The early winter-like weather has arrived here at Bainbridge Island. In a strange way, I like it! My home office has a small wood stove and the fire is crackling as I generate content. Before you know it – it’ll be ski season!!!

I want to highlight the revamped SMB Nation magazine (formerly SMB PC). As you can see below – it looks amazing! You can download it here.

Catch the articles on geek gifts, the on-going SMB MVP tour, our upcoming Boston BeerFest on October 20^th plus my fall conference report and a shout out to our youngest attendee!

Have a great geek week!

Cheers…harrybbbb

PS – Save the Date for MVP Nation March 2-3, 2012 in Seattle! It’s not for wimps! It’s Grad School for SBSers!

PPS – Join us the afternoon of October 20^th in Waltham right after the Autotask Community On tour event. See the article below.

Geek Gifts 2011

Before you know it, the holiday season will be upon us. That means its geek gift time and I’m writing an article for the next SMB Nation magazine on this topic! So I am asking for gifting nominations. E-mail me directly at harryb at smbnation.com with your suggestions.

What am I looking for? There are numerous possibilities. It could be a gadget you are especially fond of. It could be a pad. It could be an event or workshop. It could be a service (“everything as a service”). It could be a vendor’s solution. It could be a tool, application or code snippet. You get the point. :)

This Just In from D&H! Incentives Program Available Internationally!

This just in! Gain more purchasing power just by tapping into the promos that D&H Distributing has brought to you from leading manufacturers: Save 15% on select Mice and Keyboard from Microsoft, 3% off select Cisco Small Business skus, 3% off Epson Scanners, 3% rebate on the Cables To Go line and more. For the latest, check out www.dandh.ca/smbnation.

For those SMB Nation Partners eager to source from a distributor that knows your business, D&H Distributing, a national technology distributor focused on independent resellers has partnered with SMB Nation to bring you exclusive demos and promos to help with your solution sales for your SMB clients.

With over 93 years of distribution experience, D&H has a solid history of dedicated service and evolving with the times to offer the latest technologies across networking, infrastructure, servers, mobile and desktop computing and many other categories of interest. D&H has more recently been recognized by the ACSII Group’s second annual Distribution Survey where they won 8 out of 16 categories – more than any other distributor in its class. In 2010, D&H was also recognized by Cisco as Global Distribution Partner of the Year and won Microsoft’s Operational Excellence Award in Licensing for the seventh consecutive year.

Remeber, D&H’s Incentives Program is now available in Canada! Resellers will earn reward points on qualifying purchases that are redeemable in the D&H Incentives online mall where they can select from hundreds of merchandise items such as: services, travel, gift certificates and many other great incentives! Shop on www.dandh.ca today!

You can learn more about the benefits of doing business with D&H Distributing by visiting www.dandh.ca. Set up a free account and receive a $50 Petro-Canada gift card when you make your first purchase of $1000.

SMB MVP Community Roadshow Continues…and TS2 too: US SMB VAR Summits!

If I’ve learned anything, it’s you shouldn’t take anything for granted. In all honesty, during the last decade, there was a certain malaise in the community about workshops. Everyone agreed that the TS2 tours and other events were a “good idea” but did you actually take time from your day to attend? It’s akin to saying buying local is a good thing, and then avoiding Main street.

You chance to atone for your non-attendance at events has arrived in two formats. Jeff Middleton and other leading SMB MVPs are deep into the on-going SMB MVP Community Roadshow. As of this writing, its focus is in “hardcore” Europe with some USA thrown in. I have attended three of these events and it’s like an evangelical revival – exciting, emotional, and educational. Attendees are treated to the best and brightest minds in the world delivering exceptionally relevant content. I’ll be at the event on October 20^th in the Boston-area. Learn more and sign-up here: http://mvptour2011.sbsmigration.com/register

Secret: Did you know that Andy “HandyAndy” Goodman recently joined SBSmigration.com as a partner manager? True story – here is the scoop: In Las Vegas at opening day of SMB Nation Fall 2011 conference, Jeff Middleton, Founder of SBSmigration.com, announced that Andy Goodman (aka: HandyAndy) is joining the business management team with SBSmigration.com. Andy will begin immediately as Partner Program Manager, a new organizational position, with his first order of business being to develop the resources and engagement for the global network of SBSmigration.com channel professionals. Details of the Partner Program will be released later, as the new program will include components such as new products and service options which SBSmigration.com anticipates to be introduced early in 2012.

“Andy Goodman, seen on the SMB MVP Community Roadshow train ride from Portland to Seattle recently!!!”

Andy is currently very much involved in the organization of events for the SMB MVP Community Roadshow, sponsored by HP, Microsoft and SBSmigration.com. Andy’s work in assisting the community in putting together events is an element of the diverse type of experience that Andy will bring to the role. Andy will be responsible for organizing both the conventional and unconventional communications channels that define the marketplace that SBSmigration.com spans as a business.

BONUS: The Microsoft TS2 team has an unrelated tour underway worth a peek and a poke. It’s the SMB VAR Summit crossing the US. It’s surprisingly geeky… with technical dives into Office 365, System Center, Windows Server, Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync. Sign up here. I’ll be at the Bellevue, WA event on November 10^th and just miss the October 18^th event in Boston.

Is An Energy-Wasting Data Center Draining Your Bottom Line?

If you have a typical, one-megawatt data center, it’s consuming as much electricity as 1400 average US households, every year. And chances are, it’s taking a bite out of your bottom line. By optimizing your data center for efficiency, you can realize dramatic savings.

There are two key ways to improve end-to-end energy efficiency: 1) Change the voltage of power distribution and; 2) Take advantage of new, high-efficiency, multi-mode uninterruptible power systems (UPSs).

Let’s talk power. 480V AC power distribution systems—the standard in most U.S. data centers—are not optimized for efficiency. In a typical, legacy center, the UPS might be about 94 percent efficient; the power distribution units about 98 percent; the servers about 84 percent. You also have power being skimmed off: power gets converted between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) five times along the way. Where does your end-to end efficiency end up? At only about 77 percent.

In comparison, the 400V AC power distribution model, commonly used across Europe, Asia and South America, offers high energy efficiency, significantly reducing capital and operational expenditures. Plus, you can improve 400V power even more by taking advantage of new, high-efficiency power protection systems.

As recently as 10 years ago, a state-of-the-art UPS was only about 93 or 94 percent efficient. That means a typical one-megawatt data center using five- or 10-year-old UPSs is likely losing out on $112,000 in utility power annually. Eaton offers UPSs that operate at nearly 100% percent efficiency under normal utility conditions. Are the numbers getting clearer?

We’ve only given you the first part of our story. Explore how Eaton’s high-efficiency UPSs with Eaton Energy Saver System pay for themselves within a few years and continue delivering savings for the rest of their 10- or 15-year service lives.

It Worked – the Going Geek Strategy!

Everyone is revamping their business models as we continue on the road to recovery. We are no different. We took a risk with this year’s SMB Nation fall conference with the “go deep…go geek” game plan and it worked. More people have commented that this year’s conference, boasting over 2/3 technical content, was the “BEST EVER” primarily because of the geek content.

Our technical speakers were under strict orders to go “No BS” in delivering the best technical content they could. Several attendees agreed:

"I just want to congratulate you on the SMB Nation Conference, as I thought it was a great conference." -Marica Tokarski, B. Admin, ITIL®-Team Lead, Managed Services, Acrodex.

"It is the last day for SMB Nation Fall 2011 Conference. It is really fantastic. I really enjoy in this event. I hope I will come in the future. Every speaker did good presentation." - Brian Huang -Trend Micro Taipei.

"Outstanding work this year! Truly the best yet!!!," Doug Cooper, MSCE, MCT, CTT, A+ Network Engineer and Trainer.

What can you expect next year at the 10^th annual SMB Nation Fall conference (October 12-14, 2012)? With your permission, we intend to up the GeekSpeak even more. Details soon…

Cisco UC-320 Rocks!

Blast from the past! The Toronto show last month had a pre-day hands-on lab. Known as SMB Spring, over 20 IT Consultants fully setup the CISCO UC 320 in under an hour without a hitch. (15 had never installed a phone system) This system was the easiest install I have ever seen on a full featured UC product. There is a special website for you to engage with the UC 320 here. You can sign up to be a partner that will get you free training on the system and other goodies. There is no fee or certification cost for this program yet, so we urge you to be an early bird.

Here is what folks learned at the hands-on lab:

• For under $800 the UC 320 is a front runner for the very small business that wants to enjoy cost savings and a robust feature set.

• Fully installs, from opening the box to making calls, in under an hour

• Support for 24 users

• SIP trunking support to deliver clear, high-quality voice over IP services

• Interoperability with up to 12 public switched telephone network (PSTN) analog lines (4 FXO ports)

• Voicemail and automated attendant and Voicemail to email notification

• 4-port Gigabit Ethernet switch with VLAN support, to connect devices or expand

• Gigabit Ethernet WAN port that can be designated as the network edge

• Integrated 802.11n wireless access point for voice and data, so that employees can connect to the network while away from their desks

Why Do You Need to Partner with Cisco, Today?

Teaming with Cisco can be a profitable proposition. Here are the top five reasons to become a Cisco Registered Partner and benefits from the Cisco Small Business Advantage:

• Products: We have the broadest portfolio of solutions to help you meet your customers' needs.

• Profitability: You have the potential to realize greater profits when selling Cisco Small Business products by earning rebates with Partner Development Funds and taking advantage of rewards, promotions, and incentives, offered from programs such as Fast Track 2.

• Support: Get the help you need to sell, deliver, and support Cisco solutions with pre- and post-sales support and customized tools like SMART Designs.

• Marketing: Use co-branded materials to help drive sales; having ready access to free customizable marketing materials can help put more money in your pocket.

• Financing: We have EasyLease options for those who qualify. EasyLease may help you overcome customer budget objections and help eligible customers acquire technology solutions based on business needs.

It's easy to join. No training courses, exams, or additional costs required. Visit HERE.

SMB Nation BeerFest – October 20^th – Waltham, MA

Heads up, folks! We're having an SMB Nation-hosted Beerfest sponsored by Vu Telepresence in Boston soon!

Where: The Westin WALTHAM-BOSTON HOTEL

Eden Vale B

When: 4:00pm-6:00pm, Thursday, October 20, 2011

Register here!:

https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=157727

Matchmaker: SMB Nation Fall + AppAssure + eFolder

Last week’s SMB Nation Fall was full of surprises. It was an honor to host several announcements. For example, AppAssure Software, a global leader in backup and replication built from the ground up to protect applications in virtual, physical and cloud environments, and eFolder, a leading provider of cloud data protection and business continuity services, announced a technology alliance that enables AppAssure customers to replicate their applications to the cloud using eFolder’s highly secure, SAS 70 compliant data centers, offering the highest integrity guarantees available anywhere. The combined solution complements both companies’ individual offerings, enabling eFolder or AppAssure partners to provide the complete solution to customers worldwide.

So what does this mean for SMB channel partners?

"eFolder's strategic partnership with AppAssure combines the powerful features of AppAssure’s leading backup and replication software with eFolder's time tested, petabyte-scale storage cloud and silent data corruption protection technologies,” said Kevin Hoffman, CEO, eFolder. “Partners can now effortlessly deploy AppAssure solutions at scale, whether they need to replicate a terabyte or a petabyte. We're pleased to align with AppAssure as leaders in this market to empower organizations of all sizes to achieve near-zero RTO and 5-minute RPO for their virtual and physical servers, while leveraging the power and ease of use of the cloud."

Through this partnership, users of AppAssure’s market-leading backup and replication software can elect to replicate their backups from the customer’s local data center to eFolder’s cloud-based storage for a complete disaster recovery and business continuity solution. In addition, this arrangement gives AppAssure customers the flexibility to utilize any hardware of their choosing as their local backup repository running AppAssure’s market leading backup and replication software, unlike other services which force customers into inflexible, appliance-bound offerings.

“Combining AppAssure’s backup and replication software with eFolder’s enterprise-class cloud storage provides a highly synergistic solution,” said Najaf Husain, AppAssure’s CEO. “The AppAssure-powered cloud-based replication service leveraging eFolder’s highly-reliable and secure cloud storage dramatically simplifies business continuity and disaster recovery for growing businesses and thousands of our channel partners.