A step in the smallbiz direction

Regardless of how you may feel about the Microsoft’s new small business specialist program, you have to admit it is a step in the right direction. Not just by Microsoft, but by all the companies that now have a legitimate venue of certified professionals to pursue and market to.. and through!

First of which appears to be Computer Associates. They are making the following offer (read below) to the new specialization and it is somewhat revolutionary if you’ve ever had to deal with the AV folks. Not only was obtaining NFR (not for resale, fully functional software) almost impossible and very expensive, but there has not been a non-intrusive evaluation version since at least 1995 (good old McAfee command line scanner).

Let us hope CA is followed by many other companies who realize the benefit of the program and the members who showed initiative to become certified at it.

Original Announcement:
Computer Associates International, Inc. has announced support for the new Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community by inviting partners who join to receive from CA a Show and Sell kit for its new CA Business Protection Suite for Microsoft Small Business Server Premium Edition, a $2000 value. The CA Business Protection Suites for Microsoft Small Business Server Premium and Standard editions offers protection for both server and desktop resident data for small business’s using or planning to implement the standard or premium edition of Microsoft’s Small Business Server. The suites include antivirus protection, which helps customers fend off the onslaught of viruses while easing antivirus administration and automatically updating virus signatures; Anti-Spyware, which detects and removes tens of thousands of “pests” – including spyware, adware, trojans, denial-of-service attack agents, and other backdoor web-based threats – safeguarding PCs from unauthorized access, information theft and diminished system performance; backup-and-restore protection of desktops, laptops, servers and mobile devices, and advanced system migration functionality that streamlines the capture and transfer of user settings and data during a PC refresh, operating system upgrade or desktop recovery.

The Show and Sell Kit which will be offered to Microsoft Small Business Specialists at no charge for the kit includes: (Nominal shipping & handling fee will apply)
* A free version of the Business Protection Suite for Microsoft Small Business Server Standard edition that can be used in their organization and for demos to their customers.
* A free, 5-user license of the Business Protection Suite for Microsoft SBS Standard Edition that the MS Small Business Specialist can re-sell to a customer.
* 10 live trial cds that they can give to prospects to test drive the solution
* 10 data sheets/collateral that the partner can use to highlight the benefits of the solution to their prospects

More information can be obtained by visiting
http://www.ca.com/microsoft/sbspecialist/