Early Bird and Group Discounts for WPC 2013 now available.

It’s a new era for Microsoft and you, our partners. That’s why Houston and WPC 2013 are going to be the places to be July 7-11. Are you interested in forming new connections and learning about how to be a Microsoft Partner? Do you want to learn more about the Microsoft stack and how to grow your business in the Cloud? The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference is a global gathering of top Microsoft partners which provides the roadmap and inspiration to activate and drive joint business. The past year has seen a string of product launches that has been unprecedented in Microsoft history. On the heels of these launches have been rapidly growing opportunities for our partners around the Cloud, Big Data, Social Enterprise, and Mobility. What’s more, is that partners are managing remote and highly mobile workers, expanding the breadth and depth of services, and are maximizing investments. At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, you’ll hear from top execs about the Microsoft strategy around key investments and about new opportunities. When you register now, you’ll save $200 off the regular price of an all-access pass – you’ll pay only $1,795! It is a great savings opportunity! Want even more savings? Bring more people to WPC! When four (4) or more attendees from the same partner organization (based on the same MPN Partner ID given at registration) register for an all access conference pass, Microsoft will provide a US$200 refund off of the 4tg through the 10th registrants’ registration fee!

The power of success starts with you

It’s happening. It’s here. It’s now. Come prepared to make new business contacts, discover how you can increase efficiencies, and build your business plan for the future. The Worldwide Partner Conference is where it all begins.

Your next step: register for WPC and engage with the community!

We look forward to seeing you in Houston!

Showcase your app development skills and win great prizes

Are you a Gold or Silver Partner? Did you subscribe for a Design and Development Microsoft Action Pack? Did you develop at least one app for Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8? If your answer to one of these questions is “yes,” you’re eligible to enter the European APPCUP competition!

Showcase your app development skills, and you could win! Registration is free, and you can submit any Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 app. Plus, the prizes are pretty amazing.

1st prize:
·  Trophy & marketing material for visibility and promotion
·  1 Windows 8 device
·  1 Nokia Lumia 920
·  3 passes to Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

2nd prize:
·  Trophy & marketing material for visibility and promotion
·  1 Nokia Lumia 920
·  1 pass to Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

Added Bonus! 150 CEOs from all around Europe will attend this event. It’s a unique opportunity to meet and to network.

APPCUP is already accepting entries, and the deadline is February 17, so now is the time to get your submission ready. Entrants can be individuals or teams. Ten finalists will be selected to pitch their project, and winners will be selected at the IAMCP 2013 Summit in March. Visit www.appcup.eu for full details about the competition.

Take your chance and register today!

 

The new Office

Office 2013 and related servers are now available.  Try the new Office so you can see firsthand how this powerful combination can benefit your organization.

 

Best experience across devices     

Improve mobile productivity.  Increase employee satisfaction and retention.  Simplify and save with per-user licensing

Stay connected to your business  

Collaborate in new ways with social, voice, and video.  Reduce your organization’s costs of video conferencing, telephony, and travel.

Security without compromise       

Keep your organization’s critical business data protected.

Streamline legal discovery.  Comply with industry and government regulations.

Run it the way you want

Reduce software deployment and update costs with streaming.

Accelerate adoption of online services.  Reduce IT operations costs with common tools.

 

Take a look at what press are saying about the new Office

“The new Office is the best Office”   Gizmodo

“makes Office more relevant in today’s multi-device world”   WIRED

“fast, polished and painless to use”   Engadget

 

Try the new Office today and find out how it can take your organization to the next level

of productivity.

Your input is needed… Help a student!

A few months ago a complete make-over has been done on our communications to partners. As you probably all have noticed the Microsoft newsletter to partners was completely reworked and since June all partners have the possibility to opt in for extra newsletters depending on the partner’ field of interest. After executing this make-over and letting it run for a few months we are interested in what you as a partner think about our new concept. With your feedback we can keep working on our communications to partners and keep improving it! We want partners to get the information they need, on the right time and this in a way we are sure it is comfortable for partners to read. In this way we are sure that all important info will reach you as a partner in a good way. Again we aim to you, partners, to fill in this short survey and help us improve our communications to you!

Survey in Dutch – Survey in French

This survey is being done by student Yanne Lintermans as part of her internship. So, if you don’t do this for us, do it for her.

Exclusive Nokia Lumia Promotion for BeLux Partners

As you certainly know, Windows Phone is having great momentum with Nokia, and yet we want to have another boost. That’s why today, we are announcing a special B2B Partner Promo.

Partners have been telling us, they would like to get more value out of their partnership. Well, here it is. For partners from Belgium & Luxembourg, with at least one gold, one silver competency or that are Cloud Essentials can buy Nokia Lumia 800’s at a very special low price*. On top of that, for the first 80 orders of more than 10 devices, we’ll give 1 Nokia Lumia 800 for free*!!! First come, first served.

This is a now-or-never offer for you as a partner (promotion ends May 31, 2012).

You can equip all your employees with great smartphones, or work out a promo for your B2B customers.

For more details, go to the Dutch or French promo sites.

*full details, terms and conditions on promo pages (see links above)

Ready for System Center 2012? New sales, licensing and technical training available !

Welcome Are you ready for System Center 2012? Corporate has created an abundance of training courses across sales and technical roles to help you drive readiness—including six just-released Private Cloud Sales Training Modules for SIs and LARs. Check out the training resources available for you today, and remember to to bookmark and visit the SC 2012 learning paths created for SIs and LARs. What’s New ? § Sales Expertise: Private Cloud Sales Training. These six short training videos will help you sell the Private Cloud solution and achieve accreditation (beginning in March) as a Private Cloud Sales Specialist. While you’re at it, don’t forget the How Partners Can Make Money Selling Microsoft Private Cloud Solutions course—a great primer for sellers. o Module 1 – Setting up to sell the Private Cloud o Module 2 – Starting Conversations with Customers o Module 3 – Understanding the Microsoft Private Cloud o Module 4 – Competing with VMware o Module 5 – Increasing Your Revenue o Module 6 – Partner Sales Tools and Resources § Technical Expertise: Creating & Managing a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 Jump Start. In this virtual class, you will learn how to deploy, manage and maintain Microsoft’s private cloud solution. § You can always find the latest training by bookmarking and visiting the Learning Paths for LARs and Learning Paths for SIs. Sales & Licensing (On Demand) On January 17th, we announced significant changes to System Center 2012 and ECI licensing that dramatically reduce complexity. You are more crucial than ever to our success in this area, and we need your help in telling the Private Cloud story. A rich set of readiness resources have been created for you. § System Center 2012: Understanding the Private Cloud § Storyteller – System Center 2012 & The Private Cloud Ross Brown explaining the Private Cloud value propositions: § The Microsoft Private Cloud and Partners LAR (Licensing) Readiness: § Getting Started: Microsoft System Center 2012 Licensing § Product and Program Overview: Microsoft System Center 2012 Licensing § Pricing and SKU Overview: Microsoft System Center 2012 Licensing § Software Assurance Migration Rights: Microsoft System Center 2012 Licensing § Microsoft® System Center 2012 Live Q&A Series with Microsoft Licensing Experts The “Get Licensing” webcast is now available on demand in the PLC: § System Center 2012 Services Provider Value Proposition & Licensing Overview Now available: Beta MOC courses! LS partners should get these courses on the schedule:  § Course 10747AB: Beta: Administering System Center 2012 Configuration Manager § Course 10748AB: Beta: Deploying System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Additional On Demand Sales Courses: § Overview of Private Cloud and Datacenter Management with System Center 2012 § Private Cloud and Datacenter Infrastructure Management with System Center 2012 § Private Cloud and Datacenter Application Management with System Center 2012 § Maximizing FY12 Revenue Through Selling the Private Cloud with System Center 2012 § Driving FY12 Revenue with a Deep Dive on Datacenter, Private Cloud and System Center 2012: Session 1- Fabric Management § Driving FY12 Revenue with a Deep Dive on Datacenter, Private Cloud and System Center 2012: Session 2- Application Management Sales (Partner Academy Live Sessions) § System Center 2012 Services Provider Value Proposition & Licensing Overview Tech 100-200 (On Demand) § Overview of Private Cloud and Datacenter Management with System Center 2012 § Private Cloud and Datacenter Infrastructure Management with System Center 2012 § Private Cloud and Datacenter Application Management with System Center 2012 § Datacenter and Private Cloud Management with System Center 2012: Configure and Deploy the Private Cloud Fabric § Datacenter and Private Cloud Management with System Center 2012: Configure and Deploy the Private Cloud Infrastructure § Datacenter and Private Cloud Management with System Center 2012: Configure and Deploy Applications § Datacenter and Private Cloud Management with System Center 2012: Configure and Deploy Service Delivery and Automation § Datacenter and Private Cloud Management with System Center 2012: Monitor and Operate the Private Cloud Fabric § Datacenter and Private Cloud Management with System Center 2012: Monitor and Operate the Private Cloud Infrastructure § Datacenter and Private Cloud Management with System Center 2012: Monitor and Operate Applications § Datacenter and Private Cloud Management with System Center 2012: Monitor and Operate Service Delivery and Automation	Learning Paths § System Center 2012 Learning Path for Large Account Reseller (LAR) Partners § Private Cloud (SC2012): SI § Private Cloud/Virtualization: Existing VMware Partners § Private Cloud: Existing Microsoft Virtualization Partners § Private Cloud: New to Private Cloud and Virtualization

Top Ways to Maximize Your MPN Technical Service Benefits

 

Webcast Date: 14/03/2012
Presented by: Sharon Collins, Riyaz Jaffer
Webcast Start Time: 8:00 AM (Pacific)
Take advantage of your Partner Technical Services benefits. Attend this webcast to learn about your benefits and how to get started using our expertise and insights with the right information to win the business; get more from our technology by deepening your Microsoft product knowledge to maximize the sales potential of individual products; improving your skills with training workshops and best practices; and staying up-to-date with guidance on deploying the latest technology to run in your IT environment.   Registration link here!

Toronto is ready for WPC2012

I literally just got back from a great week of planning and site visits in Toronto, and I must say I was impressed with the way this city is ready for WPC 2012.

From a partner experience point of view, it’s going to be a lot more friendly than LA. Hotels are nearby the convention center, lots of restaurants and bars in the downtown area. And Toronto is a very “walkable” city.

We have also spent a full day on the content of the conference. All related to the best kind of information partners can get. I cannot disclose too much at the moment but stay tuned because more information is coming soon.

So if you plan to attend WPC, start preparing now. We have got some great events up our sleeves, so make sure you register as soon as it opens.

I’m really confident about where we are with the conference to make this the best one so far.

Lync Mobile Clients are Here!

We are excited to announce the update to Lync Server 2010 that enables new Lync mobile clients! Lync mobile clients enable you to stay connected, communicate and conference on the go. Mobile clients for Microsoft Lync 2010 take the power of unified communications mobile—including rich presence, instant messaging, audio conferencing, and calling features from a single, easy-to-use interface.   Key Features · Join conferences with a single touch;no access code or pin number required. · Stay connected, while controlling your availability;see who’s available at a glance and connect over IM, email or a call; set your own status and notification settings so you can stay in touch while protecting your “off-work” time. · Communicate with others using a single, consistent identity.Call-via-work allows outbound calls using your Enterprise Voice number, making it easier for others to recognize calls from the Lync mobile client. · Connect with confidencethrough channel encryption, transport layer security (TLS) support, and perimeter/internal network protection that help safeguard your communications. Read full announcement details on the Office Blogs.   Calls to Action 1. Watch the “Lync Mobile: Clients, Server & Deployment (UC123PAL)” webcast recording here. For other Lync sessions click here. For more online sales training click here. For more online technical training click here. 2. Visit Next Hop“Lync Server 2010 Mobility Service Update” announcement to download server updates and supporting documentation. 3. Check back hereto understand timing and availability of Lync mobile clients. 4. Leverage thru-partner marketing materials such as screenshots, to customer ppt. deck, and more…updated in the Lync Event in a Box (coming soon this week – check link for availability)

Sincerely, Lync Partner Team

Wie volg jij? / Qui suivez-vous ?

Every year, we ask our partners and customers for feedback. On many occasions, partners have raised communication and the overload of it.

Introducing…. www.netgenoeg.info or www.justeassez.info, your one-stop shop where you – as a partner – can indicate what information you want and where to find it. Because let’s face it, it’s not always that clear who to follow on Twitter, or to become member of what LinkedIn group. Let alone finding the right email in the overload in your inbox.

Our goal is to send fewer mails, but more tuned to your needs. You will also see different colors in the mails. There are 3 flavors:

• the green ones: information on MPN or generic partner events
• the blue ones: anything that goes out from a sub community of partners
• the pink(ish) ones: all relevant information on training

So, go the site, indicate what your areas of interests are and you can immediately subscribe to the relevant newsletters or join the LinkedIn groups.

Let us know what you think about this and you can send us your feedback: via email, Twitter, LinkedIn and yes, even by regular post.