I learned about this yesterday, but due to NDA could not talk about it until now. This has been the most frustrating 24 hours I can remember.
At 8am PST Friday March 5th, 2010, Microsoft pronounced dead on arrival their EBS Product Line. This includes both the upcoming release (EBS v2) and the current product EBS 2008. June 30, 2010 is the last day of sales for EBS 2008 and they have totally killed the next version of EBS v2 which was in development.
Wow…. this is an amazing wake up call for us all. Here is a product (EBS) that has been in the making for the last 5 years, and only publicly available since November 2008, and now just over 12 months after it’s gone on sale, Microsoft have canned not only it, but all future versions of it.
I don’t know about you, but this scares the shit out of me. I’ve built my business for years on the SMB space, and just when I thought Microsoft was really starting to understand the needs of the Medium business market, they go an cancel the product. I had an insight into EBS v2 but can’t disclose what was in it. What I can say was that I was even more assured that the EBS team really GOT IT. They UNDERSTOOD what the Medium business market needed. So what do Microsoft do with all this knowledge…. they go and kill the only product they have that suits that market. They leave current SBS customers with no real viable upgrade path from SBS except to their ENTERPRISE products…
They’ve effectively said that we think that the medium business market can make do with individual server products, rather than an integrated suite like we have with SBS. They’ve decided that all that marketing over the past few years about how it’s easier to manage multiple servers in your EBS network via one console is just marketing crap and there is no real value in it at all. They’ve decided that the Medium business market does not need features such as Remote Web Workplace or any of the great functionality that the EBS team have produced.
The people on the EBS team – led by Chuck Archer – they really know their stuff. I’m saddened to hear that the last 5 years of THEIR HARD WORK has led to this. Microsoft should be ashamed of itself for this decision. I really cannot understand the rationale behind Microsoft making this decision. I’ve been told that “it will be fine, just wait for the next version of Windows server and you’ll see…” Sorry Microsoft – but that is likely 2 + years away… what do I sell my customers NOW???
Let’s look at this from other perspectives.
What about the partner channel? EBS has been slow to pickup in the channel because Microsoft really didn’t do a great job of promoting it correctly. Initially they promoted it as “big SBS” which was plain wrong as it was so much more, and honestly your average SBS reseller is not selling into the EBS market. That I think was a major flaw in Microsoft logic – believing that any SBS reseller could sell EBS.
Ok – so what about those resellers that were starting to “get EBS” or those that got it from the start? Where are they to go next? Well some are just going to seriously loose out on their business. Personally – I was predicting around $500,000 NEW Revenue from EBSv2 in the next financial year in my reseller business Correct Solutions. We had around 8 sales lined up already with clients and even today I was due to take an order for for $110,000 of HP server hardware that I had to hold off on until I figure out what the alternate strategy is. Microsoft – you fail to realise that those of us that have built a business around this and have supported you EVERY SINGLE STEP OF THE WAY are now going to pay the price.
Am I angry… yes. I’m angry for a few reasons. I’m angry because I didn’t see this coming. I didn’t predict that Microsoft would make such a dumb assed move as to kill a product like this that held such great potential. I’m angry because I believed in my heart that this was winner and I KNOW that customers will be adversely affected by this decision. I’m angry because I’ve spent a fair bit of my own blood sweat and tears selling this product to our clients – heck we did an EBS 2008 install TODAY and now I have to tell the client on Monday that the product is discontinued. I’m angry because maybe I drank too much of the Kool-Aid and actually believed in Microsoft. Yes – maybe I’m the dumb ass in all of this. Maybe I should not be trusting Microsoft with my future or the future of my business. Microsoft you are making me rethink a lot of things. I’ve got to say that you will probably make a LOT of resellers do the same with this move.
So, I’ve got to ask one final question…. what next Microsoft? What dumb assed move will you make next and take us by surprise?
Why expect a secure future for SBS.
At one time, it represented a good bundle discount but I can see some MBA at Microsoft complaining about “leaving money on the table”. Just sell the unintegrated products for more money and no extra effort.
Shocking self-inflicted reverse mumbo-jumbo short-sighted bean-counter discombobulated piece of marketing advice that will adversely affect Microsoft with the channel and the SMB space – just this week we were at the cusp of completing an EBS sell for a current SBS client with 62 users that now – they do not know it yet – do NOT have an exit strategy. Really pathetic as how we in the SMB space will now have to SCRAMBLE for alternatives – what an artificially inseminated distraction!
I am not shocked at all. I’ve lost a few customers in the past 6 months to Google Docs and email services. Another went to Zoho and fired me. Yet another went to salesforce.com.
What do you see in common here….the cloud is taking over! That is the reality. I won’t be surprised to see SBS Server be discontinued next!
The only reason more companies haven’t moved to cloud services is because long time IT Guys like us are afraid of our future. We may not be needed in a couple of years. Gotta plan accordingly!
How do you really feel Wayne? 😉
Actually Wayne, I have to ask you something; Take all the personal emotions out if it such as how it screws you and your customers and ask your self this: If I were Microsoft and I had some insight and analytics that caused me to believe with fair certianty that the solution package of EBS was not sustainable (for what ever reason), would I have made the same or a similar decision? I’m not saying they handled it correctly but is it maybe possible that in the end, they are putting thier shareholders before a very small group of customers?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not taking sides but I’m also not emotionally involved in this. As you know I was close to some of the EBS “stuff” too and am dissapointed but either I trust the executives to make the right decisions with the information from their perspective or I trust that their days are numbered too. I also trust that mistakes will be made in some decision (ME, Vista, Win 2003 SP2 in WSUS, MS Small Biz Acctn, BCM…). If this was a mistake then I will judge on how well they deal with their error. If you don’t trust some part of the process then get the hell out or grow thick skin.
Mark
I have to agree with Dantv. The cloud is taking over. They will ram it down our throats if we let them and all the studying, effort, money spent on training seminars, etc. will be of little use. We will eventually work in data centers as human bots like in The Matrix.
Back in the mainframe days, vendors used to squeeze clients for every penny by the “leasing” model aka (monthly recurring revenue). Distributed computing changed that. Now they want us back to the mainframe days.
I think that companies do not like it when you are “happy” with your current version and have no need to upgrade. leasing on the cloud will take care of that, eh?
I’m with Mark on this; Wayne you put so much into your work with Microsoft and naturally it’s easy to be rudely awoken by some of their decisions – especially when you have invested so much emotional and professional time. Having worked for Dell in the ‘M’ of SMB that EBS was aimed at and not seeing the traction it was hoped, I would rather MS refocus their priorities on the business that is going to secure their market and revenue in an industry that is becoming increasingly pressured. That way their value proposition into our target markets will ensure a better level of long-term success.
Too much of a good thing. Fair pricing.
My bet is MS realized this had the potential to cannibalize sales on mid-market so better cut it’s throat now.
I will miss the out-of-the-box best practices all around.
Hi Enrique,
I’m more wondering if EBS was not killed, not by Microsoft, but by the GFC…. Introducing a product to market in the GFC was going to be a tough proposition to start with…
Just a thought.
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