How to make your Microsoft partner work for you
Leverage the expertise, inside information, and relationships of your Microsoft partners for growth, business value, and strategic advantage.
If you aren’t an enterprise customer, you might feel that you receive less attention and support from your technology partners because of your size. However, Microsoft Certified Partners around the world offer services that are especially useful to small and midsize businesses (SMBs), such as financing with a minimum transaction amount of just US $3,000, or the Open Value licensing program that gives companies multiple Microsoft software licenses under a single agreement. This article explores how SMBs can make the most of the partner relationship.
Get involved with product development
If you’ve ever wished you could ask a Microsoft programmer why a software package works the way it does, or suggest a way to improve it, you can. Microsoft Certified Partners in 67 countries know the internal processes at the Redmond, Washington campus and can ensure that your suggestion reaches the right product development teams at Microsoft.
"For example, if your company wants to see a certain feature in the next version of a solution, your partner knows to send the idea to the product planner, not the program manager," says Scott Cairney, vice president of product management for Ottawa, Ontario–based Cactus Commerce, the Microsoft 2007 Business Process and Integration Solutions Partner of the Year. "Microsoft has a unique methodology to plan, build, and deliver products, and if you talk to the wrong person, your feedback won't be heard," he says. "We know who the right person is."
"More important, partners are usually the first to know about technology in development," says Barry J. Dowd, president of Integrated Business Intelligence Corp. (IBI) in Hamilton, Ontario, the 2007 Microsoft Small Business Specialist Partner of the Year. To benefit from that insight, he suggests inviting your Microsoft partner to participate in your annual and long-term planning.
Offer your company as a laboratory
When Microsoft releases new software, the internal product team teaches partners how to use it. Then, of course, partners need to teach their customers—starting with beta companies that are willing to tolerate some trial and error in order to test the latest technology. In addition, Microsoft runs several contests each year in which companies can win IT makeovers through their Small Business Specialist partner.
Both Dowd and Cairney urge businesses to participate in early adoption programs, either as a beta site or through contests. When you do, you give your partner the opportunity to gather feedback that Microsoft needs, address any problems before the software goes into general release, and develop progressive implementation tactics. In exchange, your company will receive significant discounts, personalized service, and a chance to directly affect the final version of the software—as well as your partner’s gratitude.
In other words, working closely with your Microsoft Certified Partner can give your company a kind of influence far beyond its size.
 | Fawn Fitter is a freelance writer in San Francisco who specializes in business and technology. She contributes regularly to the Microsoft Midsize Business Center. |
