Microsoft Partner Initiatives, Pricing Take Shape - Democratizing Technology (
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Meanwhile,
Microsoft is building on the success of its early access program
involving 200 partners, and the general availability in April 2008 of
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to announce a program expansion and
related readiness tool.
The new Microsoft Partner Program will provide discounts to
qualified partners in the United States and Canada for use of Microsoft
Dynamics CRM Online in their own organizations. The discounted price is
$19 per user per month and will be available in fall 2008. The new
Microsoft Dynamics CRM ISV SAAS (software-as-a-service) Readiness tool
extends Microsoft’s Innovate ON program, helping ISVs evolve their
on-premise solutions into on-demand services.
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In addition, Microsoft officials said the company has seen growth in
the adoption of its unified communications platform and products,
including Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft Office
Communicator 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Microsoft Office
Communications Server alone has experienced triple-digit business
growth over the last two quarters year over year and is licensed to 35
percent of Fortune 500 companies.
Partners are playing a role in this, Elop said. For instance, more
than 150 partners have achieved the Voice specialization; more than
2,500 partner companies have achieved the Unified Communications
Solutions competency; and more than 90 companies have joined the Notes
Transition Partner Program to assist businesses that are migrating to
the Microsoft platform, Microsoft officials said.
Meanwhile, Microsoft on July 8 introduced the WVCC (Windows Vista
Compatibility Center) beta. Through this new compatibility tool,
Microsoft will work to solicit continuous feedback from consumers and
partners to ensure that their purchase and adoption experience remains
positive long after their migration to Windows Vista. Microsoft also
announced Windows Vista Small Business Assurance, a resource for
partners to assist small-business customers interested in migrating
from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
Also on July 8, Microsoft announced the BizTalk Adapter Pack 2.0,
which enables partners to create value-added solutions for
line-of-business system interoperability--including SAP, Siebel and
Oracle application suites -- with any .NET Framework-based application.
And with this, partners can develop interoperable adapters to
complement the Microsoft offering using the WCF (Windows Communication
Foundation) Line of Business Adapter SDK (software development kit),
allowing customers to connect mission-critical data across applications.
Microsoft also announced its new Mobile Readiness Program at the
conference. The program has four components: The Get Mobile Ready
initiative offers Microsoft consulting to small and midsize resellers;
the Try and Buy initiative deploys Microsoft mobility solutions within
resellers to create SMB mobility experts around the globe and help
partners showcase the technology in action; the Microsoft Partner
Program Mobility Competency is a full-scale resource to train and
certify resellers that are ready to take the next step in mobility; and
Microsoft distributors worldwide are offering solutions to help
resellers provide their SMB customers with a ready-made package of
mobility offerings at a competitive price.
And to help improve the purchasing experience, Microsoft added to
its licensing options. Following on the Select Plus volume licensing
plan Microsoft announced on July 1, the company announced additional
updates to the Open Value program for small and midsize customers and
Microsoft Financing solutions for customers of all sizes to help them
balance growing technology needs with more flexible, manageable and
predictable purchasing.
“Partners have always been at the core of Microsoft’s business
model, and that will never change,” said Allison Watson, corporate vice
president of the Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft. “Today we are
excited to announce new business models for our online offerings, which
will drive opportunity and profitability for our partners, while
delivering incredible value and choice for customers.”
Added Elop: "We are democratizing the use of technology."