DailyTech chronicled Microsoft's Windows Server
Solutions group's work on upcoming products poised to strike in the home, small
and mid-sized business markets. Microsoft in essence is growing new
server business where no cohesive efforts -- only proprietary solutions, or in
many cases no solutions at all -- previously existed. Where the article
detailed the efforts in a digested news form, the following is the unabridged
original interview with Joel Sider, Senior Product Manager of the Windows
Server Solutions group.
(On Windows Small Business Server and Essential Business Server)
DailyTech: Who do you see as your biggest competitor and what
would you say your biggest challenge is in the small/midsize business server
markets?
Joel Sider, Senior Product Manager of the Windows Server Solutions group:
In small business the biggest competition, per se, is no server infrastructure
at all. Small businesses typically have no IT staff, and are often reliant on
consultants or solution providers. We want to help small businesses – and the
consultants that work with them – understand and take advantage of all-in-one
IT that will help them be more secure, increase productivity and grow the
business. The biggest challenge for us may be creating awareness. This holds
true in the midmarket, too. Mid-sized organizations have been historically
under-served by the industry. They commonly pay the most for software and struggle
to make enterprise software work for them. They often have very few IT
professionals asked to do everything a big enterprise IT staff does. By
streamlining setup and centralizing most IT management into one view, Essential
Business Server is aimed at solving this. SBS and EBS are both priced for small
and mid-size IT budgets, too, offering savings of 30%-45% versus buying the
Solutions’ component products separately.
DailyTech: It looks like an emphasis in the new products is
security. Obviously for businesses this is a tremendous concern, but
something most wish they did not have to devote as much resources to, whether
they admit it or not. How do you see these products helping with that?
Mr. Sider: There’s no question security is a big concern for
companies of all sizes. A big focus of both SBS and EBS is making IT setup
easier, whether it’s done by a solution provider or an IT staffer, and
consolidating most IT tasks into one place. Both Solutions provide security
status and monitoring in one place, so IT managers can easily view and address
security issues quickly and easily, whether its data protection, updates,
anti-virus, messaging security, etc. EBS has a dedicated security server as
part of its 3-box setup. SBS 2008 also includes trial versions of OneCare for
Server and Forefront Security for Exchange.
DailyTech: Can you comment on some of your major third party
supporters? (We) see Symantec and Computer Associates are onboard, any other
names (our readers) should know about?
Mr. Sider: As part of the focus on bringing it all together for
IT managers, both SBS and EBS are extensible, meaning third party software
vendors can easily make their applications manageable within the solutions’
unified administration consoles. For example, at the Microsoft Worldwide
Partner Conference earlier this month CA, Citrix Systems, Symantec Corp. and
Trend Micro were demonstrating how their applications will work this way with
EBS. More are coming on board.
DailyTech: Aside from security what are the biggest features in
SBS and EBS that will benefit the business community?
Mr. Sider: A big benefit of both is that they will help small and
midsized companies get control of IT and, as a result, be able to roll out
business applications that will really help move business forward. The Premium
Edition of both solutions include an additional copy of Windows Server with SQL
Server, providing an ideal platform for business applications, such as the more
than 160 applications already certified to run on Windows Server 2008.
Another important feature in both is Remote Web Workplace, which provides a
great way for employees to stay connected and collaborate when they are outside
of the office.
DailyTech: Does Microsoft have plans to integrate digital
conference calls/VoIP calls and business IM into these products? If so
succinctly describe, please...
Mr. Sider: These aren’t part of SBS or EBS, but many companies or
solution providers will integrate them on the Solutions platforms.
DailyTech: Who will be receiving the Release Candidate 1 of these
products/what is the availability?
Mr. Sider: We just made the Release Candidate 1 versions of both
SBS and EBS publicly available. Those interested should visit www.MultiplyYourPower.com
and go to the Public Preview page. Both products are moving closer to
finalization and we recently announced that both will launch and be widely
available on Nov 12.
(On Windows Home Server)
DailyTech: What’s the major focus for the WHS team now that the
file corruption challenge has been overcome?
Mr. Sider: Planning and development for future updates and
versions is under way. On the marketing front we’ll be doing a lot to
grow awareness for Home Server. It is a new product category, so our
efforts will center around education and explaining how it will help consumers
protect, organize and share their growing archives of digital media.
There are online campaigns, webinars,
a lot of involvement in industry and company events, and more. We’re part
of Microsoft’s overall consumer marketing, of course, and we’ll do more to
highlight that Home Server is ideal for home-based businesses, too. There
is a fantastic community of enthusiasts formed around Windows Home Server that
is helping us build the category. The product web site
and the Windows Home Server team blog are two places to
keep up on all things Windows Home Server. HP also has a great, new
community for the MediaSmart Server.
DailyTech: What new hardware/software from partners for WHS is
noteworthy?
Mr. Sider: In addition to HP’s MediaSmart Server, the
Fujitsu-Siemens SCALEO and Tranquil PC’s Home Servers are great products,
available in Europe and the UK. A variety of system builders offer Home
Server systems now, such as Norco and Hush.
There is a good listing of software Add-ins on We Got
Served, which is always on the cutting edge of Home Server news, reviews
and guidance. Some of the more popular software Add-Ins include Webguide
for remote media streaming from Home Server, TV Manager for Windows Media
Center integrations, Avast for security, Whiist for personal web sites, Proxure
Keepvault for online backup and mControl for home automation.
(Closing Comments)
DailyTech: We appreciate your time, Mr. Sider. In
closing, what is your group's overall philosophy/focus in approaching the
complex small-scale server market? Where are you headed?
Mr. Sider: Our mission is to take Windows Server and other
enterprise technologies and create products catered to the needs of specific
customer segments, e.g. home consumers, small business and mid-sized
organizations. Microsoft now has a range of server solutions that span from the
home (Windows Home Server) all the way to the biggest enterprise (Windows
Server Datacenter.)
For small and mid-sized companies, we have built on the success of Small
Business Server to create a “family” of solutions called Windows Essential
Server Solutions, consisting of 2 upcoming products: Small Business Server 2008
and Essential Business Server 2008. The main philosophy with Windows Essential
Server Solutions is to provide ready-made IT infrastructure that these
under-resourced smaller companies can easily implement and manage. We want to
make the benefits of enterprise IT accessible and affordable for small and
mid-sized companies.
