Saying Bye to Small Business Server & Hello to Cloud at SMBNation Fall!

The end has come, the end has come. To all great things an end must come. In early July, Microsoft announced the end of life for Small Business Server. I frankly was not too surprised by the announcement, but many solution providers are up in arms and worried about the implications of this new direction.  I spoke with Harry Brelsford last week and had a good conversation about the direction he is taking at SMBNation to address this change of course for this product. According to Harry, many solution providers, while they love Small Business Server, it really has served as a crutch to their business. They have depended on it for such a long time and have been riding the SBS wave. Unfortunately, many are now stuck in a predicament of aging SBS servers and no clear migration path, well no clear path unless you just hand your clients over to Microsoft and potentially reduce your margins greatly.

I have heard predictions that state that the channel is going to contract 60% in the coming years, which means lots of consolidation, of many solution providers going out of business or merging together. Harry stated it very eloquently when he said, “They can’t be yesterday’s ‘missing travel agent’ with this shift in technology. If they want to stay in denial – God bless them.”

The theme of the this year is to provide resources, ideas, and strategies to be able to throw away that SBS crutch and move on to bigger and better profitability …and survivability. This is the 10th year for the SMB Fall Conference which is going to be held at the Rio in Las Vegas on October 12 through 15th.  Here are the theme highlights Harry shared with me:

  • Get off of SBS and ride the latest emerging technologies like: on-premises, hybrid and cloud as an SMB IT consultant! Lots of vendors and presentations on these emerging technologies.
  • Attendees will learn how to grow their customer base immediately, starting Monday morning!
  • Attendees will get the tools to create a winning strategy by using emerging technologies
  • Attendees can deep dive into Windows 8, Server, VDI, Hybrid, Office 365, MSP sales, and much more.
  • Attendees will learn from EXPERTS on how they can attract MORE clients, Sell MORE Cloud IT Services, and Avoid Mistakes. Includes MSP leaders, MVPs, Authors, Gurus, and Peers.

While many of the past events focused heavily on technology, this show will focus increasingly on strategy, and business acumen to help solution providers make this transition from SBS server into the cloud era. IT Channel Insight readers can get a 10% discount to attend the conference, by using the code itchannelinsight when registering as an Attendee at the site . If you come, be sure to find me and say hi, I might just feature your company in an article!