By John Mark V. Tuazon

A refurbished partner network and a fresh take on a four year-old antecedent operating system is what brought success for Microsoft’s latest opus, the newly-released Windows 7, according to regional executives from the software giant.

In its bid to reclaim its supremacy in the battlefield of operating systems, Microsoft said it is taking a more proactive role—especially in the region—in engaging all of its partners. “The year 2009 has been the biggest year in Microsoft history when it comes to launches, so we are ensuring our partners are ready. It couldn’t be a better time [to change the structure] given the new products,” says Anurag Vij, director, partner support group, Microsoft.

This meant turning the tables on partners, Vij says, by veering away from the old practice of partners calling on Microsoft for assistance. “This time, we go back to our partners and lay out all the probable scenarios for them,” he adds.

This is critical for Microsoft in recent successes—most notably the release of Windows 7 because it equipped the partners with skills and capabilities even before real problems are encountered and reported.

With a bustling customer base willing to upgrade to the new OS offering, Vij says Microsoft is relying on partners to help in the transition process. “Before, we are focusing on the features and functionalities of the new offerings. Now, it’s the capabilities that we are trying to emphasize,” says Vij.

To aid in capability building, Microsoft says it is bringing its decades of support experience online through VirtualLabs, a “virtual classroom” for partners to engage in training and conversation with Microsoft experts and fellow partners. “Partners have limited resources, and this is where VirtualLabs comes in. It is an extension of our face-to-face option that can significantly cut back the time for training,” Vij explains.

Vij says VirtualLabs enables them to scale while still helping address partner concerns. “If we do not scale, we tend to leave partners on the reactive phase,” he adds.

VirtualLabs provides partners with a real-time experience on past and upcoming Microsoft technologies, giving them in-depth scenario experience even before partners go live with their customers. To date, there are at least 30 topics available for undertaking, targetted to both IT professionals and developers alike.

Taking the Turn

As product sales become more complex, transforming the backbone of the partner network enables partners to build a network among themselves—not just a symbiotic relationship with Microsoft— to further common growth. “Channel and partner readiness is key; in the case of Windows 7, our partners are leveraging these virtualized sessions to get themselves equipped with the right skill set in order to meet the demands of their respective markets,” said Vij.

With a partner-centric strategy—where 98% of sales are made through partners— the focus on partner relationships becomes imperative. “We can now equip our partners, big and small, in a time and cost-efficient manner, allowing them to deliver results more quickly. Clearly, it is a win-win situation for all,” Vij added.

Vij said with these capabilities in hand, Microsoft is enabling partners to improve speed to market of products, customer service, and profitability. “According to an IDC white paper commissioned by Microsoft, for every unit of revenue – dollar, euro, peso, etc. – that Microsoft will earn in 2009, other companies will earn 8.70,” he emphasized. “Also, in 2009, the vendors in the Microsoft ecosystem in 52 countries will, themselves, have revenues of more than US$535 billion.”

Renewed Benefits

For infrastructure services provider Datacraft, leveraging on these partner benefits enabled them to gain a competitive edge. As a solution provider working around several Microsoft technologies for deployment to partners, building the skills and capabilities of their technicians and engineers were of paramount importance.

Datacraft, through its Singapore headquarters, spearheaded the internal deployment of Windows 7, getting its pool of human resource ready and able to handle the complicated technical support requirements of its customers.

“We cannot tell you how valuable and convenient it is to have access to a high quality workshop covering key topics, practical experience sharing and hands-on virtual lab at your finger tips – it is indeed a big improvement from the days when we had to take time off to attend training,” said Kelvin Chin, Head of Professional Services, Microsoft Practice, Datacraft.

Datacraft has been strengthening its pool of talent over the years, investing heavily in “building a critical mass of talent,” with Microsoft certified engineers not being an exception. Fairly recently, Datacraft invested in establishing a Cooperative Research Center (CRC) in De La Salle University in Manila, training graduate students to become Microsoft-enabled people that could eventually form part of their resource pool.

“We are leveraging the services support experience of Datacraft in bringing technology readiness by training these individuals,” said Neville Burdan, general manager, Microsoft solutions, Asia Pacific and Japan, Datacraft. At least 48 students have been trained in the CRC thus far, all of them eventually becoming a part of the Datacraft team.

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