A new technical support program aimed at Microsoft partners lets them supplement their existing support options with additional, fee-based services. Designed to help partners support their customers, the program will help partners resolve customer problems and differentiate themselves in competitive situations. In addition to packages aimed at partners generally, Microsoft has designed special packages for ISVs and system integrators. However, partners will need to look at the offerings closely to determine whether they are the best way to purchase the support they need.

Making Partnership Pay

The new support package is part of a year-long rebuilding of Microsoft’s partner program. Announced last year, the changes brought numerous partner programs under a single umbrella, known as the Microsoft Partner Program; established a three-tier partner structure that will appeal to many more small partners than the previous program; and created a set of "competencies" and other criteria that partners can use to gain additional partner benefits.

Such modifications were necessary to keep Microsoft competitive in an increasingly stiff fight to retain partner loyalty. As enterprise software vendors shift their focus to the midmarket and small businesses, which are perceived to be a ready market for increased IT spending, they are working harder to attract partners: these market segments have too many businesses and are too diverse to be served effectively with a direct sales force.

To succeed, a partner program needs to offer visible benefits, and better technical support is an obvious benefit as more complex, integrated systems (the Microsoft Office System; the Windows Server System) make their way into businesses and the complexity and cost of supporting them rises. However, providing significant support benefits to the lowest-level Registered partners would be costly, considering that they pay nothing for their Registered status. Microsoft has elected instead to create a relatively inexpensive support package that will supplement the very basic benefits offered for free through the partner program.

Included Support Offerings for Partners

Microsoft partners already get some support from Microsoft, depending on which of three levels—Gold Certified, Certified, or Registered—they are at.

At the lowest (and free) level, Registered partner, partners are eligible for "managed newsgroups," which give their questions or concerns in newsgroups higher priority, and "business-critical" telephone support in the event of a network or server failure related to Microsoft software.

Certified partners, who pay a basic fee of US$1,500 in the United States (the fee varies by region), have all those benefits, plus five free professional support incidents and the services of an "online concierge": Microsoft personnel that assist customers in getting online answers to their problems.

Those at the highest level, Gold Certified partners, pay the basic fee, get all the benefits of Certified Partners, and also get a technical service coordinator, access to assistance from Microsoft Consulting Services, and access to a special Partner Knowledge Base (by the end of 2004).

Paid Partner Support

Announced in July 2004, a new support plan, branded Microsoft Services Partner Advantage (MSPA), supplements that free support with two levels of paid support, MSPA Standard and MSPA Plus.

MSPA Standard is a fixed-price plan that, starting at about US$7,000 a year (the price varies by region), offers a fixed set of services, including the following:

• Special phone access to a Microsoft technical service coordinator during business hours; this coordinator can escalate and track problems on behalf of the partner
• Priority 24x7 technical support for five support incidents
• Limited access to phone-based support from Microsoft consulting services.

MSPA Plus is a customized set of support services, with a price that will vary depending on the support a partner selects. Microsoft says that the typical customized package starts at about US$35,000 a year. Customers can select support services such as the following:

• A designated services manager with experience in partner management
• Prioritized 24x7 technical support and escalation
• Access to additional consulting services and custom consulting services.

Support for ISVs and SIs

One of the major goals of Microsoft’s new partner program is to deliver tailored services to particular partners, even though they all participate in a single program. In accordance with that goal, the company has announced additional support services that will be available to ISVs and system integrators (SIs).

Although the two offerings are different—the ISV plan offers consulting and services that focus on software development, while the SI plan focuses more on troubleshooting and testing, such as a multivendor integration project might require—Microsoft says the plans are flexible enough to serve companies that straddle the boundary between an SI and an ISV. For example, if an SI needs assistance with some custom code that it has developed or an ISV needs to test its software in a multivendor environment, it need not purchase two separate plans.

MSPA for ISVs replaces an older program, Premier Support for Developers, and provides support such as the following:

• Application development consulting, such as prototype development, architecture guidance, code review, and test planning
• Use of Microsoft laboratories for performance testing, problem isolation, OS and database migration, and application scaling
• Workshops on the latest Microsoft technologies and techniques for troubleshooting and debugging
• Access to beta programs for new product releases.

MSPA for SIs includes support services such as the following:

• Consulting for testing and scripting
• Use of Microsoft laboratories performance and scalability testing, benchmarking, and problem isolation
• Troubleshooting and debugging workshops
• Security consulting
• Shared Source code licensing
• Use of the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation (WinPE) environment.

Both the ISV and SI plans are available in Standard and Plus Editions, with prices similar to those of the Standard and Plus plans offered to other partners.

Measuring the Benefits

MPSA offers yet another level of support for partners, but they will need to decide whether MSPA is the best way to access such support. The vagueness of Microsoft’s descriptions of its support offerings will be the first hurdle in making a decision. The marketing literature typically lacks many useful details, such as how many support incidents are in MSPA standard, or how limited the "limited support" from Microsoft consulting is.

The presence of many other support plans from Microsoft—most with equally vague descriptions—increases the number of potential choices. In some cases, partners may prefer Microsoft’s corporate-oriented Essential or Premier support plans, which offer a wider set of benefits and can be customized for a customer’s needs. Offerings from those plans overlap the services in MSPA. Organizations can also get support from third-party Gold Certified Partners for Support Services.

Nevertheless, the combination of existing partner support services and the compact suite of services available through MSPA might suit some developer and SI organizations well enough so that they can finally afford a support contract with Microsoft, or allow them to switch away from more expensive support options.

Small partners will probably benefit most from the new options. In particular, their improved access to Microsoft’s own support organization could help differentiate them from competitors in local marketplaces.

Resources

MSPA is described at www.microsoft.com/services/microsoftservices/partadv.mspx.

Gold Certified Partners for Support Services are described at www.microsoft.com/support/partner/maps.

General support services from Microsoft are described at www.microsoft.com/services/microsoftservices/supp.mspx.

The Microsoft Partner Program is described at members.microsoft.com/partner/default.aspx.