BOSTON—Microsoft will use the second day of its annual Worldwide Partner Conference here to talk about all the opportunity that remains for its partners and how its People-Ready business has broadened the scope of that for them.

In a keynote address to be delivered July 12, Microsoft Server and Tools Marketing Corporate Vice President Andy Lees is expected to talk up the Redmond, Wash., software maker's People-Ready business and tout how the investments it is making in this will drive opportunities for its industry partners.

In an interview ahead of that keynote address, Steven VanRoekel, the director of the Windows solutions group, told eWEEK that there are still a lot of opportunities out there for partners.

"Traditionally, a large group of people have been chasing a narrow amount of opportunity, but with Microsoft's software and solution offerings, this has now been significantly opened up," he said.

Click here to read more about Bob Muglia's vision for Microsoft's "People-Ready" business.

Lees will announce a number of initiatives and promotions around the People-Ready business, including the SSA (Security Software Advisor) program, the SQL Server Competitive Migration Program, and the Branch Infrastructure Promotion.

The SSA program, which includes Windows Server 2003 R2, the Microsoft ISA Server (Internet Security and Acceleration Server), Virtual Server 2005 R2 and System Center System Management Licenses, will be made available at a 10 percent price discount for the total value of the solution.

VanRoekel said this is an incentive plan for partners to get competency on the security front.

"We have rebranded our security offerings as Forefront, and this program is a great way for us to hear from partners about that and for them to learn about it," he said.

The new branch-office promotion will include ISA Server, Microsoft's network edge security solution, which provides Windows Server customers with policy-based protection for branch-office servers and clients, branch-office connectivity, as well as internal and external protection for their application infrastructure, services and data.

Click here to read more about how Microsoft's rebranded its enterprise security push as "Forefront."

Also, given the importance of the SMB (small to midsize business) segment, Lees will announce the availability of the Microsoft Windows Server System Assessment and Deployment Solution for Midsize Businesses, which will help systems integrators reduce non-billable hours in assessing prospective customers' networks, automate infrastructure deployments and reduce deployment complexities and risks, he said.

And, from Oct. 1, 2006, customers will be able to purchase Windows Server 2003 R2, Datacenter Edition, from Microsoft resellers as well as from OEMs preinstalled on servers with two to 64 processors.

Next Page: Licensing.