IDC Modern partner Series

Estos libros son de 2016, pero si no los ha leído, hágalo. Son bastante cortos y útiles.

https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/Solutions/cloud-partner-profitability

Microsoft Partner playbooks

Existen los siguientes ´playbooks´: Cloud Application Development Playbook, Data Platform & Analytics Playbook, Cloud Infrastructure & Management Playbook, Enterprise Mobility & Security Playbook, Security Practice Development Playbook y el AI Practice Development Playbook. Estos libros son muy extensos, alrededor de 150 páginas cada uno, un poco repetitivos y, a veces con demasiada orientación prescriptiva y, a veces falta la concreción de detalle, pero todavía muy útil para revisar. Lo bueno es que una vez que haya leído uno, puede omitir las piezas repetitivas en los otros libros.

https://partner.microsoft.com/en-cy/campaigns/cloud-practice-playbooks

Redmond Magazine

https://redmondmag.com

Directions on Microsoft

Directions es una compañía de analistas centrada al cien por cien en Microsoft. Hay un coste asociado al convertirse en miembro, que comienza alrededor de los $ 3000 para una empresa pequeña.

https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/

Twitter

He creado una lista curada de fuentes de noticias relacionadas con Microsoft en Twitter que puede seguir en lugar de crear su propia lista. Lo miro cada par de días solo para ver si hay algo interesante. https://twitter.com/michielvvliet/lists/microsoft

Podcasts

Ultimate guide to partnering by Vince Menzione. https://ultimateguidetopartnering.com/

Para gente de negocio

The Microsoft Cloud show.  http://www.microsoftcloudshow.com/

Mas tecnico.

This is an extract from the book Refresh the Road Ahead, on Microsoft and how to work with Microsoft as a partner.

The last time Microsoft reported headcount in the product support & consulting unit was 2015 and at the time there were 32.000 people. However probably close to 20.000 are in product support. That leaves 12.000 people in MCS selling and delivering digital advisory, consulting projects and premier support.

MCS tends to focus on larger customer engagements and intents to make the market for Microsoft on new technologies or ´bleeding edge´ projects. However, MCS runs a P&L and is bound to the same KPI´s as any systems integrator. They need to sell, have their people be busy and not lose money on fixed price projects.

The premier business, the proactive support business, is at least half of the business and is the business with the highest customer satisfaction and the lowest risk.

Microsoft has made several strategic and operational changes with MCS over the years. At a certain moment in time MCS created IP on their own, then that was abandoned and now they seem to be doing some of that again.

Premier and consulting delivery have been pulled together and verticalized and they now no longer report locally into the services lead but into global domains. At a local level remains sales which has both a vertical sales team and workload focused sales roles. Delivery also has vertical managers who report up to a delivery manager and reporting into these vertical managers are account delivery executives.

MCS is expensive and they have very high rates compared to any Microsoft partner out there. Depending on the country the rate can be from 1,5X to 3X the average partner rate.

Why do customers buy from MCS? There are a couple of reasons. One, for insurance. MCS can never walk away from a project run on Microsoft technology. Two, because Microsoft sales is pushing MCS hard in the customer and is even financing parts via Business Investment Funds. And three, because the technology is very experimental, and it is too risky to work with a partner.

Conclusions

Microsoft services is probably 30% of the headcount of Microsoft and less than 2% of the profit of the company. Services for Microsoft is an investment. The P&L structure of a consulting services company is not as interesting as a P&L of a software or a cloud services company. Microsoft will never make consulting services the biggest part of the organization.

However, with IT buying happening more and more through business decision makers and customers going through digital transformation, Microsoft will need to be more on the forefront of creating new capabilities and solutions at their customers and will have a more vertical and business focused skills. Therefore, expect the services arm to grow in line with this strategy.

Lessons for Partners

Partners sometimes have difficulties in working with MCS. As a partner, if you are a systems integrator and you work on strategic and enterprise accounts, you will come across MCS. There will be co-opetition. Our view is that it is best to be transparent and upfront with MCS and to establish a good governance and active relationships.

For very large SI´s MCS will sometimes be more of a competitor. If you are a smaller SI but you work in the same account space our suggestion is to get close to MCS.

There are different working models with customers. MCS can prime and can contract a piece via fixed price from a partner. They can subcontract resources in T&M fashion. A partner can prime and have a Q&A piece from MCS.

Another angle is to proactively subcontract resources to MCS. The people a partner subcontracts to MCS will in general be working on modern technologies and that way learn on the job.

Opportunities arise as well in subsequent phases of MCS contracts as it is very difficult for MCS to be able to do the maintenance on projects they have delivered due to the very high rates they use.

Ya ha comenzado su andadura este ambicioso proyecto dirigido a la captación y formación de profesionales para la industria IT.

Después de una primera fase de selección de candidatos , durante el próximo mes de septiembre comenzará el curso de formación que durará 12 semanas y estará orientado a formar especialistas en .NET y Azure.  Adicionalmente,  también contará con contenidos específicos, de carácter práctico, para el desarrollo de diferentes competencias profesionales .

Una vez finalizado este curso, los candidatos se incorporarán a los correspondientes partners para los que fueron seleccionados.

Generation Spain es una iniciativa de la consultora McKinsey, que ha contado con el apoyo de Microsoft y a la que se han unido , en la edición de este año, varios partners de Microsoft (Global TMS, Prodware, Everis, Plain Concepts, Crayon, Zertia, Avanade, DXC, PWC e Ilitia).

La IAMCP ha colaborado también en la convocatoria de esta iniciativa cuyo programa de formación ha sido elaborado conjuntamente entre Generation Spain, Microsoft y PUE.

La edición de este año será en Madrid, pero confiamos en poderla llevar a cabo también en Barcelona en futuras ediciones.

Desde la IAMCP esperamos que sea un éxito y que contribuya, en la medida de lo posible, a paliar el déficit de profesionales en nuestro sector.

Ignacio Sestafe

The 60 minute guide to partnering with Microsoft – for free!

Based on my book Refresh the Road ahead which goes deeply into Microsoft and how to partner with Microsoft but which is close to 500 pages in its paperback version I have written this summary guide which you should be able to read in one hour.  You can get the guide here: https://payhip.com/b/3E0j and if you apply this discount code all you have to do is fill in your email address in order to download a PDF version: 27K9JL1RD4  

Thank you.

Michiel van Vliet