During the first day of this year’s Microsoft WPC the company’s execs discussed how partners can benefit from the transition to cloud the cloud by helping customers improve agility, focus on business goals and reduce costs.

Emphasizing that cloud computing is the biggest shift ever seen in the IT, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella said that  together with the company’s partners, Microsoft will help customers through the transition. “By betting on Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to cloud computing, partners can embrace this transformation and build strong and vibrant practices that will advance how business gets done,” Nadella said. 

Nadella also announced that partners can now sell their applications through the Windows Azure Marketplace to reach more customers and help grow revenues. This capability builds on the extensive set of partner data offerings already available for sale through the Windows Azure Marketplace. Recently Microsoft-commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting found that software partners deploying solutions on Windows Azure are generating 20% to 250% in new revenue by reaching entirely new customers.

Nadella outlined how partners can use Microsoft’s private cloud solution built on Windows Server, Microsoft Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center to help customers shift to cloud, on their terms. The following week Microsoft will release a new beta of System Center 2012, which helps customers build private clouds and manage applications across both private and public cloud systems. Microsoft also provided an early look at the next version of Windows Server, code-named “Windows Server 8,” which will be the next step in private cloud computing.

Noting the ever-increasing importance of data in both public and private cloud computing, Nadella announced the availability of a community technology preview of the new Microsoft SQL Server, currently SQL Server codename “Denali.” For the first time, customers can begin testing the much-anticipated features of “Denali,” including Project “Crescent” for visual data exploration and SQL Server Developer Tools codename “Juneau,” for a modern development experience across server, business intelligence and cloud development projects.

Customers Are Embracing Office 365, Leading to Greater Revenue Opportunities for Partners

Yesterday, Microsoft announced that more than 50,000 organizations have started trials of Office 365 in the two weeks since the cloud-based productivity service was released. Microsoft recently commissioned a TEI study conducted by Forrester Consulting that shows a composite organization of midsize customers could see a risk-adjusted ROI of more than 300 percent with a payback period of just two months with Office 365.

In response to growing customer demand, the ecosystem of Microsoft partners has more than doubled in the last year and now includes more than 41,000 partners and 300,000 trained specialists on the cloud service.

To support this ecosystem, Kurt DelBene, president of the Microsoft Office Division, announced changes to partner commissions, providing improved cash flow and enhanced opportunity.

“Office 365 is a hit with businesses of all sizes, and this translates into great opportunities for our partners,” said DelBene. “Partners who are first movers to the cloud are building robust recurring revenue streams, ultimately growing and transforming their businesses.”

Kirill Tatarinov, president of Microsoft Business Solutions, announced that the next update of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will be available in the fourth quarter of 2011. This update will enable partners to offer enterprise customers Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online with Microsoft Office 365 and will feature enhanced social collaboration capabilities. In addition, new Microsoft Dynamics ERP RapidStart Services were announced, which help partners quickly configure and set up consistent and repeatable steps common across the life cycle of an ERP deployment, reducing the initial implementation time so they can focus on delivering profitable value-added services. The extensible service will be available in September for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

 

SOURCE:MICROSOFT CORP.