Alas the summer is over and the opportunities to put the roof down are reducing dramatically. Now it's down to business. Thought it useful to share what the Emerging Partners team is up to in the coming months...

We're focused on supporting and 'incubating' the next generation of software companies to become Microsoft partners - be they small, young independent software vendors (ISV) with a 'packaged product' for a niche market; software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers or Web 2.0 entrepreneurs and early stage start ups. This is good news for anyone previously interested in working closely with Microsoft and perhaps not finding it easy to engage!

In the previous six months, we made huge progress with our SaaS enablement program and BT alliance to promote hosted apps with SMB customers. In the coming twelve months of our new fiscal, we're investing heavily in relationships with high growth companies that want to take the lastest solutions to market - be they traditional on-premise propositions, over the web, or a combination of both software + services.

Part of our renewed value proposition is the Start Up Accelerator program. More news on that after 1st October.

Developing a solution that takes advantage of our emerging technologies can absorb valuable time and funds, so we're keen to give partners access to more expert advice and support to create 'next gen' apps as quickly as possible. We're also exploring partnerships with the investor community and regional development agencies, connecting start ups to funding sources, increasing your investment readiness. No point having cool technology if your cashflow is preventing growth. Our marketing team can also help you with lead generation campaigns to acquire new customers, and we have great examples of partners connecting with other partners and developing new routes-to-market.

So what kind of companies are we working with?

Last year, our team helped lots of different companies grow in partnership with Microsoft. Nitrosell were lauded on stage at worldwide partner conference. Mydeo signed up to work with BT. BeProfessional have come a long way, also working with BT and Peter Jones of Dragon's Den and Tycoon fame.

Volutio have something that would certainly make my life a lot easier! Have a look at their cool introduction.

Horsesmouth were featured in the news again recently. Xero paid us a visit this week, as did Comrange. We're off sailing next week at the Silicon Cup with Miomni and Daniel Doll-Steinberg from Tribeka. The stuff the guys at Short Fuze are producing is just too cool for words. And then there's a great concept in e-lending, Wonga.  

So we are keeping busy....