Kevin Machayya is a 15-year veteran of Microsoft and Great Plains Software. He has held various roles in technical support, customer service, and sales operations. For the last 11 years, Kevin has focused on the Microsoft Dynamics partner channel through partner account management, readiness, marketing, resourcing/staffing and development programs.
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Excitement is building over the upcoming release of Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009! This next-generation point-of-sale application, which is scheduled for general availability on August 1, 2009, is part of our continued long-term investment in the Microsoft Dynamics roadmap for retail.
Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 will offer your customers new and improved features and functionality—like easier navigation, unparalleled sales insights and better inventory management—which they can use to deliver truly outstanding service.
Get Ready to Start Selling and Get Certified!
We are sure you share Microsoft's excitement about this new release and are eager to begin selling it. To ensure a smooth introduction, please take the following steps to ensure that you're ready when Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 becomes available on August 1, 2009:
--Kevin
For the past 4 months, my team delivered a great series of web seminars that discussed various areas of ramping your Microsoft Dynamics business practice. Topics covered business planning, marketing, sales, and supporting your customers. These events are now accessible through the Microsoft Partner Learning Center on demand. Click on the link below to register and access these trainings:
Microsoft Dynamics Partner Community - Weathering Economic Storms
Plan Series
Market Series
Sell Series
Support/Retain Series
Please note that effective June 22, 2009, in response to customer feedback and as part of Microsoft’s continuous efforts to provide world-class support for its products, the company is updating the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy for service packs for key Microsoft Dynamics products.
Microsoft is extending the service pack support policy for Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics AX, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM to 24 months of support for a previous service pack, when a new service pack is released. Previously, when a new service pack was released for these products, Microsoft provided 12 months of support for the previous service pack. For complete details on Service Pack Support please see the announcement.
Microsoft is making a number of changes to its U.S. and worldwide Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners (SMS&P) divisions that are set to take effect July 1.
In the U.S. SMS&P group, Michael Park, current corporate vice president, will assume a new role as corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions Sales, Marketing and Operations. Park joined Microsoft in 2005 after stints at SAP and Siebel, and in May 2006 engineered a shakeup in Microsoft's partner program that saw Robert Deshaies take over for Margo Day as the head of Microsoft's U.S. Partner Group.
Phil Sorgen, who spent the last three-and-a-half years as president of Microsoft Canada, will take Park's place. Eric Gales, who for the past three years has headed up Microsoft Canada's SMS&P Canada operations, will fill Sorgen's vacated post.
Gales previously spent seven years in the United Kingdom as a director in the Microsoft U.K. SMS&P business, and he'll report to Robert Youngjohns, Microsoft corporate vice president and president of Microsoft North America.
Changes are also coming to Microsoft's Worldwide SMS&P group. Birger Steen, current vice president of Microsoft Russia, will take over the role of vice president of Worldwide SMB and Distribution.
Steen has been with Microsoft Russia since 2004 and has worked to raise the profile of the company within that country. In his new role, Steen will report to Eduardo Rosini, Microsoft corporate vice president.
Also reporting to Rosini will be Max Long, who will take over the new Worldwide SMS&P role of vice president of SMS&P Corporate Accounts. In his new role, Long will be tasked with boosting overall customer satisfaction.
(Published by ChannelWeb, June 17, 2009)
Many of you have known for years that Sage has been challenged to properly invest in updating its MAS 90 and MAS 200 product lines. This was perhaps acknowledged by Sage itself in May when Sage North America CTO Motasim Najeeb was reported as saying "some of our products have fallen behind the technology curve and need increased R&D investment" (source: Sage Challenge: Update Aging Products to Attract New Buyers, CRN, May 12, 2009).
Many customers have already realized the benefits of moving from Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 to Microsoft Dynamics GP, but we know there are many more such customers out there. To help you evangelize the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics GP, we have created a number of new tools for you, available on PartnerSource, including:
Take a look at these new tools today and use them to help even more Sage customers realize the value of Microsoft Dynamics GP!
Directions 2009 celebrates its 5th annual conference, as a channel driven event focused 100% on partners and Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The content is created as a result of partner feedback to enable the channel to drive sales, enhance their product knowledge and skills, explore the latest ISV solutions, learn and apply "Best Business Practices", as well as interact with peers to compare notes and learn what is working for others.
Partners are all operating under the current cloud of a challenged economy and are carefully evaluating each business investment they make. It is with this in mind that this year’s Directions is focused on strategic content that will make your investment and participation in Directions a wise and profitable choice.
The theme of "Fueling Success" and the enriched strategic content they are creating will provide ideas, knowledge, and tangible tools that will make this event the best conference you could attend. Your participation in Directions 2009 will enable you to learn from the best and brightest in they industry and energize your thinking to achieve a more successful business.
Register today to join the event in Austin, Texas, November 11-14 at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort and Spa.
Tomorrow's Microsoft Dynamics Partner Community Call features Morgan Wheaton from the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Marketing team.
Unleash Your Potential - Increase Your Sales
What if you could simplify the sales process and increase your existing customer revenue?
Now it's a reality. Microsoft has developed "Your Business Solution Road Map" tool to help you produce an implementation roadmap for your customers that merges the world of business process with the right Microsoft Dynamics functionality and the people who need it. This enables your and your customers to:
Join us for information and a demo of the "Your Business Solution Road Map" tool and learn how using this tool can help you reduce the time and cost it takes to sell additional users and modules.
This web seminar will be held on Tuesday, June 23 at 9:00am Pacific.
Click here to register.
Also, I hope you had the opportunity to join us during our weekly series of calls this fiscal year. Click here to check out all of the web seminars on demand. The series be taking the month of July off, and hope to be delivering timely training again in August.
Building relationships with your potential and existing customers can be a challenge. Customers expect timely and relevant information from you when you send out communications.
Nurture Marketing is a philosophy, as well as a series of tactics, that put and keep you in front of your prospects and top-of mind when they are ready to make their purchase decision.
This guide explains the benefits of Nurture Marketing and gives partners a step by step approach to execution of a Nurture Marketing Plan.
Are you looking to ramp up faster on the steps required to become a knowledgeable Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner?
The Microsoft Dynamics Partner Playbook provides U.S. partners with a single source of information with links to the most complete end-to-end processes, from discovering your opportunity and registering, to acquiring the necessary training and certifications, to marketing, selling, and implementing your first Microsoft Dynamics customer solutions. The objective of this guide is to direct you through the activation process in order to accelerate your productivity and develop a sustainable business practice for Microsoft Dynamics.
I know firsthand that a lot of time and effort (over 5 months) went into the development of this 50+ page resource, and I hope partners find it very valuable!
GP Partner Connections is pleased to announce the dates for the 2009 Conference. For its inaugural year, the Conference will occur in conjunction with the Dynamics GP User Group Summit, providing the greatest opportunity for partners attending the Summit to get involved in the GP Partner Connections Conference.
Taking place Saturday, September 12 through Monday, September 14 at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Illinois, the GP Partner Connections Conference will feature:
Click here to learn more about GP Partner Connections and the Conference.