New Partner Program Readied

An ambitious top-to-bottom overhaul of Microsoft’s partner program brings all of the company’s programmatic partner relationships under one umbrella and incorporates hundreds of thousands of small partners who were not in earlier programs. Large partners may not notice much change, but small partners should find that they have a much clearer path to engaging Microsoft. Several partner communities, notably ISVs, Microsoft Business Solutions partners, and training centers, will see significant changes in how Microsoft defines its relationship with them and rewards their performance.

The Need to Attract Partners

Microsoft estimates that 96% of its revenue comes through partners. The company sells few products directly and has a relatively small field sales force compared with most of its major competitors. Instead, a wide range of partners, including hardware vendors, resellers, ISVs, training centers, corporate developers, and system integrators, promote and resell Microsoft’s software.