Wed, Mar 17 2010 17:42 jeffl

Has Microsoft abandoned its mid-market comptency in the Microsoft Partner Network?

There is a big hole in the mid-market with the loss of the EBS product suite. The Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) announced last year at the World Wide Partner Conference included distinct categories around SMB qualified partners. There were two categories one for S and one for M. Although the small business category seems to be strong the medium business category lost its only unique product offering on March 5 when they canceled Essential Business Server.

As we approach the one year mark on the MPN its seem the competency has yet to take shape and even as the President of Microsoft's Partner Association in Canada, I don't have an answer to this question yet. So here comes the question.

Microsoft Partner Group, what are your plans for the mid-market competency? Allison or Pam can you layout the road map?

Thanks for your assistance.

Jeff Loucks
Available Technology
Available Technology

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# re: Has Microsoft abandoned its mid-market comptency in the Microsoft Partner Network?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 7:15 PM by Julie Bennani

The Medium Business space is critical for Microsoft and we are very interested in supporting partners who have a specific focus in this customer set which has needs that vary from scaled down Enterprise-like solutions to needs similar to small businesses.  That is why we are investing in a Medium Business competency planned for launch in October 2010.  Partner qualifications for this competency will focus on specific licensing, sales and marketing skills relevant to this customer set as well as relevant customer references, technical certifications focused on Exchange, SQL, Office, WS 2008 R2, Sharepoint, etc., and the competency fee and profile.  Specific requirements are posted in our "living" Value of Competency Guide located here: partner.microsoft.com/40005167 (needs updating for EBS shift).

# re: Has Microsoft abandoned its mid-market comptency in the Microsoft Partner Network?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 7:43 PM by Julie Bennani

Medium business customers are critically important for Microsoft as reflected in our creation of a specific competency in MPN to support this customer set.  Planned launch of this competency is in October 2010.  This is a complex customer space to serve given the range of needs from scaled down Enterprise solutions to small business-like needs and we want to support and reward partners who focus here.  Partner qualifications relate to relevant licensing, sales and marketing knowledge for this space, customer references, technical certifications around WS 2008, Exchange, Sharepoint, Office, etc. as well as the standard competency fee and profile.  Exam details and all other specifics are available in our "living" Value of Competency Guide located at partner.microsoft.com/40005167 (note: EBS updates have not been made yet).

Julie Bennani, General Manager, WW Microsoft Partner Network