Microsoft Partnering 101


Talkin’ ’Bout the Next Generation ... of Microsoft’s Partner Ecosystem

Redmond recently unveiled plans to revise key aspects of the 5-year-old Microsoft Partner Program. Experts and partners weigh in on the likely impact of the coming changes.

Playing the Deployment Card

Microsoft aims to have partners making more strategic software deployments a priority in the next year.

S+S: From Possibilities to Specifics

In narrowing its Software plus Services talk into a real program, Microsoft had to go from dozens of promising options to one controversial reality. Many partners see opportunities in the program, but concerns abound.

How Do You Measure Sales Success?

Some easy dashboard metrics for partners who want to squeeze as much as they can from their strategic sales-management plans.

Partnering with Peer Groups: P2P Power, Version 2.0

Arlin Sorensen's network of partner peer groups prepares to kick off a new game plan.

Microsoft Unveils More Mojave Details for Skeptics

Some people think Microsoft's Mojave Experiment, revealed in July, was rigged marketing exercise, but Microsoft begs to differ, according to a Tuesday blog post.

Microsoft Updates IE Patch Due to VML Flaw

Microsoft this week released an update to a 2007 Internet Explorer patch covering Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7.

Microsoft Announces SP1 for Forefront Client Security

The software giant this week released its first service pack for Forefront Client Security, a member of its Forefront family of security products.

Web Sites Rife with Unpatched Vulnerabilities

Although the overall number of vulnerabilities being discovered in software appears to be leveling off or even dropping, two recent reports on Web security say that the overwhelming majority of Web sites studied still have unpatched vulnerabilities that could expose visitors to malicious code.

Troubles in Terrorist Database

A variety of technical flaws in an upgrade of the system that supports the government's terrorist watch list has drawn congressional fire and raised concerns that the entire system might be in jeopardy.

VoIP Adoption Soaring -- But Not Revenues

If consumer Voice-over-IP (VoIP) is surging, why are VoIP equipment revenues -- especially in a market segment that includes gargantuan players such as Cisco Systems Inc. and Alcatel-Lucent -- softening?

Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2

Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, and the company spilled a lot of pixels explaining the beta's new features.

BitLocker Password Exploit Is 'Very Unlikely,' Sisk Says

Redmond responded on Wednesday to an independent security vendor's discovery of a hard-drive encryption vulnerability affecting Microsoft's BitLocker function, Intel/HP's BIOS and several other products and programs.

Xen Hypervisor Gets an Update

The open source hypervisor Xen has a new version, 3.3, that includes a number of upgrades and enhancements that make it more enterprise-worthy and start to move it beyond the datacenter.

IT Spending Rises Despite Tough Economic Times

Last week, market watcher Gartner Inc. issued a report in which it projected that IT spending should eclipse $3.4 trillion this year. That's a year-over-year growth rate of 8 percent.