A new partner-billing option for Office 365 may not be available until next July.
Microsoft announced the Office 365 Open License at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in July. The news that Microsoft partners' most common request was being addressed met with a very positive response from the WPC keynote audience. Microsoft executives offered no timeframe for the change in the announcement. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 27, 20120 comments
With only a few weeks to a joint Sept. 5 announcement expected to reveal a new Lumia device or devices for Windows Phone 8, Microsoft and Nokia appear to be putting other pieces in place.
For one thing, Nokia's all-in bet on Windows Phone is succeeding, at least in the limited arena of the existing Windows Phone ecosystem. Nokia has only had Windows Phones for sale since November 2011 (and only since January in the United States), yet it's now dominating the field. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 22, 20120 comments
In a few months, Microsoft will make the most significant changes yet to its Microsoft Partner Network competency structure. Microsoft is consolidating six competencies into two, and redirecting two other competencies. Here are the changes, announced during the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, that will take effect in November:
App Dev Consolidation
The MPN is merging three competencies -- ISV, Software Development and Web Development -- into one competency called Application Development. Microsoft plans to grandfather all partners in the existing competencies into the new competency automatically in November. In another move intended for development-focused partners, Microsoft is expanding the number of competencies with integrated application tracks. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 13, 20120 comments
Dell, Lenovo and Samsung will be releasing devices for the Windows RT operating system, a Microsoft official confirmed Monday.
Windows RT is the version of Windows 8 designed for system-on-a-chip (SoC) platforms, especially consumer tablets. Higher-end tablets designed to be backward compatible with older Windows applications for business and power user purposes will have x86 processors and run Windows 8. Windows RT and Windows 8 have both been released to manufacturing. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 13, 20120 comments
Distribution giant Tech Data Corp. this week added hosted Microsoft Exchange provider Intermedia to its StreamOne Solutions Store.
The move makes several Intermedia messaging packages for SMBs immediately available to Tech Data's 60,000 reseller channel in the United States. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 02, 20120 comments
One of the biggest questions surrounding Windows 8 is how many third-party apps will be ready for launch.
That's still a huge question mark, but one hot app developer that makes software that serves as a usability multiplier is already on the platform. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 02, 20120 comments
Canalys, the market research firm that counts iPads and other tablets among PC shipments, released numbers on Tuesday putting Windows' overall market share at a "new low of 73 percent."
In spite of some bright spots for Windows, the firm doesn't see the Microsoft Surface pulling Windows out of a market share dive any time soon and its analysts are encouraging OEMs to demand better pricing from Microsoft on Windows RT. The slide represents a 9-point share loss in the year since Canalys put Wintel's Q2 2011 share at 82 percent. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 31, 20128 comments
KineticD, the Toronto-based cloud and hybrid backup company, has been on a tear lately, getting itself and its products certified under various Microsoft certifications.
The latest Microsoft hurdle cleared by KineticD is certification of its cloud backup portfolio, KineticCloud, for the Windows 8 platform. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 24, 20120 comments
It's not every day you get to put Microsoft on the spot in front of a live audience of a few hundred people. So when Andy Vabulas saw his chance to make a plug for an investment to benefit a lot of MPN competency partners like his own company, he took it.
Vabulas, CEO of IBIS Inc., was invited to appear on a Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference stage with Julie Bennani, the general manager of the Microsoft Partner Network, last week in Toronto. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 19, 20120 comments
A year ago, Microsoft put Windows XP on a deathwatch. This year, company officials warned there would be no reprieve for the popular but aging operating system.
"XP end of life is not that far off -- a thousand days to be exact," said Tami Reller, corporate vice president and CFO for Windows and Windows Live, during a Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference keynote a year ago. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 19, 20121 comments
Most Microsoft partners serving small-business customers know without being told that the Microsoft Technology Centers are not designed for them or their customers.
Peruse the case studies for the 11 MTCs in the United States and they're mostly enterprise engagements, with National Systems Integrators or Global Systems Integrators and MTC staff guiding enterprise customers through complex proof-of-concepts with Microsoft software and high-end gear from Dell, HP, Brocade, EMC, Emulex, Brocade, NetApp, Emerson and APC. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 19, 20120 comments
Without breaking any news on Windows Phone 8 at its partner confab last week, Microsoft did treat partners to a deeper dive into business features of the upcoming smartphone platform.
Thom Gruhler, Microsoft's new corporate vice president of Windows Phone Marketing, oversaw a guided tour of Windows 8 during a keynote at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 18, 20120 comments