At the show, Microsoft is announcing a promotion in which midsize businesses can buy a collection of Microsoft server products at a discount. Is this a prelude to a midmarket server product along the lines of what Microsoft did with Small Business Server?
That is an interesting idea that we are exploring. With this immediate offering, however, we're providing a solution that will serve as a first step for midsize businesses, and the partners that serve them, to address their IT needs with attractive pricing and essential guidance. Our current product offerings — Windows Server, Exchange Server, MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager) Workgroup Edition — provide a solid, integrated solution set that they can use immediately. Many midsize businesses are seeing great value with these products now, but we wanted to provide even greater value, less complex licensing, more tools and resources, and simplified deployment guidance.
One of the things that Microsoft is showing at its partner conference is a set of tools to add presence (a knowledge of how someone can be reached) into a wide range of programs. In what ways do you think we will see such capabilities used in products two to three years from now?
Presence relates to one of the big things that both Bill [Gates] and I have been talking about this year, which is how the world of work is evolving. Presence is part of this trend. It empowers people. It's already being integrated into business applications, along with instant messaging and call control, by partners like Siebel, OSISoft and BrightWork.
Our goal is making it easier for developers to embed various modes of communications into their applications. We'll continue to create additional toolkits to help them. For example, the right-click options we make available for developers can be expanded and enriched with voice and video, with data and with other integrated technologies. We've really only scratched the surface of integrated communications. We'll continue answering customer demand for deeper integration across the whole productivity platform — Microsoft Office System applications, including Outlook 2003, SharePoint, Live Meeting and Groove, as well as Exchange and some of the other infrastructure pieces.
In recent months, Microsoft has beefed up its own sales force and has begun adding vertical specialists in a variety of industries. Does this mark a change in the way Microsoft sells things?
The steps we're taking with our sales force represent an evolution of solution selling, rather than a marked change to how we sell. If you look at how our platform is evolving to support integrated solutions that align with business process, it makes sense that our sales force and partner investments will be optimised for customised solutions that work how our customers work. We started solution selling five years ago, and everything we're doing today in the field — adding more specialised resources by technology and by industry, aligning our account teams by industry where possible, integrating partner solutions more effectively into the sales process — represents the next era of solution selling.
Talkback
Betting on a single horse won't last you a life time. Something stockholders and customers should keep in mind when "their company" decides to go 100% head first into today's version of Microsoft's Partner Program.
Quote: "The one commonality, though — and this is the crux of the matter — is that the partners who specialise are the ones who will thrive."
Yeah, and overspecialise too much (how could you not once locked into that direction?) and you'll be dependant (which will not exactly help during negotiations) like never before. And being too dependant on something has a way on how you see the truth.
Also, Darwin figured out long ago what happens to overspecialized creatures once their environment (new strategic business tactics from Redmond HQ for example) changes too fast or too much.
In short, keep your options open. Always, with whoever you do business. Short term expectations of tremendous revenue and fortune are usually exactly that. Short term, short lived. Also be specially carefull not to get into a program that will slowly but surely claim all your resources and make you completely dependant that way.
Everyone knows how Microsoft treats their partners. Just look at Sendo. Microsoft will work with you, pat you on the head, tell you what a good job you're doing offer to look through all your code and technical specifications for you, then steal the lot and reproduce exactly the same thing themselves 2 weeks before you announce it. You'll then take them to court and get involved in a massively drawn-out court case that eventually bankrupts you, your company, your family and your friends. If you're very lucky, you may get out of them half of what you lost. But you'd have to be very very lucky.
Just say "no".