Inspire 2017 news & resources

Microsoft’s commitment to partners is not smoke-and-mirrors; but it expects much from partners in return for sales leads, marketing and vertical-specific sales support.

Inspire 2017 was a week of “shock and awe,” says Steve Mordue of RapidStart CRM.

The traditional SMB ERPs continue on, with incremental updates and cloud-focused tie-ins.

Sitting down at Inspire to talk selling a Microsoft channel business and the outlook for other business owners.

The July release of Dynamics 365 Enterprise ERP offers industry and horizontal updates, but it also signals a shift in the urgency to make the case for the cloud.

Microsoft’s One Commercial Partner strategy is aimed at helping partners go to market; its vertical-specific strategy targets six market priorities

Connected processes and systems of intelligence are priorities for Microsoft business apps, says CEO Nadella.

Microsoft pledges to move from “partner led” to “partner first” in 2018, with productivity bundles, a biz app development platform and Azure co-sell investments

Some subsidiaries like Germany and Denmark are seeing massive cuts, while others are spared as Microsoft updates structure and priorities.

Weighing the different impact on enterprise & SMB firms, from account management improvements to partner support risks.