Microsoft Kicks Off SMB Partner Road Show

Microsoft is taking its SMB show on the road. The software giant is using recreational vehicles to tour the United States, bringing in partners of Hewlett-Packard and Cisco. The goal is to meet with 1 million customers and local solution providers at 250 stops throughout the country by next June.

The company officially launched its Microsoft Across America at the TechXNY show in New York on Tuesday. Starting initially with a single vehicle -- larger than an 18-wheel truck -- the company intends to acquire three more and an additional three in the spring. The vehicles will be making stops at rural locations as well as in small and large cities. The fleet of RVs will be equipped with HP printers, servers, storage, and PCs and Cisco networking gear and its IP-based telephone gear.

Staffed by Microsoft field reps, combined partners of all three companies will showcase solutions targeted at local constituencies. Local certified Microsoft engineers will be available to answer questions and perform demonstrations. Customers will be able to attend seminars showcasing local and/or vertical solutions.

"What this does is takes a rolling center and allows us to go anywhere in the U.S. and allows our partners to leverage this as a tool," said Robert Deshaies, a Microsoft vice president. "It's a great play for our partners targeting SMB customers and will allow them to test drive our software."

Inspired by its larger, regional Microsoft Technology Centers, the company will use the RVs to showcase its Microsoft Small Business Server, Office, OneNote, SharePoint Services, Exchange Server 2003, Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004, SQL Server and Visual Studio, as well as line of business applications such as Microsoft CRM, Small Business Manager and Retail Management System.The company would not say how much it is investing in the effort, but said it falls under the $2 billion commitment Microsoft made to fuel its SMB effort last year. Microsoft piloted the demos in Alaska as well as some West Coast locations earlier this year.