- Stay on top of changes to the Microsoft Partner Network with RCP's MPN Roadmap.
Microsoft is pushing back on the start date for the new country qualification requirements for partner competencies.
The basic idea is that partners with practices in more than one country will have to earn their competency in every country they want to claim the competency in. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 31, 20130 comments
A week after almost giving away Microsoft Surface RTs to partners at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), Microsoft has formally dropped the price for all of its consumer-oriented productivity tablets running Windows RT by $150.
A price cut appeared for all four Surface RT models on Sunday:
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Posted by Scott Bekker on July 15, 20130 comments
- Stay up-to-date on the latest news from WPC here.
Once again, Scott live-Tweeted his way through today's Worldwide Partner Conference keynote, which featured the always-entertaining Kevin Turner, Microsoft COO. Follow Scott @scottbekker and visit our WPC 2013 portal page here to stay on top of all the conference happenings. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 10, 20130 comments
Earlier this year, Redmond Channel Partner magazine teamed with Revenue Rocket Consulting Group to create an award for IT services companies with unique business strategies that are resulting in sustained growth.
Today we're pleased to announce the three winners of our inaugural award: Axis Group, LLC, a business intelligence (BI) solutions provider for mid-market and Global 1000 companies; Envision LLC, a provider of custom applications development, integration services, software product and staffing services; and Intellinet Corporation, an IT Management as a Service (MaaS) company, specializing in network management, cloud innovation and information technology services. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 09, 20130 comments
- Stay up-to-date on the latest news from WPC here.
Steve Ballmer paused in Microsoft's flurry of datacenter construction to assess Microsoft's position in the race among the megavendors investing in scaled public cloud infrastructure.
Speaking at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Monday in Houston, Ballmer provided some rare context on the size of Microsoft's server farms and how big he thinks the company's main competitors have gotten. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 09, 20130 comments
- Stay up-to-date on the latest news from WPC here.
In yet another sign of Microsoft's newfound commitment to aesthetics, the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) will add a competency in User Experience Design in January.
MPN competencies are badges that partners can earn to demonstrate their expertise in a given practice area. Microsoft currently has 25 competencies, each with either a silver or gold level. Achieving a competency requires a partner to employ professionals with relevant certifications, pay a joining fee, complete other training and, in some cases, make revenue commitments. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 09, 20130 comments
- Stay up-to-date on the latest news from WPC here.
RCP Editor in Chief Scott Bekker is in Houston this week for Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference. He live-Tweeted all through Monday's opening keynote -- the high points are below. Stay up-to-date on all WPC-related news and impressions by following Scott at @scottbekker and bookmarking our WPC 2013 page here. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 08, 20130 comments
- Stay up-to-date on the latest news from WPC here.
Microsoft's Server and Tools Business on Monday rolled out a series of technology previews and incentives aimed at making Microsoft's cloud and big data offerings more robust and easy for businesses to use.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft STB president, announced the cloud offerings during a keynote Monday at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston and in a blog post. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 08, 20130 comments
Don Mattrick's departure for Zynga could be delaying CEO Steve Ballmer's rumored reorganization plan for Microsoft.
All Things D's Kara Swisher in early June reported, based on anonymous sources, that Ballmer was in the midst of a major "devices and services"-themed reorganization. According to Swisher's original report and a late June update, Mattrick, president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, seemed slated for a major role in the executive shuffle, which Swisher reported might come as soon as July 1. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 03, 20130 comments
Windows 8.1 is coming fast on the heels of Windows 8 -- for a Microsoft update, at least.
Microsoft released a preview of Windows 8.1 yesterday, a scant seven months after the release of Windows 8, with a final version of Windows 8.1 coming as a free upgrade from Windows 8 later this year. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on June 27, 20130 comments
Internal rumblings from Microsoft make it sound as if the executive shakeup that CEO Steve Ballmer is rumored to be working on will be more than the usual late-June game of musical chairs.
AllThingsD's Kara Swisher, who broke the story of the pending executive shakeup in early June, wrote an update Sunday night suggesting that the "level of worry" is growing among Microsoft executives. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on June 24, 20130 comments
Microsoft partners attending the Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston next month will have a crack at the same cut-rate deal on Microsoft Surface that TechEd attendees got a few weeks ago -- $100 for a Surface RT and $400 for a Surface Pro.
Jon Roskill, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group, unveiled the offer Thursday on his Channel Chief blog. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on June 20, 20130 comments