SMB Nation ISV Summit - Day 1

So I am down in Seattle attending the SMB Nation ISV Summit. Harry was nice enough to invite me down (thanks to support from HP) and I am very appreciative of the opportunity. My goal is to finally get the answers I have been looking for as it relates to the unit and geographical regional sales numbers of SBS2003 in North America.

At the end of day one, I still don't have the answers. The actual unit number is being side stepped again and again as we talk about the opportunity. I confronted both Microsoft and the Yankee Group (who were presenting their research on this space) on this, to no avail. Actually the Yankee Group wants that number themselves. Come on Microsoft, help us out here. :)

Kinda hard to weight the feasability of the market opportunity when you won't actually tell us what the market size is, and what its REALLY made up of.

The general consensus of the group is that there is approximately 300,000 to 400,000 SBS2003 installs world wide. Where that is broken down is unknown, but there is an expectation the primary areas of density are Austin, Boston and San Francisco in the USA. Of course, no one has any supporting research to back that up.

Outside of that, the day went very well. It was informative, useful and interesting. I can't wait to hear Harry talk tomorrow... since a lot of items brought up were consistantly answered with "I will talk about this in my presentation tomorrow". I can't wait.

I was impressed with how HP is handling the SMB space. I really respect the approach and the attitude they seem to be taking in working with SMB customers, and more importantly, how they work with their development partners to fill that market need. I was REALLY impressed with their DSPP program, especially on how it relates to joint marketing efforts in lead generation. I will have to look into that in more detail.

Well, we are off to enjoy a fun night together where I am sure a lot more interesting discussion will insue. Should be fun. I should get going. Will blog a summary again tomorrow when it ends.