Microsoft’s Partner Solutions - 30 Oct 2009

Consultant s Corner

Microsoft s Partner Solutions

Spend a Little, Save a Lot!

By Auri Rahimzadeh

Among the many common issues experienced by everyconsultancy, two stand out as being significant to your success: legitimacy andsaving money. Legitimacy is important when competing for larger clients, who oftenare skeptical of giving entire projects to single contractors or smallorganizations. The latter comes into play after landing the work and notbeing able to afford all the Microsoft servers, development environments, andso forth you need to accomplish the tasks for the project you ve won.

Luckily for you, you re a Microsoft house, and Microsoftitself started out as only a software development shop. Microsoft stands behindits loyal developers by providing the tools, resources, and prestige necessaryto grow their businesses. These benefits are all encapsulated in the MicrosoftPartner Program and its associated levels and software subscriptions. You canimmediately get the software you need for cheap. Then, as you become a moreaccomplished partner, Microsoft will certify you, lending you the credibilityyou often desperately need to work with the big fish in your industry.

Partner Program

Microsoft s partner program is free to join, and providesyour clients and your organization more tools and benefits as your levelincreases. You start as a Registered Partner. As you increase your competenciesand get more customer references which earn you more points you progress tothe Certified and Gold Certified levels. Increasing your level and yourcompetencies gains recognition with potential clients and makes you a morefavorable organization with whom to conduct business. It also lists you higherin the online Microsoft Partner Solutions Catalog, which you can browse at http://solutionfinder.microsoft.com.

As a Microsoft Partner, you ll receive free sales andmarketing material from Microsoft to help you understand, leverage, and yes,even sell, their technologies. Becoming a partner isalso a prerequisite for gaining access to the Action Pack Subscription and theEmpower Program for ISVs, which I ll cover in a moment.

Once you reach the Certifiedlevel, Microsoft will reward you with a couple of plaques and a CertifiedPartner banner, which you can prominently display at your office, at tradeshows, and so forth. You also gain access to the Logo Builder, where you canbuild official Microsoft Certified Partner logos for use on your businesscards, in your e-mail signatures, and in your marketing material. This isimportant, as it conveys your trusted skill set automatically. You have to workhard to get Microsoft Certified Partner status, which both your clients andprospective customers will undoubtedly respect.

Other benefits to the Certified and Gold Certified levelsinclude a certain number of free support calls, MSDN subscription access (for whichyou must pay), TechNet access, and many benefits you can pass on to yourclients. One benefit includes license matching, which could save your clientsthousands of dollars in licensing costs and score you points with your clients,as well as Microsoft.

Another benefit to the Certified and Gold Certified levelsis five free licenses to Visual Studio Team Foundation Server. In theRegistered Partner level and Action Pack Subscription, you only receive the90-day trial version, but if you level up you ll get full access to Microsoft sflagship development system. Talk about a great incentive, and reward, fromMicrosoft for all your hard work as a partner.

You can learn more about the Microsoft Partner Program at http://partner.microsoft.com.

Action Pack Subscriptions

Whether you re an individual contractor or a smallorganization, getting the tools you need at the least cost is the name of thegame. Microsoft helps its partners in this respect by offering the MicrosoftAction Pack Subscription.

The Action Pack Subscription costs US$299, and provides full licenses to all the software Microsoft has to offer (with a few exceptions). It sgeared toward Registered Partners and those who can t afford an MSDNsubscription, as well as toward organizations looking to implementMicrosoft-based solutions for their clients.

A subscription includes full versions of Microsoft sservers and applications including Office and development environments sansTeam Server, games, and Macintosh solutions. The software is delivered to youquarterly on CD, includes lots of Microsoft marketing and training material,and even includes a handy binder for all your Microsoft software.

The Action Pack Subscription will literally save youthousands of dollars and give your team everything it needs to write Microsoftsoftware for any Microsoft environment. Other than already having an MSDNsubscription, there is literally no excuse for not having an Action Packsubscription.

There is a caveat to the Microsoft Action Packsubscription licenses: If your subscription expires, the licenses may end withit, so make sure you renew every year! This is especially true with theoperating system licenses.

You can learn more about the Action Pack Subscription at http://partner.microsoft.com/US/40016455?PS=3.

Microsoft s Empower Program for ISVs

Microsoft greatly desires applications to be written forWindows. After all, Windows is a cash cow, and the more great apps that run onit, the better. To encourage partners to write software for Windows, Microsofthas created the Empower for ISVs program. The Empower program gives you almosteverything a Certified Partner gets sans logo use and all the tools youneed via an MSDN subscription, for two years. Your end of the bargain is towrite an application and have it tested by Veritest by the end of that two-yearperiod. Don t worry Microsoft pays for the test!

The cost of the Empower program is US$375, which coversyou for the entire two years a steal compared to paying more than US$2,000for an MSDN Universal subscription alone. Microsoft will even give you 10 freehours of architecture consulting to help you write your application.

As a bonus, when you complete the Empower program, youautomatically earn the ISV/Software Solutions partner competency, and enoughpoints to promote your level to Certified Partner, with all the accompanying benefits.

To learn more about the Empower for ISVs program, visit http://partner.microsoft.com/US/40011351?PS=3.

Moving Forward

Getting involved with the Microsoft Partner Program willbe a welcome addition to your development arsenal. Cheap, plentiful access toMicrosoft software and technologies is nothing to shake a stick at. The rewardsfor staying involved will help you grow your business. Microsoft s officialendorsement of Gold Certified partners can only mean good things when pitchingyour wares. The use of the logo by Certified and Gold Certified partners makesyour organization seem much more legitimate to big fish. The recognition ofyour skills, and the ability to affordably flex your development muscles, meansthere s no time like the present to get started reaping the benefits ofpartnering with Microsoft.

I welcome your questions and comments at [email protected] get involved with the community and share your thoughts and experiencesso we can all benefit from each others experiences.

Auri Rahimzadeh isPresident and Senior Engineer at TAG (TheAuri Group, LLC, http://www.aurigroup.com),a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner based in Indianapolis,IN. Rahimzadeh has authored three books, including Hacking the PSP and Geek My Ride.He has been technical editor on Wrox and Wiley titles, and has written a numberof technical articles ranging from .NETdevelopment to consumer electronics. Auri started his technology career workingfor Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, and enjoys writing andteaching others about all sorts of technology.

Other Benefits of Certified and Gold Certified Levels

Your organization gets a lot of support from Microsoftonce you ve proven your competencies by reaching the Certified and GoldCertified levels. Here are some of the great benefits:

These are just some of the benefits the upper levels offerpartners learn more about the Microsoft Partner Program at http://partner.microsoft.com.