RCP Magazine

WHAT'S NEW

• The 2012 Microsoft Product Roadmap

  The star of last year's product roadmap was Office 365. Microsoft this year looks likely to pivot from the public cloud to the private cloud, while also shipping staples like SQL Server and releasing major betas -- and possibly final versions -- of blockbusters including Windows 8 tablet, client and server, and Office 15.

• Amazon Web Services Enters the Datacenter with Storage Gateway

  Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Wednesday introduced a service that lets enterprises connect their on-premises data with its cloud-based storage.

• How One Partner Found Event Success at the Microsoft Store

  If you are lucky enough to have a Microsoft Store in your backyard, it's the perfect place to hold a partner event with style.

• For Nokia, It Pays To Be a Microsoft Partner. But Does It Pay Enough?

  It was a moment of reckoning for Nokia Inc., which reported its quarterly and full-year earnings on Thursday.

• Polycom Boosts Microsoft Lync-Related Revenues by 135 Percent

  Polycom, which has a strategic partnership with Microsoft around the Lync unified communication product, saw its Lync-related revenues increase by 135 percent in 2011 compared to the year before.

• Scribe Extends Cloud Service To Boost CRM Synchronization

  Scribe Software is extending its capabilities to synchronize content more easily with disparate premises-based business-critical software.

• With New Funding, AppDynamics Aims To Grow APM

  AppDynamics, a provider of cloud-based application performance management (APM) software, last week received an infusion of $20 million.

• Tech Evangelist Customers Key to Mobile App Success

  Looking to make a splash with a mobile app? Some customers are better than others.

• Microsoft's Dynamics Partners Weigh their Cloud Options

  While waiting for Microsoft to put ERP cloud offerings online, some Dynamics partners have started padding their portfolios with SaaS-based ERP solutions from other vendors.

• Microsoft Launches Dynamics Marketing Services Bureau

  Located on the Dynamics partner portal PartnerSource, the site is a unique listing of marketing services delivered by Microsoft-approved vendors.

• Rare Clues Emerge About Windows OEM Prices

  A few rare beams of light are shining into the always murky closet of Windows OEM pricing.

• Analysis: Is There Still a Microsoft Partner Channel?

  Channel guru Howard Cohen debates whether the Microsoft partner channel is really still a channel at all.

• AT&T Goes 'Down Market' with Public Cloud Service

  AT&T is the latest major IT provider to add a public cloud service.

• The Bottom-Up Phenomenon of Microsoft Metro

  It's natural to assume that the Metro UI popping up on nearly all of Microsoft's screens -- from Windows Phone to Windows 8 to Xbox -- is being pushed down to the product groups from on high.

• Symantec Acquires Cloud Archiving Provider LiveOffice

  Looking to build on its e-discovery, compliance and storage management portfolio, Symantec this week said it has acquired cloud archiving provider LiveOffice for $115 million.

• The Microsoft Partner Network's On-Again, Off-Again Small Business Competency

  The Small Business Competency will probably arrive in May, based on Microsoft's pattern of releasing MPN changes.

• Datto Reports 300 Percent Revenue Growth in 2011

  According to Datto, this is the third straight year it has achieved that growth rate.

• Microsoft: System Center Puts Partners in Prime Position for Private Cloud

  The System Center 2012 family will put Microsoft partners in a "prime position" to meet the emerging demand for private cloud solutions, Microsoft's top partner executive said this week.

• Salesforce.com Hires Former U.S. CIO Vivek Kundra

  Salesforce.com has nabbed Vivek Kundra, the United States' first CIO, as executive VP of emerging markets.

• Is Your E-Mail Acting Alone?

  Here are four pointers to keep in mind to make the most of your promotional e-mails.

• Amazon Gains More Direct Connections, Security Options

  Amazon has added four new AWS Direct Connect regions in Northern California, London, Singapore and Tokyo.

• Boom Times for Cloud-Based App Marketplaces

  Partners would be ill-advised to ignore the growing popularity of app stores.