In-Depth Features


Facebook Marketing for Microsoft Partners: A Primer

New functionality additions in the social networking tool mean creative Microsoft partners have more ways than ever to get the word out about the great things their companies are doing.

Partners: 6 Ways To Get Free Microsoft Product Licenses

Hidden in plain sight within the Microsoft Partner Network are six places where partners can get free product licenses. Hint: Check your Internal Use Rights.

How Microsoft Partners Are Selling Office 365

Now that it's available, partners are prepared to start offering Microsoft's biggest bet in the cloud to date.

How Microsoft Dynamics Partners Are Evolving with the Cloud

With Microsoft rolling out more of its key business applications in the cloud, the channel must prepare. But in interviews at Microsoft Convergence, partners and customers are finding the cloud is just one more reason to re-emphasize good old-fashioned services.

Microsoft's Channel Chief Talks Cloud, the MPN Switch and More

In an exclusive interview with RCP, Jon Roskill, Microsoft's top channel executive, talks about the challenges of his first year -- the cloud transition, the MPN switchover -- and the huge opportunities he sees for partners in year two.

Office 365 Review: You Get What You Pay For

With its much-anticipated suite, Microsoft is providing solid value at many different price points. The Office suite subscription option, especially, should jumpstart a lot of customer conversations.

Microsoft Partners Energized by 'Windows 8'

Citing "cool" factor, partners see the next OS interface as unifying Microsoft's platforms. Concerns surround how the touch orientation will translate to the desktop, and whether thorny OEM and development issues find quick resolutions.

For a New Category of Cloud Partner, Microsoft Relaxes Office 365 Billing

WEB EXCLUSIVE: In a major change from BPOS, 20 hosters with value-added services will handle their own customer billing for Office 365. VARs and MSPs must still go through Microsoft in the Partner of Record model.

28 Things Partners Should Know About Office 365 (UPDATED)

WEB EXCLUSIVE: (Previously "25 Things Partners Should Know About Office 365.") Microsoft just launched the much-anticipated successor to BPOS. Here's what every partner needs to know.

Unified Communications: Microsoft Partners Are Lyncing Up

As Microsoft's sustained efforts in unified communications are starting to draw customers' attention, partners are finding ways to use Lync and related UC technologies to transform the way those customers communicate.

3 Game Changers in Windows Phone 'Mango'

WEB EXCLUSIVE: The cards have been stacked against Windows Phone 7 since the outset. Will Mango be enough to swing the smartphone game to Microsoft's favor?

Dynamics CRM 2011 Review: Strong Play by Microsoft

Putting the latest version of the Microsoft CRM tool through its paces, we found many worthwhile improvements among the 500 or so new features that give Microsoft partners an even more solid competitor to Salesforce.com and Oracle.

2011 RCP Salary Survey: Microsoft Partner Salaries Plateau (and That's OK)

RCP's 5th annual Salary Survey finds partner salaries in 2011 are holding steady. That's a big improvement after the drop last year, and many partners see reasons for optimism about their personal fortunes as they look into their pipelines for the remainder of 2011.

Microsoft Partners Rave About 'Windows 8' Interface

WEB EXCLUSVE: Despite some worries about how Windows 8's "touch focus" will appeal to desktop users, partners are calling the new OS something few Microsoft products have ever been called: cool.

7 Killer Windows Devices at Computex

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft showed off some slick, new hardware in Taiwan, including touchscreen desktop PCs and innovative tablet computers from Acer, HP, Dell and more. The takeaway: The new breed of Windows devices is more than a pretty face.

Windows Phone 7 vs. iPhone: Microsoft Closes the Quality Gap

WEB EXCLUSIVE: In the battle between Microsoft's underdog smartphone and the Apple juggernaut, the result is far from a knockout. Even iPhone lovers have to agree.

Microsoft Partners Find Benefits in 'Dogfooding' Lync

WEB EXCLUSIVE: It's hard enough to sell a product without having first-hand experience of it. That's even more evident when the product is Microsoft Lync. For some partners, adopting Lync for their own use has proven to be the best way to help their clients.

The Top 10 Microsoft Partner MVPs

There are about 1,000 Microsoft partner MVPs worldwide. Here are 10 whose status as MVPs has been particularly key to their companies' success.

Inside MVP Nation: What MVPs Talk About when Microsoft Isn't Looking

"Cloud" was king at the first annual MVP Nation conference, but this year's gathering of Microsoft MVPs covered other topics as well. This is RCP's report of those discussions, straight from the show floor.

SBS 2011 Review: A 'No Brainer' for Small Shops

For shops of 25 to 75 seats with traditional IT requirements, the on-premises version of Microsoft Small Business Server still makes a lot of sense, and the new release contains a lot for partners and IT to like.