@Multizone

It was a surprise to Multizone that Alison Watson was moving from stewarding the partner group at Microsoft to be replaced by Jon Roskill, an 18 year veteran of the company. We were pleased when he announced himself on Twitter and friended back. We made a lot of connections at #wpc09 last year, and thought Twitter would be an excellent way to do that this time.

It was.

@nuxnix (me) and @jon_roskill CVP Microsoft Partner Program at #WPC10

@nuxnix, the informal account for Multizone was the #1 non-microsoft twitter account at the conference. Partly due to my turning over of our WPC calendar for public consumption via #twical - an open source calendar to tweet web service we are developing. At a conference tweeting about what is going on is a very a good way to engage.

Because of being wired up to the tweeting, we noticed @jon_roskill tweet asking for people to lunch by way of apologising for cutting an appearance early. This is the guy that interviewed President Bill Clinton on stage and had been the anchor for the entire conference. He was either brave or stupid we thought!

The reply tweet  'sure - love to lunch' was almost immediate. Soon a direct message asked for name and email, then an email confirmation followed, Multizone was invited to lunch with one of steveb's inner circle!

Interesting.

Given that Multizone is a product management and marketing consulting business that barely qualifies for the Small Business Specialist competency this was a great achievement which would have been absolutely impossible without social networking.

At the lunch, in a private room at the conference, with a handful of other partners, we talked roundtable style about the issues facing partners and Microsoft, and Roskill told us he was on a complete learning curve - wanting to reach out and put together thoughts based on real feedback on how to improve the partner program at Microsoft. Not stupid then at all. He had as good a cross section of partners in the room as could be and we were unfiltered by the Microsoft subsidiaries. I made some specific notes about the conversation which was pretty free flowing round the room. He was genuinely interested in what we did, and who we were and had a lot to say.

Lunch discussion - challenges, no quick changes to partner program

It was a great time for Microsoft and its partners he said, there were big challenges for Microsoft, but he had seen them before citing the emergence of the Internet in thre 90's, and the Linux threat in 2000.

He went on to say he wanted to be flexible but he wasnt Alison so we should expect differences but that she had built a great team in the partner network at Microsoft. He stressed no quick changes and no crazy plans were being thought of, but he also talked about having to be ready for Microsoft mid year review with a plan for setting the tone for financial year 2012 (July 2011) for the partner network.

It was here that my Microsoft important comment detector went off in my head telling me to listen harder.

Listening, I realised that I was witnessing first hand, the evolution of Microsoft's partner network to new command and control

Pausing to think about it for a moment, I realised that I was witnessing first hand, the evolution of the partner program to new control. That new control is part of the inner circle of Microsoft executives and has considerable trust across the company. There must be a reason for that other than 'job rotation' which others alluded to during the week.

Multizone can only hypothesise that this was the type of extremely senior person you would put in place if you were going to evicerate something in order to make it better. Now that may well be the wrong conclusion, only time will tell, but we think the partner network is going to change, substantially, while the people that Ballmer called 'not our kind of folk' move on and the new people move in to take their place. Roskill acknowledged that Microsoft can be a difficult company to connect with, and said that sometimes they find it hard to answer the question,

'Who are the set of partners we are going to manage and what does that mean?'

This eviceration; if indeed that is what it is; is not going to happen overnight, Multizone believe, but in a carefully executed transition - part of the movement to the cloud. In fact we guess it is a required condition for the success of Microsoft's bet. This was backed up by the disclosure that the Azure appliance will not really be ready for a year or so, but it was needed to de-position Google, and that a public roadmap for Azure would only become available in the next three months from Microsoft. Also lending weight to the hypothesis the Azure container in the Expo was clearly not actually 'doing' anything - you could see that from the disk IO on the servers and one of the softies confirmed to Multizone that it was little more than a mock-up. The fact that there isnt a roadmap and this Azure mock up was centre stage is indicative of a last minute strategy change. Multizone can only hypothesies about this as we do not have access to information about these decisions. Time will tell.

Roskill said Microsoft were pleased with the consistency of the Online Services products and Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) in particular. Other products and services would follow these models, and pricing. Windows Intune had taken the dashboard approach from BPOS, he added.

He indicated that he felt that more progress needs to be made on the technology stack that the Dynamics business bring with them, indicating that this should be a key area of interest for Microsoft partners. It would be, in the UK, if Dynamics CRM Online was available, which it is not.

We talked about how to keep the partner community together during the year, and whether to run WPC in Europe or Asia. I said no - Multizone want to hear direct from the execs at keynotes not from their alter egos in the subsidiaries. We need that direct input so that we can decode things and figure out what is going on inside the product and exec teams. But that is because our business is advising BizSpark startups and Microsoft Hosting Service Provider partners on strategy and engagement with Microsoft and others.

Lastly we talked about partner accounting for sales issues and the scorecards Microsoft use which Roskill acknowledged were too radical at times in terms of the change percentages weightings in impacted sales - a key partner metric.

It was a cordial affair. Very professional. In talking about Expression Studio not being available on the Mac, the platform of most if its target audience, and admitting this was a very poor decision,  the opportunity arose to ask why the Mac Business Unit couldnt have a bit more representation in the partner program. We cited our only BPOS customer who only deployed it once Mac support arrived in the sign on tools. Mac Business Units products are a significant effort of the company ignored by the partner program. Microsoft have a huge Mac Office release coming in Office for Mac 2011 and are or were significant shareholders in Apple but appear to be resolute in not engaging with it with partners. Mac support is in BPOS and of course Office for Mac is a major product, and SharePoint supports Apples browser Safari and had elements of SharePoint workspace released for the Mac in 2009. But Microsoft see it as a distraction for partners from the platform and operating sysyem in Windows and its is absent from the partner network and MPN.

To his credit Roskill took lots of notes and promised to think about what he had observed and heard.

Conclusions

Multizone believe it is crucial that any company partnering with Microsoft understand what significant change means for them. Microsoft is changing. Partnering with Microsoft is changing. Business models with Microsoft inevitably need to change too. Planning for being a partner is changing. This change is in the next 18-36 months. It is crucial to plan, in hard and actionable terms. 'Steady as she goes' or 'softly softly' is not going to cut it.

"People under pressure", Roskill said, "are the ones sitting on their hands"

I asked one of the other guests to take the pic above - on my iPhone - which Roskill remarked upon but sportingly he allowed it. What an interesting day. Seismic insight for me. And all because of Twitter.

One of the AV screens showing videos and highlights with a twitter panel on the right with a twical tweet -  (you can't see it here but the tweet was correctly geocoded too)

#wpc10 Microsoft UK etc 'now' at Walter .E. Washington #twical

As alpha tester in chief of twical.net, an open source calendar to tweet service I tried an experiment at wpc10 - Microsoft's worldwide partner conference in Washington D.C. The conference published a session scheduler on the Internet. I was able to set my timetable for the whole event.

“strategy and innovation without execution is hallucination” said Kevin Turner in a very memorable soundbite.

Turner is the COO of Microsoft. His presentation at Microsoft Partner conference is important because he is detailed about numbers and in the inner circle of unassailable leaders of the company.

Microsoft's new slogan regarding cloud computing is 'We're all in'. That may be, but Multizone believe this will be a year of evolution and internal introspection as the company re-tools and refocuses on what exactly this means they have to do. 'We're all in' is, Multizone believes, as big a call to action for Microsoft as Bill Gates 'Internet Tidal Wave' memo in the 90's. But what is not clear is how this will affect partners ability to make money while Microsoft shifts focus.

A briefing for customers and Microsoft employees alike

Turner came on stage talking about how he was going to use ‘Action oriented terms’ and then said his words were both for Microsoft employees and for Partners as he felt it was an inflection point for both. Multizone believe that this means that the information being presented was directly imparting Microsoft strategic intent to employees and partners at the same time and warning both that actions in support were expected. It was new, current and freshly created an indicator as to how reactive the Microsoft senior management are - and just how ‘top down’ the company is being run by the inner circle.

Read on for more detailed observations.

@risepartners, @wpc10us, @simchabe, @erigligman and me @nuxnix

I was at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference this week in Washington DC.

Social media was a big part of the conference for me. and I was delighted top the list of #wpc10 tweeters and participate in a Live Meeting based #tweetup. You can watch the webcast recording (in Microsoft Live meeting format of course): http://bit.ly/wpc10social

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, took the stage to acknowledge the path Microsoft has chosen to embrace with partners. Ballmer discussed the key dimensions of the Cloud and finished by challenging partners to reinvent their business model.

Steve Ballmer’s presentation at Microsoft’s worldwide partner conference is always worth listening to intently. Nothing that is said or unsaid is by accident. He and his script writing team are accomplished at the creation of densely packed carefully selected information especially in this context, where the script is directed specifically to the 9500 partners and 3500 Microsoft employees all in the same room - not to mention the estimated 100,000 digital attendees online at www.digitalwpc.com.

WPC is where we - the partner community - expect to hear all about the product Innovation ready for taking to market in the coming year. Windows 7 sp1, Office 2010, Windows Server 2008 r2 - all have major releases or service pack to comprehend.

But this year finally Microsoft appear to be in some disarray. On the one hand they seem ready to push everything into the cloud. They have new platforms, products and programs which, they say, are based on partner feedback. They have massively re-organised themselves (according to The Register today) too in order to support this. Notable casualties appear to have left Microsoft from the heart of some teams judging by tweets of attendance at WPC as newpartners. Microsoft would have partners believe that it is the evolution of a strategy that they have been preparing carefully and are gradually unwrapping but It seems to Multizone that a battle for hearts and minds has been fought in Redmond and what we are seeing today presented is the first aftermath of that.

There was the usual unsubtle warning too - “be in the cloud with Microsoft or you’re not our kind of folk” said Ballmer. Remember that.

I have a level of determination to find out what I need to plan my business for the next year at #WPC10. Of course there will be time for beers and parties but I didnt come here with the express intention of the parties and beer being the main reason for the event. Chatting on the plane to some folks from another partner I got the distinct impression that was exactly and entirely their plan. A world of infinite possibilities for them that perhaps Microsoft did not fully envision. For me it is all about technology. Microsoft are not the only move and shaker in this industry and are treated with disdain by many especially their competition. I can confidently say this while writing this on My Macbook Pro and remembering the level of incredulity from some of my ‘open source’ friends that I am at their conference again. Be that as it may, the Microsoft sessions about the industry, the competition, and the shape of the business to come, are always well thought out, detailed, and represent the thinking of some of the smartest minds in the industry. Yes they have an agenda - but you have to see beyond that - and figure out what it means to you and to your business - not necessarily and only what Microsoft want it to mean for you and your business. I am looking forward to the event. Off to registration.

I love the freedom I have at conferences as an attendee. I spent years attending as a presenter or ferrying important clients about or manning the booths, so I know how gruelling it is for the staff. Perhaps that is why I try to do so much at the event. I just remember manning a trade show boot and wishing to be able to attend the sessions, and ask hard questions, and get the answers from the source so to speak. Anyway here is my quick list for #wpc10

1. Steve Ballmer - his keynote will expose if he is in full control of Microsoft, I wonder as to whether this current phase of Microsoft is his doing, or whether Microsoft is now such a juggernaught that the strategy ahead of it is sealed
2. Cloud - what does being ‘all in’ mean that partners have to do to protect and extend their revenue opportunities
3. Phone - what on earth is going on with Windows Phone. Is there a credible platform opportunity for developers compared with Nokia, Apple and Google
4. SharePoint 2010 - why is SharePoint 2010 delayed until at least February 2011 for Microsoft Union / Online / BPOS standard. What on earth makes that kind of delay happen and what does it mean that we can sell to customers
5. Hosting - What is it that Microsoft strategy for hosting partners. How can we make money given the competiton from Microsoft Online itself
6. Social Media - Will Microsoft buy twitter or build something. Windows Live isn’t it yet - what is?
7. Emergency Services and community safety - There are a bunch of Microsoft research projects in these areas - whats happened to them and are they going to get as far as incubation

Short but interesting list I think. I will report back and expand on each of these topics at the event.

This is last years report - aimed at people who need to understand, prioritise and assess Microsoft technologies and partnership opportunities announced in July 2009. It provided information for our clients who are Microsoft partners or BizSpark startups to support their decision-making through a description, analysis, and commentary on the announcements made.

Revised and updated in September 2009, now free to download.