Are you an ISV beginning to develop on Microsoft technology, want to be more tied into Microsoft?  If you are not already a part of the Microsoft Partner program then the Empower program is for you.  I suspect many of you don't even know that this program exists, and so I wanted to clue you in.  This is a great program for small ISVs who are just getting started.  To get started you need to join the Microsoft Partner Program as a Registered Partner, this is free and very easy to do, once you have that done you can join the Empower program. 

 What's required of you?

• Empower is a 1 year program, although if you need more time to complete your application you can renew your membership. 
• Membership costs $375 in the US (fees vary by country)
• You need to be developing a product on either: Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, SQL Server, Mobility or MBS

So, what does joining the Empower program get you?

• 1 MSDN Universal subscription
• 1 subscription + additional 4 user licenses (TTL 5 licenses)
• all MS product licenses included in the subscription can be used for testing, development up to TTL 5 licenses
• Beta product access
• Download of latest versions
• Online Managed Newsgroup
• Online Technical Concierge
• 5 Internal use licenses for Windows XP, Office XP/2003, Exchange, SQL, Windows Ent. Server & SharePoint