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PartnerPoint Member Forums
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sloethen (guest)
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| 12/05/2007 12:16 PM |
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First, let me introduce myself. My name is Steve Loethen, and I currently serve as the Partner Evangelist for Microsoft, in the Central Region of the United States. This is a new role, and we are trying to get our feet wet, with the goal of understanding and improving the experience of custom development partners. I am particularly interested in talking with smaller partners that don't get a lot of direct contact with Microsoft.
I am interested in understanding the challenges you face in your business, in dealing with Microsoft, and in your daily task of keeping the lights on and your company healthy. I don't claim to be able to fix all or any problems for that matter, but the key to my being able to effect change is to understand your issues.
What do we do that has no value to you?
What should we do to add value to your company?
What do we do that hurts you and why? What or how should we do it differently.
Are there any programs that we used to provide that you desire to return?
Again, I don't know if I have the power, or the budget to fix all or anything, but I can act as a conduit for you. Please feel free to email me (sloethen@microsoft.com) and start the dialog. I also plan on traveling over the next several months to most major cities in the central region, and if you have some time, are willing to set down and talk with me, and think it might be valuable, let me know. I am planning my agenda now, and want to add your voice to the mix.
Thanks, and I am looking forward to participating in this group.
Steve Loethen
Partner Evangelist - Microsoft Central Region DPE
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sloethen
Posts:2
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| 12/05/2007 12:17 PM |
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| I was not logged in when I sent earlier. Thought I was. |
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host
Posts:16
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| 12/05/2007 2:43 PM |
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Steve,
Welcome to our Community, and thanks for the post. The new role of Partner Evangelist sounds compelling. I hope it is ultimately deemed a success and is reproduced elsewhere, as giving the large number of un-managed partners a conduit into the "inner sanctum" is a great idea and one that I'm sure our community will support.
I will help spread the word so that you do get some feedback, and let me know if there is anything else we can do to support your efforts. If you have good info and resources for our community on a regular basis, we'll gladly give you your own sub-community on our portal that you can manage on your own, such as the one at www.dynamicscollaboration.com.
Thanks!
Brian
p.s. count me in for a meeting if ever in the DC area.
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oldmuttonhead
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| 12/16/2007 10:31 PM |
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Hi, Steve!
My name is Rick Brown and my wife and I run PC-ER, Inc. in Pendleton, IN. We are a very small company, but we have big dreams. ;)
PC-ER primarily serves small businesses and a handful of home users leftover from another company I used to own. I'd like to answer your questions you asked in your post:
Q: What do we do that has no value to you?
A: I would hesitate to say that anything that Microsoft does has no value to me. My issue with Microsoft has more to do with not being able to utilize what is available to a small business like myself. I am currently trying to take advantage of the free "Web Developer" package that Microsoft is offering to Action Pack subscribers and I even got a shipment notification at one point, but I've never received a package and now can't even find the order when I click on the shipment notification email I received. I also don't completely understand what I need to do to move up the "partner ladder" at Microsoft.
Q: What should we do to add value to your company?
A: As I mentioned in the last answer, I think Microsoft has excellent programs for partners, but it should be clearer how to gain access and utilize them.
Q: What do we do that hurts you and why? What or how should we do it differently.
A: As a system integrator, it still baffles me why the larger OEMs don't have to play by the same rules as the smaller companies, but the Vista OEM agreement takes a couple of steps towards a remedy. With ImageX, now at least we can give our clients an image of machines we build for them. However, when Microsoft mandated that we had to purchase Office OPKs in order to preinstall Office, it made selling Office with a new machine not profitable and a huge pain. I know these are issues that would only effect a smaller company, but it's hard for my smaller company to become a larger company when the deck is stacked against us.
Q: Are there any programs that we used to provide that you desire to return?
A: Microsoft used to provide OEM versions of software with the Action Pack. These no longer seem to be included. It was nice to have those CDs and give my clients unopened software with their new systems. I always thought it looked more professional. Again, Vista solved some of this problem with being able to make my own images to install, so this is pretty much a non-issue at this point.
Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!! By the way, my opinion of Microsoft as a whole is very positive. The questions you asked were all from a negative point of view, so my answers my seem like I'm very unhappy with the company when nothing could be further from the truth. I think Microsoft does a great job as large of a company as it is.
Thanks again!
Rick Brown
PC-ER, Inc. |
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bradirby
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| 12/17/2007 11:59 AM |
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Hi Steve. I'm Brad Irby with Alobria Systems in the San Francisco Bay area. We build line of business rich internet applications for medium and large companies, as well as for government accounts. We build ASP.NET and SilverLight apps, and also specialize in Composite Application Block and MVC development.
I've been trying to get involved more closely with MS for several months but the largest obstacle is just decipering which of the MANY communities I should join. As with all business managers, I don't have much time to devote to this so I usually spend 45 minutes or an hour here and there trying to figure out where a custom system developer fits in. The large majority of your groups are focused on system builders and infrastructure management - I don't install SBS, I'm not an Exchange or AD admin, and I only get involved in the networking as it concerns building software (i.e. I know IIS, SQL Server, etc.). So how do I fit in? Where do I go to get involved? What can I expect from MS in the way of helping me find and help clients?
Also, my growth plan for 2008 includes adding Dynamics to my services (from a developers point of view, such as customizing screens, add-on custom systems, etc). Since I don't have a large sales force or experience with installing Dynamics, my strategy is to partner with established Dynamics installers and take the customization work they generate. How can I get the training necessary for this? Is there a program where I can get an eval version of Dynamics that I can learn with? Classes only go so far when trying to learn something brand new - I need a sandbox where I can experiment.
Thanks Steve,
Brad
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