A recurring theme in any channel program is how many leads a vendor can provide its partners.
In the Microsoft channel, partners have complained for years that the Solution Finder didn't do much for them. They've often said the same of its replacement, Pinpoint, which launched as a beta in July 2008 and in full two years ago. (Microsoft is still in the process of transferring all partner listings from Solution Finder to Pinpoint.) More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 14, 20113 comments
Initial sales estimates from Wall Street analysts are in, and it looks like the Apple iPad 2 sold out within a few hours Friday evening. A story on Fortune's Web site has the details.
What's more interesting to the Microsoft partner community is the way the device is breaking out of the Apple ecosystem and getting into the PC user base. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 14, 20110 comments
Microsoft wrapped up meetings with Partner Advisory Councils last week and heard strong demand for roadmaps, both product-related and Microsoft Partner Network program-related, Microsoft executives said.
Microsoft Corporate Vice President Jon Roskill of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group tweeted about the feedback on Wednesday: "We wrapped up the PAC with report outs and while clear we have work to do (roadmaps etc) much progress on Cloud vs. last year." More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 14, 20110 comments
The quick thinking of a tech at a Boston-area Microsoft Certified Partner company helped police recover an iPad stolen from one of the firm's clients at a train station earlier in the day.
The morning of March 2, Michael McGowan, an IT Associate at NSK Inc., took a call from a client who'd had his iPad snatched from his hands while typing an e-mail as he waited for the Red Line of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. McGowan had configured the client's iPad in 2010, so he logged into Apple's MobileMe site to lock the device remotely and track it through its GPS. On the phone with MBTA Transit Police, he helped guide officers to the perpetrator's vicinity in about an hour. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 12, 20112 comments
The media tablet market exploded in the fourth quarter of 2010 (read: holiday sales of the Apple iPad), according to figures released today by market researchers at IDC.
For the last three months of the year, 10.1 million media tablets were shipped. Apple's share was 73 percent for the quarter. The other big contender was the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which garnered 17 percent of the market in the quarter, according to IDC. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 10, 20110 comments
The Apple iPad got a major enterprise nod this week from virtualization giant VMware Inc.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based virtualization vendor has introduced its first iPad app, a 6.1 MB download called VMware View for iPad. The free app enters the crowded fray of remote desktop apps for iPad users, joining Citrix Receiver for iPad, Wyse PocketCloud RDP/VNC (Remote Desktop) and others. (See RCP's Web exclusive, 23 Intriguing iPad Apps for Microsoft Partners, for a discussion of several of them and many apps in other categories.) More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 10, 20110 comments
Apple's iPad 2 launch captured all the attention last week, but the Cupertino-ites also quietly launched a professional services package for micro-SMBs.
Whether it's a direct assault on Apple's existing partners and other VARs in the SMB space or a "rising tide lifts all boats" scenario is hotly debated among Apple's current partners. In any case, the offering, called JointVenture and formally launched Thursday, is somewhat similar to what Best Buy was doing a few years ago with its Geek Squad. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 07, 20110 comments
Four months into the new Microsoft Partner Network, the massive overhaul to Microsoft's partner ecosystem still holds as many questions as answers for many partners.
Senior Microsoft channel executives will be dedicating 90 minutes to trying to clear up some of the uncertainty during an interactive webinar on Thursday. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 07, 20110 comments
On Monday, I reported on a Microsoft blog post from the previous week saying that Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 would hit the Microsoft Digital Download Center, where partners grab their Action Pack bits, by the end of February. That didn't happen, and now the estimate for availability has stretched out into Q2. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 04, 20110 comments
On the Microsoft SMS&P blog this week, Eric Ligman wrote about a current partner incentive program for cloud that we'd missed -- and it's a pretty big deal. The math is really good for partners, and it's effectively seed money for the add-on services that Microsoft is always saying partners will get if they sell BPOS.
"Here is a great opportunity for all of you partners focusing on SMB customers to drive adoption of online services," wrote Ligman, the global partner experience lead for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 04, 20110 comments
FalconStor Software revamped its partner program this week with new partner tiers, a portal and new benefits for resellers of its disk-based data protection solutions. The new program is called PartnerChoice and the launch also includes a new portal called PartnerPlace, which includes opportunity and order tracking.
Brendan Kinkade, vice president of channel management and global alliances for Melville, N.Y.-based FalconStor, said the program now has three tiers: Authorized, Preferred and Premier. The Authorized level includes access to the portal, lead locking and a logo. The Preferred level brings eligibility for market development funds, volume rebates and not-for-resale software and a dedicated tech support hotline. The top, Premier, level increases volume rebates and includes co-marketing projects, event participation and a partner showcase. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 02, 20110 comments