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0207rcp_cover.v4
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RCPmag.com ✱ February 2007
Bill Vollerthum
➔
of Enabling Technologies Corp.
says Microsoft’s
Unified Communications strategy
can put partners on the fast track
to new business.
12
➔GET THE
MESSAGE
SMALL BUSINESS SPECIALIST COMMUNITY TURNS
A CORNER· 19 ✱ JOIN A GRASSROOTS GROUP TO CULTIVATE
INFLUENCE · 24 ✱ HOW TO WIN A MICROSOFT PARTNER
AWARD · 30 ✱ SOLUTION SPOTLIGHT: OFFICE 2007 · 35 ✱
HP AND MICROSOFT ENTER INTO A BIG DEAL 7 ✱ TACTICS
FOR CATCHING REDMOND’S NEW WAVE · 46
Project2
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Network-wide PST file management can be a nightmare for your customers
4
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New
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Email Archiving
Centrally archive all company email and end PST hell today!
Email archiving solution for internal and external email
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Project2
1/3/07
10:44 AM
Page 1
Get your FREE trial version of
GFI MailArchiver for Exchange today!
GFI MailArchiver for Exchange is an easy-to-use corporate email archiving solution that enables your customers to archive all internal and
external mail into one or multiple SQL databases or an NTFS formatted hard drive, heavily reducing reliance on PST files. Your customers can
now provide their users with easy, centralized access to past emails via a web-based search interface and the ability to quickly restore emails
through a OneClick Restore process. GFI MailArchiver aids your customers in fulfilling regulatory email storage requirements (such as the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act). GFI MailArchiver leverages the journaling feature of Exchange Server 2000/2003, providing unparalleled scalability and
reliability at a competitive cost. Use GFI MailArchiver to:

Archive all incoming and outgoing company email to multiple SQL databases or NTFS drives
Significantly reduce storage requirements for email by up to 80%
End PST hell by storing email in SQL format or an NTFS drive
Provide end-users with a single, web-based location in which to search all their past email
Advanced email search and Saved Search capabilities
Allow users to restore archived emails through a OneClick Restore
Help comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC and other regulations.
Archive stores management
tel: +1 (919) 379 3397 | fax: +1 (919) 379 3402 | email: [email protected] | url: www.gfi.com/cmr/
AMDAdFebRCP.Final
1/10/07
9:24 AM
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8
Reasons to Move to
®
Microsoft Exchange
Server 2007 on AMD
EFFICIENCY
X 64 POWER
CONFIDENCE
That is what customers need in
the datacenter. With Exchange
now running on 64-bit servers,
efficiency is what they’ll get,
especially from AMD64
processors. The AMD OpteronTM
processors, which is targeted to
high-performance systems, also
includes multi-core technology.
This means that customers have
access to improved system
efficiency and application
performance for both multitasking and multi-threaded
applications without changing
the processor footprint. That is
efficiency.
As a native 64-bit application,
Exchange Server 2007 provides
higher performance because it
breaks 32-bit memory and I/O
barriers, increasing the
capability of each server
running Exchange. AMD, through
its OpteronTM processor series,
provides the best match for the
performance expectations your
customers will have with
Exchange 2007. AMD OpteronTM
processors use Direct Connect
Architecture which relies on
HyperTransportTM technology for
the interconnect between
processors, integrated memory
controller and I/O reducing
latency and letting them
communicate at CPU speed.
That is power!
Exchange’s new local and
cluster continuous replication
models for high availability of
the mailbox data store also
provide support for backups
without impacting production
environments. With normal
server configurations now able
to contain up to 1,000 mailboxes
per processor core, this is an
important feature. AMD OpteronTM
processors are leaders in
performance and I/O throughput,
letting your customers’ server
configurations provide the best
overall execution without
impacting administrative operations. This level of confidence
puts them in the driver’s seat.
AMD Web Links:
http://channel.amd.com
AMD Opteron™ Processor Family: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_8825,00.html
Enhanced Virus Protection: www.amd.com/us
HyperTransport™: www.amd.com/usen/Processors/DevelopWithAMD/0,,30_2252_2353,00.html
Cool’n’Quiet Technology: www.amd.com/usen/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_9485_9487^10272,00.html
PowerNow! Technology: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_10220_10221%5e964,00.html
Ab out the authors
Danielle Ruest and Nelson Ruest (MCSE, MCT, MVP) are multiple book authors focusing on systems design,
administration, and management. They run a consulting company that concentrates on IT infrastructure
architecture, change and configuration management. You can reach them at [email protected].
www.reso-net.com
HIGH PERFORMANCE
Exchange 2007 running on
AMD OpteronTM processors
provides great performance.
Because AMD OpteronTM
processors provide the best
performance-per-watt ratios on
the market, your customers can
now build the datacenter
without having to build up the
server room. Servers based on
AMD OpteronTM processors,
whether single- or multi-core,
do not require additional power
yet deliver the kind of
performance you’d expect from
64-bit class machines and
Exchange’s new feature set.
Now, that is performance!
AMDAdFebRCP.Final
1/10/07
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Exchange Server, Microsoft’s flagship e-mail management system, is undergoing a major facelift in version 2007. For the first
time, Exchange will offer a platform for unified messaging, expanded access mechanisms, message control and hosted messaging
service to provide a secure, one-stop communications tool. Since email is now the mission critical application, your customers will
be looking to a rapid migration to this powerful new version. But, Exchange 2007 now runs exclusively on x64 hardware giving it
access to the performance gains 64-bit processing provides. As professional channel partner, you need to look at how you can
help customers make the migration, especially if they are currently running only 32-bit systems today. Better yet, we think it is time
for them to consider changing their server processor infrastructure. Here are eight reasons why they should consider moving to
Exchange 2007 and 64-bit computing on AMD processors. We think they provide a compelling picture for changing the server
infrastructure in their organization as they move to Exchange 2007.
A RCHITECTURE
Exchange 2007 now includes
new server roles designed to
drive deployment efficiency.
Each role is responsive to the
number of processors or
processor cores the server
includes and AMD’s unique
CPU architecture, integrated
memory controller, and high
speed HyperTransportTM
technology, is quick to react to
each function. AMD OpteronTM
processors with Direct Connect
Architecture are designed to
provide the foundation for
balanced, scalable servers that
are easy to manage and
operate in today’s thermally and
electrically limited datacenters.
N IMBLE
Email system usage grows with
time; every administrator knows
this. With AMD OpteronTM-based
systems, your customers will
know that their investment is
protected. AMD has a very
stable socket architecture.
Today, you know that the
servers you sell will be fully
upgradeable to quad-core
processors when they are
released in 2007. Start your
customers with dual-core
processors today and when
they’re ready to upgrade, they
can just pop out the old
processor and pop in the new
one. That’s nimble!
G UARD
Email security is the most
important aspect of any
Exchange architecture and
Exchange 2007 is no slouch in
this regard. The new Edge
Transport server role provides a
host of anti-spam and data
protection features. In addition,
x64 systems provide additional
security through data execution
prevention—preventing code
from executing in certain
memory locations. AMD
OpteronTM also include
Enhanced Virus Protection*
which can help protect against
viruses, worms and malicious
attacks. Are your customers
ready to guard their email?
E VALUATE
Evaluate your customers’
options now! AMD OpteronTM
processor-based systems offer
great value. These systems are
offered by the most popular
and innovative server vendors
on the market—Dell, Fujistu
Siemens, Gateway, HP, IBM,
Sun Microsystems, and more.
Whether they’re planning their
Exchange 2007 deployment or
whether they’re just buying
new servers with a look to the
future, help them find out which
AMD OpteronTM processorbased servers you offer. Are
your customers ready for
action? Then move them to
AMD.
©2006 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron, and combinations
thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. HyperTransport is a licensed trademark of the
HyperTransport Technology Consortium. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation
in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their
respective owners.
* Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP) is only enabled by certain operating systems, including the current versions of
the Microsoft® Windows®, Linux®, Solaris, and BSD Unix operating systems. After properly installing the appropriate
operating system release, users must enable the protection of their applications and associated files from buffer
overrun attacks. Consult your OS documentation for information on enabling EVP. Contact your application software
vendor for information regarding use of the application in conjunction with EVP. AMD strongly recommends that users
continue to include third-party antivirus software as part of their security strategy.
Trademark Attribution: AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Athlon, AMD Opteron, AMD Turion, AMD Sempron. AMD Geode, and
combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. Other names
used in this presentation are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Windows Vista is
either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. ©2006 Advanced
Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
Project4
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Advantage,
Here’s another way for our partners to take the lead. Gain an edge over the competition
with the comprehensive new set of Microsoft Forefront security products—and we’ll pay you
up to 30%* back in advisor fees when you join our free Security Software Advisor program,
which now includes additional license levels.
®
Stay ahead of the competition.
https://partner.microsoft.com/secureopportunity/
*To qualify for up to a 30% software advisor fee on our Forefront security solutions you must be
a registered member of the Microsoft Partner Program and sign the advisor fee addendum. See
Web site for full details: https://partner.microsoft.com/securitysoftwareadvisor
TM
0207rcp_TOC_3.v6
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Contents
FEBRUARY 2007•VOLUME 2•NUMBER 2
F E AT U R E S
12
D E PA R T M E N T S
19
7 Channel Report
PARTNERSHIPS: Eyes on the Enterprise. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
EVENTS: Introducing TechPartner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
MARKETPLACE: The Vista Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
30
POSTSCRIPT: Constructing a Community—One High
Achiever at a Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
35 Solution Spotlight
12 Preaching Convergence
Microsoft is finally getting real about a one-stop strategy for e-mail,
voice mail, IM and Web conferencing—and that’s creating plenty of
opportunities for partners.
The new Office 2007 gives familiar applications
a welcome makeover on both the interface and
file-format level.
CHANNEL CALL: Keith Lubner
Picking a Partner Is Like Buying a Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
19 Turning the Corner
The Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community’s enrollments and
brand awareness are weak. But some members are profiting already, and
signs of improvement abound.
COLUMNS
PARTNER ADVOCATE: Scott Bekker
Partnering with Microsoft: Now’s the Time . . . . . . . . 4
MARKETING MICROSOFT: Mac McIntosh
24 From the Ground Up
Essential Gear for Catching Redmond’s New Wave . . 46
By forming their own grassroots groups, partners find power in numbers.
30 Secrets from the Winners’ Circle
DIRECTIONS: Paul DeGroot
Microsoft’s Partner Program: Buffet or A La Carte? . . 48
Want to take home a Microsoft Partner Award? Try this insider advice
from past recipients.
7
RCPmag.com
Seen & Heard
“Microsoft is clearly concerned about Linux and has been for a
while. That much is obvious. The Novell SuSE Linux deal and
Steve Ballmer’s protests that Linux infringes on Microsoft
patents show that Redmond has open source on its mind—and
bloggers are suggesting that Microsoft is doing all it can to
infiltrate the open source community, steal its best talent and
bring Linux to its knees.” —Lee Pender
Read more of Lee’s musings on Microsoft at
RCPmag.com/blogs. Or sign up for the Partner Update
Newsletter at RCPmag.com/newsletters.
COV E R P H OTO K AT H E R I N E L A M B E R T ; I LLU S T R AT I O N BY A MY PATACCH I O L A
FindIT Codes
You’ll see FindIT codes
embedded throughout
Redmond Channel Partner.
Simply type these into the
FindIT code box on any
RCPmag.com page and
you’ll jump directly to the
desired information. (Note
that all FindIT codes are
one word, and they are not
case-sensitive.)
RCPmag.com
FEBRUARY 2007
Redmond Channel Partner
3
0207rcp_Advocate_4.v2
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PartnerAdvocate
Redmond
ChannelPartner
RCPmag.com
February 2007
✱
Volume 2 ✱ Number 2
Editor in Chief
Executive Editor
Senior Editor
Managing Editor
Solution Spotlight Editor
PARTNERING
WITH MICROSOFT:
NOW’S THE TIME
A
PRODUCT PIPELINE
There’s no time like a release year to partner with Microsoft. Windows Vista and
the Microsoft Office System (see the
Solution Spotlight on p. 35) just hit the
streets. There’s no event in the IT world to
compare to a combined Windows/
Office release. Microsoft officials expect
200 million units of Vista to ship in 2007
and 500 million more to go out over the
next two years. Nobody else can deliver
customers at that rate.
SERIOUS ABOUT MONEY
Microsoft’s “People-Ready” campaign ads
show people changing the world, with
little white lines of new infrastructure
sprouting out of their ideas. But the most
memorable scenarios in those ads are
about the business gains. This company
has always been about making money
first, and about being cool or virtuous
second. While Bill Gates is doing a lot to
improve health care in the world, he does
that stuff off the Microsoft clock.
When it comes to Microsoft’s own revenues, desktop sales remain critical, and
4 Redmond Channel Partner
Associate Managing Editor
Art Director
Senior Graphic Designer
Contributing Designer
BY SCOTT BEKKER
s a publication called Redmond Channel
Partner, we’re obviously bullish on partnering with Microsoft. Every now and
again, it’s good to assess why. This month,
I’ll discuss a few of the best benefits of partnering with Microsoft. Next time, I’ll look
at some darkening clouds on the horizon.
Editors, RCPmag.com
the company absolutely relies on its partners to distribute, deploy, service and
build value around those desktops. Long
term, the desktop will probably lose out to
the Internet browser (see Paul DeGroot’s
Directions column, p. 48). But who knows
how far off that day will be? Inevitableseeming trends don’t necessarily come
true. Think of the oil crisis of the 1970s.
How many people sitting in round-theblock gas lines back then would have foreseen today’s era of 10-to-12-miles-pergallon Humvees and Lincoln Navigators?
SOLUTIONS FOCUS
Microsoft remains product-centric, but
the company is doing more these days to
help partners sell customers solutions
rather than product features. That approach
can offer a better chance of getting a foot
in the door with customers and result in
more profitable engagements. Of course,
profitability is currently a big focus of
many Microsoft programs (for details,
see “Partnering for Profitability,”
January 2007).
Feeling good about being a Microsoft
partner? You should. There’s plenty to
cheer about right now. Of course, it’s not
all caviar and Dom Perignon. Check back
next month for the other side of the story.
Have some thoughts on what Microsoft is
doing right—or about what storm clouds
you’re seeing on the horizon? E-mail me
at [email protected]. •
FEBRUARY 2007 RCPmag.com
Group Publisher
Editorial Director
Group Associate Publisher
Director of Marketing
Senior Marketing Manager
Creative Director
Senior Web Developer
Marketing Programs
Manager
Editor, ENTmag.com
Editor, MCPmag.com
Editor, Redmondmag.com
CertCities.com
Associate Editor, Web
Intern
Scott Bekker
[email protected]
Anne Stuart
[email protected]
Lee Pender
[email protected]
Wendy Gonchar
[email protected]
Lafe Low
[email protected]
Becky Nagel
[email protected]
Michael Domingo
[email protected]
Katrina Carrasco
[email protected]
Scott Shultz
[email protected]
Alan Tao
Helen Zhai
Henry Allain
[email protected]
Doug Barney
[email protected]
Matt N. Morollo
[email protected]
Michele Imgrund
[email protected]
Tracy S. Cook
[email protected]
Scott Shultz
[email protected]
Rita Zurcher
[email protected]
Videssa Djucich
[email protected]
Scott Bekker
[email protected]
Michael Domingo
[email protected]
Becky Nagel
[email protected]
Gladys Rama
[email protected]
Michelle Rutledge
[email protected]
President & CEO
Neal Vitale
[email protected]
CFO
Richard Vitale
[email protected]
Executive Vice President
Director of IT
Director, Financial Planning
and Analysis
Director of Circulation and
Data Services
Michael J. Valenti
[email protected]
Erik Lindgren
[email protected]
Bill Burgin
Abraham Langer
[email protected]
Director of Web Operations
Marlin Mowatt
[email protected]
Director, Print Production
Mary Ann Paniccia
[email protected]
Controller
Director of Finance
Chairman of the Board
Janice Ryan
[email protected]
Paul Weinberger
[email protected]
Jeffrey S. Klein
[email protected]
The opinions expressed within the articles and other contents
hereindo not necessarily express those of the publisher.
BPA Worldwide Membership Applied for March 2006
Project4
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Teach old applications new tricks.
Chances are you have users who want your applications to do new and wondrous
things. So you’ve probably tried rewriting them, and know how difficult that can be.
We have an easy way to enhance applications without rewriting – adding functionality
and new user interfaces, and giving your applications the capability to work together as
an ensemble.
These impressive tricks are performed easily with Ensemble – a software innovation
by InterSystems that enables you to extend your applications with a browser-based user
interface, adaptable workflow, rules-based business processes, executive dashboards, and
more. In addition, Ensemble gives you the ability to rapidly connect people and processes.
We are InterSystems, a global software company with a 28-year track record of
innovations that enrich applications.
Read case studies about this exciting innovation at InterSystems.com/Enrich4ZZ
© 2007 InterSystems Corporation. All rights reserved. InterSystems Ensemble is a registered trademark of InterSystems Corporation. 1-07 EnsEn4ReChPa
0207rcp_CR_7-10.v7
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ChannelReport
T R E N D S + I S S U E S + A N A LY S I S
EDITED BY ANNE STUART
PARTNERSHIPS
EYES ON THE ENTERPRISE
✱
M
I LLU S T R AT I O N BY JA M E S FR YE R
Business Process Integration
Microsoft Core Infrastructure
In addition to HP’s creation of its
Microsoft services organization—called
the Microsoft Services Practice—the
company will add 3,000 Microsoft
consultants as part of a new training
effort called the Solutions for PeopleReady Business Training Program.
Analysts call the deal significant and
strategically wise for both companies,
and noted that partners could profit
from it despite HP’s deep services integration with Microsoft.
“It makes perfect sense for the
companies to do this,” says Charles King,
principal analyst with Pund-IT Inc., a
Hayward, Calif.-based IT research firm.
“HP has increasingly developed itself
into a Microsoft-centric systems vendor.”
“HP isn’t known for a lot of marketing hype and hyperbole,” notes Laura
DiDio, a research fellow in the Enabling
Technologies Enterprise group at Bostonbased Yankee Group Research Inc.
“But they’re getting the job done. It’s a
very, very big deal for Microsoft.”
IBM won’t likely be the only competitor for the Microsoft-HP alliance. Large,
enterprise-focused service providers
and consultants—many of which are
already close partners with Microsoft—
could find themselves competing with a
joint Microsoft-HP offering.
But both DiDio and King say that
while some competition is inevitable,
they expect Microsoft to incorporate
✱
Microsoft and
HP partner to
challenge IBM
in the market
for enterprise
services.
By Lee Pender
icrosoft and Hewlett Packard have deepened their long-standing relationship
with a wide-ranging agreement that’s likely to catch the attention of large,
enterprise-focused consultants and service providers but should also provide
opportunities for the channel as a whole.
The partners will jointly invest $300 million over the next three years to develop,
service and market enterprise technology based on both companies’ platforms,
officials from both companies announced in December. HP also expects to expand
the number of Microsoft-trained professionals in the company’s services ranks from
22,000 to 30,000 over the next three years and develop a new, dedicated Microsoft
services practice.
Rallying around Microsoft’s “People-Ready Business” theme—the new program is
called Microsoft and HP Solutions for the People-Ready Business—Microsoft and HP are
taking aim at IBM and its “On-Demand” business services model for large enterprises.
The deal involves development of joint applications in five areas:
✱ Messaging and Unified Communications
✱ Collaboration and Content Management
✱ Business Intelligence
RCPmag.com
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
FEBRUARY 2007
7
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ChannelReport
Read the latest Microsoft and channel headlines at RCPmag.com
EVENTS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
TechPartner
RCPinvites readers to a
first-time event in Florida.
Redmond Channel Partner will
mark another milestone in March
with the debut of its new conference series, targeted to executives
at Microsoft partner companies.
The first TechPartner Conference
will be held March 28-29 at the
Hilton at the Walt Disney World
Resort near Orlando, Fla. There’s an
early-bird discount for partners
who register by Feb. 23.
The event will focus on helping
partners pinpoint the best revenue
opportunities associated with
this year’s massive wave of
Microsoft product releases,
including Windows Vista,
Exchange 2007, Office 2007 and
SharePoint Server 2007.
Mark Minasi, author of the
forthcoming “Mastering Windows
Vista Business: Ultimate, Business
and Enterprise” (Sybex, 2007) and
other Microsoft networking books,
will give the keynote address.
Other experts will oversee
intensive sessions on individual
Microsoft technologies, licensing
issues, targeted sales and marketing techniques, plus other topics.
Instructors include RCP columnists
Paul DeGroot and Mac McIntosh.
TechPartner coincides with
Redmond ’s weeklong TechMentor
Conference, to be held in the same
location. Partners can network
with TechMentor attendees as
well as with each other and the
RCP editorial staff during lunches,
expo-hall hours and receptions.
For details and to register, visit
TechMentorEvents.com.
“We truly believe this will
grow the market. We think all
our revenue will come from
new opportunities and not from
shifts from our partners.”
I LLU S T R AT I O N BY G R AYE S M I T H
Introducing
dicted that the new alliance would create
new market opportunities rather than close
existing ones, ultimately benefiting the
channel as a whole.
“We truly believe this will grow the
market,” Parker said when the agreement
was announced. “We think all our revenue
will come from new opportunities and not
from shifts from our partners.”
Beyond that, Parker said that Microsoft will
work with other enterprise partners as it has
before, with partners obtaining the opportunity to add services to the new offering.
“[The deal] is not exclusive,” he said. “We
open the door to any partner who
wants to step up, make commitments and drive opportunities on
this platform.”
David Swatzell, director of
HP’s Worldwide Microsof t
Solutions Practice, agreed, saying
that both companies are open to
collaborating with partners offering services that complement
the HP Microsoft alliance.
—Nick Parker, General Manager, Systems and Services Partners,
Microsoft Enterprise Partners Group
“There’s plenty of opportunity
for everyone in the market space,”
Swatzell said at the time of the
announcement. “We’d like to think
And both analysts say similar large deals that we’ve got every single piece of the value
proposition covered, but there’s going to be
are likely on the horizon for Redmond.
“This deal with HP is sizeable, but I don’t niche areas where there could be value added.”
In forging the agreement, HP and Microsoft
think this will be the last similar sort of deal
we’ll be hearing from Microsoft,” King says. identified strategies and technology platforms that they were using to successfully
“There’s going to be plenty to go around.”
Indeed, John Gantz, chief research offi- compete with IBM and used them to develcer at Framingham, Mass.-based research op a joint offering, Parker said.
King, however, doesn’t expect the HPfirm IDC, noted in Microsoft’s press release
for the agreement that “the software mar- Microsoft alliance to have a major impact on
kets alone in [BI], collaboration, content IBM’s hold on the services market.
“IBM is a very large partner of Microsoft,”
management and infrastructure software
running on Windows will be a $49 billion he says. “[IBM’s] high-end server business
market in 2007. Add in communications, easily blows anything that HP has out of the
hardware and services [and] it’s easily over water. I don’t see it having a huge impact on
IBM customers.” •
$100 billion.”
Meanwhile, Nick Parker, general manager
for systems and services partners in Lee Pender ([email protected]) is
Microsoft’s Enterprise Partners Group, pre- Redmond Channel Partner’s senior editor.
current partners into its HP business rather
than potentially alienating the channel.
“Microsoft has been treating its partners
very well,” DiDio says. “They have a lot of
flexible deals. I don’t think anybody is going
to blink or think twice about an HP-Microsoft
partnership being prohibitive to anybody.
People will just join in.”
Channel partners represent a major
opportunity for both companies because
they “understand the industries and the
regions and the markets they focus on much
better than a company like Microsoft or HP
can,” King says.
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ChannelReport
Don’t miss our new TechPartner event—details at TechMentorEvents.com
MARKETPLACE
POSTSCRIPT
CONSTRUCTING A
COMMUNITY—ONE HIGHACHIEVER AT A TIME
W
MICROSOFT’S NEW WAVE BY THE NUMBERS
1,000+
3,000+
100,000+
Number of ISVs
developing and
testing solutions
for Office 2007
Number of partner
solutions for Office
2007 completed
or in final stages
of development
Number of partnercompany employees
trained on new
Microsoft products
as of late 2006
The Vista
Effect
Eighteen dollars.
That’s how much revenue the
“ecosystem beyond Microsoft” can
expect to gain from every $1 that
Redmond makes on Windows Vista in
the United States this year, according
to a white paper from Framingham,
Mass.-based research firm IDC.
All told, that ecosystem—which
includes the Microsoft partner community—will sell $70 billion worth of
Vista-related hardware, software and
services in 2007, the report estimates.
That sales figure is about 18 times the
amount projected for Microsoft’s firstyear revenues from Vista. As a result,
“for every dollar of Microsoft Windows
Vista revenues, other companies make
$18,” the December 2006 report states.
Because of their specialized focus,
training and certification, Microsoft
partners can expect to reap an average
of $2.50 more per dollar of Microsoft’s
Vista revenue than non-partner companies will make, IDC says.
While the Microsoft-sponsored
study focused only on the United
States, other IDC research found the
same trends in Europe.
—A.S.
I LLU S T R AT I O N ( LE F T ) BY A R T V I LLE ; I LLU S T R AT I O N ( R I G H T ) BY I S TO CK
hen Microsoft’s Certified Architect Program
reaches its nine-month anniversary
in mid-February, program officials
estimate that about 175 specialists
worldwide will have qualified for the
elite IT designation.
Of those, 66 earned the top-tier credential even before
Microsoft officially kicked off the program at its annual
Tech·Ed Conference in Boston in June 2006 (see “Building
a New Community,” August 2006).
Microsoft, which hopes to issue a maximum of 3,000
architect certifications over the next five to seven years,
attributes the program’s slow ramp-up to its rigorous
qualification requirements. The intensive process culminates with each applicant undergoing a two-hour in-person review administered by a panel of previously certified
architects. With fewer than 150 Certified Architects currently available worldwide, coordinating those peer-review sessions can take awhile.
For candidates, the application process also requires a hefty time commitment;
program officials estimate that successful candidates typically log 80 to 120 hours
of prep time over three to six months. And it’s not cheap: Each candidate pays $200
to apply and, if successful, an additional $10,000 fee to join the program.
Despite those hurdles, Microsoft officials expect the top-tier credential to
continue attracting new applicants. “We’re going to see more as time goes on,”
predicts Don Nelson, Microsoft’s general manager for worldwide partner sales
and readiness.
—Anne Stuart
Project3
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11:28 AM
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1/12/07
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PREACHING
CONVERGENCE
Microsoft is finally getting real about a one-stop strategy for e-mail, voice
mail, IM and Web conferencing—and that’s creating plenty of opportunities
for partners. By Lauren Gibbons Paul
12
P H OTO BY K AT H E R I N E L A M B E R T ; I LLU S T R AT I O N BY A MY PATACCH I O L A
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When it comes to Unified Communications (UC),
Bill Vollerthum is a true believer. The CEO of Enabling
Technologies Corp. says that, so far, Microsoft’s initial
UC strategy is “living up to the hype.”
Project4
1/5/07
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the microsoft partner program field guide to partnering
Chapter No. 4
Whoever Has
The Most Skills, Wins.
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1/5/07
12:03 PM
Page 2
t he microsoft partner program field guide to partnering
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© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft and “Your potential. Our passion.” are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Project4
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| Unified Communications
When Bill Vollerthum got a call from Microsoft last March asking whether he wanted to be one of 15 companies on the Partner
Advisory Group for Microsoft’s soon-to-be-announced Unified
Communications (UC) strategy, he found it hard to suppress his glee.
After all, Vollerthum’s company, Enabling Technologies
Corp., a Gold Certified Partner, had years of experience with conventional PBX-based telephony and had dabbled in voice/data
convergence. Getting the early scoop on Microsoft’s UC plans
would position Vollerthum to be one of the first partners aboard
the official UC train.
“I was very excited. I saw that this could be a very positive revenue stream for us going forward,” says Vollerthum, president and
CEO of the Glen Arm, Md., company. Things moved quickly after
Microsoft publicly unveiled its UC products and vision in June
2006. Enabling Technologies has worked on five beta adoptions of
Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging (UM), which gives users
a single identity for access to voice, fax and e-mail data from the
office and the road. It also allows them to manage their e-mail, calendars and personal contacts by telephone.
So far, “the product is living up to the hype,” says Vollerthum. “It
has been unbelievably stable. We’re seeing a real buzz in the marketplace about this product.”
Exchange Server 2007 was released to manufacturing in
December; other products under the UC umbrella are slated for
release in mid-2007 (see “Product Pipeline,” opposite page). In a
public Executive E-mail message in June 2006, Microsoft Chairman
Bill Gates predicted that such Unified Communications innovations will “dramatically streamline the way we communicate at
work and stay in touch with friends and family at home.”
Though Microsoft didn’t invent the concept, UC/UM is a rather
revolutionary approach. The idea is giving people one way to communicate, for work and for play, that transcends the current pitfalls
we all put up with on a daily basis. The classic, simple example is
calling a colleague about an urgent matter. You get her voice mail,
so you leave a message. Then you send an e-mail. Next, you try her
cell phone. All to no avail.
The UM aspect of UC provides a single identity across all modes
and devices, greasing the wheels of communication, at least to those
with whom you want to communicate. So, using the previous example, you wouldn’t waste time e-mailing your colleague because
you’d see at a glance that she isn’t online. When you dialed her work
number, your call would automatically forward to her cell phone
(assuming that you’re on her list of high-priority contacts) and,
within moments, you should be speaking with her. (Embedded business rules allow you to prioritize calls—such as those from your boss
or best client—and to indicate your presence, or immediate availability, to some people but not others.)
Another example: You’re having an instant-messaging (IM)
exchange with a co-worker. During the discussion, you realize you
16
THE COMPETITIVE
LANDSCAPE
Microsoft has never been afraid of moving onto turf already
populated by other industry heavyweights, and its approach to
Unified Communications is no different, according to Irwin Lazar,
principal analyst for Nemertes Research Inc. in Chicago.
Microsoft’s chief competitors in this space: Cisco Systems Inc. and
IBM Corp./Lotus , says Lazar. Cisco’s Unified Communicator client
competes directly with Microsoft’s Office Communicator.
Meanwhile, Lotus Notes (now owned by IBM), which pioneered group
collaboration, now has Unified Communications features.
But Lazar doesn’t view Unified Communications as a serious
horse race. “It’s not going to be a winner-take-all,” he says, noting
that many companies will use Microsoft desktop, IM and Webconferencing products, “but will want to integrate that into their
Cisco telephony system.” Getting corporate America to accept
Microsoft as a telephony expert will be a harder, though not impossible, sell. Time will tell just how well Microsoft can demonstrate its
chops in telephony.
So far, Lazar thinks Microsoft has done an excellent job of educating the market on its Unified Communications strategy. “[Microsoft
has] gotten people talking. [It has] shown people what is possible,”
he says. “[The company has] a chasm to cross to get an enterprise to
consider a Microsoft telephony system, but [it] will make it in some
cases,” particularly among smaller organizations.
—L.P.
need to escalate to a phone call. Thanks to integrated VoIP telephony,
you could initiate the call right in the IM client. Then you could
bring in another client or colleague and review PowerPoint slides
together, thanks to integrated Web-conferencing capabilities.
“[Unified Communications] is about in-context transitions that
enable productivity,” says Michael Khalili, Unified Communications
product manager for Microsoft. “It’s about breaking down the walls
between voice mail, fax and e-mail. It’s about choosing the tool
that’s the most appropriate for the context.”
TOO MANY DEVICES, TOO LITTLE TIME
In speaking about Microsoft’s Unified Communications strategy in
June 2006, Microsoft Business Division President Jeff Raikes quoted
research indicating that the average organization has 6.4 different
types of communications devices and 4.8 different communications applications per user. As the number of devices and applications grows, of course, productivity is likely to decline. Unified
Messaging to the rescue!
People used to have to have multiple devices and applications
because of the systems’ limitations, says Marc Sanders, group
product manager for Microsoft Unified Communications. “Now,
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Page 17
we’re putting people in control of their systems. It’s about productivity and convenient access and faster response times.”
Microsoft’s UC strategy is closely linked to its “People-Ready
Business” approach, which aims to amplify business results
through software that empowers employees. “There’s a direct correlation between a company’s aptitude for collaboration and communication and its resulting business performance,” Raikes said
during his keynote.
Unified Communications entails converging e-mail, IM, VoIP,
and audio/video/Web conferencing into an intuitive experience
that’s integrated with the business applications—such as Microsoft
Office—and business processes that employees use every day. The
resulting environment is the “new world of work” that Gates
referred to in his June 2006 message.
according to Khalili. Exchange Server handles the asynchronous
store-and-forward communications, while OCS takes care of realtime communications such as IM, voice and voice conferencing. If
the other party in the live communication doesn’t respond, the
communication becomes asynchronous and is handed from OCS
back to Exchange. Other forthcoming Microsoft products contain
UM applications such as enhanced meeting capabilities and “soft
phones,” software that uses Internet technology to make calls.
Microsoft executives have been quick to emphasize the important role to be played by what Raikes calls the “broad partner
ecosystem” that will use OCS as a platform to add UC capabilities to
other applications.
Khalili envisions several scenarios for partner involvement.
First, systems integrators that, like Enabling Technologies, have
telephony experience will be in high demand as companies migrate
UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS LINEUP
to Exchange Server 2007. “There is tremendous opportunity around
Two products are at the heart of Microsoft’s UC strategy: Exchange
the deployment of these systems,” he says.
Server 2007 and Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007,
Integrators that have done other Microsoft implementations
would do well to gain the skills needed to play in
the UC world. “We have partners that are having
extensive success with SharePoint and Office
2007 deployments. Our UC strategy allows
them to integrate UC into those platforms,” says
Sanders. “[Partners] can expand their competency and add in the advanced infrastrucMost Microsoft Unified Communications-enabled solutions
are scheduled to ship in mid-2007.
ture expertise. That gives them the chance to be
SCHEDULED
Exchange deployment partners in addition to
PRODUCT
DESCRIPTION
SHIP DATE*
being a desktop solution partner. They can have a
deeper exchange with the customer.”
Exchange Server 2007
Unified Messaging, messaging
PRODUCT PIPELINE
and communications software
with unified inbox, including
e-mail, voice mail and faxing
functionality
Q4 2006**
Microsoft Office
Communications Server 2007
SIP-based, real-time communication
platform with UM capabilities; hub for
Unified Communications solutions
developed by partners
Q2/Q3 2007
Microsoft Office Live Meeting
Conferencing service designed to
optimize collaboration and training
Q2/Q3 2007
Microsoft Office
Communicator 2007
Unified Communications client that
works with Office Communications
Server 2007 to deliver a presence-based,
enterprise VoIP “soft phone”
Q2/Q3 2007
Microsoft Office RoundTable
Audio-video collaboration device with
a 360-degree camera; combined with
Office Communications Server 2007,
RoundTable extends the meeting
environment across multiple locations
Q2/Q3 2007
S O U R CE : M I C R O S O F T * A LL DAT E S R E FE R TO C A LE N DA R YE A R * * R E LE AS E D TO M A N U FAC T U R I N G D ECE M B E R 20 0 6
THE ROI OF UC
Many companies may have been planning to put
off upgrading to Exchange Server 2007. But
their plans may change when they see what UC
can do for their businesses. The most obvious
benefit: server consolidation. Vollerthum says
many of his early adopter customers were able
to go from separate servers for voice mail,
e-mail and fax service down to one that can handle all three functions. That capability makes
administration easier and, over time, reduces
hardware costs.
Replacing the conventional PBX-based
phone system in favor of VoIP is an obvious
source of savings, though some companies may
be reluctant to do a wholesale migration due to
service-quality concerns. Exchange Server 2007
runs on a 64-bit processor, potentially boosting
throughput enough to get past those concerns.
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| Unified Communications
enable the broad
partner ecosystem to deliver a broad library of
“The important thing here is to
integrated communications applications.” —Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division, June 2006
THE PARTNER
PERSPECTIVE
Time will tell whether Microsoft’s Unified Communications (UC) play
lives up to Bill Gates’ freewheeling vision of reinventing how people
reach each other at work, at home and from the road—and what
benefits Microsoft partners can expect to reap as a result. If your line of
business meshes in any way with the UC strategy, you’re likely to find
yourself climbing aboard the “UC Express.”
If you weren’t one of the elite few tapped last winter to be part of
Microsoft’s UC group, don’t despair. Most UM products haven’t yet
shipped and there’s still plenty of time to put together your own
company’s UC plan.
Where to start? First, read up on Microsoft’s new UC products and
decide which best fit your company’s profile. The next step, says
Microsoft’s Khalili: “Begin engaging with your partner contacts at
Microsoft to get plugged into the machine.”
Because telephony requires a specialized skill set, it may make sense
for consultants and integrators to consider partnering with other
companies that have demonstrated track records in those areas. “It can
be tough to develop these skills from the ground up,” says Enabling
Technologies’ Vollerthum. “It may make more sense to partner with a
company that already has the skills.” Meanwhile, keep an eye on the rest
of the field (see “The Competitive Landscape,” p. 16).
In any case, Vollerthum says, UC is the real deal. “We believe this is
the next big messaging app for the next three years,” he says. “We’re
betting the company on it.”
—L.P.
Increased productivity of peripatetic knowledge workers is
another key selling point. Unisys Corp., another Gold Certified
Partner and member of the UM partner-advisory group, has shown
clients in vertical industries such as financial services. For example,
an investment bank is looking at implementing unified messaging
for bond-desk traders.
18
Traditionally, those traders spent their days with phones
crammed to their ears while shouting at banks of computer screens.
With UM, “they can use IM to communicate back and forth with
upward of 25 buyers” rather than just four or five, says Peter Tripp,
vice president of global outsourcing and infrastructure services for
Unisys in Blue Bell, Pa. “Then the seller on the desk would hit a button on the IM session and the buyer and broker’s phones would ring
so they could confirm the transaction” by voice, as per Securities
and Exchange Commission regulations. “This is a sales manager
that says, ‘I can increase my brokers’ productivity by 30 percent?
Sold,’” says Tripp. “That’s the stuff we’re interested in.”
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE OPPORTUNITIES
Beyond systems integration and implementation, the field is wide
open for ISVs and hardware vendors to leverage the Microsoft UC
platform. “Both Exchange [Server 2007] and OCS [2007] have a
set of APIs that allow for integration with a wide number of applications,” says Khalili. “We’ll see a lot of real-time communications
and presence integrated into traditional applications.”
RADVision Inc., a Fair Lawn, N.J., videoconferencing solution
provider and Gold Certified Partner, plans to integrate its Click to
Meet product line with Microsoft UC technology, creating a single
platform for audio/video/Web conferencing. Bob Romano, vice
president of marketing for RADVision, thinks there are great opportunities for channel partners that provide consulting services for
companies that want to do this.
Beating Microsoft to the punch, Objectworld Communications
Corp. two years ago created Unified Messaging software called
Unified Communications Server. This product allows companies
to replace their PBX phone systems with VoIP with UM capabilities
on Microsoft Exchange platforms. David Levy, president and CEO
of Objectworld, a Gold Certified Partner based in Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada, doesn’t regret getting into a market on which Microsoft has
now set its sights.
“We’ve shown Exchange Server 2007 working with Unified
Communications Server. We fully agree with and foresaw Microsoft’s
vision in this area,” says Levy. He adds that Objectworld’s offering is
a good choice for customers who want to get up and running on UM
as soon as possible. •
Lauren Gibbons Paul ([email protected]) is a freelance
journalist who specializes in writing about business and technology.
0207rcp_F2SBS_19-23.v8
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Turnin
The Microsoft Small Business
Specialist Community’s
enrollments and brand
awareness are weak. But some
members are profiting already,
and signs of improvement
abound. By Rich Freeman
theCorner
Jerry Weinstock, president and CEO of
Internet Business Initiatives LLC, says
being in the Small Business Specialist
Community pays off big time—but he’d
like to see tougher entry standards and
better promotion.
P H OTO BY S COTT I N D E R M AU R
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| Small Business Specialist Community
I
nternet Business Initiatives LLC wants the world
to know that it’s a member of Microsoft’s Small
Business Specialist Community (SBSC).
The Lenexa, Kan.-based Dynamics CRM
reseller and Certified Partner displays the
Small Business Specialist logo prominently
on its business cards, marketing materials
and Web site home page. “It helps when we
give our introductory presentation on who
we are and why we’re well suited to meet [a
small business customer’s] needs,” says
Jerry Weinstock, the company’s president and CEO. Being
identified as a Small Business Specialist in Microsoft’s partner
search tools has paid off too, Weinstock adds: “We’ve gotten
leads, and we believe that being higher up on the list as a result
of being a Small Business Specialist clearly has helped.”
Just the same, Weinstock feels that joining the SBSC is
currently too easy—any Microsoft Partner Program member
is eligible for the designation if at least one employee has
passed a marketing and sales assessment test and one has
passed either of two technical exams. To keep the value of
SBSC membership from becoming diluted, Weinstock wants
Microsoft to add further qualifications. He’d also like to see
Microsoft more aggressively promote the merits of working
with Small Business Specialists.
So it goes these days for the SBSC: Just over a year and a
half since its inception, nearly everyone involved praises it and
nearly everyone—Microsoft included—wants more from it.
Introduced in July 2005 at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner
Conference in Minneapolis, the SBSC is a sort of channel within a channel for partners with small business know-how.
Microsoft says the program’s off to a strong start, but the company is still working hard to boost enrollment. Partners say
SBSC membership helps them showcase their small business
expertise, but many want changes in eligibility requirements
and additional marketing support. Almost everyone agrees
that the SBSC has shown great promise in its first 19 months.
20
But what happens in the next 19 could well prove decisive in
determining whether one of the biggest additions to the partner program since its inception in 2003 meets Microsoft’s
ambitious expectations or fades into partnering obscurity.
ESTABLISHING A NEW CATEGORY
One thing is for certain: Small businesses (which Microsoft
defines as companies with up to 50 employees and 25 PCs) represent a huge market opportunity. According to company estimates, there are some 40 million small businesses worldwide
spending more than $40 billion a year on software alone. The
SBSC is designed to help those current and potential customers find appropriate partners, while simultaneously helping small business partners acquire the skills and support they
need to drive increased revenue for themselves and Microsoft.
It’s an elegant arrangement, with just one complicating
factor: Many of the resellers, integrators and solution
providers best qualified to serve small businesses are small
businesses themselves. Understaffed and overextended, such
firms often lack the resources to move beyond the partner program’s low-entry-barrier Registered Member tier. Consider,
for example, Affordable Computing Enterprises LLP, a
Registered Member, integrator and Small Business Specialist
based in Havre, Mont. Ed Lohman, officially the company’s
vice president, is in fact one of just two employees—the other
being his wife, who keeps the books and manages scheduling.
Certified Partners must have at least two Microsoft Certified
Professionals (MCPs) on staff, and though Lohman is an MCP
himself, he has no plans to hire another any time soon. “I just
can’t afford it right now,” he says.
Hence the SBSC’s somewhat awkward fit within the
Microsoft Partner Program. To ensure that companies such as
Affordable Computing can participate, the SBSC is neither a
fourth membership level (in addition to Registered Member,
0207rcp_F2SBS_19-23.v8
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JOINING THE COMMUNITY:
What It Takes
and What You Get
To earn Microsoft’s Small Business Specialist
designation, your company must be a member
of the Microsoft Partner Program.
IF YOU’RE A REGISTERED MEMBER, YOU MUST ALSO:
■ Have a current subscription to the Microsoft Action Pack
OR
■
Be enrolled in Empower for ISVs, a business development
program for Registered Member-level software makers.
YOUR COMPANY MUST EMPLOY:
At least one person who has passed Microsoft’s Small Business
Sales and Marketing Skills Assessment Test
■
AND
■
At least one person who has passed either Microsoft’s Designing,
Deploying, and Managing a Network Solution for Small and
Medium-Sized Businesses exam (number 70-282) or its
Preinstalling Microsoft Products and Technologies Using the
OEM Preinstallation Kit exam (number 74-134).
ONCE YOUR COMPANY JOINS THE SMALL BUSINESS SPECIALIST
COMMUNITY, YOU’RE ELIGIBLE FOR THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:
■ A copy of the Small Business Specialist Welcome Kit, which
contains branding tools, a logo usage guide and a banner for
your office or trade show booth.
■
A listing in the Microsoft Small Business Directory, an online
partner search tool that lists Small Business Specialists ahead
of other partners.
■
Access to private managed newsgroups offering break-fix
support for selected Microsoft products within four business
hours.
■
A rebate of up to 10 percent on eligible Small Business Desktop
Advantage licenses acquired through Microsoft’s Open Value
volume licensing program.
■
A Telephone Partner Account Manager to contact with
questions about Microsoft promotions, events and products.
■
Opportunities to co-present with Microsoft at local events
through the Microsoft Across America program.
■
Access to other resources, including a newsletter, Web site,
quarterly webcasts and more.
Certified and Gold Certified) nor a full-blown competency (which
would typically require a company to employ multiple MCPs).
Instead, according to a July 2005 Microsoft announcement, it’s a
“competency-like designation,” putting it in an ill-defined category
all its own. The designation’s requirements are simple enough for
even a sole proprietor to satisfy. Its benefits, which are identical for
large and small partners alike, include use of a Small Business
Specialist logo, priority listing in the small business partner directory on Microsoft’s Web site, and access to a variety of exclusive
resources, such as licensing rebates and private, managed newsgroups. (For more details, see “Joining the Community: What It
Takes and What You Get,” this page.)
As of November 2006, Microsoft had just over 9,800 Small
Business Specialists worldwide, including 3,100 in the United
States. When the SBSC marks its second birthday in July, the company hopes to see those figures reach about 14,855 worldwide,
including 5,000 U.S. members. According to Christopher Goebel,
the group marketing manager responsible for the SBSC in
Microsoft’s U.S. subsidiary, such numbers are in line with the company’s pre-launch expectations. However, late in 2005, Cindy
Bates, Microsoft’s general manager for U.S. Small Business, told
Redmond Channel Partner that the company expected to enroll
5,000 U.S. Small Business Specialists within the first few months
of 2006 and 20,000 worldwide within the next 18 months (see
“Microsoft’s Small Business Specialist Designation: What’s in It
for You?” January 2006).
Even Microsoft admits to some disappointment with the sluggish SBSC enrollment rate among Registered Members so far—
currently, about 50 percent of U.S. Small Business Specialists are
from the partner program’s Registered Member tier. “I was expecting to see the mix be a little more weighted to Registered Members,”
Goebel concedes. In hindsight, though, he adds, the smaller-thanexpected initial response among Registered Members actually
makes sense: Smaller partners often have their hands full just
keeping up with customer demands, he notes, so preparing for the
Small Business Specialist exams takes them longer. Over time,
Goebel expects Registered Member numbers in the SBSC to grow:
“I feel very bullish that we’re going to continue to see strong interest and strong growth in this space,” he says.
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Many current SBSC members say that their top motivation for joining was to differentiate themselves from local competitors by highlighting their small business orientation. “It gives us a stamp that
basically says ‘This is what we do,’” observes Arlin Sorensen, CEO
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| Small Business Specialist Community
Many partners
say that being a
Small Business
Specialist gives
them added
credibility with
prospects and
clients.
Others question
how big a
difference that
extra credibility
makes in
the end.
and president of Harlan, Iowa-based
Heartland Technology Solutions Inc., a
Gold Certified solution provider that
serves small businesses exclusively.
Frederick Johnson, president and CIO of
Ross-Tek, a Registered Member small
business integrator based in Cleveland,
Ohio, agrees. “It shows that this business
has made a commitment to really understanding what small businesses are looking for from a technology perspective,”
he says.
How much impact that message has
on customers, however, is open to
debate. Many partners say that being a
Small Business Specialist gives them
added credibility with prospects and
clients; others question how big a difference that extra credibility makes in the
end. “I’ve never had a customer say, ‘Hey,
the only reason we use you is because
you’re a Small Business Specialist,’” says
Michael Cocanower, CEO of itSynergy, a
small to midsize business (SMB) technology consulting firm and Gold Certified
Partner headquartered in Phoenix. “I
don’t think the brand is strong enough in
the customers’ eyes yet.”
Cocanower is one of many Small
Business Specialists who would like to see
Microsoft promote the designation more
forcefully. Curtis Hicks, president and CEO of Center for Computer
Resources, a Gold Certified integrator, Dynamics CRM reseller and
Small Business Specialist based in Oak Park, Mich., is another. “I just
think Microsoft needs to do a little better job of getting the word out to
the small business user community,” Hicks argues. “If [it’s] doing
something, [Microsoft needs] to do a better job of sharing that
with us so we can piggyback on it.”
Goebel, however, notes that Microsoft has taken several steps
in recent months to both improve customer awareness of the
Small Business Specialist brand and drive leads to SBSC members. Most Microsoft small business marketing campaigns now
make contacting a local Small Business Specialist their primary
call to action, he says. Additionally, the company has moved its
small business partner search tool, which currently gets more
than 40,000 queries a month, into a prominent spot on its small
22
business home page. For his part,
Sorensen believes that at least some
responsibility for marketing the
Small Business Specialist brand lies
with the channel. “We don’t do a very
good job ourselves of evangelizing
that,” he says. “We can all sit here and
say Microsoft should make everyone
understand what this is, and that’s a
great goal. But it’s not realistic.”
According to many partners,
Small Business Specialist brand
recognition is actually stronger—and
more valuable—among audiences
other than customers. “Probably the
biggest impact is in the channel,” says
Sorensen, who has had enterprise
partners pass small business leads to
his firm based on its SBSC membership. Moreover, Microsoft itself has
been recommending Heartland to
customers more often since the company became a Small Business
Specialist. “It really makes the field sit
up and take notice,” Sorensen says.
In addition to whatever value the
Small Business Specialist name confers, most partners also like the SBSC’s
list of benefits. Registered Members in
particular enjoy having use of the Small
Business Specialist logo. “In the past, a
Registered [Member] couldn’t use the Microsoft logo,” explains Paul
DeGroot, an analyst with Kirkland, Wash.-based research firm
Directions on Microsoft. “You had to be Certified to do that. So that’s
probably the most important thing they get.” Partners also speak
highly of the SBSC’s educational and marketing resources, such as
the small business technical-assessment kit, a set of tools that helps
partners analyze customer needs and propose solutions. “For the
first time there’s a tool that not only focuses on the product side,
but really goes deep into understanding what the needs of small
businesses are from a business perspective,” Ross-Tek’s Johnson
says of the kit.
Sorensen, however, would like to see Microsoft invest in helping SBSC members become better business leaders. Many Small
Business Specialists, he notes, are led by one-time technicians with
strong technology skills but little management experience. “We
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haven’t necessarily had business training, and so a lot of times we
struggle with things just because we don’t know any better,”
Sorensen says. Microsoft does little to help, he adds: “[The company’s] pretty focused on sales training and technical training today,
but we need help with the whole gamut of business decisions that
we face out here. How do you hire somebody? How do you fire
somebody? How do you measure your services team?” Partners
equipped to answer such questions would be better positioned to
grow their own revenue—and thus Microsoft’s—more rapidly,
Sorensen argues.
SETTING THE BAR
Without question, the most controversial aspect of the Small
Business Specialist designation is how easy it is to attain. By
design, membership in the SBSC is open to everyone from a oneperson Registered Member consultancy to a giant Gold Certified
multinational. From the beginning, that openness has left many
partners uneasy, observes Harry Brelsford, CEO of SMB Nation
Inc., a Poulsbo, Wash.-based provider of conferences, workshops
and books for small business partners. Brelsford remembers the
buzz among 2005 Worldwide Partner Conference attendees when
Microsoft officially launched the SBSC. At that time, Registered
Members predicted that Gold Certified firms would quickly overrun the new program. “On the other hand,” he recalls, “the Gold
[Certified] Partners were saying that, ‘Now a sole proprietor gets
all these benefits and a cool-looking logo and they didn’t have to
get all the partner points that we did.’”
Partners have been bickering about the SBSC’s entry requirements ever since. Most Registered Member-level Small Business
Specialists say Microsoft has set the membership bar appropriately.
“It’s not too low, but it’s not too high either,” says Lohman, of
Affordable Computing Enterprises. “Large businesses can do it, but
us small businesses can attain it too.” Many Gold Certified small
business partners, however, worry that the SBSC is becoming overpopulated. “We can’t just say we’re a Small Business Specialist [anymore], because in our market there are 25 other Small Business
Specialists,” notes Hicks, who would like to see Microsoft thin the
SBSC ranks by adding a customer-reference requirement.
Meanwhile, some Registered Member-level and Gold Certified
Small Business Partners agree that too many big companies that
don’t know the small business market are earning Small Business
Specialist status. For example, in a major bid to drive up SMB revenues, hundreds of Best Buy Inc. stores have signed on as Small
Business Specialists. That move has many traditional VARs and
integrators worrying that a big box retailer with a relatively inexperienced, high-turnover workforce could wind up tarnishing the
Small Business Specialist brand by offering customers bad advice.
(For more on Best Buy and the SBSC, see “Best Buy’s Small
Business Offensive,” June 2006.)
Similarly, some SMB-focused partners have been displeased to
see midmarket and enterprise firms join the SBSC. “If 80 percent of
your business is made up of businesses that are 100 employees or
more, then you’re not a small business specialist,” says Johnson.
But, he adds, such companies often siphon opportunities away
from SMB-only companies such as Ross-Tek simply because they
have bigger names. Johnson, however, has found a unique alternative to combating larger rivals: partnering with them. Ross-Tek has
established relationships with several local enterprise partners
that now send him small business opportunities that they can’t
profitably pursue themselves.
In the end, of course, Microsoft is the final arbiter of who
gets to be a Small Business Specialist, and reforming the SBSC’s
eligibility requirements is not currently on its agenda. Goebel
notes that customer feedback on the SBSC has been positive,
which, in the company’s view, indicates that the current set of
entrance exams are adequately filtering out inappropriate partners. Nor should smaller partners worry about larger ones
squeezing them out of revenue, he adds: “There’s plenty of room
for everyone to grow.”
That is Brelsford’s perspective too, and he hopes more partners
eventually come to share it. Brelsford was an integrator himself
once as well as an early enthusiast for Microsoft’s Small Business
Server (SBS). Initial versions of that product were difficult to
install, he says, but Microsoft has since fixed those problems and
partners who got in on SBS early and stayed with it through its
stumbles are now earning dividends on their persistence.
Brelsford expects to see the SBSC follow the same pattern. So, he
says, perhaps partners haven’t signed up in huge numbers yet and
maybe brand awareness is still a little weak. Microsoft will get it
right eventually, and when it does the early adopters will reap the
rewards, “To me, that’s reason enough to get involved now,”
Brelsford says. “Smart people are going to see that fortunes are
always made out of chaos.” •
Rich Freeman ([email protected]) is a Seattle, Wash.based freelance writer who specializes in writing about business
and technology.
Get More Online
Go to RCPmag.com and follow our links to more information on this topic,
including the Partner Portal Web page explaining everything you need to
know to become a Small Business Specialist. FindIT code: SBSCorner
RCPmag.com
FEBRUARY 2007
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By forming their
own grassroots
groups, partners find
power in numbers.
By Cindy Atoji
t was billed as a “Technology Extravaganza.”
In January 2006, Computer Solutions, a systems
integration and technology-consulting firm and Gold
Certified Partner based in San Antonio, Texas, sponsored a half-day event showcasing a variety of Microsoft solutions. The event, which attracted a variety of customers and
I LLU S T R AT I O N BY H E LE N Z H A I
partner companies, was extremely successful: “We had a high
volume of large sales leads put into our pipeline,” says Kara
Buchanan, Computer Solutions’ marketing and communications manager. Things went so well, in fact, that the company
held “Technology Extravaganza II” just nine months later.
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| Grassroots
Of course, the Technology Extravaganza had Microsoft’s backing. The Microsoft Partner Events team supported the gathering,
MicrosoftPartnerEvents.com promoted it and a Microsoft Across
America truck, which features interactive technology displays,
made an appearance. That kind of attention isn’t surprising,
according to Pam Salzer, senior director of marketing in
Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Group. “Partners are our sales
force and they are our lifeblood,” she says. “Ninety-six percent of
revenue comes from partners. We focus heavily on supporting the
channel, the ‘p-to-p’ ecosystem.”
What was particularly noteworthy about this event was that it
wasn’t Microsoft’s party: Like a growing number of events worldwide, the Technology Extravaganza was organized and run entirely
by companies in that local partner ecosystem.
REACHING OUT
Even Microsoft can’t be all things to all people, and as successful as
its channel-building programs are, many companies find themselves falling through the cracks. “It’s such a great big oil tanker of
a company,” says Robert Hoffer, managing director of NewForth
Partners LLC, a San Mateo, Calif., consulting company specializing in strategic partnerships, IT transactions and mergers and
acquisitions. “The problem is, the ship is so big that it’s subject to
erosion around the edges.”
And as the market increasingly becomes specialized and stratified, The Big M is unable to dance with all the different partners in
vast geographic spans. As a result, the seeds for grassroots partner
organizations have been planted and begun to grow. Call them
user groups, affinity groups, channel partners, mentorships—
there are formal and informal affiliations forming inside and outside of the Microsoft safety net.
Ted Dinsmore, co-author of “Partnering with Microsoft: How
to Make Money in Trusted Partnership with the Global Software
Powerhouse” (CMP Books, 2005) explains the spontaneous networking this way: “Compare it to medieval times, when you had a
shoemaker, a blacksmith, a silversmith. People are realizing they
can’t do it all, whether it be SharePoint, SQL or security, so they’re
banding together. These groups are growing because the ecosystem is growing. People are saying, ‘I can’t do everything, so I have
to meet others I can trust.’”
In fact, in Microsoft lingo, such groups are called “circles of
trust.” Such circles have been springing up since the 1980s. Harry
Brelsford, founder and CEO of SMB Nation, a small-business training and consulting company based on Bainbridge Island, Wash.,
speculates that grassroots groups stem from technical user-group
gatherings of a decade or so ago. “We were all learning Novell and
the user group would have a LANfest [Local Area Network gathering] at the local armory,” recalls Breslford, whose company sponsors several grassroots-oriented conferences each year.
26
INTERNET IMPACT
With the growth of the Internet, it became possible to connect with
other ISVs or resellers, or with other companies specializing in, say,
customer relationship management (CRM) or products for small
and midsize businesses. Yahoo! tech groups flourished and blogs
sprouted, especially for partners and other companies dealing with
Small Business Server (SBS). One example, a Yahoo! Group called
sbs2k, which offers support for all versions of SBS, boasts 3,028
members and posts more than 250 new messages on a typical week.
And even as these Web-alliances continue to flourish—especially postings of technical problems and solutions—partners want
more. “These groups give you technical answers but don’t give you
relationships, networking. That’s where grassroots groups are
getting traction,” says SMB’s Brelsford, whose company sponsors
several grassroots-oriented events each year.
“As a geographic area gets critical mass in a newsgroup, people
say, ‘Hey these guys are near to me, why not get together?’” says
Matt Wilson of Milwaukie, Ore.-based Registered Member
Brightstar Consulting.
And thus sprung up such organizations as Technology Wizards
(of which Wilson is vice president), the Chicago Small Business
Server Users Group, Cincinnati Networking Professionals, the
Boston New England SharePoint User Group and the Oregon
Computer Consultants Association, among others.
“Such grassroots groups are very important,” says Joshua
Feinberg, a former content provider for the Microsoft Partner
Program and co-founder of Computer Consulting 101 in West
Palm Beach, Fla. “Microsoft partners tend to keep to themselves
out of fear of talking to competitors. Grassroots groups break down
these barriers by getting like-minded computer consulting firms
together in a safe, non-threatening environment.”
A case study in grassroots: the Technology Wizards, a group of
Washington and Oregon computer consultants who gather on the
second Wednesday afternoon of each month at Microsoft’s offices
in Portland, Ore. Monthly speakers discuss everything from the
debut of Windows Vista to the risks of patching to SonicWALL for
the SMB space. A consultant referral telephone line helps members obtain sales leads, while Microsoft provides information, beta
software, training and other freebies.
But sometimes the grassroots groups’ real benefits occur after
the meetings, says Bob Hood, a Chicago-based consultant and
Registered Member who co-founded the Chicago SBS Users Group.
That’s when the parking-lot conversations occur—“our equivalent
of the water cooler,” says Hood—and possible business transactions
and leads are exchanged and formulated. In one such instance,
Hood and two colleagues huddled in the parking lot well past 10
p.m., talking seriously about combining their practices to create a
much larger managed-services practice. Talks are still in progress,
but “this wouldn’t have happened without this user group,” says
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Putting Down Roots
If you want your local partner group to
bear fruit, you’ll need to tend it well..
ooking to launch your own independent networking
organization? Try these tips from people whose grassroots groups are already flourishing:
• Take advantage of what’s already in place.
Familiarize yourself with the existing community, recommends Paul Hernacki, a member of Atlanta SharePoint
Users Group and IAMCP. “Get to know individuals who are a
part of these and find out what is missing from their current
experience,” says Hernacki, who is CTO of Definition 6 Inc.,
an Atlanta-based IT consultancy and Gold Certified Partner.
• Keep the group autonomous and democratic. A grassroots organization should feel like it belongs to all involved,
says Kevin Royalty, president of Cincinnati Networking
Professionals and chief consulting officer at Solution Net
Inc., a Cincinnati-based Certified Partner. “Grassroots don’t
work when surrounded by one company or partner.”
• Choose hot topics and speakers. “Attendance drops if
monthly partner group meetings don’t have a compelling
topic,” says Harry Brelsford of SMB Nation. “You don’t want
to be like veterans repeating old war stories.”
• Keep leadership fresh. “If leadership doesn’t change, it’s
like a good ol’ boys club,” says Royalty, who is voluntarily
stepping down as president when his one-year term ends.
“A fresh set of eyes should be there every so often.”
• Remember that coopetition counts. If you’re competing
against a grassroots-group colleague, be open and honest
about it. “Trust is critical,” says Hernacki. “If you don’t trust
each other, then it’s the Barney mentality. [You’re saying]: ‘I
love you, you love me’—but at the end of the day it really
doesn’t mean anything.’ ”
• View Microsoft as a resource, not an adversary. “Taking
on Microsoft is not a good business strategy,” Brelsford
says. “Work cooperatively and provide constructive feedback to Microsoft.”
• Expand your community. Reach out to local business
groups or consider offering community services. For example, after a tornado damaged a local computer lab, the
Cincinnati Networking Professionals helped rebuild it. —C.A.
Hood, a solo practitioner who’s also found colleagues who can fill in for
him when he takes time off. (For advice on starting a local organization,
see “Putting Down Roots,” this page.)
EXISTING CHANNELS
The International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners (IAMCP), a
more formal and structured peer-to-peer networking and partnering
group, is especially fertile ground for networking opportunities. Thanks
to IAMCP, Andrew Levi, founder and president of Aztec Systems Inc., a
Gold Certified Partner in Carrollton, Texas, says he’s hooked up with
strategic partners like SoftMart Management Services of Dowington, Pa., a
Gold Certified Member. SoftMart, which doesn’t have a professional-services arm, looks to Aztec for solutions expertise—particularly professional
services for Infrastructure and Business Solutions (Dynamic GP and
CRM). Alternatively, Aztec looks to SoftMart for licensing expertise and to
fulfill software licenses and hardware for clients.
“There’s a lot of business sharing that happens, mostly a result of us
meeting frequently and developing personal relationships with people and
discovering opportunities together,” explains Levi, who is on the board of
the IAMCP Dallas chapter, the nation’s largest chapter. “As we talk, it’s a
good connecting point. Opportunities are born between people when you
put people together who are all kind of chasing the same thing.”
Microsoft provides funding to IAMCP, but each chapter is self-sufficient
and finances its own activities through fees. The chapters are run by elected
officials like Levi, a past Dallas chapter president. The chapter sponsors
“speed-networking events,” which, he says, work like speed dating, as
well as golf tournaments and social events.
Perhaps the most telling success story of the IAMCP chapters is their
self-duplicating nature, with one chapter spinning off another. For example, Terry Beck, president of The Harding Group Inc., an Arlington, Texasbased systems integrator and Gold Certified Partner, is a former Dallas
chapter president who helped form the Arkansas and Oklahoma chapters.
Meanwhile, his own IAMCP affiliation helped lead to business partnerships with Little Rock, Ark.-based ClearPointe Technology Inc., which
manages IT infrastructures, and Fort Worth, Texas-based IT giant EDS,
both Gold Certified Partners.
The president of the Arkansas IAMCP chapter, Corinne Johnson,
ClearPointe’s director of marketing and strategic alliances, tells her side of
the story: “As a managed services provider, we wanted to start selling
what we do through other partners, so it made sense to us, especially here
in Arkansas, that we needed to band together with installation and application development partners to deliver a more comprehensive solution to
customers,” she says.
The first meeting felt “very strange,” she admits. “Before IAMCP, we were
all competitors and it was odd to have all of us in one room. It’s a scary thing
for a small VAR to let another VAR in to our account.” But the peer relationships helped open up dialogue about best practices, and the “joint connections gave us more clout and more credibility in the marketplace,” Johnson
recalls. Since then, ClearPointe has partnered with Allied Technology Group
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| Grassroots
“The key to the community is to reach out
to your competitors and realize that
sometimes paddling one boat up the river
is easier than taking two.”
—Susanne Dansey, Business Development Manager, Readycrest Ltd.
LLC of Little Rock, Ark., to tap that Gold Certified Partner’s engineering resources. “Allied, in return, was a reseller for ClearPointe’s
remote management solution. It was a win-win for both companies,”
says Johnson. “It’s not a one-way street. We’re a network of industry
experts banding together to offer a complete offering.”
ClearPointe has been especially beneficial to other Arkansas
IAMCP chapter members. Johnson says that when the chapter was
formed two years ago, ClearPointe was Arkansas’ only Gold
Certified Partner. “We had a lot more connections with Microsoft,
but we shared information with other members, giving them the
opportunity to share our Microsoft knowledge,” she says.
GLOBAL GROWTH
This member-to-member, chapter-to-chapter help network isn’t
limited to the United States. Overseas, grassroots groups are
beginning to proliferate in the United Kingdom, Singapore and
Australia, among other locations. In the U.K., Susanne Dansey, a
leader in the Kent SBS Group, has been a key evangelist, helping to
fertilize two SBSC groups in Edinburgh and London and spreading
the seeds across the U.K. and Ireland, so that today, three years
later, 19 partner groups exist.
“No matter what country you live in, most business experiences are the same,” says Dansey, who is business development
manager of Readycrest Ltd., a Chatham, England-based VAR and
Certified Partner. “Based on that assumption, you can pretty well
guess that other partners around the world are going to be asking
the same questions as you at some point. All countries have a different slant on what their community looks like. Some are more
structured than others, but wherever you may be, I would guess
that there’s another business not too far down the road from you
that could share some war stories with you. The key to the community is to reach out to your competitors and realize that sometimes
paddling one boat up the river is easier than taking two.”
Dansey has created nationwide partnering opportunities
through her involvement with groups across the U.K. Partners in
the south of England, for example, can team up with partners in
Scotland to deliver multi-site support to larger customers, which
saves on travel time and provides more efficient service to clients.
She’s also formed international partnerships with partners in the
United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
28
David Houston, technical business development manager of
Dame Computers Ltd., a Registered Member based in Wicklow,
Ireland, predicts that “the ability to create connections with other
companies worldwide is only going to grow in leaps and bounds.”
Houston, a leader in SBS Ireland, which has three groups in Leinster,
Ulster and Munster, recently helped an Australian company with a
new customer’s server, thanks to international connections.
But whether it’s through Charlotte, N.C.-based Culminis Inc.,
an international not-for-profit IT professional group that claims
more than 1.8 million members, or Brelsford’s fast-growing
12,000-plus-member SMB Nation, grassroots groups all come
down to relationships with people.
“If you’ve met a few people on the community circuit several
times, you will find that, after all the business talk is over, what you
have left is friendship and it is this that is the key,” says Dansey.
“While we’re all in the community because of our business needs,
it’s important to establish a deeper-routed connection because we
need to maximize the amount of enjoyment we get or else the
experience becomes bland.”
Meanwhile, some partner companies are still looking for local
communities. Kevin Hidalgo of Ultimus Inc., a Gold Certified
Partner and managed ISV focused on business process management, says he’s working his Redmond contacts but having difficulty getting the attention of the field sales organization. His
Raleigh, N.C.-based company “is between New York City and
Atlanta, so getting to the regional sales power base is a major
challenge,” he says. “I’m thinking a grassroots group may give us
a louder voice.”
Hidalgo has realized what the organizers of many local organizations also know: There’s power in numbers, which can translate
to anything from finding some complementary partners to finally
reaching the right people in Redmond. “These groups create
demand and opportunity for members,” says Levi, of Aztek
Systems and IAMCP. “So ultimately what we are trying to do is create a scenario that says if you’re not a member, then you’re not getting the leads, the attraction, the credibility, the velocity that these
organizations are creating.” •
Cindy Atoji ([email protected]) is a Boston-based freelancer specializing in business and technology coverage.
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0207rcp_F2Awards(S)
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Want to take home a Microsoft Partner Award?
Try this insider advice from past recipients.
IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN.
No, we’re not talking about Valentine’s Day or the beginning of income
tax season. Instead, it’s time to start the application process for the 2007
Microsoft Global Partner Awards.
Whether you’re a first-time entrant intimidated by the process or a past
applicant looking to increase your chances of taking home an award,
you’re likely to benefit from the insights we’ve gathered from past winners. We also offer tips from Pam Salzer, Microsoft’s worldwide director
of partner marketing, about what judges will look for this year.
30
P H OTO BY G E TT Y I M AG E S
By Polly Schneider Traylor
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from the Winners’ Circle
0207rcp_F2Awards(S)
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| Microsoft Partner Awards
Why bother to apply for a Microsoft Partner Award? Well, for
one thing, winning—or even being named a finalist—sets your
company apart. In 2005, judges winnowed an initial field of 2,300
entrants to just 265 winners and finalists. Considering that
Microsoft has hundreds of thousands of partners worldwide,
being part of such an elite group is no small distinction. Past winners say that they also benefit from promoting their successes on
their Web sites, in their marketing collateral and when meeting
with prospective customers or industry analysts.
Awards can also increase customer loyalty, stimulate repeat business for the honored product or service and even generate new areas
of growth. And some award winners cite benefits they’ve gained simply from going through the application process—for instance, gaining
improved clarity about their market goals and areas where they
hold a competitive advantage. (For more on the benefits of the
awards program, see “And the Winner Is ...,” September 2005.)
Before you decide that your company isn’t big enough, powerful enough or mature enough as a partner to capture Microsoft’s
attention, listen to Salzer: “We have had winners that are very
small. For one- or two-person shops, there are awards for them,
too.” Garry Olah, a senior director at past winner Citrix Systems
Inc. who oversees his company’s global Microsoft relationship,
adds this insight: “If you’re a new partner, you have equal chances
of winning if you’re very targeted with your solution.”
Following is some time-tested advice for acing the Microsoft
Global Partner Award application process.
1. START EARLY
Sure, you can slam together a sales proposal at the eleventh hour,
but don’t approach the Microsoft Partner Awards the same way
and expect to win. (Besides, how many of those last-minute proposals are actually successful?) “You can tell who has scrambled
at the last minute,” Salzer says.
First, consider the award categories, which are announced
when the online application tool goes live, to determine which ones
best fit your organization. You can apply for multiple awards, or you
can apply for the same award several times with different solutions.
However, you can only win once per category. (At press time,
Microsoft hadn’t released the 2007 details, but you can review
the 2006 results and categories at Microsoft.com/partner/events/
wwpartnerconference/awards_finalists.htm.)
Citrix, a longtime Gold Certified Partner, takes the award program seriously. Since 2003, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company has either placed or ranked as a finalist four times; its latest distinction was the 2005 Office System Deployment Partner ofthe Year.
Because Citrix could qualify for multiple awards (it has won the
Global ISV Partner Award twice, and its solutions support core
32
Microsoft platforms including Office and Windows Server), the
company allows sufficient time for managers to figure out which
ones to target. In 2006, Olah says, Citrix focused on the Information
Worker category to align with the release of Office 2007.
That’s a smart strategy, according to Curt Wheadon, global
vice president of operating environments and messaging at South
Africa-based Dimension Data Holdings plc, a triple winner in
2006 (for Advanced Infrastructure Technology Innovation,
Custom Development Smart Client Development and Global
Winning Customer). “Know where Microsoft is making its bets
and what its priorities are, and make sure your submissions are
aligned,” recommends Wheadon, who works out of his company’s
Bellevue, Wash., office.
Jackie Funk, director of marketing for Herndon, Va.-based
Apptix Inc., spearheaded her company’s first application for the
awards last year. While some partners appreciate the online application, in her view it wasn’t easy to share the multi-section application and its questions with team members. She spent roughly 20
hours over a few weeks completing the application, including substantial time studying the criteria. On top of that came the time-consuming tasks of validating technical answers with the development
team and reviewing business questions with executives. “It was
challenging to get it done,” she says, recalling some tricky scenario
questions around customer benefits. “Make sure to allow time for an
internal review.” Ultimately, though, the effort was worth it: Apptix
was named 2006 Advanced Infrastructure Solutions Sales and
Marketing Partner of the Year.
Bottom line: The application process can be overwhelming, so
it’s never too early to start preparing—even if you’ve applied before.
Olah says he started thinking about the 2007 awards in fall 2006.
2. DEVELOP AN APPLICATION STRATEGY
Take the time to think strategically about how your company will
apply for the awards, including how you’ll differentiate yourself
from the competition. Treat the application process the same way
that you would a project for a client: Assign a project manager to
oversee the effort. This person should collect information from
stakeholders, write or coordinate the writing of the application,
obtain executive reviews and input, and facilitate the process of getting quotes and other supporting information from customers.
“Don’t rely on your technical teams for driving the award submission
process,” warns Wheadon. “Involve them, but have your best marketing people own the overall submission.”
Citrix has the awards process down to a science. Virtual teams
of cross-functional employees (marketing, sales, product development, engineering) work on the applications, sometimes
repurposing information from past attempts. Citrix also devel-
0207rcp_F2Awards(S)
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Page 33
WINNER PROFILES
oped an external Web site designed specifically for the awards that
provides detail about its Microsoft relationship, and included links to
that site throughout its applications.
Toronto-based Gold Certified Partner iMason Inc. hired a publicrelations expert to write its application. That move reflects another
entry imperative: While you need to call upon product developers and
engineers to help answer the technical questions, the final outcome
should be a riveting business story. “Using an outside writer helps you
crystallize the message and provides an outside perspective,” says
Andrew Steane, director of marketing with iMason, a finalist for the
2006 Custom Development Solutions Technology Innovation category and winner of a 2006 regional Customer Experience award. Too
often, partners simply don’t provide enough detail to generate interest and excitement, Salzer says, adding: “Using PR is a fabulous idea.”
Customers can also help you tell your story better. Steane asked the
business customers that iMason featured in the applications—the city
site Toronto.com and a large Canadian financial institution—to provide
feedback on the solution’s business value, an exercise that he calls
extremely useful. (iMason also won a Microsoft Canada award in 2006
for the Toronto.com project: the IMPACT Custom Development Solution
of the Year.)
Ultimately, you must determine the best way to highlight your organization’s strengths and package the information. To help solidify its
message, Apptix, which provides hosted Exchange and SharePoint solutions, repeated one theme—the scalability and robustness of its service
management platform—throughout its application. Funk recalls:
“I talked about how our platform infrastructure allowed us to service
and support and scale [to] our customer despite the fact that we were
rapidly growing.”
3. USE A COMPELLING CUSTOMER STORY
Due to the sheer volume of applicants, Microsoft can’t accommodate
source code or screenshots, says Geoff Saunders, project manager for
the Global Partner Awards program. So your best supporting documentation is probably your best customer story. And while some
awards don’t require a customer case, you must still, at minimum,
demonstrate quantifiable customer ROI and benefits.
C2C Systems Ltd., a Gold Certified Partner based in Reading, England,
provides Microsoft Exchange-based e-mail archiving solutions for midsize
and small enterprise customers worldwide. Because of compliance
issues and the growing volume and complexity of corporate messaging,
the company’s offerings address a clear customer pain point. C2C won the
2006 Customer Experience award for the implementation of its “Archive
One” solution for the Tyler Independent School District in Texas, which
needed to quickly show compliance with a rigorous state regulation.
Dan Langille, manager of channel programs for C2C Systems, believes
that time-to-market was a critical factor in his company’s award. Counting
The Apptix team accepts an award at the 2006 Microsoft Worldwide
Partner Conference (WWPC) from Allison Watson, corporate vice
president, Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group (2nd from right), and
Robert Deshaies, vice president, U.S. Partner Group (far left).
APPTIX INC.
Line of Business:On-demand messaging and collaboration
solutions for small and midsize businesses
Founded:1997
Employees:180
Partner Level: Gold Certified
Winning or related solutions for 2006 awards: Hosted
Exchange, Hosted SharePoint, Mobile Messaging, and Archiving
and Compliance
Global Partner Awards: 2006 Sales and Marketing of Advanced
Infrastructure Solutions
Lessons/Insights: “Make sure you have someone who can take
technology responses and articulate them in a business perspective on the application,” advises Jackie Funk, marketing director.
“Also, you need someone who can chase down the information
internally.” Other tips from Funk: Companies with Microsoft
Partner Account Managers (PAMs) should let those contacts
know that they’ve applied—there’s a chance that plugged-in
PAMs may be able to put in a good word on your behalf.
from the date of the first contact with its school district, C2C
Systems launched the solution in just two weeks. During that
time, the company even coordinated its efforts with a hardware vendor and systems integrator.
What also worked in C2C’s favor, he says, was the partner
ecosystem model of the implementation—which Microsoft
likes to see. But ultimately, they knew that the school district
would be a good reference. “The most important thing for us
[in terms of differentiation] is that the customer has to be
blown away by what we have done,” remarks Langille, who
works from an office in Nova Scotia, Canada.
But be careful how you write up your customer story.
Partners tend to talk too much about the products and not
RCPmag.com
FEBRUARY 2007
33
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Page 34
| Microsoft Partner Awards
WINNER PROFILES
Dimension Data employees accept an award at the 2006
WWPC from Allison Watson (3rd from left).
DIMENSION DATA HOLDINGS PLC
Line of business:Security, operating environments,
storage and contact center technologies; IT consulting
and services
Founded:1983
Employees: 8,600
Partner Level:Gold Certified
Winning or related solutions for 2006 awards:Compliance
Management, Dynamic Desktop Deployment (Microsoft
Windows and Office)
Global Partner Awards: 2006 Advanced Infrastructure
Technology Innovation, Custom Development Smart Client
Development, and Global Winning Customer; 2005 Sales and
Marketing Partner of the Year for Security Solutions
Lessons/Insights: “Customer endorsement is
extremely important,” says Curt Wheadon, global vice president,
operating environments and messaging. “The more your clients
become raving fans and are willing to state so, the better.”
enough about the solution or the customer, Salzer laments.
Steane adds this reminder: Don’t forget that the customer story
should be more about the customer than your company and
its role.
4. PUT ON YOUR MICROSOFT GOGGLES
A successful application will hammer home how your organization
and solution drives Microsoft goals and sales. “Our business has
grown significantly in the last year, so that is important for our
credibility plus Microsoft revenues,” Funk explains. Additionally,
think about how you can align with areas that are most important
to Microsoft from a competitive or product-release standpoint.
Because the competition’s 350 judges come from many disciplines and geographical regions, you’ll need to showcase
how your solution is applicable for customers in different coun-
34
tries and industries. Some other factors you may wish to highlight are innovative use of technology and good customer care.
“The early adopters we love to see,” Salzer says. Microsoft craves
strong customer stories for case studies, particularly when the customer is using a new technology. (iMason, for instance, used a beta
version of Visual Studio 2005 in its winning solution for Toronto.com.)
Microsoft provides official criteria for the entries, each of
which is independently reviewed by three judges. Factors considered include time-to-market, customer productivity and marketplace impact, among others.
In developing the criteria, Microsoft tries to not be overly prescriptive, according to Salzer. That approach might be frustrating
for partners trying to determine exactly what it is that Microsoft
wants, but from Redmond’s perspective the end result is a richer
set of solutions from which to choose. “We want the partners to
come in without a lot of filters or guidance,” Salzer says. “We’re
always delighted to see how much creativity there is out there.”
5. REMEMBER, IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE AWARD
It’s good to find one more reason to dust off the old adage: “It’s not
about whether you win or lose—it’s how you play the game.” Like
the leadership team at the mother ship in Redmond, executives at
Microsoft partner companies are hardwired to compete and win.
But if winning is your only goal, and visions of the award stage dance
like sugar plums in your head, you’re missing the point. Going
through the application process itself is a learning experience that
can contribute in a meaningful way to your marketing efforts—and
even to your business strategy.
Steane, of iMason, sums up his take on the process this way: “It
helped force us to do something we should be doing anyway—documenting our successes.” Too often, team members don’t understand
the full value of the submissions, he says, and it’s easy for people to
lose hope if the company doesn’t win the first, second or third time
around. But, he continues, “it’s not constructive to look at it as a onetime thing or [as if] it’s all about winning.” (iMason, which has
entered the competition annually since 2004, has won regional
awards but not yet a global one.)
“It’s not just about the award process, but the relationship you’ve
built with Microsoft,” adds Olah. “We take pride in being a finalist in
any category.” •
Polly Schneider Traylor ([email protected]) writes about
business, technology and health care from San Mateo, Calif.
Get More Online
Read what criteria and questions judges consider in selecting Microsoft
Partner Award winners at RCPmagcom. FindIT code: WinCircle
0207rcp_SolSpot_35-41.v9
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Page 35
MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007
SolutionSpotlight
BY KEITH WARD
THE NEW OFFICE: SOMETHING
FOR EVERYONE
Office 2007
gives familiar
applications a
welcome makeover
on both the
interface and
file-format level.
I LLU S T R AT I O N BY CSA P R I NTS TO CK I LLU S T R AT I O N
M
the suite—Word, Excel, PowerPoint and
Outlook. Office Standard is the basic
suite of programs, and is the likely entry
point for corporate customers.
Probably the biggest change
throughout Office 2007 is the ubiquitous use of XML to allow greater interoperability among programs. There is
also a new interface element called the
Ribbon. These upgrades are present in
each of the four pillar applications.
WORD UP
icrosoft Office is one of the most popular software packages on the planet.
It’s mature, stable and well-loved. For proof of that, you need look no further
than the overwhelming market share Office has captured over the years.
Considering that massive installed base, you may think the upgrade to the latest and
greatest version would be an easy sell, but the reality can be quite different.
A product like Office with such a solid, established and loyal user base needs
tangible reasons to upgrade. Compelling new features are essential, as is seamless
compatibility with earlier versions. That being the case, its biggest competition is
likely from itself. There are, however, several legitimate competitors to Microsoft
Office. They might not have Office’s reputation, solid track record and legions of
fans, but they are still viable alternatives—and all of them are
less expensive.
Release Date: Nov. 30, 2006
The Office 2007 suite comes
Prices range from $149 for the Home/Student Edition, to
in a host of versions. Microsoft
$399/$239 (retail/upgrade) for the Standard Edition and
lists eight on its Web site (see
$679/$539 (retail/upgrade) for the Ultimate Edition.
“Microsoft Office 2007 Suites”
Professional Plus and Enterprise Editions are available
on p. 36). We’ll focus here on
only through volume licensing.
Microsoft Office Standard 2007,
www.microsoft.com
which includes the four pillars of
RCPmag.com
Microsoft has redesigned Office Word
2007 for greater ease of use, increased
security and more uniformity with
other Office programs. The ease of use
and uniformity starts with the Ribbon
interface, which is a new toolbar that
sits at the top of Word 2007. The
Ribbon organizes necessary tools and
features better than previous iterations of Word. The Ribbon is divided
into three sections:
Tabs: There are seven basic tabs
across the top. Each represents an
“activity area,” as Microsoft calls it, such
as Home, Page Layout and Review. The
Home tab is used for the most commonly accessed features and functions.
Groups: Each tab is sub-divided into
Groups, which include all related tasks.
For example, all the commands related
to text movement—like cut, copy and
paste—are grouped in one area on the
Home tab.
Commands: C o m m a n d s a r e
actionableitems like a button or box for
entering information.
FEBRUARY 2007
35
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SolutionSpotlight
MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007 SUITES
MS Office
Basic 2007
MS Office Home &
Student 2007
MS Office
Standard 2007
MS Office Small
Business 2007
MS Office
Professional 2007
MS Office
Ultimate 2007
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
MS Office
Word 2007
MS Office
Excel 2007
MS Office
PowerPoint 2007
MS Office
Outlook 2007
•
MS Office Outlook
2007 with Business
ContactManager
MS Office Accounting
Express 2007
MS Office
Publisher 2007
MS Office
Access 2007
MS Office
InfoPath 2007
MS Office
Groove 2007
MS Office
OneNote 2007
•
MS Office
Communicator 2007
MS Office
Professional
Plus 2007
MS Office
Enterprise 2007
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
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•
•
Integrated Enterprise
Content
Management
•
•
•
Integrated Electronics
Forms
•
•
•
Advanced
Information Rights
Management and
Policy Capabilities
•
•
•
S O U R CE : M I C R O S O F T
The less-frequently used commands pop up when you use
a particular function, like adding a table to a document. This
reduces screen clutter and makes it easier for your customers
to get at the more commonly used features.
The other significant departure from older Office versions is the move to an XML format for document storage. The
Office Open XML (OOXML) format is the new standard. This
format adds an “x” to the familiar “.doc” and “.dot” formats,
so they will now be labeled “.docx” and “.dotx.”
One big advantage of moving to XML is that documents
created this way don’t accept macros or coding. This helps
make them more secure. You can still create documents with
macros, however, if you need the added functionality macros
provide. It just isn’t the default any more.
Customers can easily convert older documents to the new
XML format if everyone is on Word 2007. However, the converter is limited to Microsoft Office 2000 SP3, XP SP3 and 2003 SP1
and Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP1 and Windows Server 2003.
Using other office suites like those from Lotus or Sun can
be more problematic, since the definition of Microsoft’s
“Open” XML format depends on who’s doing the talking. It’s
not compatible with the OpenDocument format used by open
source office programs like StarOffice.
STILL EXCEL-LENT
Excel hasn’t changed much in years, but there are big changes
coming with the 2007 version. The Ribbon interface is the
biggest change. This serves the same function in Excel as in
Word: to organize and present features and functions that
may have formerly been hidden behind invisible toolbars or
commands buried in menus.
There are context-sensitive menus for commands and
features that your customers will need less frequently. For
instance, you don’t need easy access to the chart commands
if you aren’t using charts. If you do create a chart, however,
the Chart Tools appear and give your customers access to
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their technicians in the field to their systems in the office. FieldCentrix also
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SolutionSpotlight
Spotlight Highlights
KEY FEATURES
✱
Open Office XML file format standard
✱
Ribbon interface provides easier access to features
✱
Excel spreadsheets now much larger
COMPETITION
✱
Lotus SmartSuite
✱
Corel WordPerfect Office X3
✱
Sun StarOffice 8
✱
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
OPPORTUNITIES
✱
Backward compatibility across all applications
✱
XML format affords external compatibility
✱
Familiar applications ease migration
that functionality without having the clutter of toolbars
everywhere.
The upgrades brought to Excel through the new XML file
format standard are numerous. One of the biggest advantages is a huge increase in acreage. The number of rows on a
worksheet has gone from 65,536 to 1,048,576, and the number of columns has increased from 256 to 16,384. Much like
Word, it’s also easier to keep macros and code out of spreadsheet files. Compression also works better, which will help
your customers’ store files about 50 percent smaller.
You can save files in older Excel formats, and those users
with older versions can open Excel 2007 files with the help of
a converter. When they open an Excel 2007 file, they’ll be
asked to download the converter tool.
GET TO THE POINT
PowerPoint 2007, the latest version of Microsoft’s presentation program, gets a transformation similar to Word 2007 and
Excel 2007. The Ribbon in PowerPoint 2007 is larger than it is
in Word and Excel, but provides exactly the same functionality
and ease of use by logically presenting tools and commands. It
made these commands visible, instead of hiding them within
menus. It also grouped categories of commands together.
As with the other products, XML is at the heart of
PowerPoint 2007. It confers many of the same advantages—
more interoperability across programs, more safety in that
users can’t add macros and code to presentations in the default
configuration, and smaller file sizes. With the new XML file
format, the “x” is added to the standard “.ppt” extension, so
your customers’ files will be labeled as “.pptx” files.
Like the other Office 2007 applications, there is a similar
level of backwards compatibility. Your customers can save
files in older formats and convert files from earlier versions to
the XML format.
OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK
The Ribbon in Outlook 2007 looks very similar to the one in
Word 2007, albeit slightly stripped down. This makes sense,
since the Outlook 2007 editor is based on Word 2007. Like the
Ribbon in the other products, Outlook’s Ribbon is divided
into tabs for specific tasks.
Sending and receiving e-mail is pretty much the same in
Outlook 2007 as in previous versions. One nice addition is the
ability to preview attachments in the reading pane before
downloading or opening them. That will make it easier, for
instance, to view pictures you’ve been sent before downloading them to your computer.
There are several other noteworthy upgrades across
Office 2007:
■ InfoPath 2007 is integrated, which means you can
embed an InfoPath form in an e-mail message, requesting the
recipient to fill out the form in the reply.
■ Outlook E-mail Postmark asks the sender’s computer
to perform a computation or puzzle, and a correct answer is
necessary for the e-mail to be sent through. Microsoft claims
this process will make it much more difficult and time-consuming for spammers.
■ An improved junk e-mail filter has been added that
sweeps out more junk mail. Along with this comes better
phishing protection. In suspicious e-mails, Outlook disables
links within messages until the user approves them.
■ Outlook exports documents in PDF or XML format.
The new uniformity across the board in these Office pillars, with a consistent user interface, should make it easier for
new users to learn the entire suite. And the use of XML as a file
format standard should mean smoother data integration
between both applications within and outside the Office suite.
With the many different suites, there are lots of price
points to appeal to varying budgets. That many offerings can
be very confusing, though. Do your homework and know
which applications are included with each version of the
Office suites, and you’ll be well equipped to steer your customers to the version that will suit them best.
»
1/12/07
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Page 39
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Although Office has a huge user base, it’s not the only game
in town. The three primary competitors are the Lotus
SmartSuite, Corel WordPerfect Office X3 and the Sun
StarOffice/OpenOffice.
Lotus SmartSuite version 9.8 includes the Lotus 1-2-3
spreadsheet, Word Pro word processor, Freelance Graphics
(presentation program), Approach (spreadsheet/database)
and Organizer (personal information manager/day planner).
At $235 for the full suite, it’s a bargain compared to Office
Standard 2007, which checks in at $399. Lotus says it’s fully
compatible with Office products and can read and write to and
from Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
A similar-cost office suite is Corel WordPerfect Office X3,
with a sticker price of $250. That gets you a package identical in
functionality to Office Standard 2007, including WordPerfect
X3, Quattro Pro X3, Presentations X3 and WordPerfect mail.
WordPerfect also offers a small business edition that adds
an image editing program, business templates and Norton
Internet Security for $299. Like Lotus SmartSuite, it’s supposed to be fully interoperable with Office documents.
The low-cost leader is Sun StarOffice 8, which is a $69.95
download. It discounts down to $35 for the Enterprise Edition
(schools and research facilities can still get it for free).
If you want most of the functionality of StarOffice, but for
free, go to openoffice.org and download the suite. The latest
version of OpenOffice is 2.1. It lacks some templates, fonts,
management capabilities and a few other minor features of
StarOffice, but is otherwise exactly the same.
A fairly new entry into this space is Google. Google Docs &
Spreadsheets offers online collaboration for word processing
and spreadsheets. It’s a 100 percent online service that’s also
free. One cool trick is that users (invited by e-mail address)
can work on documents and spreadsheets in real time over the
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FEBRUARY 2007
39
1/12/07
3:51 PM
Page 40
SolutionSpotlight
Internet, making changes simultaneously. All they need is a
computer with Internet access and a browser.
It’s noteworthy that each of these competitive products
emphasizes its compatibility with Office as a major selling
point. The competitors are well aware of who is the big dog.
MARKETING AND SALES
Being such a cornerstone product, Microsoft has made voluminous sales and marketing support available for Microsoft
Office 2007. Microsoft Office for Partners is the primary portal. It aggregates most of the information you’ll need to support your sales efforts. The Office system solution showcase is
a terrific resource for partners. It’s broken down in several
ways. It lists Office 2007 solutions by industry or by department, and gives tactical advice on how to sell Office 2007 to
these various groups. There are also scenarios for various
tasks, like how Office 2007 can help you address SarbanesOxley issues or contract lifecycle management.
The 2007 Microsoft Office System Partner Licensing
Guide will help you wade through the myriad Office suites
and licensing programs available, so you can find the right
match for your customers.
You can also sell more than just the Office 2007 programs
themselves: Microsoft calls them Information Worker
Competency Specializations, and you can learn more at the
Microsoft Web site. These are peripheral sales opportunities
CHANNEL CALL
PICKING A
PARTNER IS LIKE
BUYING A CAR
by Keith Lubner
At the end of last year, all the car companies
made a strong push to sell their cars. They do
this every year, but last year seemed to be
extreme. I guess their advertising worked, as
I started looking into buying a new car.
This got me thinking. The process of
researching a new car is very similar to the
process a partner needs to follow when
researching a new relationship with a vendor.
Here are five things to keep in mind when
researching vendors and their technologies:
1. Style
The first thing that typically attracts us to a
new car is the style of the car. The same thing
applies when we’re looking for that next
vendor to add to the portfolio. Does the
product look like a nice complement to your
existing Microsoft lineup? Can you envision
the product being bundled with other
Microsoft services and products of yours—
possibly creating a suite? Creating a “style”
for your company will help you create a niche
and generate momentum.
2. Gas Mileage
While the V8, super turbo-charged SUV was
downright cool, I would probably find myself
filling up the gas tank too often. So my
research pointed me toward a more efficient
vehicle—like a hybrid or something in between.
With vendors, the super cool “Star Wars”
technology might seem appealing, but it
might not be a rational choice. You’ll probably
find yourself pouring too much “gas” (meaning
resources and money) into making the product
work in client environments.
3. Affordability
One of the car advertisements I saw was for a
Bentley—a very nice car but way out of my
price range. On the surface, some vendors’
products may seem attractive, but their prices
don’t match up with your target customers’
budgets. A good example is enterprise
resource planning (ERP). Not a lot of partners
can take on the bigger ERP products, but an
increasingly higher number of partners can
take on the Microsoft ERP products (and
related products) because of the lower price
points and the SMB target audience.
4. Comfort
I narrowed my search down to a few cars I
thought would work well for our family.
However, I still needed to complete the most
important test of all—actually sitting in the
vehicle and taking it for a test drive. Style, gas
mileage and affordability aside, if I didn’t feel
comfortable with the ride, I was not going to
buy the car. With vendors, everything might
seem rosy until you actually test drive the
product. You need to feel comfortable that the
product or service works as planned, that your
people can implement it properly and that it
will help you make money.
5. Resale Value
One of the most important criteria for me is
a car’s resale value. The same applies to
vendors’ products. Determining if a product
will be of value to your organization is a difficult task. I recommend that partners examine
their current product lines in order to draw
some conclusions on what products provided
real value to their organization over time.
When you chose your next vendor, align yourself to that category of products. By taking
time to research your next vendor relationship,
as you would when researching a new car,
you’ll increase the likelihood of success.
Keith Lubner (klubner@channelconsulting
corp.com) is managing partner of
Channel Consulting Corp.,
a N.J.-based global consulting organization
focused on channel strategy, design, enablement,
outsourcing and training
for growing companies.
»
1/12/07
6:52 PM
Page 41
based on Office 2007, including things like Office solutions
development, which means using XML and Web services to
solve problems; or becoming an expert at Office 2007 deployments, either through new installs or upgrades.
One other new program for Office 2007 is a licensing
change that helps system builders bundle the suite with a new
computer. The customer can have a 60-day trial of Office
2007, then choose to buy it after the initial PC sale. Previously,
this group of partners’ main opportunity to sell Office licenses
came at the time of the PC purchase. Microsoft stated in a
press release that more than 50 percent of small businesses
purchase Microsoft Office separately within 60 days of a new
PC purchase, representing a potentially significant new
source of revenue for system builder partners.
tionality baked in and a new, consistent user interface across
the pillar products Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook,
there’s a compelling story for you to tell your customers.
Even so, selling the upgrade could be an uphill battle.
Earlier versions of Office are entrenched and they work well in
most companies, so its biggest competition is likely to come
from itself. Microsoft is providing plenty of ammunition to
take into that battle, though, and Office 2007 has many compelling features and architectural enhancements that should
spark interest among your most cost-conscious customers. •
Keith Ward ([email protected]), former
editor of Redmond magazine, is a freelance writer based
in Maryland.
Get More Online
THE FINAL WORD
Office 2007 is a big new product—and here we’ve only
touched on the fundamental applications. With XML func-
Find out more about Office 2007 and related partner opportunities
online at RCPmag.com. FindIT code: OfficeEvery1.
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RCPmag.com
FEBRUARY 2007
41
0207rcp_TM.4pageAd_Final
1/15/07
11:48 AM
Page 42
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0207rcp_Marketing_46.v5
1/15/07
11:36 AM
Page 46
BY M.H. “MAC” MCINTOSH
Essential Gear for
Catching Redmond’s
New Wave
A
s a Microsoft partner, you undoubtedly realize that the
releases of Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system
and Exchange Server 2007 are likely to create a flood of busi-
ness opportunities for you.
Microsoft calls these launches the most significant in its history. The
company is pouring big bucks and lots of resources into informing business
and IT decision makers about the benefits of these new and improved software products.
Microsoft’s goal is to get these decision makers to start putting those
products to work sooner rather than later. You can bank on the fact that
many businesses of all sizes will start using the new products almost immediately. Then, if history repeats itself, millions more companies will license
and install this new software over the next year. In fact, Microsoft estimates
that 200 million people worldwide will use a new Windows Vista, Office or
Exchange Server product in 2007.
Your current challenge: getting your share—or more—of the opportunities connected with selling this software and providing related services. That’s where marketing comes in. Catching this wave of opportunity
requires that you immediately spread the word that your company is the
one to help prospective customers select and implement Redmond’s
new software.
The best way to start is to ask yourself this series of questions:
1. Have I allocated enough money to effectively get the word out about our
expertise and services?
2. Do I know how many companies to target?
Not sure how to answer those first two questions? Visit the sales and
marketing pages on Microsoft’s Partner Program Web site, where you can
use the Marketing Lead Calculator to help determine your budget.
46
3. Do I know which marketing tactics I should be using to
generate leads and drive sales?
For help, try the Marketing for Leads Marketing
Plan worksheet, which is available in the same location
on the partner site.
4. Am I taking advantage of all Microsoft’s marketing
resources for partners?
To find out, spend some time on the partner site’s
Create Demand page, also available in the sales and
marketing section.
5. Have I explored co-marketing opportunities with other
companies?
You may well find partners that offer complementary services and want to target the same prospects that
you do. You may be able to leverage each other’s lists,
marketing budgets and personnel. A great way to find
such partners: Microsoft’s Partner Channel Builder, also
available on the partner site.
6. Do I have the people I need to get the marketing job
done right?
This is no time for amateurs. You must hit the
ground running with experienced business marketers
who know how to get marketing out of the planning
stage and into your prospects’ hands. But where do you
find these people?
In addition to the obvious routes for hiring fulland part-time staffers—newspaper ads and job sites
such as Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs—you
might try MarketingSherpa’s list of marketing-job sites.
Many of my Microsoft partner clients tell me that
they’ve found experienced marketers on the Craigslist
bulletin board.
Or you can bring in the expertise you need on a project-by-project basis. Consider hiring freelance copywriters,
designers, event coordinators and other independent contractors. You can find such specialists through Web-based
services such as Elance, Guru.com and Sologig. Or look
into a staffing service, such as Aquent Marketing Staffing,
that specializes in placing marketing pros in contract jobs.
Ultimately, all these resources can help ensure that
as Microsoft floods the market with these new releases,
your company catches the wave rather than watching
helplessly as it washes past. •
Mac McIntosh ([email protected]) helps
Microsoft partners use marketing to drive more leads and
sales. For more information about Mac and his services,
visit www.sales-lead-experts.com.
P O R T R A I T BY J I LLI A N S CH N A R E
MARKETING MICROSOFT
0207rcp_AdIndex_47.v1
1/12/07
5:54 PM
Page 47
Advertising Sales
RCPResources
Matt Morollo
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508-532-1418 phone
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Redmond Channel Partner · February 2007 AD INDEX
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JD Holzgrefe
Director of Advertising, West
818-674-3417 tel
818-734-1528 fax
[email protected]
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[email protected]
Sales
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Microsoft Account Manager
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Advertiser
AMD
Astea International Inc.
Autotask Corporation
Bond StarSearcher
CenterTools, LLC
Diskeeper Corporation
Hewlett Packard
Intersystems
Microsoft Corporation
Objectworld Communications
ScriptLogic Corporation
TechMentor Conferences
Trend Micro, Inc.
Page
C2,1
37
9
5
41
39
11
6
2,14,15
C3
29
42-45
C4
URL
www.amd.com
www.astea.com
www.autotask.com
www.starsearcherats.com
www.centertools.com
www.diskeeper.com
www.hp.com
www.intersystems.com
www.microsoft.com
www.objectworld.com
www.scriptlogic.com
www.techmentorevents.com
www.trendmicro.com
Page
24
30
24
24
30
19
16
30
24
24
24
35
24
24
30
24
12
35
30
19
19
7
7, 12, 35
URL
www.alliedtechgroup.com
www.apptix.com
www.aztecsystems.com
www.brightstarconsulting.com
www.c2c.com
www.ccr1.com
www.cisco.com
www.citrix.com
www.clearpointe.com
www.computerconsulting101.net
www.comsoltx.com
www.corel.com
www.culminis.com
www.definition6.com
www.dimensiondata.com
www.eds.com
www.enablingtechcorp.com
www.google.com
www.imason.com
www.itsynergy.com
www.heartlandtechnologies.com
www.hp.com
www.ibm.com
24
19
24
24
12
12
24
19
19, 24
24
24
35
24
24
12
24
www.iamcp.com
www.ibizinitiatives.com
www.newforth.com
www.novell.com
www.objectworld.com
www.radvision.com
www.readycrest.co.uk
www.rosstek.com
www.smbnation.com
www.softmart.com
www.sonicwall.com
www.sun.com
www.harding-group.com
www.ultimus.com
www.unisys.com
www.yahoo.com
EDITORIAL INDEX
Company
Allied Technology Group LLC
Apptix Inc.
Aztec Systems Inc.
Brightstar Consulting
C2C Systems Ltd.
Center for Computer Resources
Cisco Systems Inc.
Citrix Systems Inc.
ClearPointe Technology Inc.
Computer Consulting 101
Computer Solutions
Corel Corp.
Culminis Inc.
Definition 6 Inc.
Dimension Data Holdings PLC
Electronic Data Systems
Enabling Technologies Corp.
Google
iMason Inc.
itSynergy
Heartland Technology Solutions Inc.
Hewlett Packard
IBM Corp.
International Association of
Microsoft Certified Partners
Internet Business Initiatives LLC
Newforth Partners LLC
Novell Inc.
Objectworld Communications Corp.
RADVision Inc.
Readycrest Ltd.
Ross-Tek
SMB Nation
SoftMart Management Services
SonicWALL Inc.
Sun Microsystems Inc.
The Harding Group Inc.
Ultimus Inc.
Unisys Corp.
Yahoo! Inc.
RCPmag.com
FEBRUARY 2007
47
0207rcp_Directions_48.v5
1/12/07
5:21 PM
Page 48
DIRECTIONS
B Y PA U L D E G R O O T
Microsoft’s Partner
Program: Buffet or
A La Carte?
I
n his book “The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less,” Barry Schwarz
points out that those who want many choices must also make tradeoffs. If one cracker had it all, the supermarket Schwarz visited wouldn’t
have 85 different brands of crackers.
When we make choices, we close off options, and sometimes we may
end up less satisfied than if we had fewer choices to begin with.
Finesse and restraint generally aren’t
Microsoft’s style, and the company likes to
overwhelm both customers and the competition with options. There isn’t a product line
that the company doesn’t think it can do better, bigger and splashier than anyone else. Not
only will they compete, but they’ll come out
with three or four variations.
The strategy has had notable successes,
such as the Office suite, and some failures. Windows Vista is an example of
a Microsoft product that was intended to overwhelm—entirely new programming model, new UI, new file system, new networking and communications infrastructure—but at the end of the day was itself overwhelmed by
the magnitude of the choices.
Microsoft’s partner program has a lot of options, too, including a
steady stream of new programs that partners can sign up for. And that
makes me nervous.
The current version of the partner program was, in my view, a rare
example of finesse at Microsoft. They corralled a herd of partner programs
into one. That one program nevertheless provided partners with ways to distinguish themselves (competencies and tiers) and Microsoft could use those
distinguishing characteristics to tailor its communications with partners to
ensure they weren’t overwhelmed. In short, partners had
fewer choices but more clarity.
As time has passed, a dozen or so competencies have
become three dozen or so competencies and specializations, with more to come. In addition to variations on technical skills, Microsoft has decided that it can help partners
run their businesses better, so we have Partner Skills Plus,
Marketing 101, Partner Solution Selling, and participation
in the “People-Ready” and Customer campaigns.
Two problems come to mind. First, without disparaging these programs themselves, participation is
not without costs. Time spent on these programs may be
valuable or it may be a distraction. I’m all for education
and life-long learning, but doing it right begins with
analysis of your current shortcomings and unexplored
market opportunities. If Microsoft offers programs that
can help with that analysis or overcome such obstacles,
great. If they can’t help, don’t go there.
Second, some of these programs are as much about
Microsoft’s marketing as they are about a partner’s business. That’s not necessarily bad—I’m constantly telling
partners that they need to figure out where Microsoft is
going and get in front of the company. But make sure that
you do the research before making a big investment.
For example, People Ready is a vague marketing
concept, and a lot of partners will have trouble connecting with it. My analysis is that People Ready is a subtle
way to get business leaders to
focus on desktop software, where
Microsoft reigns, rather than on
the Internet browser, which is fast
becoming the new desktop. Many
of them are putting their new apps
on intranet servers, eliminating
the need to create, deploy and
patch code on desktop PCs. That’s
not good for Microsoft’s critical desktop business. People
Ready is a smart concept for Microsoft, but it may not be
valuable for partners who don’t focus on the desktop.
Does that mean you should ignore all but the core
Microsoft partner offerings? Absolutely not. Many programs offer valuable resources that most partners could
never create on their own. But examine them critically, and
ask someone you know at Microsoft about the offering . •
48
Paul DeGroot ([email protected]) is an
analyst with Directions on Microsoft, a Kirkland, Wash.based independent research firm focused exclusively on
Microsoft strategies and technology.
P O R T R A I T BY J I LLI A N S CH N A R E
Microsoft’s partner
program has a lot of
options, and that makes
me nervous.
Project4
1/8/07
4:08 PM
Page 1
Project5
1/10/07
11:38 AM
Page 1
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