Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Networking

    Microsofts Orlando Ayala on Small Business Server 2003

    By
    Peter Galli
    -
    October 8, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      As Microsoft Corp. prepares for its first ever Worldwide Partner Meeting here in New Orleans on Thursday—where it will announce the general availability of its Small Business Server 2003 product to the more than 5,500 partners expected to attend—Orlando Ayala, Microsofts senior vice president of small and mid-market solutions & partner group, sat down to discuss the new product and some of the issues with eWEEK Senior Editor Peter Galli.

      eWEEK: Microsoft has been talking a lot about the integrated innovation that SBS 2003 brings to the market. Does this mean you are actively using that product to push the sale of other products on them as well?

      Ayala: SBS brings great value to our customers and partners. The connectivity and wiring we have done in this product brings a new level of integration. But products like Office are the window from which customers run their businesses. So broad customer connectivity is very important and our task is to show them the value that SBS and the client bring. We need to help them understand the value the whole stack brings and how each part works well with the other.

      eWEEK: Some people are saying that SBS 2003 is nothing more than the Microsoft BackOffice product, which was discontinued in 2001, revisited. Is that the case?

      Ayala: Absolutely not. BackOffice was targeted at a very different set of customers. The major breakthrough of SBS 2003 is the simplicity it brings to the small and midsize market through the enormous integration work we have done.

      eWEEK: Obviously Microsoft needs to have its partners on board to promote and sell this product and your vision. But some of the former Great Plains partner-base are apparently uneasy and worried about their future and role in promoting this solution. Are you addressing that?

      Ayala: Absolutely. We cannot do this without them. We have invested very deeply in our SMB products. We had 42,000 SMB 2000 resellers and already have 5,000 on board for SBS 2003, and we expect this to grow to 10,000 over the next year.

      But this space also provides a number of benefits for partners, like the low entry point for them. They can also shift their investment dollars up the chain and put their dollars to work on the broad connection side of the value proposition. T

      Thirdly, the new business models we have created around services and which were not available before will benefit them and, lastly, the fact that Microsoft is investing in the SBS and CRM space allows our partners to sell up the value chain to their customers.

      eWEEK: Linux is very successful in the small-business space due to the fact that many customers perceive it to be free. How do you compete with that perception?

      Ayala: This is all about customer value. We have a lot of work to do with the channel to show that our integrated stack is really the way to add value. But the reality is that, in the end, the customer will have the last word and the vendors will win based on how they respond to customer pain.

      eWEEK: IBM and Linux distributor SuSE Linux AG are both aggressively going after the small-business market. How do you differentiate and distinguish your message to those customers?

      Ayala: IBM and Microsoft have different visions. IBM is focused on the mid- to larger-client base. We believe there is a good opportunity for us in the SMB space. IBM will continue to aggressively sell their solutions and so will we. But their play is about maximizing revenue from services and only time will tell if that strategy will win. We believe our channel will continue to deliver for us as they have done for the past 20 years.

      eWEEK: Who do you see as the biggest competitor for SBS 2003?

      Ayala: The question for us is what companies can deliver a software stack with full value? Not SAP, Sun Microsystems solution is way too complex and doesnt have the necessary channel base. So, at the low-end its Sales-force.com, IBM at the high-end and on the full-value stack its Oracle and IBM.

      Discuss this in the eWEEK forum.

      Peter Galli
      Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×