Windows SBS 2003 Released To Manufacturing, Slated To Ship Oct. 9

The product, developed under the code name Bobcat, has been redesigned to simplify the installation and deployment for solution providers that serve small businesses. Microsoft executives said the server can be fully installed within two to three hours.

It is the first release of Small Business Server that Microsoft said contains the full-fledged version of Windows Server. Two versions are available--a "lite" version called Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition and Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition.

The standard version, priced at $599, incorporates Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2003 servers, including the firewall and Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) in Windows Server 2003, a spokeswoman said. The WSS add-on will released in the near future, prior to shipment of SBS 2003, she said.

Incorporating WSS into Windows and SBS 2003, gives solution providers a platform on which to customize a customer's intranet or portal, said Katy Hunter, product manager of Windows Small Business Server 2003 at Microsoft. For instance, partners can easily drag and drop Web parts onto the SharePoint shell to build custom intranets, she said.

The Premium Edition, which includes all of the features of the Standard Edition as well as SQL Server 2000 and Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000, is priced the same as the previous 2000 version of SBS at $1,499.

Hunter said it's unclear whether Microsoft will give SBS 2003 Premium customers the next SQL and ISA server upgrade when they ship. However, the upgrade price for the Premium Edition will be "slightly less" than for the standard version, she said.

Hunter also said the $500 rebate offered to solution providers for selling SBS 2000 over the past year will end, but the new price point of the standard edition makes up for any perceived loss to the channel.

"The big news for partners is a new standard server price point and innovations to address things that kept server computing a niche technology in the small business," Hunter said. "The rebate goes away. The new price point has rebate built into it."

Microsoft has included a number of other new features targeted at small businesses and channel partners, including a system prep tool that makes it easier for system builders to quickly image multiple servers.

The Remote Web Workplace, another new feature, is a single URL that give users options for connecting remotely to a server, Hunter said, noting that remotely connecting users to Small Business Server 2000 is a manual, time-consuming process.

One solution provider said the feature is a good value-add for both customers and partners.

"The Remote Web Workplace is one of the best advances I have ever seen in small-business technology, giving customers a simple, easy-to-use, easy-to-access central point for remote access to the network," said Michael Cocanower, president of ITSynergy, Phoenix. "Combine that with Windows XP at the desktop, and you can get to anything from e-mail to VPN to your own desktop remotely, using only a Web browser. And from the perspective of partners, that means that you now have the ability to do remote troubleshooting and support from the server all the way down to the individual desktop level."

The company also decided to incorporate a series of server management wizards to simplify administration and to make default certain security and backup features. The firewall in the Windows Server 2003, for example, now ships with all the ports turned off, Microsoft's Hunter said.

In addition, the 2003 version includes a template for a help-desk ticket tool that VARs can customize to make themselves receivers of requests and tickets, she said. It also includes enhanced monitoring tools that automatically alert solution providers when the server's memory, disk and other system resources approach thresholds. "It's prepopulated as an end-to-end solution that does reporting to solution provider," Hunter said.

Microsoft has released the code to Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba, but systems preinstalled with SBS 2003 won't likely ship until after general availability, she said, adding that Dell and HP are "cooking up" other incentives for channel partners.

In spite of the tough IT spending climate, ITSynergy's Cocanower said the return on investment story is strong for both users of the older Small Business Server 4.5 and the current edition.

"There is a very strong case right out of the starting gate for upgrade from SBS 2000," he said. "Exchange 2003 and its remote worker support capabilities, Windows SharePoint Services and even easier server management wizards and reports are just a few of the improvements over Small Business Server 2000 that lead directly to a company's bottom line."