Microsoft Partner Program to become more customer-centric 7 June, 2009 By Chris Talbot

PromoPipeline Exclusive Channel Promotions Find Out How You Can Make Money Today! ENROLL FREE! >> Factory Direct Should Not be Cheaper William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels Cloud Ecosystem II: A Candid Conversation with Oracle Beth Vanni - Amazon Consulting Cloud Ecosystem: A Candid Conversation with Rackspace Hosting Beth Vanni - Amazon Consulting Channel Manager Compensation William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels Financial Expertise William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels

Soon to be rebranded as the Microsoft Partner Network, the program will build on existing resources and initiatives but will make the program much more customer-centric rather than revolving around the relationships betwen Microsoft and its channel partners, said Carol Terentiak, program manager for Microsoft Partner Program at Microsoft Canada.

"The existing program built a really good relationship between Microsoft and the partners. It was really a program that the partners got into, they met the requirements and they received the benefits. But that was the biggest relationship -- between Microsoft and the partners," Terentiak said.

The rebranded program will be more customer-centric. What exactly does that mean? For one, Microsoft plans to market its three tiers of partners in a way that will get customers to recognize the expertise levels of Registered, Certified and Gold partners. Currently, customers don't know what it means to be a Gold partner, and the Partner Network will make that clearer to customers. It will be about explaining the value the partner has to offer through the expertise they've been recognized as having by Microsoft, she said.

"The customer will start to see partners as the trusted advisors to go to for all their problems," Terentiak said.

The goal is that customers will recognize the brand and will know to ask partners about their level -- and they'll understand what that means about the partner's expertise, she said.

Additionally, an optional element of the program will now become a requirement. Partners will have to send customer satisfaction surveys to their customers, Terentiak said. Once a customer has filled out the survey, it's returned to a third-party agency, which collects and analyzes the data. While partners will get back the specific feedback from customers, Microsoft will get a general overview of the expertise and customer satisfaction levels the partners have achieved. This element of the program will roll out in October.

Another aspect of the Microsoft Partner Network will be an easier way to do partner-to-partner transactions. The program will make it easier for partners to find partners that fill skills gaps in order to deliver a totat solution together, Terentiak said.

Microsoft will also take advantage of social media moreso than in the past. Rather than having partners go to Microsoft to get information, Microsoft is going to go to where the partners are to deliver that information. Terentiak noted Facebook and Twitter as being two social media sites that will be used more often for partner communications.

"It's an evolution that should be happening, and it is happening," she said.

More details on the Microsoft Partner Network will be released at the Microsoft Partner Conference.