Microsoft Kicks Off New ISV Road Show

In its quest to get ISVs to write applications not only for Windows but for SQL Server, the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) portfolio and other offerings, Microsoft last week hosted about 200 ISVs in Redmond, Wash., for updates on near-term product plans. The goal now is to blast an ISV-friendly message out to hundreds more partners and potential partners, Mark Young, general manager of Microsoft's Platform Strategy Partner Group, told CRN.

For the first time, the company is melding the MBS love fest and general Microsoft ISV recruitment into one show, Young said. MBS grew out of Microsoft's acquisitions of Great Plains Software and Navision, makers of financial and ERP application software.

There will be sessions on MBS products, as well as on Smart Clients, and SQL Server, Young said.

Last year, MBS hosted an ISV road show of its own, touting the company's upcoming Microsoft Business Framework as a platform for third-party development.

MBS, even more than the Microsoft general platform group, has some tough work to do persuading third party ISVs to build on its foundation. Many ISVs worry that Microsoft is coming up the application stack so far it is leaving little room for them to innovate--or survive.

Microsoft executives deny that. Last month at the Convergence 2004 show in Florida, MBS Senior Vice President Doug Burgum said repeatedly that there will be "plenty of white space" atop the Microsoft stack for customization and value-add by third parties.

"It is a tread-lightly approach no doubt," said Glenn Bray, director of vertical strategies for MBS. "We want to build a solid core foundation--we recognize the value in verticals, customers and partners are telling us this. At same time, even with the resources of Microsoft, we can't have domain knowledge or breadth to meet the needs of all these verticals."

A big part of the effort is to keep partners apprised of its road map so they can develop accordingly.

ISVs had better pay attention. MBS plans to bolster its foundation, building what it calls "an industry-enabling layer." Translation: More application functionality in the core. Bray described this as a core horizontal set of features that will include general ledger, accounts payable and project management features. "We'd like to provide an industry baseline partners can build upon."

Most accounting vendors offer their own general ledgers, accounts payable capabilities, and this is the crux of anxiety around MBS's push.

Parts of this baseline, including the project management bits, will likely be delivered in the delayed MBF, and other parts involving more of the business logic in other ways via MBS, Bray said.

Microsoft is not alone in cultivating ISVs. IBM Software continues to tout its middleware and tools as a conflict-free basis for application development. On Monday, the company rolled out a new content management, Workplace, and security tools aimed at easing compliance with new regulations. It also trotted out a list of ISV partners supporting those offerings. IBM executives maintain that the company has not been in the application business for years, a claim others say depends on the definition of application. (See related story.)

Young blasted IBM's stance. "IBM competes vigorously with partners whether it's with WebSphere or IBM Global Services. The big difference between IBM and Microsoft is we admit we have applications," he said. It is incumbent on Microsoft to keep ISVs apprised of its road map so they can plan accordingly, he said.