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.
Connect with the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Community on:
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Product Marketing team is excited to share this update.
Build a demo your prospects will love!
Great stories make memorable and compelling demos. To deliver a great story you need to tailor it to your prospects unique industry and business requirements. This story must highlight how people can be more effective in their jobs by effectively connecting to the people and data they need to develop and maintain meaningful relationships with their customers.
Microsoft’s mission is to help our customers realize this vision through tools such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Microsoft Office 365 (SharePoint Online, Lync Online, Exchange Online), and Windows Azure. Telling a story that spans these technologies can be complicated, especially if you don't have expertise in each. But, if you only focus on your primary area of expertise, we probably aren’t showing the best solution Microsoft can offer. That’s why we're here to help!
Introducing Demo Builder
Demo Builder is a ClickOnce application implemented in Windows Azure that automatically deploys a “Business Solution from Microsoft” showcasing Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Microsoft Office 365, and Windows Azure. Now, you can easily tell a story about how people can leverage social, mobile and cloud-based business applications to amplify sales and drive productivity with just a couple of clicks.
Visit PartnerSource for complete details.
--Kevin
A Blog Series for Microsoft Dynamics Partners by Christian Lindberg, Solution Sales & Marketing, Microsoft Dynamics Partner Team.
Assistance Software, headquartered in Naarden, Netherlands, provides its professional-services automation solution, Assistance PSA, in several different versions, tailored to fit professional-services companies’ software environments and specializations. The company showcases Assistance PSA on the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace and obtained Certified for Microsoft Dynamics status for its solution.
Martijn van der Hoeden, CEO at Assistance Software, says, “During January 2012, we already had more new contacts through the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace than in all of 2011. I believe part of the reason is that many customers are planning or performing their upgrades to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and are looking for a professional-services automation tool that fits their business and works well with that solution.”
The Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace also plays a vital role in Assistance Software’s development of its own, expanding partner channel. Currently, close to 60 value-added resellers are certified to resell Assistance PSA. In addition, Assistance Software recently relaunched its website to make it even easier for new customers and partners to connect. Van der Hoeden and his team watch traffic closely to see where visitors come from and how they spend their time on the site. Their findings may also lead to updates and enhancements in the company’s listings in the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, which in turn will bring more traffic to the website.
Read the full story: http://bit.ly/HOSVpk
Please join us for a series of interactive webcasts with SBS Group, Tribridge, and Socius. Each Master VAR will provide an overview of their unique program and answer your questions. These calls will not be recorded, so be sure to attend live to learn more about the Master VARs, how to work together, and whether the program is right for you.
Agenda (click each specific link to register)
SBS Group – May 1, 2012
Tribridge – May 2, 2012
Socius –May 3, 2012
In fall 2011, the Master VAR program officially launched in the United States – find more information on PartnerSource.
To build excitement, awareness, and to help prepare our partner community, the Microsoft Dynamics GP product management team has recently launched the new Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 partner launch portal.
The launch portal includes a variety of resources to help Microsoft Dynamics partners get ready for the planned Q4 calendar year 2012 general availability date.
The portal is the place for partners to find the latest news and information about the release. It’s also the best place to access the most relevant collateral, technical resources, tools and training materials as they are made available.
Visit the launch portal on PartnerSource to learn more today!
The US Microsoft Dynamics marketing team is excited to announce another great offer for partners from one of the Marketing Services Bureau vendors.
Nurture Marketing Facebook Timeline Offer
Are you unsure about your company's understanding of the changes to Facebook pages with the new timeline? Do you need help creating a powerful cover photo and enhancing your page layout in the timeline? Nurture Marketing's social media expert will help make sure you are getting the most of the new timeline for pages.
This promotion is available for a limited time (through June 30, 2012). Please access PartnerSource for complete offer details and pricing information.
Just in time to help you close out Microsoft Fiscal Year 2012, Microsoft Dynamics Operations is pleased to announce the launch of the newly redesigned Global Operations Ordering Home Page on PartnerSource.
According to the Operations team, these changes were driven by direct partner feedback in an effort to help make doing business with Microsoft easier. Better categorized content and more direct navigation will streamline your online experience and reduce the time it takes you to find information you need from Operations. From the new Ordering Home page you can now find the latest news and updates from operations plus 1-click links to the resources you need and use most frequently right at your fingertips. Be sure to bookmark the page to easily find license policy, agreements, Microsoft Dynamics CRM resources, key dates and deadlines and be sure to refer here often to get answers to common scenario-based questions and access to all our operations reference guides and training in one place.
What’s new?
Tell us what you think by clicking on “give feedback” at the top of the new Operations Home page to let us know what you think of the changes.
Microsoft partner Skyline Vertical Solutions features two of its solutions in Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace listings: the Skyline Education Series and the Skyline Construction and Safety Series. Both solutions complement Microsoft Dynamics CRM for industry-specific requirements in the education and construction markets. As Henry Hickman, President and Solutions Director of Skyline Vertical Solutions, explains, the company has seen positive results from its listings within a very short time. “In the six months since we published the listing for the Skyline Education Series, we have had 627 visitors come to our website through that channel,” he says. “From those visitors, we had 15 serious inquiries, and now we have begun to close business. The first deal only took 60 days to complete, which is a very short sales cycle for us.”
The Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace helps bring Skyline Vertical Solutions in touch with new types of customers and with customers in different parts of the world. Hickman comments, “Roughly half of the responses come from traditional learning institutions. The others are learning service providers and training companies that find it critical to have the right business technology. In addition, we are hearing from potential customers in Australia, Israel, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom, where we did not have any presence before.”
“At almost zero cost, the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace provides us with an avenue to develop business relationships with new customers,” says Hickman. “We are extremely happy with the results.”
Read the full story: http://bit.ly/HRrzky
In anticipation of the next Microsoft Dynamics CRM release, our partner readiness team requests you to Catch the Fever!
This new training is designed for Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner professionals involved in the selling and demo process. Build out your skill sets over the course of two half-day training opportunities.
Education of our partners is a key component to a successful launch and with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Q2 CY2012 service update we are bringing you the return of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Blitz Day! Join us May 17 & 24 for two blitz days of content.
Microsoft will provide content focused on selling the story, conducting effective presentations, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and winning sales strategies of the new release, augmented with a team of Microsoft Experts available through Q&A. This will be a great benefit for your organization to build up skillsets around this release and have your questions answered by Microsoft Experts.
AGENDA
Part 1 - May 17, 2012 starting at 8:00 AM Pacific
Part I topics include:
Part 2 - May 24, 2012 starting at 8:00 AM Pacific
Part II topics include:
Register today via the Partner Learning Center.
A Blog Series for Microsoft Dynamics Partners by Kati Hvidtfeldt, US Microsoft Dynamics ERP Cloud Lead.
Every business has its strengths, and partners that limit their offerings to only their core competencies are missing opportunities. Smart partnerships can help businesses reach a new industry or a different region—or the growing market for cloud-based solutions. In this week’s blog we feature Linda Rose, Founder and CEO of Rose Business Solutions and RoseASP. Linda discusses the importance of partnerships in her business—and her thoughts on how symbiotic partner relationships can help businesses prosper.
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From the very beginning, partnerships have been important to our business. With the establishment of RoseASP in 2000, which provides hosting to our partners’ customers, partnering became central. In fact, we just promoted one of our team members to become our first dedicated Partner Channel Manager.
Partnering with a cloud services provider, in particular, can help businesses grow by responding to the needs of the growing market for software-as-a-service. Solutions provided via a cloud delivery model require more infrastructure and expertise than a typical in-house IT operation can provide, including more scalability; secure, reliable and redundant data centers; 24x7 customer support and real-time monitoring.
Strategic, well-selected partnerships are beneficial for a number of reasons:
We look for partners who are strategic from a geographic, product or vertical perspective to boost our offerings and serve our customers beyond what we can do as a single organization. And we put contracts in place to establish agreed upon boundaries to ease any competitive concerns.
There are many types and sizes cloud services providers with a variety of expertise. Because each Microsoft Dynamics ERP system has its own nuance it’s important to find a cloud solutions partner that matches your company’s skill set from an implementation standpoint. RoseASP is clearly known for hosting Microsoft Dynamics GP because we have 20 years of product experience, and of course there are cloud service providers with deep experience in other areas.
RoseASP is an industry leader providing hosting for Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions. We want to help Microsoft Dynamics Authorized Resellers meet their year-end goals with a 90-day free trial offer on contracts signed by June 1, 2012. And to reward account execs, we’re awarding an individual sales incentive: a trip for two to St. Thomas, USVI, to the account executive who closes the highest dollar value of RoseASP Microsoft Dynamics hosting contracts between April 1 and June 1, 2012. For more information on these offers click here.
To learn more about how to incorporate cloud-based solutions into your business plans visit the Microsoft Dynamics Countdown to the Cloud page on PartnerSource. Go to www.microsoft.com/dynamics/growyourbusiness for resources that demonstrate to customers how Microsoft Dynamics ERP cloud, hybrid and on-premise solutions can benefit their businesses.
Wondering what the hot topics are for the month of April? Worried you have to sift through volumes of articles on various websites? Don't worry. We have answers. Take a time out and watch our Microsoft Dynamics April 2012 PartnerSource North America Highlights video. You'll receive a quick update in 5 minutes!