Microsoft Slashes Telephone Support For Thousands Of Partners

Microsoft has slashed telephone support for thousands of its partners on the eve of its annual Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans next week, Channelweb has learned.

The changes come after Microsoft laid off an undisclosed number of Telephone Partner Account Managers (TPAMs) who provided sales assistance aimed at helping partners close deals and navigate the Microsoft bureaucracy, sources said.

"For a company that is all about the channel, this is not a channel-focused move," said one frustrated partner, who did not want to be identified. "The vast majority of Microsoft partners rely on TPAMs. There's going to be a pretty significant impact on every partner that had a TPAM."

"Microsoft is cutting their sales costs," added the partner. "We would not have gotten as deep into Microsoft as we ended up getting without a TPAM."

Microsoft would neither confirm nor deny how many TPAMs were laid off or how many partners would be affected.

Last year, Microsoft flew a number of its top TPAMs to the partner conference, said one source. "What a difference a year makes," he said. "Companies like Microsoft looking at moving to the cloud, without a doubt figure they need a significant decrease in number of partners."

A Microsoft spokesperson characterized the changes as a "resegmentation process" that began with messages to partners on July 8 letting them know that their "service levels" would be modified.

The spokesperson said segmentation changes will affect both enterprise and small and midsize business partners.

Microsoft plans to hold a session regarding the changes at its Worldwide Partner Conference at 11 a.m. July 16 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in Room 275 and 276, hosted by Chris Weber, vice president of Microsoft's U.S. enterprise partner group, and Phil Sorgen, vice president of Microsoft's U.S. small and midsize business partner group.

Microsoft will walk partners through the "resegmentation process" and their new service levels at the show. "Process account managers will take them [partners] through the transition into the new segment model," the spokesperson said. "Account managers will work very closely with partners to make sure the transition happens smoothly and to help alleviate any concerns they have."

Microsoft expects 2,000 U.S. business partners to attend the Worldwide Partner Conference. For those partners not attending the conference, there will be more on the resegmentation following the conference, the spokesperson said.

At least one partner said he is dreading the transition to life without a TPAM. "I'm not looking forward to it, that's for sure," he said.

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