Microsoft keeps on adding to its roster of partners carrying the gold competencies and silver competencies the company created with the Microsoft Partner Network.
At the Worldwide Partner Conference last week, Jon Roskill put the numbers at more than 10,000 gold competency partners and more than 25,000 silver competency partners. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 17, 20121 comments
One of the most important things for partners to figure out at the start of a Microsoft fiscal year is what Microsoft is doing in the field.
Last week at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft dropped lots of bread crumbs about how Microsoft's partner-facing sales force will be compensated and about changes to the structure of the field organization that partners encounter. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 17, 20120 comments
If you noticed the April-May-June quarter seemed slow for PC sales, the numbers now back you up.
IDC released figures this week showing that the worldwide PC market stalled in the second quarter. Shipments fell 0.1 percent globally compared to the year-ago quarter and dropped a whopping 10.6 percent in the United States. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 12, 20121 comments
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. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 12, 20120 comments
As the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference winds down, let's focus on what's really important to attendees of any conference: Who had the best swag on the show floor?
In my limited time in the WPC Solutions Center, I came across the "Got Servers?" shirts from Cisco, the folding frisbees from Tech Data, cigars from The Rand Group LLC and pens galore. What other freebies were out there? Submit your nominations for the first ever "RCP Best Swag of WPC" award to [email protected] by Wednesday, July 18. Attach a photo of the swag if you can. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 12, 20122 comments
Scott was on hand to live-Tweet Wednesday's WPC keynote, which was basically a Kevin Turner pep rally. Check out the highlights below, and don't forget to follow Scott at @scottbekker and check out our WPC page here for all the latest WPC news. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 11, 20120 comments
Microsoft unveiled a new logo for the Microsoft Partner Network this week at its Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto.
The main difference is that the logo mostly uses the new typeface for Metro that Microsoft is standardizing on more and more in its user interfaces and communications. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 10, 20120 comments
Tuesday's Day 2 keynote was full of announcements, and Scott was there to live-Tweet them all. Follow him at @scottbekker, and check out our WPC page here for the latest news from Toronto. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 10, 20120 comments
Scott live-Tweeted his way through Monday's WPC 2012 keynote, which featured major Windows 8 and Office 365 news. Follow him at @scottbekker, and keep updated on all WPC-related news on our WPC page here. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 09, 20120 comments
The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference starts next week in Toronto -- marking the first time in many years that the global gathering is being held outside the United States (though not far outside).
Having recently completed an extensive, worldwide search of the Microsoft Pinpoint directory of partners for our "most competent" partners list, we thought it might be a good time to show where in the world Microsoft's partners are. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 05, 20120 comments
Microsoft, justifiably, will dominate the news at its Worldwide Partner Conference next week in Toronto. Look for product, program and momentum announcements aplenty on our WPC page here. But many of the companies in the Microsoft ecosystem will be vying for Microsoft partners' attention with news of their own.
A lot of them have rented booths on the WPC show floor, and RCP is here to help partners, both those at the show and those monitoring the show from afar. Vendors looking to make a splash at WPC have filled out detailed e-mail interviews with RCP about what value they're offering to partners this year, and what they're emphasizing at the show. Yes, we even get into the swag. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 05, 20120 comments
To help RCP readers get ready for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, we ran a special Marching Orders feature with top tips for getting the most out of the conference. The authors of the article were five of the Microsoft channel's top consultants for improving your partner business.
That group, the Alliance for Channel Success, which includes RCP columnists Ken Thoreson and Howard Cohen, will participate in several sessions at WPC next week in Toronto. In addition to the interesting Microsoft sessions that we've already pointed out from a product and business direction standpoint, the Alliance sessions below will also be good sessions to consider for your personal planner: More
Posted by Scott Bekker on July 03, 20120 comments