Partner-TV: telling it like it is

Recently I spoke with Julie Simpson, Managing Director at ResourceiT. ResourceiT specialise in provide sales and marketing support for Microsoft Partners. Using previous experience of working as Microsoft Alliance Managers, ResourceiT are able to help partners develop their relationship with Microsoft, as well as locate useful Microsoft resources. ResourceiT can also provide ad hoc sales and marketing resources for partners, to assist with many different types of promotion, from writing a case study to coordinating and executing a telesales campaign.

In this interview, Julie speaks about why she chose to found ResourceiT, gives examples of partners ResourceiT have worked with in the past and of current opportunities they can offer partners. We discuss the types of sales and marketing promotions ResourceiT can assist partners with, and talk about the costs of these.

More information about ResourceiT can be found on their website, or by emailing Julie at julie.simpson@resourceit.net.

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Kevin Lief, the Solution Channel Development Manager for Enterprise Project Management, talks to Kelvin Kirby, Managing Director at Technology Associates, a company that has worked within the EPM space for 18 years.

They discuss what prompted Technology Associates to adopt EPM, and how the technology and the competition in this space has changed over the past few years.Kelvin also talks about the challenges that Technology Associates have had to overcome to remain successful, and provides advice for companies considering joining the EPM community.

Kelvin can be contacted by email at kkirby@techassoc.com, and you can view Technology Associate's website at http://www.techassoc.com.

To speak to Kevin about EPM or becoming an Microsoft EPM partner, email him at kevin.lief@microsoft.com, or telephone him on +44 (0)7976 131 573.

Find out more about EPM here and about becoming a Microsoft EPM partner here.

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Kevin Lief - the Solution Channel Development Manager (aka Partner Recruiter) for Enterprise Project Management speaks to Paul Major, the Director at Program Framework. They discuss the history of Program Framework and how the company has been successful in the EPM space by overcoming business challenges and differentiating themselves from the competition. Paul also gives an insight into working with other Microsoft partners, as well as advice for companies considering becoming an EPM partner.

Paul can be contacted at paul.major@programframework.com, or you can visit Program Framework's website here.

If you would like to speak to Kevin about EPM or becoming a Microsoft EPM partner, email him at kevin.lief@microsoft.com or telephone him on +44 (0)7976 131 573.

You can find out more about EPM here and how to partner with Microsoft on this technology here.

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Today I spoke to David Gristwood, a member of the UK DPE team, who works closely with ISV partners.

He talked about Fasttrack Review days; a new opportunity for ISVs to tell Microsoft about their technical and business problems, and receive advice and guidance on their future development.

More information on Fasttrack Review days, plus details on how to register for a review, can be found on the Fasttrack Review blog.

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Kevin Lief – the Partner Recruiter for Enterprise Project Management (EPM) talks to Ivan Lloyd from Corporate Project Solutions about why they chose EPM from Microsoft as a core technology component with which to grow their business.

To get in contact with Ivan drop him an email at Ivan.Lloyd@cps.co.uk or you can visit their website here: www.cps.co.uk

If you would like to speak to Kevin about EPM or becoming an EPM Partner, here are his contact details: Tel: +44 (0)7976 131 573, Email: kevin.lief@microsoft.com

You can find out more about EPM here and how to Partner with Microsoft on this technology here.

In this interview I sit down with Steve Kerr, head of Microsoft Financing in the UK to talk about what MIcrosoft Financing is, why it’s important to Microsoft Partners and some of new initiatives they have coming out this year.  For more information on MS Financing check out these handy links:

http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/financing/default.mspx

Last month I had the opportunity to sit down with Ian Gotts, Founder and CEO of Nimbus Partners and talk about what exciting innovations they have in the pipeline and his experience of partnering with Microsoft.  As well as being an author of a book he is passionate about being an evangelist of technology which is something that we both agree is important when communicating the benefits of your products.

Ian is attending the Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston this year, so if you would like to meet him make sure you use the connect tool.

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I’ve known Steve for a few years now, having managed me when I started at Microsoft.  Since then he’s moved on to become the Software + Services Lead for Microsoft International where he defines what the strategy and messaging will be when taking new products to market as part of Microsoft’s Software + Services initiative.  We chew the fat about what partners can expect to see from Microsoft in the coming years, technology trends and cool things coming out of Microsoft Research.

Related Links:

Microsoft Software + Services Homepage
Software + Services for Partners
Technical Overview of Software + Services
Steve Clayton’s Blog

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In this interview I get to talk to Kirsty Sizeland who works in the Partner Marketing team about “Voices for Innovation”.  Voices for Innovation is a network of technology professionals, business leaders, consumers and academics dedicated to supporting public policies that promote innovation, business success and economic growth.

Technology is a key driver of global economic growth and social progress. New technologies spur creativity, boost productivity, generate jobs, empower businesses and advance science.

To find out more check out the website here: www.voicesforinnovation.org

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In this interview I caught up with Dana Simerkoff of HiSoftware to talk about SharePoint, accessibility and how partners can use HiSoftware’s expertise to ensure their SharePoint implementations are accessible by design and going forward too.

HiSoftware developed the Accessiblity Kit for SharePoint (AKS) for Microsoft so they know a thing or two about the subject.

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Jeremy Palmer, PTS for Enterprise Project Management and SharePoint took the time to record an interview with the main man from Newsgator, the guys behind FeedDemon and other RSS products. They're also very involved in creating social computing on top of the SharePoint platform and they have created "Facebook for the enterprise" to take advantage of the need for businesses to harness the power of Web 2.0 and multitude of data sources out there.

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In a special PTV feature from Microsoft Financing we find out what Microsoft Partners Touchstone Group and Softcat had to say about their experiences using Microsoft Financing and how they could help your business and your customers. Also, see what the segment leads for Dynamics, Small and Medium businesses as well as the head of the Customer and Partner Telebusiness team within Microsoft had to say about their use of Microsoft Financing.

Check out https://www.microsoftfinancing.com/ for more details.

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Microsoft Financing Solutions are available subject to status.  Terms and Conditions Apply.

© 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Patrick Voss had plenty to talk about today on Windows Partner Solutions and why OEMs should be thinking about getting interested in the services opportunity when it comes to desktop deployment.  Given that Windows Vista SP1 is such a big mental milestone for customers and now that more are considering the move it's worth talking to customers who are purchasing new hardware about the way they deploy their operating system and manage it going forward.

Check out the short sales training on the Partner Learning Center here:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/search.aspx  (Do a keyword search on MDOP)

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In this interview I had the opportunity to chat to the effervescence Julian Datta about the increasingly popular Exchange and Unified Communication products that Microsoft have in market.  It seems that Mr Datta is seeing more demand for his time than ever before as Partners are keen to learn about what solutions they can offer to customers with Exchange and Unified Communications! 

We discuss that Unified Communications is and how productivity can be increased with things like Office Communicator and Exchange 2007 and how presence and click to call can seriously speed up how you work and of course integrate seamlessly with your existing IT investment.

Useful links

Official Microsoft site: www.microsoft.com/uc
Julian's Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/julian/

Dell Quinn from the UK Partner team walked me through some of the common questions about the Partner Action Pack, including basics like what it is, what the changes are this year and what you have to do as a partner to take advantage of the benefits within.

For more information you can check out the Action Pack resources on the partner portal here: www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/actionpack

Partners should call: 0870 60 70 700 (press option 1) for assistance. The Regional Service Center is happy to help with all Action Pack