Microsoft To Earmark $500M For Channel

News of the investment, which represents a 50 percent increase over the company's partner spending last year, will kick off Fusion 2002, Microsoft's annual partner conference, held here Friday through Monday.

The investment will cover hiring of new partner account managers, partner technical specialists and partner tele-sales representatives, training for those partner managers and a Web-based education tool dubbed eLearning Center. The center offers Web-based online courses and will ultimately be used to allow partners to network together on .NET projects.

Those programs represent about half of the total half billion dollar investment.

Microsoft plans to launch another support offering called the Online Concierge for Certified Partners, an online chat service to communicate with a Microsoft technical support administrator who will direct partners to the appropriate resource for specific technical situations.

The increased partner funding, first disclosed by CRN, began on July 1, the beginning of the company's 2003 fiscal year.

Allison Watson, Microsoft's new vice president of the Worldwide Partner Sales and Marketing Group, is expected to discuss the funding in more detail at the conference. Watson is scheduled to co-host Fusion with Rosa Garcia, who will vacate the channel chief post Aug. 1 to become head of Microsoft's Spain subsidiary.

While the Fusion 2002 launch is expected to focus on increased investment and a new model that compensates Microsoft executives for partner satisfaction, Microsoft this weekend plans to detail broad product initiatives to pump up sales in the SMB sector such as the forthcoming .Net version of Small Business Server, which will be positioned as one of five Windows .Net server offerings, as well as the recently introduced $999 BizTalk 2002 Partner Edition.

Microsoft also plans to detail its forthcoming e-business suite code-named Jupiter, as well as a slew of products aimed at vertical markets, said sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.

Tonight, Microsoft also plans to award certified partners for their accomplishments in a ceremony here.

On Monday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is slated to close the annual event with a "call to arms" keynote urging partners to push .Net solutions into the market.