Reaching Out to Microsoft Partners in Australia : For ISVs

Simplifying Cloud Services

nickmayhew — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:10:17 GMT

With such a plethora of definitions, options and understandings of the broad IT term ‘cloud’ we’ve just launched a new worldwide site to bring our offerings together – with information laid out in simple terms with content categorised by role.

www.microsoft.com/cloudservices

Major announcements on Azure

nickmayhew — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:40:30 GMT

We just made a significant announcement on Azure, our cloud computing platform at the so-called PDC event.

Read all about it:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/nov09/11-17pdc1pr.mspx

How partners can make money from Windows 7

nickmayhew — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:12:04 GMT

Now Windows 7 is finally launched to everyone it’s time for partners to think about using this as a compelling event for new discussions with your customers. As you’d expect there is a ton of useful content to help you with positioning.

Start here: https://partner.microsoft.com/40084742?msp_id=Windows7

But the key thing to do immediately is use it internally. Whether you are Action Pack subscribers or Gold/Cert partners you have sufficient rights to give the software a really good run yourself and with your teams.

Then follow the link above and you’ll see some targetted content based on your business model. e.g. services partners go here: https://partner.microsoft.com/40103797

We’ve already done a fair amount of training for partners but also keep an eye on the training and readiness blog for up and coming courses and webcasts.

Meet the new Windows Phone

nickmayhew — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:09:16 GMT

We launched Window Mobile v6.5 today – now called Windows Phone. Check out the new site for info on available devices in Australia and all the goodness in this important release for our mobile business – which itself will generate business opportunities for our partners.

www.windowsphone.com.au

And the worldwide press info is here: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/windowsphone/default.aspx

Congrats to all partner conference award winners

nickmayhew — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:02:00 GMT

CRN published the full list here – well done to all winners and finalists !

http://www.crn.com.au/News/154929,didata-four-time-winner-at-microsoft-channel-awards.aspx

Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Virtualisation Partner of the Year

Winner: Jasco Consulting Pty Ltd
Finalist: Hostworks Limited
Finalist: Emantra Pty Ltd

Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Windows Desktop Deployment Partner of the Year

Winner: Dimension Data
Finalist: Gen-I Australia Pty Ltd

Business Intelligence Partner of the Year

Winner: Hands-On Management Pty Ltd
Finalist: IntelliMax Solutions Pty Ltd
Finalist: Calumo Labs Pty Ltd

Competitive Partner of the Year

Winner: Ensyst
Finalist: Zap

Data Management Solutions Partner of the Year:

Winner: Wardy IT Solutions Pty Ltd
Finalist: Dimension Data
Finalist: Calumo Labs Pty Ltd

Distributor Solution Partner of the Year:

Express Data Holdings

Enterprise Partner of the Year:

Winner: Dimension Data
Finalist: Data#3 Limited
Finalist: OBS

Environmental and Sustainability Solution Partner of the Year

Dataract

Information Worker Solutions, Portal and Collaboration Partner of the Year:

Winner: Unique World
Finalist: Ensyst Pty Ltd
Finalist: OBS
Finalist: Avanade

Information Worker Solutions, Search Partner of the Year:

Winner: Ensyst Pty Ltd
Finalist: OBS

Information Worker Solutions, Office Deployment Partner of the Year:

Winner: Dimension Data

ISV / Software Solutions Innovation Partner of the Year:

Winner: Zap
Finalist: Mobilise IT Pty Ltd
Finalist: CDC Software

ISV / Software Solutions Partner of the Year:

Winner: Brookstone Technologies Pty Limited
Finalist: MYOB Australia Pty Ltd
Finalist: Task Retail (NSW) Pty Ltd

Learning Partner of the Year:

Winner: New Horizons Learning Centres Pty Ltd
Finalist: Excom Education
Finalist: Dimension Data Learning Solutions

Licensing Solutions, License Delivery Partner of the Year:

Winner: Data#3 Limited
Finalist: Dimension Data
Finalist: Insight Enterprises Australia Pty Ltd

Licensing Solutions, Software Asset Management Partner of the Year:

Winner: Dimension Data
Finalist: Insight Enterprises Australia Pty Ltd
Finalist: Data#3 Limited

Microsoft Dynamics, CRM Partner of the Year:

Winner: Jaythom Pty Ltd
Finalist: Oakton Services Pty Ltd
Finalist: Professional Advantage Pty Ltd

Microsoft Dynamics, ERP Partner of the Year:

Winner: Hands-on Systems
Finalist: Eclipse Computing Australia Pty Ltd
Finalist: Professional Advantage Pty Ltd

Microsoft Dynamics, Industry/Vertical Solution Partner of the Year:

Winner: Eclipse Computing Australia Pty Ltd
Finalist: Sable Systems
Finalist: Scalable Data Systems Pty Ltd

Mobility Industry Solution Partner of the Year:

Winner: Mobilise IT Pty Ltd
Finalist: Retriever Communications Pty Ltd

Mobility Solutions Business Application Partner of the Year:

Winner: LogicalTech
Finalist: Mobilise IT Pty Ltd

Networking Infrastructure Solutions Partner of the Year:

Winner: Solutionware Pty Ltd
Finalist: Calvert Technologies
Finalist: Comcity Technology Pty Ltd

Notes Transition Partner of the Year:

Winner: Emantra Pty Ltd
Finalist: Quest Software Pty Ltd
Finalist: Thomas Duryea Consulting Pl

Public Sector Education Industry Solutions Partner of the Year:

Winner: Ensyst Pty Ltd
Finalist: Calumo Labs Pty Ltd
Finalist: OBS

Public Sector Health Industry Partner of the Year:

Winner: Fred Health Pty Ltd
Finalist: Eclipse Computing Australia Pty Ltd
Finalist: Senetas Corporation

Software+Services Hosting Partner of the Year:

Winner: BlueFire Corporation
Finalist: Emantra Pty Ltd
Finalist: WebCentral, a Melbourne IT Company

Security Solution Partner of the Year:

Winner: Data#3 Limited

Small Business Solution Partner of the Year:

Winner: Comcity Technology Pty Ltd
Finalist: Correct Solutions Pty Ltd
Finalist: Evolve IT Australia

Unified Communications Partner of the Year:

Winner: Jasco Consulting Pty Ltd
Finalist: Gen-I Australia Pty Ltd
Finalist: Empired Ltd

Community Impact Initiative Partner of the Year:

Winner: OBS

TechNet Virtual Conference

nickmayhew — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:43:47 GMT

Deeps and the local TechNet team have scheduled the following virtual conference targetted at IT Professionals, both in customer and partner organisations. Looks like some very useful content for pre-sales and technical people in the partner base.

TechNet Virtual Conference Friday 25 September
10.00am-11.00am IT Manager Session: How Microsoft does IT: Save Time, Save Energy
This session is designed to demonstrate to customers how Microsoft IT uses our technologies internally, as well as other general best practices, to Save Time, Save Energy and Save Money for the company. Key themes such as using Unified Communications to improve employee productivity and reduce T&E expenses and our carbon footprint, using virtualization technology built natively into Windows Server 2008 to better utilize hardware and decrease power consumption in data centers, consolidation of data centers and infrastructure through Microsoft’s enabling technologies and Power Management features of Windows will be explored among other topics.

11.30am-12.30pm Desktop/End User Specialist Session: Windows 7 Manageability Solutions
This session will explore Windows 7 manageability features for increased automation, reducing help desk calls, and flexible administrator control. We will discuss how Windows Powershell V2.0 automates desktop administrative activities to improve productivity and how Group Policy and Group Policy Preferences enhancements and Applocker make it easier and more flexible for IT Professionals to manage desktop systems. Then we will discuss improvements to desktop auditing to monitor system changes and improvements in system restore capabilities. Finally, we will discuss Support tools such as built-in Windows Troubleshooting Packs, Problem Steps Recorder capabilities, Windows Recovery Environment, Startup Repair tool, Resource Monitor that provides detailed resource utilization, and Reliability Monitor that includes more robust capabilities to help identify and solve system issues.

1.00pm-2.00pm Line of Business/Applications Specialist Session: SQL Server Consolidation/Virtualisation

Microsoft SQL Server supports multiple options for server consolidation, providing organizations with the flexibility to choose the consolidation approach that best meets their requirements in order to centralize data services management and reduce hardware and maintenance costs. By providing centralized management, auditing, and monitoring capabilities, SQL Server makes it easy for you to manage multiple databases and data services, significantly reducing administrative overheads in large enterprises. SQL Server can provide you with the reassurance of industry-leading performance and scalability, and unprecedented control over server resource utilization to maximize the performance of your consolidated data services. Join this session to find out more about the various options for server consolidation with SQL Server, and best practices to get the most out of your environment.

2.30pm-3.30pm Infrastructure Specialist Session: Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 Group Policy Changes
This session will explore Group Policy enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. We will show you how Administrative template improvements make it easier to configure and Group Policy preference improvements to configure defaults for non-Group Policy-aware Windows components. Then we will discuss Starter GPO improvements and scripting Group Policy Objects using Windows Powershell Group Policy cmdlets.

In cases you missed it – major announcement from Microsoft and Nokia

nickmayhew — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:54:59 GMT

Of great interest to many of our partners I am sure, we made a major announcement overnight Australian time with Nokia:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/aug09/08-12pixipr.mspx

“Companies will collaborate to bring Microsoft Office Mobile and related communications and collaboration software and services to Nokia smartphones.“

Partner Program Changes – clarification on exams and news on briefing events across the country

nickmayhew — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:58:41 GMT

I saw this article published in ARN and it was interesting to read the concerns expressed by Tony Banks over losing the investment in certifications for his team. I wanted to take a moment to clarify that this does not need to be a significant concern as long as certifications are kept up to date. Credit for certifications aligned to relatively new technology sets will continue to be an important part of meeting the requirements of a competency under the new Microsoft Partner Network. Indeed this is no change per se from the current program where keeping certifications up to date was a requirement of the competencies.

The new competency list is shown here for further reference and we’ll be providing more information at the next level of detail in the coming weeks. Partners attending the Australian Partner Conference will also have the chance to ask questions directly of the Microsoft team of course. For those of you not attending Australia Partner Conference, Inese Kingsmill and her team will be doing state sessions over the next two weeks. If this is of interest to you please register and attend one of the events below:

August 17: Victoria, Melbourne -

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423237&Culture=en-AU

August 18: Perth, WA -

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423242&Culture=en-AU

August 19: Adelaide, South Australia -

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423238&Culture=en-AU

August 20: Canberra, ACT -

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423239&Culture=en-AU

August 25: Brisbane, QLD -

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423241&Culture=en-AU

August 26: Sydney, NSW –

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423245&Culture=en-AU

August 31:Gold Coast, QLD -

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032423243&Culture=en-AU

Windows 7 Updates

nickmayhew — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:35:01 GMT

Some important milestones this week in the Windows 7 area.

1. Windows XP Mode Technology is now available in release candidate:

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/08/04/windows-xp-mode-rc-now-available.aspx

2. RTM (final) code for Windows 7 will be available on MSDN and Technet for ISV partners any minute now and Gold/Certs on 16th August:

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/21/when-will-you-get-windows-7-rtm.aspx

I’ll be upgrading my much loved RC version to RTM any day now !

Allison Watson on MS Online in Asia

nickmayhew — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:01:26 GMT

Allison Watson, our worldwide leader for the partner ecosystem was interviewed recently in Singapore on the topic of S+S and adoption rates expected in Asia.

http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62056650,00.htm

There is no question we are expecting strong take up in Australia as we ramp up availability of MS Online through Telstra (news on launch coming soon) and it will be interesting to see if we can drive greater growth than the US and UK for example. The Azure announcements at worldwide partner conference have of course introduced a third pillar to our S+S execution now (following partner hosted and MS Online) and we believe Azure will be an important consideration for development-centric audiences such as in-house corporate development teams and ISVs.

New Telstra Mobile Plan – for your customers

nickmayhew — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:44:15 GMT

This is one of the latest (and first) tangible deliverables from the Telstra-Microsoft alliance, but with much more coming in the next few weeks and months !

Here is the customer-facing announcement:

“Better manage your mobility costs with Telstra.

If you're looking to extend mobile access to your employees while leveraging your existing investment in Microsoft Exchange 2003 (or higher), the Microsoft Mobile Enterprise Solution from Telstra brings it all together. Suitable for businesses with compatible Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphones, it features a choice of two plans both with a predictable, fixed monthly fee - making it easier to budget.

For more details visit http://www.telstrabusiness.com/business/portal/online/site/productsservices/microsoftmobileenterprisesolution.196001

“

Now you have the opportunity to provide value to your Exchange-based customers, by introducing them to this offer, and create a business opportunity for yourselves by a potential roll out of Windows Mobile (thus opening up the pipeline for custom business applications built and delivered by partners) on the Telstra network.

Just in case you missed it…. :-)

nickmayhew — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:23:27 GMT

http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/jul09/07-22Windows7RTMPR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases

Yes, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 were signed off as code complete (“Release to Manufacturing”= RTM) overnight Australian time.

Thanks to all the Australian partners who have helped test, feedback and trial these important releases internally and with customers.

For availability on RTM code see here.

Short sign off video here:

Microsoft Surface Partner Program & SDK

nickmayhew — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:26:09 GMT

One of the really interesting WPC announcements was that the Surface team has launched a partner program. I talk regularly with Aussie partners keen to get started on Surface development but the absence of real tables here is a barrier to them. This site and program is a great first step to getting stuck in, including an SDK for development (without the need for a full device).

http://www.surface.com/partners

Press release: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Jul09/07-13SurfaceWPC.mspx

WPC Highlights

nickmayhew — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:07:06 GMT

Don’t forget to check out Digital WPC for all the goodies from last week’s WPC. I’ve been watching the keynotes in the past few days for example. There is lots of content up on the site including all the other sessions and importantly you can find out more on the details of the Microsoft Partner Network announcements.

Azure and interactive maps demonstrator

nickmayhew — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:19:25 GMT

With much momentum behind one part of our overall S+S strategy (namely BPOS/Microsoft Online), partners will in addition begin to see more momentum building on the ‘cloud OS’ side of the equation, namely Azure.

I’ve just seen this announced internally as an example of some of the real world applications going up on the Azure platform – this one for a forthcoming event in Chicago.

http://tasteofchicago09.cloudapp.net/Map.aspx

Nice demonstrator !