Microsoft Plans To Pump Up Partner Relations by Phone
The new year may be less than two weeks old, but it’s already
been a busy time for Microsoft, with news stories literally popping
up all over the map.
- In Redmond, the company announced programs to better serve partners
and to lure independent software vendors away from non-Microsoft
platforms.
- In San Francisco, officials unveiled a new five-year collaborative
agreement with Apple Computer.
- In Las Vegas, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates described new products
and technologies to support what he calls the evolving “digital
lifestyle.”
- And here in Massachusetts, an IDC competitive analysis of software
companies’ channel programs gave the Microsoft Partner Program
high marks, while a local high-tech giant snapped up the Microsoft
Gold Certified Partner we profiled in Redmond Channel Partner’s
current issue.
That’s plenty of news to catch up on, so I’ll stop
talking and let you get to it. As always, we welcome your thoughts,
suggestions, story ideas, news tips and insights. Send them to [email protected].
Redmond Calling: Microsoft Plans To Pump Up Partner Relations
by Phone
Microsoft hopes to strengthen
its relationships with its Certified and Gold Certified partners
this year, in large part by relying on “telePAMs,”
Partner Account Managers assigned to reach out and touch those top-tier
partners by telephone. According to industry analysts (see next
item), Microsoft hopes more frequent contact and greater help with
lead generation will boost the ranks of both partner categories.
IDC Study Praises Microsoft Partner Program
In a recent competitive
analysis of vendor channel programs, IDC researchers gave the
Microsoft Partner Program top marks for leadership. In that study,
Microsoft’s partner initiatives outranked those of IBM, Progress,
Oracle, CA, Novell, BEA and Sun.
Microsoft@Macworld: Company Commits To Continuing Apple Collaboration
There’s more than pure MacBusiness on the agenda at this week’s
massive Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. Microsoft’s
Macintosh Business Unit announced a five-year
agreement to continue developing Microsoft Office software for
Mac machines.
In addition, Apple CEO Steve Jobs showed off the first
iMacs based on Intel CPUs -- including two models available
for shipping right now.
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Microsoft Takes Aim at Linux and Unix
Microsoft is offering an array of incentives and resources designed
to entice independent software vendors (ISVs) away from non-Windows
solutions. NXT,
a pilot program to be delivered through partners, is designed to
help ISVs quickly move their applications from Linux and Unix to
Windows and from other vendors’ databases to Microsoft’s
SQL Server. Microsoft estimates the value of its incentives for
ISVs to switch at $100,000.
A New Dance Partner: EMC Acquires Internosis
The current
issue of Redmond Channel Partner introduces readers to
Internosis, an IT services provider and Microsoft Gold Certified
Partner based in Greenbelt, Md. This week, EMC Corp., the giant
Hopkinton, Mass.-based information-storage company, announced
that it had acquired Internosis to spearhead a Microsoft Practice
division in EMC’s professional services group.
Bill Gates Describes ‘Digital Lifestyle’ and Forthcoming
Products
In his 10th
annual keynote address before the Consumer Electronics Show
in Las Vegas, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates described his company’s
vision of a digital lifestyle in which services, devices and applications
work together seamlessly. Gates touched on technologies ranging
from the Xbox 360 to Windows
Vista to Windows Live Messenger.
Posted by Anne Stuart on January 11, 2006