Every year at Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), we hear feedback from partners all around the world that one of the greatest parts of WPC is the opportunity to make connections with other WPC attendees. Whether they are connections with existing contacts you know already but haven’t seen in awhile...

After my What are the benefits of the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency? post on Friday, I received some inquiries from current SBSC members saying that the Action Pack benefits were missing under the SBSC column in the chart and should be there because the Microsoft Action Pack Subscription...

As you know, I have been sharing several pieces of information here on my blog about the upcoming Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency which launches in June. What has been fantastic is the amount of feedback all of you have been sharing with me through the blog, though email, in online...

Last week I put up the What are the requirements to earn the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency? post here on the blog to bring you more information about what the actual requirements are to attain the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency when it launches in June. There...

Earlier this month we announced Details on the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency that talked about what it is, some of the benefits of the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency, etc. and this morning on today’s MPN Live , the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency...

At this year’s Microsoft Management Summit, the building excitement around Microsoft private cloud and Microsoft System Center 2012 reached new heights as Brad Anderson announced the General Availability of Microsoft System Center 2012. With System Center 2012 comes a host of opportunities for Microsoft...

Tomorrow is the next in our series of MPN Live events, which bring together Microsoft hosts, Microsoft partner guests, hot topics, fantastic insights, live interaction, and even an incredible giveaway: A free, all-access pass to Worldwide Partner Conference 2012. Talk about a value packed block of time...

Last month I let you know about the fact that the Windows Phone discount program for partners now includes monthly specials , and that in March we we offering the Samsung Omnia W through this offer. For April, we have a new offering available to you through this program, and if you haven’t seen yet,...

At the beginning of March, we officially announced the Small Business Competency in the Microsoft Partner Network . If you looked at the comments from that post, you also saw that I said, “We will announce more program details in April,” in response to questions I received over the the Small Business...

Last month I put up my Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Virtual Labs Available To You Online, plus many more SQL Server 2012 resources post here for you that contains a ton of free resources and information for you on Microsoft SQL Server 2012. Last week, I added a few additional resources to that list as well...

With each passing day, we get another day closer to Worldwide Partner Conference 2012, which is July 8-12th in Toronto this year. I absolutely love Worldwide Partner Conference and it is by far my favorite conference of the year! What is also getting closer with each passing day is the deadline to get...

Last year at Worldwide Partner Conference 2011, we announced the launch of the Windows Phone discount program for our partners that had earned a competency within the Microsoft Partner Network . Through this special discount offer, Microsoft partners who currently hold at least one competency may be...

Over the past week, I have put up several post pointing you to free virtual labs we have available to you online as well as collections of additional resources for these items. Since I started posting them, I have been receiving great feedback on them and continue to receive requests for some additional...

SharePoint Server 2010 is one of the hottest products around. Talk with a Microsoft SharePoint partner and ask them about how the SharePoint business is going, and you are bound to hear a ton of excitement, opportunity and success. In fact, if you recall, the exact statement used in the SharePoint Server...

Since 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of Microsoft Certification, Microsoft is currently on a year long journey to not only help you grow your career, but also to provide opportunities for the next generation. Here is one of the ways that Microsoft is providing an opportunity for you to participate by...

From week to week, I share a bunch of different content across a multitude of my various online presences, such as through my blog , my Twitter account , my LinkedIn account , and my Facebook account . Across these different online resources, the content shared is not always the same, nor is everything...

Here is some very exciting news for all of our partners that focus on the small business segment. Today, Julie Bennani made the official announcement of a Small Business Competency coming to the Microsoft Partner Network, with a launch date of June, 2012! (You can read Julie’s post in her blog in the...

When we launched the updated Microsoft Partner Network back in November of 2010 with the new competency structure and branding ( and retired the “Certified Partner” and “Gold Certified Partner” brands/logos ), one of the design benefits of this approach was to help partners differentiate themselves for...

As you (should) recall, waaaaaaaay back in November of 2010 (my how time flies, doesn’t it?), the former “Microsoft Gold Certified Partner” and “Microsoft Certified Partner” brands were officially retired, put to rest, put out to pasture, however you want to phrase it. Just like any good friend that...

For all of you Microsoft partners out there that are taking advantage of the huge collection of fantastic free training and learning resources available to you on the Microsoft Partner Learning Center as part of your membership in the Microsoft Partner Network , I wanted to give you a quick heads up...

Think your phone is fast or are you in the market for a new phone and looking for something with true speed? Have you tried out a Windows Phone yet? If you haven’t, maybe this will get your attention… As you probably know, the International Consumer Electronics show (CES) took place a couple of weeks...

As you may have heard, in May 2012, we will be combining two of the existing Microsoft Partner Network competencies (Systems Management and Virtualization) into a new unified competency (Management and Virtualization). As a Microsoft partner, these two areas are huge business opportunities and now you...

Welcome to 2012, everyone! I certainly hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and New Year’s Day. To kick off the 2012 year, I thought it might be fun to look back at 2011 quickly to see which of the posts here on the blog you all came to and visited the most. With that, below is a list of the top...

As we approach the end of 2011 and the beginning of the new 2012 year, many people are in the process of taking care of last minute items to close out the year. As you are going through those lists of things to get in before the end of the year, I wanted to make sure that you remembered the Microsoft...

As you may recall, earlier this week we hosted the latest Microsoft Partner Network Interactive Leadership Forum session, which gives you, our partners around the world, the chance to hear directly from the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group leadership team here at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond on...