Yesterday at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Jon Roskill revealed some updates to the upcoming Microsoft partner branding/naming for partners in the Microsoft Partner Network during the keynote address.  As I mentioned on my Twitter account during the keynote, I am posting this updated naming/branding here on my Microsoft blog not only to show you what it is, but I figured I would also show it in a before/after example to help make sure the differences are clear.

Update #1:

Before WPC10	Announced at WPC10
Prior to WPC10, the announced upcoming Microsoft Partner logo was to be:	Yesterday at WPC10, the upcoming Microsoft partner logo will be:

• NOTE: The word “Network” has been removed from the Microsoft partner logo.  As Jon Roskill put it, “Microsoft partners are that, partners.  They themselves aren’t networks,” hence the change.

Update #2:

Before WPC10	Announced at WPC10
Prior to WPC10, the announced upcoming branding/naming for partners who have attained the initial level of a competency was to be: Microsoft Partner Network, then just the competency name.  Here is an example of  this:	Yesterday at WPC10, the announced upcoming branding/naming for partners who have attained the initial level of a competency will be: Microsoft Partner, then “Silver” and the competency name.  Here is an example of  this:

Update #3:

Before WPC10	Announced at WPC10
Prior to WPC10, the announced upcoming branding/naming for partners who have attained the highest level of a competency was to be: Microsoft Partner Network, then “Advanced” competency name.  Here is an example of  this:	Yesterday at WPC10, the announced upcoming branding/naming for partners who have attained the highest level of a competency will be: Microsoft Partner, then “Gold” and the competency name.  Here is an example of  this:

I had this conversation with several Microsoft partners yesterday after the keynote was over, and here are a few of the items that came up that I think are important enough to mention here so you understand them as well:

1. Please remember that one key difference in branding/naming from today’s program and MPN as of October 2010 is that:
   • Today: You earn your “Certified” or “Gold Certified” status at an organization level.  So you may be a “Microsoft Certified Partner” with X, Y, Z competencies
   • October, 2010: You will be a “Microsoft Partner” and then have gold certifications and/or silver certifications, so your “gold” or “silver” branding will reside with your competencies that you obtain those levels in
2. You can be a Microsoft partner and choose not to earn any competencies, just like you do today.  Competencies are not a requirement of being a Microsoft partner.
3. You can choose to earn gold competencies, silver competencies, or a combination of the two.
   • For instance, you might become a Microsoft partner with a gold competency in Virtualization and a silver competency in Mobility
4. Not familiar with the various competencies available to you?

• Take a look at the “Value of Earning a Microsoft Competency Guide” from the Microsoft Partner Portal.

• Here are some example statements on how partners communicate their status with this branding:

• “I am a Microsoft partner with Gold Business Intelligence competency and Silver Search competency.”
• “I am a Microsoft partner with competencies in Gold Business Intelligence and Silver Search.”

• New logos will be available in October 2010 in Logo Builder

I hope this provides you with with a helpful understanding of the branding items that Jon was conveying while on stage yesterday regarding the Microsoft Partner Network at #WPC10. 

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER, LinkedIn, and RSS and see “What I’m thinking”
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights