Third Tier » EBS

Microsoft Pulls the Plug on EBS

amy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:10:00 +0000

Microsoft stunningly pulled the plug on EBS today. It’s a stunning move because the highly anticipated version 2 was near release. Code was complete, TAP (technology access preview) customers were running it in production, TAP customers were recently flown in from around the world for training, and MVP’s received in depth information and training on the new version. The consensus of everyone who had used the new version was that it was a homerun and would live up to the promise made to the mid-market. An excitement was in the air.

Batter up! EBS V2 at bat, bases loaded with companies 25-500 users. Microsoft bean counter pitching. SBS 2010 standing way back in right field picking daisies. EBS is using 2 bats today, one traditional and one interesting new lean bat. Awaiting the pitch. Time out! Here comes Marketing from the sidelines to the pitching mound. It seems the pitcher is refusing to pitch to EBS. EBS is out of the game.

We saw something similar happen with Response Point. Just as V2, chock full of requested features and lesson learned from V1 and a partner community revving up, the Response Point plug got pulled. It makes one wonder if Microsoft has the stomach for marketing building; if they can create a new product and stand behind it long enough for the marketing to develop and the partner community to join in.

It’s a sad day for all involved. My condolences to the development team. You put in so much hard work.

Microsoft IT Environment Health Scanner

amy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:44:38 +0000

Microsoft has renamed and retooled the Essential Business Server Preparation and Planning Wizard to indicate exactly what it really is – a AWESOME network health scanner. Not only does it scan but it helps you solve the problems it detects by providing links to support and technet articles on the resolution. It will check for about 150 health indicators and functionality of domain communications on your network. It’s great when you are preparing to install an additional domain controller, perform a migration or just walked into a new network and need to get a handle on what’s going on. Definitely add this one to your toolkit.

1) The link to the download site: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=dd7a00df-1a5b-4fb6-a8a6-657a7968bd11&displaylang=en (aka http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=155170 )

2) The link to the blog that describes the new tool: http://blogs.technet.com/essentialbusinessserver/archive/2009/06/29/microsoft-it-health-scanner-released.aspx

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Eriq Presenting to SMBTN Fresno Group Meeting

Eriq — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:48:08 +0000

Tonight I’ll be presenting to the Fresno chapter of SMBTN during their monthly meeting. Susan Bradley has blogged the meeting info, including the LiveMeeting access information, so the meeting is open to any who wish to attend. See Susan’s post for the LiveMeeting information.

In the first hour of the meeting, I’ll be talking about my anti-virus of choice, Sophos. I’ll demo the management console, discuss how the product itself works, and talk about the business side of being a Sophos reseller as well. Stop by if you’re able!

Amy @ Fresno SBS user group Thursday night

amy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:12:50 +0000

Tomorrow night, Amy and Chris Rue, both EBS MVP’s, will be the guest speakers at the Fresno SBS user group. Chris will provide an overview of EBS and Amy will discuss choosing a firewall to protect SBS 2008, particularly the Calyptix Access Enforcer.

See Susan Bradley’s blog, www.sbsdiva.com, for log on information to join us via Live Meeting.

EBS: Introduction to TMG Q&A

amy — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:56:15 +0000

EBS: Introduction to Threat Management Gateway

amy — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:14:44 +0000

Thursday at 9:00am pacific time I will be presenting an introduction to TMG. This session is for EBS administrators that need a leg up on how to navigate around the console and get things done. There’s a bit of a learning curve to understanding on TMG (and ISA 2006) work if you haven’t seen an enterprise quality firewall before but the effort is well worth. The fine grain control you gain over the coming and going on your network is quite amazing.

Join me for an hour and I’ll help you get over some of the biggest bumps in the learning curve.

Either link should work for you.

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?systemid=1818347&page=/plc/search.aspx

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?publisher=12&delivery=249943

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We’re Third Tier. We provide advanced Third Tier support for IT Professionals.
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Introduction to ISA 2006 in EBS Webcast

amy — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:39:59 +0000

On Halloween (October 31), Amy Babinchak, will be presenting a webcast for the 5W/50 Microsoft partner training series. The 5W/50 webcast series is an excellent benefit for Microsoft partners. The webcasts cover everything from core business knowledge to core technical knowledge.

With Essential Business Server soon to be on the market IT Professionals need to get up to speed on all of the technologies it contains. The implementation of ISA 2006 is particularly interesting and unique including exciting new features not seen before in the standard ISA 2006 version. Sign up now to reserve your spot!

Introduction to ISA Server 2006 for Partners Deploying EBS 2008

Whether you are a fan of ISA Server or not, if you are deploying EBS 2008 you are required to use it. The good news is that this new version of ISA is much improved over the last and the benefits will help you keep your customers safe. The goal of this session to give a basic introduction and overview of ISA Server 2006 as it related to partners to who are deploying EBS 2008 solutions. Amy Babinchak is the expert on ISA and has been helping partners for many years get up to speed on this product by showing them how ISA keeps their customers secure and generates revenue in the process.

5W/50 Website and Registration for all Sessions

Registration for ISA in EBS Session

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