Microsoft is dusting off the "Big Easy" partner subsidy program for another round of service.
A new version of Big Easy, called "Big Easy Offer 7," will start next Monday and run through Dec. 31 of this year. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on September 12, 20110 comments
At Salesforce.com's Dreamforce conference, CEO Marc Benioff interviewed Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. According to Michael J. Miller's summary of the conversation on his PC Magazine blog, Schmidt had a lot of interesting things to say.
Schmidt's take on the difference between Apple and Microsoft is one of the most insightful comments on the subject I've seen. From Miller's summary: More
Posted by Scott Bekker on September 03, 20111 comments
RBA Consulting, a Microsoft National Systems Integrator, signed a definitive agreement this month to acquire fellow Minneapolis-area firm Ratchet Inc. in a deal expected to close this week.
The move would give RBA a foothold in digital marketing, which is the specialty of Ratchet, a firm with 42 employees, $5 million in 2010 revenues and a Midwest-heavy client base that includes Chicago-based Navistar and Fortune 500 companies in Minnesota. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 30, 20110 comments
A few high-profile Microsoft Dynamics partners are marketing their status as holders of an exclusive badge that identifies them as experts in specific industry verticals.
The latest to highlight the badge is I.B.I.S., a multiple Microsoft award-winning ERP and CRM partner based in Norcross, Ga. CEO Andy Vabulas wrote a blog post last week about I.B.I.S. achieving AMR Research Partner Industry recognition as a Certified Microsoft Dynamics VAR for the discrete manufacturing industry. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 30, 20110 comments
China briefly grabbed the top spot from the United States as the top PC market in the second quarter of this year, according to analysts at IDC.
While the United States will most likely retain the full-year lead as the top market for PCs in 2011, IDC anticipates that China will take over the top spot for the full year in 2012. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 27, 20110 comments
Here's a topic that combines two of my favorite topics: technology and the NFL.
Turns out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have come up with a slick solution to the old problem of printing up all those thick NFL playbooks -- and making sure players don't leave them in opposing locker rooms or hotel rooms where Bill Belichick might find them. OK, that was a cheap shot, but the Bucs are putting their playbooks on iPads. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 26, 20110 comments
A new Microsoft Store is coming to the Washington, D.C. area as part of a drastic planned expansion in the company's number of retail locations over the next few years.
"Breaking news from the capital! A new power player is making headlines in the D.C. area. The Microsoft Store is coming soon to Tysons Corner Center," Microsoft announced in a post Thursday on the Microsoft Store Facebook page. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 26, 20110 comments
We ran a feature in Redmond Channel Partner magazine this month about where partners can find caches of Microsoft software and cloud licenses within the Microsoft Partner Network (see "Partners: 6 Ways To Get Free Microsoft Product Licenses").
All these caches of licenses, known as Internal Use Rights (or IURs), are free in the sense that the costs of the relevant programs are quickly covered by the use of one or two licenses when hundreds of licenses are available to each partner organization. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 24, 20112 comments
Microsoft is providing another carrot to encourage partners to pursue a gold competency in the Microsoft Partner Network -- solution incentives for Windows 7 sales.
"Partners with a Gold Desktop competency are now eligible to earn Windows 7 solution incentive fees up to 10 percent of a customer deal involving Windows 7 Enterprise or Windows 7 Enterprise with MDOP," wrote Karl Noakes, general manager of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Strategy & Programs, in a blog entry Tuesday. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 24, 20110 comments
The Windows Phone "Mango" drumbeat is getting faster and louder. The latest developments: More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 24, 20110 comments
By demonstrating Windows 8 with a tablet-first interface earlier this summer, Microsoft implicitly argued that the PC ecosystem should include tablets.
One analyst firm is measuring the market exactly that way, and concluding that the market share of the "Wintel" paradigm is dropping. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 18, 20110 comments
Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. seems aimed at competing with the Apple iPhone, but the move may give Microsoft an important opening for its struggling Windows Phone smartphone platform.
Google and Motorola Mobility announced the deal Monday morning. It's been approved by both companies' boards of directors. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on August 15, 20112 comments