WPC 2012: What's MPN Worth to a Partner? $320K
In advance of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference this week, Microsoft worked with IDC to research and produce a graphic detailing what the benefits of the Microsoft Partner Network are worth to a partner.
The baseline partner they used was a 50-person organization with $5 million to $10 million in revenues and two to five competencies. The conclusion was the MPN core benefits were worth $320,000.
I haven't seen the study by Mira Perry and Steve White at IDC, called "The Business Value of the Microsoft Partner Network Core Benefits." But Microsoft posted the chart in a blog entry Wednesday.
The chart attaches specific values to several areas:
- Internal Use Software = $125,000
- MSDN Subscriptions = $83,000
- Partner Learning Center = $37,500
- Partner Marketing Center = $11,000
- Technical Presales and Advisory Services Support = $6,000
Those add up to about $262,500. Presumably the rest of the $320,000 value estimate comes from less quantifiable benefits also listed in the graphic, such as Partner Account Managers, the Pinpoint directory, incentives that Microsoft says will total $4.2 billion in FY'13 and the Demo Showcase.
[Click on image for larger view.]
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Will every partner in that size band get $320,000 in value if they use all the benefits? No, but as we've repeatedly argued since we first started Redmond Channel Partner in 2005, the benefits are certainly substantial enough to be worth a detailed look. Very few Microsoft partners are so large that $100,000 or more in value wouldn't materially affect the bottom line.
The MPN is like anything else. Bring a cynical attitude into it, and you're guaranteed not to derive any benefits. Drink the Kool Aid a little too much and you can wind up focusing on Microsoft priorities to the detriment of your own. But as with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, use it just right and MPN can be a money saver and a real accelerator for your business.
More from WPC 2012:
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 12, 2012