The Microsoft worldwide partner conference, now called Microsoft Inspire, took place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. This year it was run entirely on-line, allowing attendees to live stream keynote presentations and to participate in breakout sessions.
A wide range of announcements were made during the conference, many of them around the Microsoft technical roadmap. Here we’ve summarised for you the major partner program themes. This is important insight for anyone managing a partner program.
PARTNER FOCUS AREAS
Throughout the conference Microsoft referenced three focus areas for all partners. These are:
• Digital Transformation. Increased focus on ‘customer purpose’ and how to leverage cloud technologies to drive business and societal outcomes for good.
• Microsoft Teams. Teams is a key component in Microsoft’s collaboration and remote working strategy, particularly relevant in todays economic environment.
• Security. Building security into digital transformation projects and using Microsoft security solutions to address specific customer needs.
Judson Althoff, EVP Microsoft Commercial Business: “As an ecosystem we’ve seen more digital transformation happen in the last two months than we have seen in the last two years.”
CLOUD PRACTICE PLAYBOOKS
The Microsoft partner program is orientated towards engagement with partners developing cloud solutions or delivering services built on the Microsoft technology stack. See our recent blog summarising the Microsoft program here.
During Microsoft Inspire various announcements were made that reinforce Microsoft’s portfolio of partner enablement content. This content helps partners migrate their business towards digital transformation and cloud solutions.
Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft: “For Microsoft to do well, you all as partners have to do well. That’s ingrained in our business model.”
A key announcement was the addition of new Cloud Practice Playbooks. These playbooks are detailed guides for partners, up to one hundred pages of content, that provide practical advice and proven models. At Kovendi we see these playbooks as best practice in terms of partner enablement content for business transformation to cloud.
As an example, the ‘Grow Your ISV Business with SaaS’ playbook includes:
• Market opportunity and trend analysis, how to define strategy.
• Learnings from other partners to overcome technical and resource challenges.
• Value proposition, pricing and building a team, including templated Job Descriptions.
COSELL PROGRAM AND P2P
The Cosell Program is a key element of partnering strategy for Microsoft. See our blog explaining the program here.
Microsoft is now using the Cosell Program to drive Partner to Partner (P2P) relationships. Since the Cosell Program was established in 2017 around $10 billion USD of partner revenue has gone through it, around 36,000 deal wins. Partners who have an application registered in the Microsoft marketplace, and meet certain program requirements, can register customer deals for sales support from Microsoft.
P2P Cosell allows two partners to create a joint offer. This is likely to be an ISV partnering with a Services Partner or an Azure Reseller to create an integrated customer solution. Playbooks are available to help partners build joint P2P offers.
Microsoft announced improvements to the ISV Connect Program which fast-tracks partner applications into the Microsoft marketplace. It also announced new investment in the marketplace to further improve the discoverability of partner applications for its 350,000 partners and 750 million customers worldwide.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• There were no major structural changes to the Microsoft Partner Network program announced at Microsoft Inspire this year.
• Increased investment was announced in partner enablement Playbook resources and in enhancements to P2P Cosell and marketplaces.
• Partners were encouraged to align with Microsoft to drive customer opportunity through Digital Transformation, Microsoft Teams and Security offers.
As with all large vendor programs, the Microsoft Partner Network is sophisticated, offering a wide range of best practices for other vendors building out their partner models. At Kovendi we understand these best practices and can help you apply them in your business. Contact us to find out more.