Inspire 2017: Re-formulated programs aim to accelerate Microsoft cloud business

Microsoft is pledging this week at Inspire 2017 to make a transition from a "partner led" organization to one that is "partner first." And with the re-organization that preceded the event, the company is also showing it is transitioning the way Microsoft solutions will compete in the marketplace.

As Inspire begins, the company has noted a range of stats to underscore partners' importance to Microsoft in fiscal 2018, among them:

• That 30% of partners have joined network in the last 12 months
• Microsoft has more cloud partners than AWS, Google, and Salesforce combined
• That more than 64,000 cloud partners exist globally
• 95% of commercial revenue comes from partners
• Partners receive 19% higher margins than the next closest competitor

Microsoft is embarking on an effort to reform its partner strategy by bringing partner-facing roles under one organization, a move that the company hopes will improve both partner and customer satisfaction.

ISV Cloud Embed, and a co-sell investment

Microsoft has launched its "ISV Cloud Embed" program, aiming to boost partner usage of Dynamics 365, PowerApps, Power BI, and Flow in third party business applications. The company promises that the platform will lower partner development overhead and costs, tiered go-to-market support and the opportunity to showcase apps through Microsoft AppSource.

Microsoft Business Applications & Industry General Manager Alysa Taylor describes the Embed program as enabling partners to "take [Flow, PowerApps, Power BI, and Dynamics 365] and make them building blocks for the ISV ecosystem; they can take sales automation, finance, and operations or our service line, and build unique IP on top of those building blocks and distribute and provision their IP out through cloud service provider network."

Next is a significant co-sell investment