the voted. This validation step insure that truly the Top 150 are selected!

• Awards dinner! Awardees and members of the public will be invited to attend an awards ceremony and dinner in Los Angles in late April 2012. It will truly be a magical evening!

• Sponsorships! Allowing us to the take the SMB 150 to the next level is the platinum sponsor from BlackBerry! Contact me for additional sponsorship opportunities.

So click here and letting the SMB 150 voting process commence!!!! Its election season, folks!!!

Unused Training Funds? Attend MVP Nation 2012!

Want to learn from the best and brightest? Attend our second annual MVP Nation, March 2-3, 2012 in Redmond, Washington. It’s “Grad School For Geeks,” and we’re back on the Microsoft campus at the vaunted conference center. This year our focus is on Windows 8 – it’s a deep dive with lectures from the Microsoft MPVs and other industry gurus. Give us two days and you’ll be armed for the next major server, desktop and mobility Windows 8 operating system. Learn more at mvp.smbnation.com. PS – NO WIMPS ALLOWED!

Cloud Nation Answers – Give it a Shot!

Several months ago we launched Cloud Nation at www.cloudnation.co. For those of you that have visited our new online community – Thank you! For those that haven’t, we are just getting ready to ramp it up, and would like to hear your thoughts. You may be asking yourself – who needs another Cloud related site? Frankly, that’s a good question. This may help:

Cloud related products and services are growing at a clipping pace. Recent surveys show that 6 out of 10 SMB’s will always look at Cloud alternatives and that 4 out of 10 actually prefer them. When 60% of your client base is looking at Cloud alternatives and 40% actually prefer them – it is definitely worth a closer look.

So what are we doing that others aren’t? Growing a community is the simple answer. The Cloud is so wide and so deep that the more people learn about, it the more confused they get. Think of it like the internet in its early days. People were asking questions like “who owns the Internet”? Today, with the Cloud people are asking a lot of questions. In fact, so many questions that no one person or company can answer them all. For that reason you will find a section of our site devoted to answering Cloud questions. Ironically, it is called Cloud Nation Answers. Again, we are just “cranking up” the community portion of the site, but I would encourage you to go to http://www.cloudnation.co/answers and ask a question. We will be monitoring it and making sure that the questions that are asked actually get answered. If you visit Cloud Nation Answers and see a question you can respond to – please do.

Communities are designed to be interactive – and Cloud Nation was really built from the ground up to provide that interactivity. Every member gets his or her own blog. We have an App Reviews section and will soon have Service Reviews. We’ll let you know when the Service Reviews are launched, as it may be a good opportunity for new business for you. Bottom-line, growing a community starts with providing value and inviting people to join. We are working very hard to provide good Cloud resources and would simply like to ask you to stop on by and “sit a spell”!

Thanks for your interest. I will be writing more about Cloud Nation on a weekly basis.

Sincerely,

Tom Poole

CEO

Nov/Dec 2011 SMB PC Magazine is HERE! Download NOW!

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