Thomas Falborg is CEO of shg.dk A/S, a Denmark-based Microsoft partner that’s an e-tailer specializing in Microsoft Exchange Server and hardware. Founded in 1997, shg.dk A/S is currently in expansion mode, with plans to move into new markets and pursue more business-to-business sales. Falborg says that his company has focused on small businesses because so many partners are focused on larger ones. His business, he says, fills the void.

About a year ago, an employee read about the SBSC in a newsletter and thought it would be interesting, so Falborg signed up and got registered. “I’ve been very happy with it,” Falborg says. “I’ve learned a lot about how Microsoft products can make life easier. As a partner, this is very important. In order to sell products I need to really understand them.”  Two key benefits of membership in the SBSC, he says, are assistance with events and opportunities for employees to receive training from Microsoft.

“We’re too small to put on events,” he says. “We don’t have the people, and we don’t have the skills. As a member of the SBSC, I can invite potential customers to an event where Microsoft demonstrates the values of Microsoft Exchange Server. That leads to sales for our company.”

The second main area of benefit is the employee training available through the SBSC – so much so, in fact, that Falborg has built it into the HR policy of his business, where there’s something of a rally underway to pick up additional skills.  “People are developing a new level of understanding about what Microsoft products can do for them,” he says. “It’s valuable to me to be able to go out and visit prospective customers and be able to prove that our people are highly skilled. That’s important from a sales perspective. You can be sure that when you call us, we know what we’re talking about.”

Allison Watson, Microsoft's vice president of the Worldwide Partner and Small Business Groups, says Microsoft designed the SBSC to offer benefits to the full spectrum of partners that specialize in the small-business segment:

•Registered Members: The SBSC is optimized for Registered Members that have demonstrated their experience in the small-business segment and are looking to Microsoft to recognize their skills and unique business models that are tailored specifically for those businesses. It also authorizes use of a logo for marketing purposes.

•Certified and Gold Certified Partners: For Certified and Gold Certified Microsoft partners that already serve small businesses, this designation will help further differentiate their solution specialty to the small-business market.

•System Builders: Being designated a small business specialist will offer system builders an opportunity to highlight their expertise in building PC and server systems based on Microsoft technologies. Registered system builders that join the Small Business Specialist Community will be provided with a clear road map that shows how they can move up into the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Hardware Solutions Competency with a System Builder specialization at the Certified or Gold Certified levels as their sales of hardware grow.