Most of the changes being introduced to Microsoft's channel program are taking effect relatively slowly. But one change is on the fast track. According to a Microsoft news release this week about changes coming in the Microsoft Partner Network, the following was listed as a "need to know" item:
Microsoft Gold Certified Partners enrolling or re-enrolling in the program must have participated in the Customer Satisfaction Index within the previous 12 months. This new requirement will be required for Gold Certified Partners re-enrolling during the 2010 re-enrollment period.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 15, 20090 comments
The 2010 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference time and location is set: Washington, D.C., from July 12-15. The location continues Microsoft's practice over the last few years of picking hot and muggy places for the July conference (Houston, New Orleans), although the conference seems to be drifting back north. With a disproportionate amount of U.S. IT spending expected to come out of the federal government over the next few years, holding the event in the nation's capital certainly makes good business sense. In any case, the Washington location is sweet news for me -- I'm based near Baltimore.
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 15, 20093 comments
Microsoft announced global availability of Microsoft Communication Services on Tuesday at its Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC).
The program consists of marketing collateral, such as a Ready to Go campaign, aimed at SMB customers who are most interested in having their communications infrastructure hosted by a hosting provider.
The materials emphasize capabilities, such as e-mail, phone, fax and document sharing, versus emphasizing Microsoft products that those smaller customers don't tend to be familiar with. Components of the campaigns are also designed for smaller reseller partners who would act as sales agents for the larger hosters.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 14, 20090 comments
Partners will get a handful of new tools, programs and benefits around the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) this year in an effort that Microsoft officials hope will make the flagship Software plus Services offering more attractive to the channel.
At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in New Orleans this week, Microsoft officials announced partner-specific internal use rights, customer management tools and partner branding on billing to encourage partner adoption of BPOS, which was unveiled a year ago at the WPC in Houston.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 14, 20090 comments
The Microsoft Dynamics unit will take the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group's new Microsoft Partner Network and add elements to it for Dynamics partners.
"We're snapping into what the Microsoft Partner Network is doing," explained Doug Kennedy, vice president, Microsoft Dynamics Partners.
Already Kennedy is pleased that the Microsoft Partner Network's new Competency structure will give Dynamics partners some much needed differentiation. Even though the overall number of Competencies and Specializations is being reduced, it's going the other way for Dynamics partners, who will now have one Competency for ERP and one Competency for CRM.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 14, 20090 comments
Market researchers at IDC are out with their predictions for the channel impact of Windows 7, which is set to become generally available in October.
In a research profile sponsored by Microsoft and released at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) this week, analysts John Gantz, Al Gillen and Amie White wrote that IDC's forecast for Windows 7 uptake is brisk: 177 million unit shipments by the end of 2010.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 14, 20091 comments
During online registration for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), Microsoft gave attendees a chance to assist in some projects to rebuild New Orleans, a city still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina nearly four years ago.
According to figures provided by Allison Watson, corporate vice president for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group, participation was impressive. "We had over 500 partners participate with us from all over the world," she said.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 14, 20090 comments
Allison Watson formally launched the new Microsoft Partner Network on Monday at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). The new network will eliminate the longstanding and popular Gold Certified level in the Microsoft Partner Program, as well as the Certified and Registered Member levels.
The new program will have four main partner "landing areas": Advanced, Standard, Subscriber, and Communities and QuickStarts. Microsoft will continue the use of the Microsoft Competencies, but is paring the list substantially from 17 competencies and 46 specializations now to about 30 in the near future. The Competency system will also encompass some previously free-standing programs, such as the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 13, 20093 comments
As part of the new Microsoft Partner Network launched Monday, Microsoft is streamlining the Competency system that partners use to differentiate their expertise.
Microsoft released a list of the 29 Solution Competencies that will replace the current set of 17 Competencies and 46 Specializations. Partners will have 12 to 18 months to switch into the new categories.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 13, 20090 comments
There was never much doubt that attendance at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) would be down in New Orleans 2009 compared with Houston 2008.
Microsoft officials rejected the recession-inspired outright cancellation option that many other companies have chosen for their conferences this year. Microsoft hustled to open registration for WPC several weeks early this year and held registration open right up until last week. In previous years, the conference sold out long before the start.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 13, 20090 comments
Jenni Flinders, a nine-year Microsoft veteran with deep channel experience whose most recent role involved leveraging distributor relationships to reach the breadth of Microsoft's 640,000-member global channel, on Tuesday became vice president for U.S. Partner Business Development and Sales.
Flinders replaces Robert Deshaies, who will be focusing on an unspecified "key strategic initiative" for the Microsoft U.S. Leadership Team, a company spokesperson said in an e-mail laying out a number of moves within Microsoft's channel organization.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 08, 20092 comments
The number of Microsoft partners boasting Gold Certified status has been booming, both in the United States and worldwide.
According to the latest Microsoft Partner Program enrollment figures provided to RCP by Microsoft, Gold Certified partners have been going up both globally and in the United States. The number of Gold Certified Partners worldwide is up 17 percent this year to 16,000. In the United States, the number of Golds is up 67 percent to 5,000. Worldwide, the number of Certified Partners is up nearly 5 percent to 18,000. In the United States, Certified Partner rolls dropped 17 percent to 6,000.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on June 18, 20090 comments