You might think which idiot would want to run a business that is not profitable. True. So wouldn’t you want to invest some time to estimate the P&L for new business opportunities using a tool.

This is perhaps the best-kept secret on the Microsoft Partner Program. Check out this tool here.

I’ve often mentioned this to my ISV partners that whether they move into a software-plus-services world, or while they are debating whether to offer an on-premise solution or hosted solution, it all boils down to their own business model. While Microsoft is more ready than ever with the recent announcements about the Azure Services Platform at PDC, the parallel thought process should be about whether they are prepared for this new business model. I found this very good whitepaper that talks about how Microsoft delivers measurable business opportunities for partners in software-plus-services today.