Partners can expect less blue-sky transformation and more down-to-earth optimization when it comes to the programs and incentives Microsoft presents for fiscal 2021.
When Microsoft unofficially kicks off its 2021 fiscal year in July with the Inspire partner conference, the message will be shaped by COVID-19. On a surface level, that's because the live event in Las Vegas was canceled due to the novel coronavirus and replaced with a virtual event.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on April 14, 20200 comments
As partners scramble to meet urgent priorities in the face of the public health and economic crisis of the coronavirus, Microsoft took steps this month to remove its Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) program requirements from their growing to-do lists.
"We've heard from many partners that it's challenging to meet requirements and renew existing competencies in the current climate," Microsoft One Commercial Partner Corporate Vice President Gavriella Schuster said in a blog post. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on April 07, 20200 comments
Bill Gates has waded into the ongoing discussion over how the United States can curb the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic without sacrificing the health of its citizens.
On one side are those urging a massive public health response to save millions of people from death; on the other are those looking for less extreme measures to soften the unprecedented economic hardship that the shutdowns, self-isolation and social distancing are causing. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 27, 20200 comments
Due to concerns over COVID-19, Microsoft canceled the in-person portion of its massive annual partner conference, Microsoft Inspire, which had been scheduled for Las Vegas from July 19-23.
Early registration had been scheduled to open Tuesday. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 24, 20200 comments
Way more people are kicking the tires of Microsoft Teams worldwide as the coronavirus forces people to work from the isolation of their homes as a public health measure.
"We have seen an unprecedented spike in Teams usage, and now have more than 44 million daily users, a figure that has grown by 12 million in just the last seven days," reported Jared Spataro, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, in a blog post Thursday. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 19, 20200 comments
Microsoft followed Apple and many other retailers in shutting down all Microsoft Store locations until further notice in an attempt to limit the spread of coronavirus.
"With today's recommendation from the United States government to not socially gather in groups of more than 10 people, we will be temporarily closing Microsoft Store locations -- effective immediately," wrote David Porter, corporate vice president, Microsoft Store, in a letter to customers and the community e-mailed Monday night. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 17, 20200 comments
One provider of a key component of remote work is offering temporary free licenses for new customers as employers throughout the United States encourage their employees to stay home in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Axcient, a provider of availability and security solutions sold through managed service providers, is making Anchor licenses free for new customers through June, meaning the offer could last for up to three months. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 16, 20200 comments
To address public safety concerns over the coronavirus, Microsoft is turning its biggest developer conference of the year into an online event.
The company this week announced it is cancelling the in-person portion of Microsoft Build, which had been scheduled for May 19-21 in Seattle. There were about 6,000 attendees at the show in 2019, and Microsoft regularly uses the event to launch major products, services, features and initiatives.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on March 13, 20200 comments
Microsoft and an international consortium of partners this week launched a counterstrike against Necurs, a massive botnet that Microsoft had been observing and analyzing for nearly eight years.
Botnets are packs of hundreds, thousands or millions of PCs, sometimes called zombies, that have been infected with malware and are under the command and control of malicious actors. Think of your parents' under-patched and out-of-support Windows 7 computer infected with a Trojan that enlists that computer in various nefarious schemes. The zombie PC's owner may notice nothing at all, or sometimes suspect a decline in performance. According to Microsoft, Necurs has had a role in a lot of those nefarious schemes.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on March 11, 20200 comments
Microsoft has added a new office to the C-suite.
Eric Horvitz has been named Chief Scientific Officer, a new job title at Microsoft. The company has recently been expanding beyond its software legacy -- where artificial intelligence is a natural fit -- to more physical areas of science, such as quantum computing, health care and the new corporate initiative to become carbon negative.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on March 11, 20200 comments
Fears over the coronavirus and its effect on global supply chains will result in a leaner-than-expected year for the PC and smartphone markets, according to IDC.
The Framingham, Mass.-based research firm slashed forecasts last week for both PC shipments and smartphones. It now projects a 9 percent decline for the PC market in 2020, with total shipments reaching 374.2 million for the full year.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on March 02, 20200 comments
Microsoft's third-quarter results will likely take a hit from the global coronavirus emergency and its impact on the supply chain, Microsoft warned investors this week.
The warning comes less than one month after Microsoft's Q2 earnings results, in which surprisingly strong demand for Windows, partly driven by end-of-support deadlines, helped the company exceed Wall Street expectations. More
Posted by Scott Bekker on February 27, 20200 comments