How to strategize and execute a successful Microsoft partnership

Summary

The Microsoft Partner Innovation Podcast features a discussion on forming strategic partnerships with Microsoft to address shifting customer needs. Host Jennifer Zarate leads a panel including Dan Rippey, Vince Menzione, Erin Figer, and Rob Fegan, who share insights on leveraging Microsoft's ecosystem for partner success. They emphasize the importance of aligning partner strategies with Microsoft's solution-based sales approach, focusing on operationalizing partnerships, and standing out in the market. The conversation highlights the need for partners to understand their impact on Microsoft's cloud products, build effective go-to-market strategies, and establish strong relationships for co-selling opportunities.

Takeaways

• 🔄 **Customer-Led Innovation**: Customers now lead the direction on tech intensity and innovation, rather than being led by Microsoft.
• 🤝 **Strategic Partnerships**: Forming a strategic partnership with Microsoft provides an active roadmap for building partner capabilities.
• 📈 **Evolution of Selling**: The shift from product-based to solution-based sales is a key focus for Microsoft and its partners.
• 🌟 **Visibility and Validation**: Partnering with Microsoft can validate capabilities and make it easier to do business by showcasing expertise.
• 🛠️ **Programmatic Support**: Microsoft's programs, incentives, and benefits are designed to help partners find success in the market.
• 🎯 **Market Alignment**: Partners should align their go-to-market strategies with Microsoft to support organizational goals effectively.
• 📊 **Operationalization**: It's crucial for partners to operationalize their partnership to respond to leads and referrals promptly.
• 🚀 **Co-selling and Cloud**: The move to the cloud and co-selling is a significant shift that requires new behaviors and strategies from partners.
• 🏆 **Standing Out**: Partners need to differentiate themselves in a competitive field by showcasing unique and relevant market offers.
• 🔗 **Relationship Building**: Establishing and leveraging strong relationships within customer organizations is key to gaining traction with Microsoft's field sellers.

Q & A

Why is it important for Microsoft's partners to adapt to customer-directed needs?

Customers are now leading the direction on tech intensity and innovation, which means Microsoft's partners need to adapt to these emerging needs to stay relevant and competitive in the market.

What does Microsoft offer to its partners through strategic partnerships?

Microsoft provides an active roadmap for building partner capability, demonstrating expertise, and validating capabilities to customers, which facilitates easier business transactions.

How has the Microsoft Partner Network evolved to support partners?

The Microsoft Partner Network has been overhauled to introduce the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program, focusing on solution-based sales over product-based selling to expedite the path to market for partners' offerings.

What are the key areas Microsoft recommends partners to focus on when starting their partnership?

Microsoft suggests partners to focus on strategy and operations, product portfolio alignment with market needs, and operationalizing their partnership to respond effectively to leads and referrals.

How can partners leverage Microsoft's ecosystem to accelerate their go-to-market strategy?

Partners can leverage Microsoft's ecosystem through direct storefronts, the CSP reseller ecosystem, and co-sell opportunities to reach customers and accelerate their go-to-market strategy.

What is the significance of understanding how a partner's solution impacts Microsoft's cloud products?

Understanding the impact of a partner's solution on Microsoft's cloud products is crucial for driving utilization and consumption, which in turn helps partners get on Microsoft's radar and align with the company's strategic goals.

What are the common hurdles partners face when establishing and traversing their relationship with Microsoft?

Common hurdles include the shift from product to solution selling, setting themselves apart among numerous partners, and operationalizing their partnership to manage leads and referrals effectively.

Why is co-selling important from a leadership perspective in the context of partnering with Microsoft?

Co-selling is important because it leverages the ecosystem and hyper-scaler leaders like Microsoft, which can be a significant opportunity for growth that some independent organizations may not fully recognize.

How can partners set themselves apart in the Microsoft ecosystem?

Partners can set themselves apart by focusing on revenue generation, offering relevance and uniqueness in their market solutions, and building strong relationships within their customer base that can be valuable to Microsoft.

What does it take to be a great Microsoft partner according to Vince Menzione?

To be a great Microsoft partner, one needs to have the right mindset, executive commitment, a strong vision, maniacal focus on execution, and a standout brand and story to differentiate in a competitive market.

How can partners get the attention and traction with Microsoft's field sellers?

Partners can get attention and traction by bringing revenue through sales or Azure consumption, offering relevant and unique market solutions, and having strong customer relationships that can add value to Microsoft's engagements.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Strategic Partnership with Microsoft

The first paragraph introduces the shift in customer needs towards tech intensity and innovation, emphasizing that customers now lead the direction based on their emerging needs. It highlights the benefits of partnering with Microsoft, such as an active roadmap for building partner capabilities, immediate validation of capabilities to customers, and ease of doing business. The conversation is set within the context of the Microsoft Partner Innovation Podcast, hosted by Jennifer Zarate, with panelists Dan Rippey, Vince Menzione, Erin Figer, and Rob Fegan. The discussion revolves around the new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program, its impact on the shift from product-based to solution-based sales, and the importance of aligning partner strategies with Microsoft's ecosystem to achieve success. The focus is on how the program can help partners take their goods and services to market faster and connect with Microsoft's sales teams and commercial marketplaces like AppSource and Azure Marketplace.

05:01

🛠 Operationalizing Partnership for Success

The second paragraph delves into the operational aspects of partnering with Microsoft, with a focus on understanding how partners' solutions impact Microsoft's cloud products and driving utilization and consumption. It discusses the importance of having a clear strategy before diving into operations, selecting the right channels for market reach, and operationalizing the partnership to respond to leads and referrals effectively. The conversation touches on the challenges faced by independent software vendors (ISVs) in embracing co-selling and the cloud ecosystem, the need for partners to differentiate themselves among competition, and the importance of time management in operationalizing partnership strategies. The panelists share insights on the principles of being a successful Microsoft partner, including mindset, executive commitment, vision, focus, and execution, as well as the importance of generating revenue, relevance, and relationships to gain traction with Microsoft's field sellers.

Keywords

💡Tech Intensity and Innovation

Tech intensity and innovation refer to the degree to which technology is deeply integrated and driving business processes and the creation of new products or services. In the context of the video, it's about how customer needs are evolving rapidly, and companies must keep up with these changes to lead in technology and innovation. The script mentions that customers are now directing companies based on their emerging needs, indicating a shift from companies leading the tech innovation to adapting to customer-led innovation.

💡Strategic Partnership

A strategic partnership is a collaborative relationship between two or more organizations to achieve common goals. In the video, forming a strategic partnership with Microsoft is highlighted as a way to gain access to an active roadmap for building partner capabilities. This partnership is seen as a means to demonstrate expertise and validate capabilities to customers, facilitating easier business transactions.

💡Microsoft Partner Network

The Microsoft Partner Network is a community of businesses that collaborate with Microsoft to drive innovation and growth. The script discusses how Microsoft has overhauled this network to create the new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program, aiming to support partners in the transition from product-based selling to solution-based sales.

💡Solution-based Sales

Solution-based sales is a sales approach that focuses on providing solutions to customer problems rather than selling products. The video emphasizes the shift from product-based selling to solution-based sales as a key strategy for partners to align with Microsoft's ecosystem. This shift is crucial for partners to meet the evolving needs of customers and to leverage the full potential of the Microsoft platform.

💡Co-sell

Co-sell is a sales strategy where two or more parties collaborate to sell a combined solution or service to a customer. In the video, co-sell is mentioned as one of the channels through which partners can market their goods and services in conjunction with Microsoft, allowing for a more integrated approach to meeting customer needs.

💡Operationalize

To operationalize something means to put it into action or practice within an organization. In the context of the video, partners are encouraged to operationalize their partnership with Microsoft by developing strategies and processes to respond to leads and referrals effectively. This involves aligning their organizational goals with the partnership and leveraging Microsoft's tools and ecosystem.

💡Cloud Go-to-Market Strategies

Cloud go-to-market strategies are plans for how a company will market and sell its cloud-based products or services. The video discusses the importance of partners developing these strategies to support their organizational goals and to align with the shift towards cloud-based solutions. These strategies are crucial for partners to effectively engage with customers and the Microsoft ecosystem.

💡Commercial Marketplace

A commercial marketplace, in the context of the video, refers to platforms like AppSource and Azure Marketplace where Microsoft and its partners can list their products and services for customers to discover and purchase. These marketplaces are part of Microsoft's ecosystem and provide a 'public storefront' for partners to reach customers globally.

💡Customer Discovery and Engagement

Customer discovery and engagement are processes through which companies identify and interact with potential customers to understand their needs and build relationships. The video script highlights the importance of partners having a strategy for customer discovery and engagement as they shift towards solution-based sales, emphasizing the need for partners to understand and address their customers' emerging needs.

💡Ecosystem

An ecosystem, in a business context, refers to the network of organizations, customers, and partners that interact with each other to create value. The video discusses how Microsoft has designed an ecosystem to help partners succeed, which includes programs, incentives, and benefits. This ecosystem is central to how Microsoft and its partners collaborate and innovate together.

💡Field Sellers

Field sellers are sales representatives who work directly with customers, often outside of a company's main office. In the video, the importance of partners getting the attention of Microsoft's field sellers is discussed. This involves demonstrating the impact of their solutions, relevance to customer needs, and having strong relationships that can be leveraged to drive sales and co-selling opportunities.

Highlights

Customer needs have shifted significantly, leading to customers directing Microsoft based on their emerging needs.

Strategic partnership with Microsoft provides an active roadmap for building partner capability and validating expertise to customers.

Microsoft has overhauled the Microsoft Partner Network and introduced the new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program.

The program evolution aims to expedite the path to discovering partners' solutions and connecting them to customers' needs in real time.

Microsoft's program is core to the go-to-market sales motions and is now extended to all partners globally.

Partners are advised to focus on strategy before operations, especially when shifting from product to solution selling.

Partners should identify their product portfolio that will gain traction and decide how to bring it to market with Microsoft.

Operationalizing the partnership involves picking up leads and responding to referrals in a timely fashion.

Understanding how a partner's solution impacts Microsoft's cloud products is crucial for building a successful playbook.

Partners need to align their partnership with their organizational goals to operationalize their strategy within Microsoft's tools.

The biggest hurdle for partners is setting themselves apart in a competitive market of great partners.

Time is a significant factor, and operationalizing the partnership strategy effectively is key to success.

Being a great partner involves having a strong vision, understanding the value of the partnership, and executing with focus.

Generating the right level of results and driving co-selling is critical to standing out as a partner.

Partners need to bring revenue, relevance, and relationships to the table to get the attention of Microsoft's field sellers.

Having relationships inside the customer that are new to Microsoft can set a partner apart and bring value.

Stay tuned for part two of the conversation with the all-star panel for more insights.

Transcripts

(upbeat music)

- Customer needs have shifted significantly

and as a result, it's no longer us leading our customers

on tech intensity and innovation.

It's very much our customers directing us based

on their emerging needs.

So why bet on Microsoft?

Because forming a strategic partnership

with Microsoft will provide you with an active roadmap

for building partner capability

that demonstrates your expertise

and immediately validates your capability

to customers, making it easier to do business.

Now, how?

Is the question you may be asking yourself,

and that's what we'll dive into next.

(upbeat music)

Welcome, all, to the Microsoft Partner Innovation Podcast.

I'm your host, Jennifer Zarate,

and here to provide insight on strategy and execution is

a panel of influencers, many of whom you know,

along with our very own Dan Rippey,

director of business programs.

Please welcome, Vince Menzione, Erin Figer and Rob Fegan.

Thank you all so much for joining us today,

excited for the conversation.

- Hey Jenny, thanks so much

for the opportunity for having us on,

really appreciate this.

- Jenny, just so excited to be here today.

- Thanks for including me in this conversation.

- I'm looking forward to today's conversation.

- And that's fantastic to hear, right?

There's a lot of shared excitement all around.

So, Dan, my first question is for you.

At Microsoft, we've designed an ecosystem

to help thousands of partners succeed.

So how do programs, incentives and benefits that we have

in place to actually help partners find success,

and how are we measuring that success?

- Yeah, I think that's a very timely question,

and now especially as we undergo a year of change

where we've overhauled the Microsoft Partner Network

and given birth to our new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program,

what we really try to do, as a business, is to lead

with the industry on this evolution of what used

to be product-based selling

and has now become solution-based sales,

and so that we can expedite the path

to discovering what our partners have built

and how we can connect that

to our customers' needs in real time.

When we make program evolution changes,

that is the connection point, is to be able

to take our partners goods and services to market faster

with them and to be a mechanism to expedite

that connection to our sellers.

That is both internally with Microsoft's field sales teams,

through a massive ecosystem of CSP resellers,

and also now through our commercial marketplace,

what you all know as our public storefronts,

in AppSource and Azure Marketplace.

So our program really represents that.

It is core to the go-to-market sales motions that we execute

as a business, and we extend that now directly

to all of our partners globally around the planet.

- I work with a lot of partners

and as we start to help them, really,

operationalize their partnership, what I've found

with most partners is they don't really have

the strategy, as we're shifting from product to solution

and customer discovery and engagement.

You know, how can we really help those partners align

and build cloud go-to-market strategies

to really support their organizational goals?

Like, what three areas from Microsoft's perspective

would you recommend to partners

to focus on when getting started?

- Actually, Erin, you touched

on a key piece there on both strategy and operations.

What I'd recommend is don't put operations before strategy.

Really take some cycle with your team and figure out

how you want to go to market and sell with Microsoft.

When you do that, go through your product portfolio,

look at the goods and services

that you think will gain traction

within the addressable market that we share

and then decide what you wanna bring to market

with Microsoft and what channels

you intend to reach through.

You can do that through our direct storefronts,

through our CSP reseller ecosystem.

You can do it through co-sell,

and you can grow those over time.

You don't have to do all three from day one.

Kind of pick what works for you, test, iterate,

experiment and then grow as you feel comfortable.

The last one, I think, is operationalize it.

Figure out how you're gonna pick up leads,

how you're gonna respond to referrals in a timely fashion,

which is now an expectation in this always-on economy.

Whether you have a small, centrally-located sales force

or a big, globally-distributed, multinational sales team,

you really need to embrace that concept

of no deal left behind and make sure you've got

the operational processes in place to catch these things

and to win this business quickly.

We know that's your priority,

and that's a shared priority that we hold with you.

- Now, Erin, from your perspective, coming at it

from the operational side, right, as we've just discussed,

what's the playbook you are building with partners

on how to be successful when partnering with Microsoft?

- Yeah, absolutely, like once we've worked

with a partner to understand how their partnership aligns

to their organizational goals,

then we can really start to operationalize that

and really come to life inside of Microsoft's tools,

and what I always tell partners, is the number one thing

in building your playbook, is really understand how

your solution impacts Microsoft's cloud products,

how you're truly driving utilization and consumption

and how you can associate to that consumption

and utilization that you're driving.

So really getting into the systems

and understanding how to get on Microsoft's radar.

- You know, when I look at the expertise of the panel,

I'm overwhelmed at how much depth

of knowledge that we have here,

and I know that you've all been through this,

and you've been, not only individually

for your own companies, but also with many, many partners.

So when you think about the key takeaway,

what is the number one hurdle that you see

our partners needing to overcome,

both when they're establishing their relationship

with Microsoft, but also as they continue

to traverse the ecosystem over time?

I'd love to hear your opinion and your feedback.

- Well, from a leadership perspective,

I find that organizations, and I most often work

with independent software vendors, or ISVs,

and they're independent for a reason.

They have their own sales organization,

their own marketing function, their own product function,

and these organizations struggle most

with the concept of why co-selling,

and the move to the cloud is driving new behaviors,

and often these organizations are sort of kind of landed

in the past, where they had old models and old approaches

to going after sales and not recognizing fully

the opportunity to leverage the ecosystem

and working with hyper-scaler leaders like Microsoft.

- From a sales perspective, what I see is really

the biggest hurdle is setting themselves apart

in a number of great partners.

They're working against a number of great partners.

How do you set yourself apart.

- Yeah, and from the operational side, it's really.

You know, time is our biggest villain here,

and so we're really trying to figure out like how

to operationalize things, balance people

and technology so that our people can be spending

their time in the correct place

and really building those relationships,

and really activating their partnership strategy.

- And a great point, Erin.

Time is of the essence here.

So this next question is for you, Vince.

As a former GM at Microsoft, you've sat

on both sides of the table.

From your perspective,

what does it take to be a great partner?

- I'm glad you asked that.

You know, from my perspective, having both sat

on the Microsoft side and working with these organizations,

I find that there's a set of principles

of what makes a successful partner,

everything from mindset to executive commitment,

to having a strong vision and understanding

the value of the partnership to applying maniacal focus

and execution, and also making sure you've got your brand

and story so that you stand out as a shiny quarter

in a bucket full of shiny quarters

and then generating the right level of results,

deliberate execution to drive co-selling

and building your brand and co-selling methodology

with the organizations that you're working with.

So critical to success.

- So, Rob, with your depth of expertise

and sales background, how do you recommend

that partners get the attention

and traction with Microsoft's field sellers?

- For me and what I share with partners,

it's all about the impact that you're bringing

to the field sales teams inside of Microsoft,

and what I share is there's really three things that you,

as a field or partner seller, need to bring to the table,

and those three things are revenue.

So think license sales or Azure consumption.

You need to bring relevance.

So what is your market offer bringing,

what are you bringing to the table?

And not only is it relevant

for the problems you're trying to solve, but is it unique.

Because there's so many offers in market,

you have to stand out.

So the third and final thing I talk about is relationships.

You have to have relationships inside your customer

that are new to Microsoft, something

that you can bring a value to.

As an example, a line of business leader,

somebody that Microsoft may not have known in the past,

where you can bring that relationship to the table.

That really sets yourself apart

from all other partners when you can share

on the revenue, the relevance and the relationships.

- And a valid point, Rob.

You know, we still have a lot to cover

with our all-star panel here.

So stay tuned for part two.

Thank you all for your time and as always, thank you all

for tuning in to another episode of the MPI Podcast.

I'm Jennifer Zarate.

(upbeat music)