The Big Contributors to Microsoft Cloud Success? Its Partners

Microsoft has long been a company that is partner driven. Earlier this week, Gavriella Schuster who is in charge of the company's One Commercial Partner Program, shared details about just how much of an impact those partners are having. Specifically, she shared a surprising statistic about Microsoft's partner-driven cloud revenue: "Did you know that 95 percent of Microsoft’s commercial revenue flows directly through our partner ecosystem? With more than 7,500 partners joining that ecosystem every month, partner growth and partner innovation are directly fueling our commercial cloud growth."

In the last quarter for Microsoft, those partnerships drove a 48% year-over-year growth in commercial cloud revenue resulting in more than $9 billion in sales. 

Schuster went on to share details about various company partner programs such as Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), Azure Expert Microsoft Solution Provider (MSP), IP Co-Sell (its commercial marketplace) and AI for Enterprises. Just the commercial marketplace business opportunities are estimated to be worth $133 billion in 2019 (Gartner) according to Schuster, and the AI for Enterprise is expected to triple over the next four years from $24 to $77.6 billion (IDC).

Schuster closed out her update saying that Microsoft plans to evolve its partner program in 2019 by innovating in AI, providing more co-selling opportunities, and helping partners connect with customers through their various programs.

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