Carpe-Diem are delivering sales training in collaboration with the AiiA which is open to non-AiiA-members as well as members. More info and registration links are on Bruce's blog here but here are the key topics, of use for many MS partners:
1. An Introduction to the Essence of Selling Solutions
2. Building and Managing a Sales Pipeline
3. Improving Customer Satisfaction and Customer Value
4. Developing a Word of Mouth Marketing Strategy
5. Developing a Strategy to Win a Major Opportunity
One of our team internally pointed this article out - very interesting. Showing that Australian customer momentum for virtualisation is higher than the rest of the world average - by a factor 2 ! This means enormous opportunity for Microsoft partners embracing our virtualisation platform.
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/254414/aussies_outpacing_world_virtualisation_uptake
Our new virtualisation portal site is going live very soon to give you a one stop destination on resources and our Hyper-V technical training schedule will be launched just after partner conference.
For now, you can use the following resources:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ozpartnertv/archive/2008/07/23/partner-tv-nick-mayhew-defines-software-services.aspx
Recorded this Monday down in the gorgeous Sydney harbour, check it out for a short and hopefully useful summary of software plus services and some useful resources....
Christian Longstaff (ISV Marketing Manager) is running an ISV Pre-Day the day before the Australian Partner Conference officially opens in Port Douglas. The day will focus on readying partners for our Software+Services vision. If you are interested in attending, please review the agenda below and email Christian to register.
Proposed agenda for Mon 4 Aug Pre-Day: Get ready for Software+Services:
- 09.00 - Registration & Arrival – Inner Daintree room
- What is Software + Services?
- What are the Business Opportunities for SQL Server?
- “How to workshop” #1: raising funding
- Segment presentations
- “How to workshop” #2: Setting up Internationally
- The ISV Royalty and SPLA Licensing Partner Opportunities
- “How to workshop” #3: Overcoming Challenges for Growth
- Business Opportunities for Application Platform Optimisation
- 17.00 – Close & Drinks
These are typically not at a great time for Aussie partners but are available shortly after the live time on demand so worth a look:
FOR31PAL: Overview of ISA Server 2006 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Presented by Adam Jung and Jim Harrison
- Tuesday, July 22, 2008
- 8:00 – 9:00 AM Pacific Time (GMT-07:00)
- Level 200
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Managed (Field Managed Service Partner), System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Developer, Implementer, Support
PLC Registration Link
Live Meeting Link
Join us for a technical overview of the fixes and enhancements delivered in the Internet Security & Acceleration (ISA) Server Service Pack 1 (SP1). SP1 fixes over 200 bugs and integrates all Hotfixes since ISA Server 2006 was released. Additionally, SP1 delivers new enhancements to improve overall ISA Server supportability, manageability and configuration troubleshooting. This includes configuration change logging/tracking, Web publishing rules testing, a traffic simulator and an integrated diagnostic logging viewer. Additional information can also be found at: http://blogs.technet.com/isablog/archive/2008/05/23/isa-server-2006-service-pack-1-features.aspx.
WNS37AAL: Understanding Microsoft’s Licensing in Virtualized Environments
- Presented by Gordon Gazaway and Michael Cooper
- Tuesday, July 31, 2008
- 8:00 – 9:00 AM Pacific Time (GMT-07:00)
- Level 100
Partner Type: Distributor, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Original Equipment Manufacturer, Regional Solution Partner, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller
Partner Role: Architect, Exec/Owner, Sales
PLC Registration Link
Live Meeting Link
Microsoft offers numerous virtualization solutions, and proactive licensing policies, that provide a flexible framework for cost-effective virtualization. This session is intended to share the Microsoft licensing strategy for Virtualized environments, and provide best practices around engaging and working with customers in each area.
In this session we will cover:
• A Virtualization overview, understanding the different areas of Virtualization
• An overview of Server Virtualization, V-Motion (live Migration), Disaster Recovery and Clustering and the Licensing Ramification of each
• A look at emerging areas of Virtualization like (VDI, VECD, ACE and Kidaro) and concerns and questions you should be asking
• How to talk licensing to a VMware customer, and using Microsoft’s proactive licensing story as an asset in those conversations.
• And overview of the significant licensing changes Microsoft will be announcing come 8/1.
This announcement on the LiveMesh blog shows that anyone in US-English mode (i.e. not just US based people, Aussie s can get it too - but you need to be in US-English right now) can now have a Mesh account on request - no more waiting.
More from the Liveside guys on this subjecthttp://www.liveside.net/blogs/main/archive/2008/07/16/live-mesh-is-indeed-now-open.aspx
At the Virtual Earth sessions at the Australia Partner Conference pre days Microsoft Regional Director Dr Neil will be demonstrating a Windows Mobile application that uses GPS to log tracks and plot them on Virtual Earth.
By attending the session you will automatically be entered into a prize draw for your chance to win a Palm Treo SmartPhone enabling you to put into practice what you learn on the day!
Register here: https://partner.microsoft.com/australia/40068098#predays
Remember that we believe there are some enormous opportunities for partners in this space - leveraging the VE platform to build compelling customer solutions - and it can be a great differentiator for you.
Nice offer from Robbie:
"I'm very happy to announce that every attendee of our SMB Servers day at TechEd Australia 2008 will receive a free copy of the soon to be released Small Business Server 2008 Standard. Not kidding. Yours to take & use to make your first sale on the new platform."
More here...
I spent some time today looking at the new Software + Services Partner Evolution Interactive Guide and would encourage you all to go check it out.
The tool is packed with useful IDC analysis, Microsoft perspectives and strategic insight into the underlying trends as well as information on how to embrace the opportunities ahead.
One example - you can select one of your underlying business models and explore some content targetted to you - such as the pros and cons of embracing the market shift to S+S:
e.g. Resale and Referral gives you:
With all the announcements last week on the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) as part of our Software+Services strategy (S+S) we know there will be questions arising in the minds of Australian partners large and small, from value-added resellers to system integrators and ISVs.
Whilst we won't necessarily have all the answers I wanted to use my blog as a way to help our partners engage in a dialog on the subject, ask some specific burning questions and for me to roll out an FAQ type response that I build on as we go forwards.
So feel free to send me any questions you have on the announcements last week, the S+S strategy as a whole, the BPOS partner model etc etc I will then either answer directly to you or via this blog in FAQ format. It is an exciting time in the industry but one with which we understand can create uncertainty in many people's minds - we are committed to helping partners embrace the business opportunities going forwards and of course to better server your customers.
2 weeks ago I left a 'tease' on my post about APC.
Well I am delighted to announce that the worldwide leader for the partner channel at Microsoft, Allison Watson, is coming to our Australian partner conference, together with Ross Brown, VP of Solutions and ISV Partners !
We will have Allison and Ross with us for the day 1 keynote (6th August) and Allison will provide some worldwide partnering perspectives during her keynote, as well as partner meetings and press during the day.
Now even more reasons to register - the conference is now only 3 weeks away and we have just about sold out as predicted - so hurry !
Whilst perhaps the most significant announcements from Worldwide Partner Conference relate to Software Plus Services and cloud services, there are many outside that topic that are very relevant to Australian partners of course, so I hope I can help by filtering and identifying the most important ones. Much more coming on this blog on the cloud stuff over the next few weeks.
Here are a few - just click if the headline interests you for all the details you'll need:
I will update this list as I discover more...
Lots of information coming out from WPC of course. The one stop shop for the latest news is the virtual press room: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/wwpc/default.mspx
In my opinion the big stuff is all around S+S - see Stephen Elop's keynote as a starting point: http://www.microsoft.com/digitalwpc/
This is a big announcement for example - more news in the coming months on how exactly we will land this in Australia.
I watched the kick off keynote this morning - it's a good watch.
