In the first of a promised series of blog posts promoting best practices to Microsoft partners, U.S. Vice President of Partner Strategy and Programs Jenni Flinder said to really succeed in 2012, partners will need to “own” the cloud.
“‘Owning’ means a full-business integration – internally and as a monetized offering for your customers – so that you can provide cloud consultations based upon your own company’s capacity and experience,” Flinders wrote.
The first step in achieving that goal is to incorporate Microsoft’s public cloud solutions into their own business — as Flinders put it, how can partners sell it if they don’t use it? After all, she said, if partners are telling a customer about the cost savings and operational efficiencies of the cloud, there’s really no excuse for the partner to not be experiencing all that itself. To facilitate this part of the process, Flinders promoted Microsoft’s cloud partner initiatives and training events/webcasts.
The second part is holding “evidence-based” discussions with potential customers that shows the value of the cloud in real terms. Flinders reminded partners that Microsoft makes available co-marketing materials for products including Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Windows Intune and the concept of cloud computing itself.
Microsoft is “100% (sic) behind” partners who make cloud moves now, as Flinders wrote that the public cloud market will go from $59 billion in 2009 to $114 billion in 2014. Flinders also highlighted Perficient, a partner that “embodies” what she’s talking about when she talks about how to succeed in the cloud.
The powers-that-be at Microsoft are increasingly emphasizing the role that public cloud solutions play in its partner program. It would behoove the savvy partner to take the hint.
