BMS Blog: SBS Consulting in the UK

In addition to the MPN overview for SMB Partners Live Meetings that Dell Quinn is running in May and June, there’s also an opportunity for you to hear the story direct from MS Corp.

Webcast event: "Microsoft Partner Network for Small to Midsize Business (SMB) Partners"

A special webcast event will take place on May 4^th which will be entitled  "Microsoft Partner Network for Small to Midsize Business (SMB) Partners" and will be presented by Judy Kolde, Sr. Director, Worldwide Partner Sales at Microsoft.

This is a great opportunity for you to hear firsthand how Microsoft is committed to its SMB Partners through new and existing opportunities within the Microsoft Partner Network.  It’s also a unique occasion for you to ask questions directly to one of our global executives within the Worldwide Partner Group. 

Register for the event here:
https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/registrationex/LMS_Registration.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=580853

You won’t want to miss this Live Meeting being presented by Dell Quinn:

Exploring the value of the Microsoft Partner Network for Small Business Specialists:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActivityId=577757

Find out about all the MPN changes taking place and how they effect you as an SBSC partner and get your chance to ask the questions you need answers to. Sign up now!

***Link to the official info for this is now on the Partner portal*** 

After much speculation amongst the SBSC community the changes to the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) have now been made public and will appear on the MPN SBSC portal today! You can download the official PowerPoint deck from my SkyDrive account until I update this blog post with the link to the SBSC portal.

So, first the good news. The SBSC “blue badge” is here to stay! You told Microsoft you didn’t want to lose your SBSC status in your hundreds and Microsoft listened. This is excellent news for the SBSC community and only helps to strengthen the commitment Microsoft has to the SBSC designation. I’m personally very happy with this move as we just had the SBSC blue badge put all over our new van.

Now the not so good news. If you were previously a certified partner and then qualified to become a gold certified partner (and I know several partners who are very close to doing this) there was no additional membership fee involved. The additional benefits that came with being gold certified were based purely on numbers of mcp’s, competencies etc. The changes mean that a Competency partner who has already paid a membership fee now has to pay again to be an Advanced Competency Partner – somehow that doesn’t seem right to me and I’ve yet to talk to anyone in Microsoft who can justify the reasoning behind the decision.

The actual cost of the membership fees has yet to be decided and there as been talk that it will be charged in dollars. I’m going to stick my neck on the line here and say I don’t think that will happen and we will be charged in good old pounds, shillings and pence!

As part of my Microsoft Partner Area Lead role we have been busy coming up with new ways to further the SBSC community and drive forward the commitment to the program and MS partners.

One of those ideas is showcasing a series of Small Business Specialist Champions who have improved productivity and profitability for their company by utilising the benefits of partnering with Microsoft.

The first of our Champions is Netlink IT and you can read about their story at:

https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/40134193

Do you have a story to tell about how your partnership with Microsoft has helped grow your business and revenue? If so why  not let me know and you could be our next Small Business Specialist Champion!

The dates for the next Business and Technical Schools have just been released. These schools are becoming very popular and gaining momentum. Don’t miss out: Make sure you register today!

Look forward to seeing you at the meetings!

If you haven’t already done so, please reply to the Microsoft 2010 SMB Partner Insight online survey as Microsoft  will be using the results to help promote the SBSC brand through integrated marketing and media relations.

The deadline for responses has been extended until Feb 1 so please reply if you have a few mins: http://rap6.tns-online.com/rapsurvey/presurvey.asp?SID=916&Language=English

Details of Business School and Technical School for Jan have been announced as follows:

Business School: Developing new routes to market

Business Schools are a series of monthly Live Meetings specifically for the Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) and Registered partners who specialise in targeting the small to medium size business market. Each month, a business expert will provide guidance on a specific topic. Taking place on 21 January at 15:00 (GMT), the third Business School, led by Caroline Egan of Giant Step, will discuss how to develop new routes to market. Review a recording of last months’ Business School meeting, which focused on how to use public relations to publicise your business.

Technical School: SharePoint for small and medium size business

Technical Schools are a series of monthly Live Meetings specifically for the Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) and Registered partners who specialise in targeting the small to medium size business market. Each month, a Microsoft technology expert and/or Microsoft partner will provide advice on how to make full use of the opportunities associated with Microsoft technologies. Taking place on 27 January from 16.00-17.00 (GMT), the third Technical School led by Microsoft’s Jessica Meats, will provide an overview of the opportunities associated with SharePoint from a small and medium size business (SMB) perspective. Review a recording of last months’ Technical School meeting, which discussed Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).

Don’t forget the next Business and Technical Schools are coming up very soon! Info below:

Next business school will take place on Dec 1 at 2pm. Microsoft’s Dell Quinn will provide a Public Relations 101. Then on Dec 8, Microsoft’s Ted Schultz will discuss BPOS for SMBs. Register via:

Business School Live Meeting: Public Relations 101

Technical School Live Meeting: Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite

We’ve also created this new web page listing past Schools concerning Windows 7 and converting prospects into customers.

In case you missed it you can view the recording of the last Technical School (Windows 7) at:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032427532&EventCategory=5&culture=en-GB&CountryCode=GB

I look forward to welcoming you to the events!

A quick reminder for anyone who may have missed it. Wednesday 4th November at 16:30 is the first of the Technical School Live Meetings.

Jamie Burgess will present around Windows 7 and the new features and benefits. Even if you’ve been using Windows 7 for a while now I’m sure Jamie will have something new you’ve not seen before, so if you haven’t already done so please remember to sign up now.

4^th November: 16.30-1745: Technical School: Windows 7

Register for the event at:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032427531&culture=en-GB

Look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!

We now have some clarification around how the new Microsoft Partner Network changes will specifically effect SBSC.

The FAQ can be accessed at:

https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/40021563

But here is a summary of the important points:

New competencies

- The Small Business Specialist designation will become two competencies in summer 2010 - the Small Business and the Medium Business Solution Provider competencies.

- The Small Business competency will be ideal for partners who focus on supplying a range of technology solutions to small business customers.

- The Medium Business Solution Provider competency will be for partners who provide solutions to medium-sized customers. It allows the existing Small Business Specialist who sell to medium-sized business to obtain the new Medium Business Solution Provider competency.

Competency requirements

-  The requirements for the new Small Business competency will be similar to those for attaining the Small Business Specialist designation today.

- In summer 2010, if your Small Business Specialist status is active and you have met all the requirements of the Small Business Specialist designation, you will automatically qualify for the new Small Business competency.

-  The full detail of the requirements for the Medium Business Solution Provider competency will be shared before the end of December 2009.

- As the new competencies will retain many of the same requirements and benefits that partners are familiar with today, the transition to the new competencies should translate into limited impact for existing Small Business Specialists. We will fully support partners through the transition period.

Logos

- As long as your Small Business Specialist status is up to date, you can continue to use the existing logo (i.e. the ‘blue badge’).

- Existing logos will be retired six months after the new logo system is available. For Small Business Specialists, this means that the current ‘blue badge’ logo will be retired six months after the introduction of the new competencies.

My best guess around the requirements for Medium Business Solution Provider competency is that it will have something to do with EBS 2008 certification. Please note this is only my personal opinion and Microsoft have yet to release the actual details for this.