RAM | Reseller Advocate Magazine: Issue 46

By Beatrice Mulzer

The other day I received a phone call from an attorney's office asking me to come in and take a look at its new server. The server was crashing inconsistently and at an alarming rate. It had recently been purchased from a system builder in town, who assured the attorney's office that his company built servers all the time. According to the office manager, the system had been "freezing up" from day one. The server had been taken back to the shop several times, and the techs had come to the office several times, as well. BIOS settings were adjusted, components were replaced, and drivers were reloaded, but the issue's source had not been found.

The server was built with dual Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz processors, two 160GB SATA drives, an Adaptec RAID Controller, 2GB of RAM, and the Windows Server 2003 operating system. It was an ordinary server build with one exception: It contained a high-end gaming graphics card, the kind with the cranked up clock speed for supercharged gaming and unparalleled performance. Needless to say, communications between the system builder and the office manager had reached the point of impasse. I slipped into the role of mediator and was put in charge of ending the vicious crash cycle. The graphics card had already tipped me off to take a closer look at the server hardware. In the NT days, if you didn't have a Windows logo-approved component, even something as simple as a fax board or graphics card (that we would try to install anyhow), sure enough, the box wouldn't work.

I visited the system builder and talked to both the owner and the techs who had built the system. There are many things that could be said about this eye opening visit, but the one that I want to focus on is the big misconception that many small system builders have on logoing their systems. I asked if they WHQLed (Windows Hardware Quality Labs; pronounced "wickle") their systems and used the HCT (Hardware Compatibility Test).

Having to compete with the big boys makes for slim margins, but slapping together systems overnight with the cheapest components that can be found is not the right way to turn a profit. Customer service is still king, and all y'all know that a satisfied customer will tell about ten other people when he is satisfied with his purchase (if you are lucky). If the PC caught on fire because it was overclocked incorrectly, the customer will tell a heck of a lot more people, and they'll tell someone else, and pretty soon nobody will be shopping at your store anymore. In order to stay in business, you should test your systems before they catch on fire!

Anyhow, when I asked about WHQLing the system, I got some blank stares. I asked if they ever visit www.microsoft.com/oem. They answered, "No, why should we?"

Shortly after this, I spoke with Steve Winfield, the national system builder technology manager on the U.S. SB Technology Team (a.k.a. BOB) at Microsoft. Winfield started the conversation out by stating that about 40% of all partners (registered, certified, and gold) are listed as system builders, but there is a much smaller percentage registered with the Microsoft OEM Web site. Winfield's job is to build awareness about the BOB team (BOB stands for Builders of Boxes) and their fairly new site called the "Back Room" (www.microsoft.com/oem/backroom). The BOB team was put in place to re-energize the system builder community and help system builders grow their business. According to its description, Bob's crew members are "geeks who love technology and are completely immersed in the System Builder business".

Part of the BOB geek team is all about technical readiness for system builders, and last year they put out over 63 Web casts and 20 live events throughout the U.S. The BOB team provides the Back Room as a place where you can talk shop and find information to help you maintain and grow your business. Currently, they hold a chat room every Friday at 11 a.m. PST and are live on the Web every Thursday at 11 a.m. PST. The BOB team will be doing a whole series of "mini casts" that are only about 15 to 20 minutes in length.

"We understand it's hard for a system builder to take a whole hour off in the middle of the day," says Winfield. "A lot of times a partner will need to get specific information about something, so we will do the mini casts that they can either watch streaming off the Web or download on their laptop. If you just want the nuts and bolts of this part of the technology, here it is."

“We understand it’s hard for a system builder to take a whole hour off in the middle of the day,” says Winfield. “A lot of times a partner will need to get specific information about something, so we will do the mini casts that they can either watch streaming off the Web or download on their laptop.

Winfield explains that if system builders want to see more, they can watch more mini casts in the same category or a full fledged Web cast.

The BOB team will be demonstrating the technology. They understand that it's cool to talk about technology like a shadow copy restore but hard to appreciate until you actually see it. There will be over 50 live Web casts, regularly on Thursdays, and on top of that there will be over 100 new mini casts created (demo and Web casts), which will be short demos that are recorded and talked over like they are sold to an end customer. System builders can then download these and use them in their sales process to the end customer as well.

On the Back Room Web site, you will also find links like the OPK Corral and Logo Land, which contain step-by-step guidance on how to go through the process of WHQLing a system, so any system builder can logo his machines. This way, a white box builder can say that his PCs are as good as those built and certified by Microsoft. The general misconception is that this is only for larger system builders and is a daunting process. A visit to the Back Room will demystify this for you. According to Warren Wilkinson, president and CEO of PC Wholesale in San Antonio, TX, the HCT allows you to provide the same quality and certification as tier-one system builders. Wilkinson stated that the return rate on WHQLed systems dropped to less than 1% due to a low failure rate, there was a dramatic increase in customer satisfaction, and sales increased by more than 25 percent.

Doug Thompson, a presales system engineer at Microsoft, dishes out the following advice on the HCT: "At least read the explanations of what the tests are doing and check the errata listing on the WHQL Web site. A basic step ensuring that the HCT goes smoothly is to first ensure that the BIOS and NIC support PXE and are the same test kit version." (Use the XP test kit for XP—duh.)

Thompson recommends first running the check logo test and then running the motherboard and drivers tests. For instance, the ACPI verifier can be a showstopper and will be most likely BIOS-related, requiring that you to make BIOS changes. At this point, you would have to restart the test from the beginning. Or if an unsigned driver turns up later, you'll have to restart all tests.

Thompson also stresses to take the time to really read the documentation beforehand; properly configuring your system will prevent you having to restart testing because of an improperly configured loop back adapter. A good example would be setting up for the remote boot test, Thompson says. Since this is a configuration-type test, 90% normally pass once it is set up correctly because it requires three separate systems for testing: a DHCP server, a PXE server, and the test system, all of which have to be separate machines. The key is to make sure you run the same version of the test kit on the PXE server and test system.

This is the sort of information you will find in a 15-minute mini cast. No marketing hype, just the bare bones. Steve says that the Back Room is the de facto site for OPK and WHQL, and it will become the de facto site for MCE. They are also looking to do the same thing for SBS (Small Business Server). If a system builder wants information about SBS, then he or she can go to one place to find all the links they need to get all the info on SBS.

Steve Winfield has it right. Even though small system builders cannot compete with the multi-national OEMs on price, they have the distinct advantage of being able to build a relationship with the client. They are at the customer site, they can see and understand the customer's business and pain points, and they have the opportunity to upsell. He drives home the point that if a customer calls and orders from a multi-national, chances are that when the customer needs something two months later, either the rep will not remember him or the client will end up talking to a new person. If there is a technical issue, the customer will spend a long time pushing buttons and waiting on the phone to get through to tech support.

I myself have been paid by some people to do this for them because they were not comfortable opening up the boxes and following the technician's instructions on troubleshooting the box over the phone. Professionals are busy running their business; they neither want to play technician nor have the time. This is the angle the system builder has to use. If you just compete on building a box, your time is limited.

The upsell has to be done the right way, and this requires building the relationship first. For instance, don't sell SBS Premium right when you walk in the door. Sell the basic edition first, making sure to educate your client on how to use SBS. You could earn some training dollars here and learn more about your client's needs. Help him maximize the benefits of SBS and later sell upgrades on Office 2003 and Windows XP, so he can really use the Remote Web Workplace. Over time, you can establish a custom SharePoint site for him and set up ISA or reporting services with SQL.

“It’s incredible. Even with the Action Pack, they
get this stuff and don’t even look at it. When I ask
an audience during a session how many participants are getting the Action Pack, the vast majority will raise their hands. When I ask how many read the partner guide, all the hands go down.”

Winfield also talked about how people often have a difficulties understanding how to sell, support, and position MCE. There is a lot of good stuff on the OEM site, but "we will create a whole new section" (oem.microsoft.com/mce). There is already some content up there, but it is being revamped and should go live by the beginning of September.

"We are going to create the most comprehensive information for Media Center that Microsoft has. It will cover the technical and technical sales sides of it. We are working very close with the development group as we are getting closer to the launch of Emerald (the next version of MCE), and then we will move on to the next edition [Diamond] which will come out next year. MCE will be an annual release."

Winfield was very excited about MCE and continued, "The beauty about MCE is that the price point is only slightly more expensive than [Windows XP] Home, but it allows the system builder to upsell a lot of neat technology. So now you can sell the nicer monitors, the cool speakers, it's a better opportunity to sell the Bluetooth keyboard, and we just came out with the MCE edition keyboard which allows entire MCE control from a small form factor keyboard. We have the stuff that system builders need to sell differently. They just have to know it exists."

That is a key problem. Microsoft is making an effort to reconnect with white box builders, but if nobody checks the Web site, how can they know about this resource? The last Microsoft Action Pack shipment contained a system builder resource CD, links to the OEM site, and easy access to the HCT. I asked Ron Grattopp, a technology specialist on the TS2 Seminar Sales Team, about that.

Grattopp said, "It's incredible. Even with the Action Pack, they get this stuff and don't even look at it. When I ask an audience during a session how many participants are getting the Action Pack, the vast majority will raise their hands. When I ask how many read the partner guide, all the hands go down."

That's understandable since the Action Pack is filled with so many CDs that there is not enough time in the day to look at everything. Recently, I spoke to a Gold Certified partner with a staff of eight people who had just hired someone for the purpose of managing the partner opportunities with Microsoft by checking the partner Web site, reading up on the GTM (Go-to-Market) promotions, and deciding what to pursue and what not. When I told Grattopp that I was amazed someone would contribute a full time job towards this, his response was, "Smart move."

That Gold partner is now going to be able to take advantage of many things that it probably didn't know about before. This will save the reseller time, money, and extra work because it will do things better the first time around.

You don't have to read every word, but take time to pull the CD out, look at it, and go, "Oh, look. Here is something called the partner guide. I wonder what's in here." For instance, the technical demonstration tool kit (TDT) is now in the Action Pack, and it has several demonstrations, complete scripts, and case studies ready to use on the DVDs. The TS2 team also has a system builder Web cast every third Wednesday of the month accessible through www.ts2seminars.com. You will also find free learning center resources for system builders at www.microsoft.com/partner/training in the form of online tutorials and Hands-On Labs.

You don't have to be a Gold partner or hire a full-time worker to stay abreast of the resources Microsoft provides, but taking the time to look at the material provided may just give you an edge. Looking at the GTM campaigns on the partner site, according to Grattopp, is a huge, untapped resource. The GTMs provide all sorts of sales-oriented material around solutions, not just product.

"We find a lot of partners are not leveraging this resource," says Grattopp. "Yes, it is marketing, but if you are really interesting in selling, that is a really important piece." You can find the system builder marketing campaigns on the front page of the OEM site, so why not take a look at them? I found in the past that I spend about 80% of my time doing the selling and about 20% actually fulfilling the job.

Microsoft has got something right, and they are sharing their knowledge. If you have a bad taste about Microsoft like a friend of mine, who swears that Microsoft schemed their way to where they are, then get over the attitude and start thinking business. If you build white boxes, especially the kind that ends up running a Microsoft OS on them, why would you not want to take advantage of the available resources and make your life easier?