15 Rapid Fire Notes From Microsoft's Partner Conference

A reporter's notebook can get pretty stuffed trying to keep up with all the happenings at a Microsoft conference, and the Worldwide Partner Conference is one of the most frenetic on the schedule. Cloud computing dominated this year's WPC, but there were plenty of other storylines, and here are 15 examples.

1. Allison Watson's Emotional Farewell -- Microsoft Channel Chief Allison Watson's voice was at times heavy with emotion as she bade farewell to partners in her final WPC address. After eight years that included two channel program revamps and countless long haul flights, partner meetings, strategy sessions, high fives and funny marketing video shoots, Watson is moving to the business side of the house. Judging from the hearty applause that accompanied a Watson tribute video shown at WPC, partners were equally misty-eyed at her departure.

2. Microsoft Chops 'Network' From Microsoft Partner Network -- The new Microsoft Partner Network goes into effect in October, but Microsoft has already seen fit to drop "Network" from the program logo partners will display. ’Microsoft partners are that, partners. They themselves aren’t networks,’ new channel chief Jon Roskill told WPC attendees.

3. The Post-World Cup Glow -- Microsoft couldn’t have scripted a better opening act than to have WPC kick off the day after Spain defeated the Netherlands to win the 2010 World Cup. The Netherlands' contingent outnumbered Spain's by 500 attendees to 125, and the entire gathering of 9,000 partners gave the Verizon Center a buzz that no number of vuvuzelas could replicate.

4. Muglia's Vivid Imagery -- In his WPC keynote, Microsoft Server and Tools Business President Bob Muglia described meeting with a group of CIOs who expressed their fatigue and frustration with the never ending stream of Microsoft software upgrades.

"I felt like a sheep lost in pack of wolves," Muglia said wryly. "They said 'Bob, you don’t get it, we don’t want another upgrade from Microsoft ever again. We want this as a service, and we want you to take this on'. That’s what cloud computing is all about."

5. New Channel Chief Roskill's Perambulations -- Jon Roskill, Microsoft's new vice president of worldwide channels, was everywhere during the WPC keynote sessions: handing out awards, leading partners in song, and sitting the audience conducting interviews with partners. Roskill has many international trips on tap in his new position, but he's already logged at least a few dozen miles on foot at WPC.

6. Windows AzORE? -- C'mon folks, it's been a year and a half since Microsoft unveiled Windows Azure. And yet, some Microsoft partners are still mispronouncing the name. This happened several times at WPC as it has at previous Microsoft events. And this isn't a "You say tomAYto, I say tomAHto' situation: Windows AzHERR is the right pronunciation, according to Merriam-Webster.

7. What Is Up With 'All Up'? -- Does any company use the term "all up" more than Microsoft? Rhetorical question, of course. Microsoft executives used it approximately 437 times at WPC, and Frank Shaw, Microsoft's vice president of corporate communications, used it three times all up in his "Microsoft By The Numbers" e-mail to employees last month. See, it's contagious.

Next: Microsoft's Consumer Message At WPC 8 .

Microsoft's Consumer Keynote -- You don't normally see much focus on consumer products at WPC, but this year Microsoft devoted an entire two-hour keynote session to showcasing how it's tying Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 to the cloud. Microsoft also showed off its new toy, Kinect, a product that doesn’t offer much in the way of margin but still had partners' jaws dropping.

9. Rosy Windows Phone 7 Glasses -- "The Windows Phone 7 buzz and what it's generating right now is awesome," Brad Brooks, vice president of Windows Consumer Marketing, told WPC attendees. This may be true in Microsoft's developer community, but Windows Phone 7 isn't coming until the holiday season, and consumers are too busy snapping up new smartphones like the Droid X to pay any attention to Microsoft's forthcoming mobile OS.

10. Funniest Moment -- The loudest laughter at WPC was heard during a tribute video that included clips from Allison Watson's tenure as Microsoft channel chief. In one scene, Watson was shown holding up a cookie shaped like the Linux penguin and then unceremoniously biting the head off it.

11. Microsoft Says Mobile Market Still Young -- As they've been doing for months, Microsoft executives at WPC characterized the mobile market as so very young, implying that there's still time for Microsoft to catch up, and even dominate. However, to paraphrase baseball great Yogi Berra, "It's getting late early" in the mobile space.

12. Emergence of the 'Born On The Cloud' Partner -- Microsoft is highlighting the efforts of newer partners that have built their businesses on cloud computing from day one. They’re usually early adopters of BPOS, but Microsoft says it's also seeing some partners cross over from the Google Apps camp.

"These partners tend to be risk takers because the velocity of the deals they're selling is significantly higher," Gretchen O'Hara, senior director of cloud strategy in Microsoft's Worldwide SMS&P division, told CRN.

13. Elop's Google Trash Talk -- Stephen Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division, noted that Microsoft customers who've dabbled in Google Apps usually quickly rush back to the comforting arms of Redmond. "You know what, it turns out that businesses really do value services from companies that understand what it takes to support the enterprise, and they are willing to pay for it," Elop said.

14. Microsoft Learning From Service Providers -- As it moves into the cloud, Microsoft is cultivating service provider partnerships. The reason is simple: Service providers know how to manage data centers, provide services to end customers and how to operate networks and handle billing relationships.

"We see service providers becoming very important channel partners for us," John Zanni, general manager of Microsoft's Worldwide Software Plus Services Industry team, told CRN. "They're becoming a more critical component of our strategy."

15. O Cloud, O Cloud, O My… -- If you thought last year's Bing video at WPC was adventurous, this year's "O Cloud" video pretty much blew that one away. Microsoft, aware that many of the partners at WPC were still giddy with World Cup Fever, co-opted the popular "Ole Ole" chant and gave it a fresh coat of cloud computing relevance.