Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 59 | Page 20

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY
we maximise investments into building local skills to support the current market demand , knowing that such skills are in short supply worldwide .
Microsoft has continued to enhance its Cloud Partner Programme and now is helping partners to build quickly , scale growth , sell worldwide . How do you distinguish these offerings and does a partner go about specialising in the many initiatives that this programme offers ?
This year we modernised our Partner Programme , moving away from what used to be just under 20 Gold and Silver competencies to a simpler Cloud Partner Designation model across six solution areas . It ’ s simpler to understand and manage ,
For every US $ 1 of licensing or platform revenue , there is an equivalent US $ 8 of services opportunity for partners . The opportunity exists , but partners need to continue to invest in skills , differentiation and scalable and repeatable solutions in order to capitalise on growth and improve their profitability . but more importantly it also recognises partners across three key pillars : skilling , performance / growth ( driving by new customer acquisition ), and customer success ( driving value and usage of the solutions at customers ).
This is significant as we move away from recognising partners that simply transact , to giving more focus to partners that drive customer success . We are also able to then co-invest more with these partners to help increase their reach through joint go-tomarket campaigns designed to reach a larger customer base .
What new channel offerings can your partners in the regions you cover expect from Microsoft in 2023 ?
We will continue to refine and evolve the go-to-market models with our partners to ensure we can drive success together . One channel to watch is the Microsoft Azure Marketplace , or AppSource which is the business focused marketplace . This has become a strategic new customer acquisition engine for many of our partners and is evolving rapidly . It is a game changer for partners that have packaged IP or solutions
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