Microsoft Fine-Tuning Channel Partner Program

The Microsoft Partner Program is one of the largest and most vibrant in the industry, and Microsoft is now altering certain aspects of the program to ensure that it stays that way.

Microsoft wants all partners large and small to understand exactly what their roles are and how they can better connect with Microsoft, said Julie Bennani, general manager of the Microsoft Partner Program. With that in mind, Microsoft is making changes that will improve partners' ability to serve their customers.

However, Bennani declined to offer an in-depth view of the changes and said Microsoft will share that information in July at its annual Worldwide Partner Conference.

"As partners' comfort level with Microsoft grows, they're looking to Microsoft for help with demand generation and technology speed to value. We're talking with them about how they build practices and how they have discussions with customers," Bennani said in an interview.

Mark Crall, president of Charlotte Tech Care Team, a Charlotte, N.C.-based solution provider, said Microsoft is realigning its focus to place more emphasis on partners' competencies and less on their level within the program. Microsoft is also trying to do a better job of using weighted measurements for determining partners' program level.

For example, one partner may be selling a lot of products, while another may have a high customer satisfaction level, and Microsoft wants to find a way to reward partners in both scenarios. The end result will be that some competencies will get shuffled and there will be some consolidation, according to Crall.

"They're looking at putting different things in for partners to achieve higher status level, such as customer satisfaction, sales volumes, competencies and certifications achieved," Crall said.

Microsoft also wants to make partner competencies more logical to customers than they've been in the past. As it stands, customers could see a partner with the Advanced Infrastructure Solutions competency without immediately grasping the technical expertise that entails, while a Small and Medium Business Solutions competency -- one of the proposed name changes -- would make more sense, Crall said.

"The realignment is happening with customers in mind, as opposed to the past when Microsoft lumped us together by what we do," Crall said. "That's been one of the weaknesses of the program, and value brand of partners has diminished in some areas because customers don't recognize partners' expertise."

Microsoft also plans to continue focusing partner program resources on partner-to-partner networking, Bennani said. Microsoft has been pushing this idea for quite some time, but it has only gained traction within a handful of specialized partner communities, such as that which exists around Small Business Server.

While partner-to-partner networking has potential, the process has been slow to take root, Crall said. "Like other online communities, it has to happen organically, and partners have to build trust relationships on their own. All Microsoft can do is provide the platforms to facilitate that," he said.

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