Delivers Business Value For You And Your Customers - A whitepaper by Windows 7 Professional

Windows 7 Delivers Business Value For You And Your Customers

Windows® 7 delivers value for you and your smalland mid-size customers by helping you:

Expand and enhance your •customer service offerings

Provide customer service •fasterandmoreefficiently

Offer new, high-value •solutions addressing critical customer challenges

Optimize the performance •of solution offerings critical to your customer’s business

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We have worked closely with partners like you to understand what makes you successful and how you can use Windows 7 to provide new and improved services to customers in the current challenging business environment.

What Challenges Are Partners Like You Facing?Demands on value added IT services providers are increasing. Small and mid-sized customers’ needs are increasingly sophisticated:

They have more workers on the road or in remote offices • They increasingly rely on data that must be secured • Some want to leverage IT to change the way they do business • However, the current economic crisis makes them think twice about IT investments•

Your Customers Trust You to Help Them Make the Right Technology Decisions. Many of your peers, our valued partners, have shared how they are addressing the evolving needs of their customers. To meet these client needs and to improve their own business, partners are focusing on three business priorities:

SMB Customer Needs

Customers increasingly expect more • service for less money

Customers have more workers on the • road or in remote officesCustomers increasingly rely upon data • that must be secured

Some customers aspire to use IT to • change the way they do business

Partner Business Priorities

Continuously improve1. customer service and deliver it more efficiently—including removing any barriers to service delivery and sales

Level the playing field2. for your SMB customers by delivering high-value, enterprise class solutions to their critical IT challenges, including remote support, data security and backup, and more

Build the right foundation3. for business critical CRM, ERP, and collaboration solution offerings—including Microsoft Dynamics™, SharePoint®, and Exchange.

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How Will Windows 7 Help You Address Your Business Priorities?Working with our partners—ranging from those who offer a broad set of IT services to solution specialists—we have identified five common challenges to achieving these business priorities.

This whitepaper provides you with a demonstration of how partners plan to use the new functionality in Windows 7 to address each of these challenges and achieve business priorities. These challenges illustrate the different ways that Windows 7 can create value for you and your customers. To see how Windows 7 can help you improve your SMB offering, please turn to the challenges listed that are particularly relevant to your business:

Business Priority

Continuously 1. Improve: Provide better and more efficient customer service

Level the Playing 2. Field: Deliver high value, enterprise-class solutions to critical SMB challenges

Build the Right 3. Foundation: Ensure optimal performance for solution offerings

Partner Business Challenge

A) Reduce time for problem resolution

B) Supply uninterrupted LOB application use via Windows XP Mode*

C) Keep remote and mobile workers connected and productive D) Help ensure the security of customer data and provide off-site backup services

E) Offer a stable and reliable IT environment for the solution services you provide

Value to Your Business

Improve margins by providing higher-quality services faster

Open up new, higher-margin revenue streams

Improve margins from reduced support burden

Expand customer usage of the range of solutions you offer

Value to Customers

Better service for less • money

Faster time to • problem resolution and less worker downtime

Receive high-value, • enterprise-class services targeted at addressing small business and mid-market needs

A more stable, secure, • and productive desktop environment for mission critical solutions

Newest OS technology • (and all its benefits) with legacy compatibility

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Continuously Improve: Reduce Helpdesk Calls and Accelerate Problem Resolution

Small to mid-size businesses without an IT department rely on external help with their daily issues involving hardware and software. The more time that is spent fixing problems, the more their productivity suffers, and the more frustrated they get. Business owners expect their IT partners to:

Minimize the system downtime by reducing the time required to resolve the problem• Reduce problems by automating trouble shooting and repair• Empower users to solve the most basic problems independently• Focus on higher value IT services to address their core business concerns•

Find these resources at https://partner.microsoft.com/windows7

Reduce the cost of customer service by decreasing the time needed to provide it through faster problem diagnosis and remote maintenance.

Strengthen relationships with customers by providing faster and better helpdesk services, leading to loyal customers who are more receptive to doing additional business with you.

Improve your company’s margins by generating opportunities to:Free up expensive technical staff to work on higher value projects• Increase the number of customers each member of your organization can support•

SMB Partner Challenge #1

How Does this Provide Value to My Customers?

What Value does this Bring to Partners Like Me?

My customers rely on me to help them with their day-to-day IT problems. The faster I can identify and resolve their issues, the better for them – and for me.

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Continuously Improve:Reduce Helpdesk Calls andAccelerate Problem Resolution

Windows 7 Enables a Better Solution

Windows 7 provides tools that make helpdesk servicesmoreefficientand productive, enabling better service to the ITcustomer and additionalbusiness opportunities forthe IT partner.

Windows® 7 provides better tools to improve monitoring, self-repairing, trouble-shooting, and recovery of IT client environments:

Features driving incremental margins:

Problem Steps Recorder:• Records events leading up to a customer problem, which are then reproduced and sent to the helpdesk, improving diagnosis capabilities—saving you time

Action Center:• Provides a central location for notifications and troubleshooting, where users can fix basic problems—saving you time

Windows Troubleshooting Platform:• Automatically detects and attempts to repair problems, such as display or networking issues—you can extend the platform with your own troubleshooting packs

Service enhancing features

Windows Recovery Environment and Startup Repair: • Provides an environment for detecting and repairing errors when Windows 7 fails to boot

How Does Windows 7 Enable Me To Improve Helpdesk Effectiveness?

“Helpdesk support is labor intensive. It’s necessary, but not high value. Decreasing helpdesk calls means more margin for me. It would be great if we could rapidly reduce this time. Functionality like the Problem Steps Recorder could help us reduce our time to identify problem discovery by 50%. Most of the time, fixing the problem is the easy part; the hard part is determining what the problem is because the user usually forgets a step.” - U.S. VAR, Tim Freeze, UniComData Inc.

Continuously Improve: Ensure Uninterrupted Line-Of-Business Applications


Customers upgrading to gain the benefits of Windows 7 need to be assured that they can still run their LOB applications. Business owners have invested significant capital in their software. Windows 7 allows them to have an up-to-date desktop environment while maintaining critical LOB applications without the cost of buying new software. Owners increasingly expect their IT partners to:

Ensure uninterrupted access to critical line-of-business applications • Provide a seamless transition to the new operating system• Reduce barriers in maintaining previous software investments•


Increase your ability to sell Windows 7 and related products and services by removing a major barrier to the OS upgrade. Microsoft has worked with many software partners to ensure application compatibility. For custom and/or legacy LOB applications, Windows XP Mode provides a safety net for applications that don’t run on Windows 7.

Strengthen relationships with customers by sending a clear message that you understand their concerns about the investments they’ve made in their business software and that you’re providing a solution that takes that into account and ensures continued use.



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My customers can enjoy the benefits of Windows® 7, knowing that their line-of-business applications will work. That’s a big part of what they base their decision for or against a new OS on.


Continuously Improve:Ensure Uninterrupted Line-of-Business Applications


Windows 7 has been pre-tested to ensure compatibility with an extensive array of LOB applications; a virtualized Windows XP Mode further ensures compatibility with many productivity application currently running on Windows XP.

Windows® 7 Professional and Ultimate help you to ensure your clients compatibility for their LOB applications

Feature driving additional revenue:

Windows XP Mode*: • Provides the ability to run “legacy” LOB applications in a virtual Windows XP environment— you can extend your scope of services by enabling and setting up Windows XP Mode

Service enhancing feature:

Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT): • Assesses application compatibility with Windows 7

*Windows XP Mode requires either OEM pre-installation or post-purchase installation of Windows XP Mode (which runs on Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate) and a virtualization technology such as Windows Virtual PC. Both Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC can be downloaded from www.windows.com/business/downloads. For more information on system requirements, go to www.microsoft.com/virtual-pc.

Opens gateway to new revenue streams by:Providing a conversation starter about a new server for the virtualization of the LOB server, as well as virtualization related services

How Does Windows 7 Enable Uninterrupted User Productivity?

“Windows XP Mode is huge. If the LOB application doesn’t work, there is not a lot I can do as a partner. Recommending and selling OS upgrades and then having LOB applications not work on the new OS does nothing to build trust with the customer. ” - U.S. VAR, A. Weber, ABT Consulting

“If I didn’t have to worry about the compatibility of an LOB application, I could easily set up SharePoint services, and help them upgrade their OS. Depending on the labor, hardware and licensing, it could add up to as much as $5,000 in sales.” - U.S. VAR, Michael Finley, Aristocrat Computer Services

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Supporting mobility is increasingly a requirement for small and mid-sized businesses. Business owners and managers need to know their employees can be productive working from home, in a branch office or on the road, no matter what network they’re working from. They increasingly expect their IT partners to help:

Ensure easier access to corporate resources and data no matter what network they’re on• Ensure mobile and remote office users receive the same level of data backup and security• Increase mobile and remote office user uptime and productivity• Ensure robust connections to critical line-of-business applications•


Increase efficiency for supporting remote and mobile users by ensuring you have more effective connections to them. This will cut down on support time and cost, and remove the need to send valued employees on-site to diagnose minor issues.

Strengthen relationships with customers with superior support, leading to loyal clients who are more receptive to doing additional business.

Create new revenue streams by ensuring reliable connections are in place between remote and mobile workers and their central offices, enabling you to:

Sell additional server and mobile infrastructure• Sell additional support services and network services and equipment for remote and mobile users• Expand remote backup / business continuity services for remote and mobile users• Expand solutions sales to remote and mobile users for access to LOB applications•


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Delivering Enterprise Class Solutions: Keep Remote and Mobile Workers Connected and Productive



My customers often work remotely and they need the same excellent support for their branch offices and mobile users that I provide them in their home office.

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Delivering Enterprise Class Solutions: Keep Remote and Mobile Workers Connected and Productive


Windows 7 enables higher levels of productivity and enterprise-class access and support for customers with distributed locations, net-works and PCs.

Windows® 7 allows you to more effectively and efficiently support your customers’ mobile and remote workers by automating and streamlining common connectivity tasks. Windows 7 also integrates tools that on previous operating systems required costly add-ins or time-consuming help desk support:

Features driving additional revenue:

DirectAccess on Windows 7 Ultimate and VPN Reconnect: • Enable mobile PCs to connect to the core network and stay connected—providing server and mobile infrastructure sales opportunities

Device Stage:• Create a personalized experience between a consumer’s mobile device and their computer; facilitate finding and using devices on different networks—leading to increased mobile device, infrastructure

hardware and software sales, as well as service opportunities

Service enhancing features:BranchCache™ on Windows 7 Ultimate:• Improve the experience of users in branch and home offices by caching content from the core network for quicker local access Location Aware Printing and Networking: • Remembers users’ printer and network settings from one network to the next without having to reconfigure Network Connection Wizard: • Allow users to quickly connect to and configure network connections through an easy user interface

Windows 7 provides support for connecting to • mobile broadband networks, such as HPSADomain Join: • Windows 7 Professional is the first Windows SKU to offer domain connectabilityHomeGroup:• Makes it easier to connect to computers in networks that don’t have servers

How Does Windows 7 Help Me Sell Remote Support Services and Keep Customers Connected?

“With Windows 7 we are able to better support our clients’ satellite offices. Because of VPN Reconnect the connection is stable and constant, we are able to provide remote support to our client [this way], which saves us time and resources and we can deal with most support tickets online. [It also helps us] retain those clients that have satellite offices rather than those satellite offices being contracted out to a competitor or a local company.” - U.K. VAR, Ryan Newman, Scootek

“Removing mobile connection problems could save as much as 5 hours a month per client. It may not seem like a lot, but when those issues happen it’s painful for the customers because they get irritated, and it’s painful for us because it is challenging to diagnose their problem remotely.” - U.S. VAR, Robin Saacks, TimAc Solutions

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Delivering Enterprise Class Solutions: Protect Your Customer’s Data and Provide Backup Services



My number one priority is the security of my clients’ data. Backup is a critical service for me to provide because of the assurance my client derives from it.

Customers are increasingly aware of how critical data is to their business. Business owners and managers need to know that their data is secure, backed up, and restorable. They increasingly expect their IT partners to help:

Ensure that data is fully backed up effortlessly and consistently• Ensure that data can be recovered quickly if a loss occurs• Proactively provide solutions to ensure that sensitive corporate data is protected against both • internal and external theftEnsure that regulatory compliance is met•


Build trust and strengthen relationships with customers by helping them avoid catastrophic data theft or, if data is accidentally lost, quickly recovering it. Proactive support leads to loyal customers more receptive to discussing additional services.

Create new revenue streams via data protection and backup features, leading to the opportunity to sell additional supporting hardware and services to your customers:

New and incremental hosted backup and business continuity services providing recurring revenue• Additional data storage and archiving services in your data center• Recovery services when data is lost•


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Delivering Enterprise Class Solutions: Protect Customer’s Data and Provide Backup Services

Windows® 7 allows you to more effectively and robustly protect your customers’ data from theft or accidental loss through new encryption technology, advanced backup features, and the ability to restore previous versions of files:


Advanced Backup: • Helps ensure more effective, consistent, and easy to manage backups by customer employees—increasing the opportunity to sell Windows Server® 2008, related infrastructure, and recurring backup services

BitLocker™, BitLocker to Go™, and Encrypted File System • on Windows 7 Ultimate: Helps stop data theft through encrypting files, entire volumes, and portable storage devices (i.e., USB drives)—you can increase your scope of services with initial setup and recovery of lost data

Service Enhancing Feature:

Restore Previous Versions: • Takes snapshots of files that users can restore in case they accidentally delete a file or it becomes corrupt

How Does Windows 7 Help Me Provide Data Protection, Backup And Business Continuity?

“There are so many solutions out there, and getting a backup solution that is easy to use is a challenge. If the data backup solution is built into the OS, like Advanced Backup, it’s helpful. If you can charge $500 to set up backup, and if we can do it in 15 minutes instead of 2 hours, we make a great margin, or we can return value back to the customer. We look for solutions like this to drive exponential growth. It also allows us to develop the relationship with the customer more quickly by demonstrating that we are proactive.” - U.S. VAR, Bill Bach, Goldstar Software Inc.

“Having the backup conversation indicates that we are being proactive and we have their best interest in mind. When you have people’s best interests in mind they will not leave you. Growing our remote backup business has been a focal point for us, because it’s a lucrative business model. For a typical customer with 25PCs and a server, we can make a few hundred dollars a month. It’s insurance, they can set it and forget it.” - U.S. VAR, Tim Freeze, UniComData Inc.


Windows 7 enables more robust data protection and security and allows customers to be more confidentthattheirdatais safer and securely backed up.

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Provide The Right Foundation For Your Solution Offerings



My customers depend on me to work with them to transform the way they do business with the solutions we provide, and to ensure the right supporting technology is in place.

Mid-market customers are increasingly looking to ERP, CRM, and productivity solutions, including Microsoft Dynamics® and SharePoint®, to streamline their business. However, solution applications work optimally on a stable and reliable desktop environment. Therefore, owners increasingly expect their IT partners to:

Proactively provide the most stable and reliable desktop environment for their solutions applications• Provide effective and timely backup• Minimize IT environment disruptions• Ensure productivity of mobile and remote workers by enabling them to have more secure and • consistent access to solution applications


Strengthen relationships with customers by ensuring they have most stable and reliable desktop environment for their solutions applications, including Microsoft Dynamics, SharePoint, and unified communications

Gain customers’ trust by protecting solutions based data, leading to increased openness for new IT investments.

Create new revenue streams by enabling new and expanded solution installations and the supporting infrastructure services:

Expand solutions sales for remote and mobile users, who may not be currently employing them due to limited • network connectivity


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Provide the Right Foundation for YourSolution Offerings

Windows® 7 allows you to provide the backup solutions and remote access to help ensure that LOB applications will be highly secure and accessible to all via the following features:


DirectAccess (Windows 7 Ultimate) and VPN Reconnect: • Enables mobile PCs to connect to the core network and stay connected– an opportunity to sell solutions licenses to new users

Advanced Backup: • Ensures more effective, consistent, and easy to manage backups by customer employees—increasing the opportunity to sell Windows Server 2008, related infrastructure, and recurring backup services

Service enhancing features:

Encrypted FileSystem • and BitLocker™ on Windows 7 Ultimate: Encrypts file contents to protect against data theft

How Does Windows 7 Help Me Create This Environment?

Additional support services for remote and mobile users• Expand remote backup / business continuity services to help secure LOB data • and sell Windows Server® 2008

“The quality of VPN over broadband has been a challenge with Microsoft Dynamics, so the ability to stabilize VPN would be critical to ensure a stable working environment for remote workers.” - U.S. VAR, Jacob Alifrangis, BrainDonors “Data backup is critical. If your files are electronic, that data better be secure and backed up off-site. I am the first call if someone has a data issue with our Dynamics solution. That’s why backup is the first thing I check when I go onsite. Remote data backup services could also help contribute to an addi-tional revenue stream.” - U.S. VAR, A. Weber, ABT Consulting


Windows 7 provides the right foundation for solutionsapplications through advanced backup services and uninterrupted connectivity to remote officesandmobileworkers.

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Windows 7 helps you to improve the way you serve your SMB customers, delivering business value for you and for them. New functionality allows you to:

Provide more efficient support, thus improving your margins•

Create fresh revenue streams via new features in the OS •

Strengthen your role as a trusted advisor to your customers, making them more loyal and open to new sales •

opportunities

Windows 7 Enables You to Achieve Your Priorities and Recognize Clear Business Value:

Business Priority

Continuously 1. Improve: Provide better and more efficient customer service

Level the Playing 2. Field: Deliver high value, enterprise-class solutions to critical SMB challenges

Build the Right 3. Foundation: Ensure optimal performance for solution offerings

Challenge Accomplished with Windows 7

A) Reduce time for problem resolution

B) Supply uninterrupted LOB application use via Windows XP Mode

C) Keep remote and mobile workers connected and productive

D) Help ensure the security of customer data and provide off-site backup services

E) Offer a stable and reliable IT environment for the solution services you provide

Improved CustomerRelationships

IncreasedSales

Higher Margns

NewRevenueStreams

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How can I learn more?It’s easy to learn more about how Windows 7 can benefit your business. Microsoft has provided additional information, sales materials, and input from other partners on their partner web site: https://partner.microsoft.com/windows7

*Windows XP Mode requires either OEM pre-installation or post-purchase installation of Windows XP Mode (which runs on Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate) and a virtualization technology such as Windows Virtual PC. Both Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC can be downloaded from www.windows.com/business/downloads. For more information on system requirements, go to www.microsoft.com/virtual-pc.

This document supports a preliminary release of a software product that may be changed substantially prior to final commercial release. This document is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft makes no warranties, either express or implied, in this document. Information in this document, in-cluding URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice. The entire risk of the use or the results from the use of this document remains with the user. Unless otherwise noted, the companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted in examples herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Dynamics, and Microsoft Exchange are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.Part No. 099-94973

Delivers Business Value For You And Your Customers - A whitepaper by Windows 7 Professional

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