Find out what’s new for Microsoft partners. We’ll connect you to resources that help you become market-ready, connect with customers and prospects, and differentiate your business. Read previous issues of our online newsletter.
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Top stories
Microsoft and Red Hat partnership events
Join Microsoft and Red Hat to find out what our new partnership announcement means to you. In March, we’re bringing events for partners and customers to three cities, to help you learn more about this partnership and explore the limitless possibilities of the cloud.
| March 4 in Minneapolis, MN | Register for the partner session | Register for the customer session |
| March 8 in Houston, TX | Register for the partner session | Register for the customer session |
| March 10 in San Francisco, CA | Register for the partner session | Register for the customer session |
- Attend one of our partner sessions in March
- Microsoft and Red Hat partner to deliver more flexibility and choice
- Use Red Hat solutions on Microsoft Azure
- On-demand training for running Red Hat-based solutions on Azure
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux now available in the Azure Marketplace
Partner licensing models for Microsoft cloud services
Microsoft offers a variety of licensing models for partners to sell and deploy Microsoft Cloud Services. Learn more about each of these models, and about the future of Microsoft Volume Licensing, with changes that take effect on July 1.
- Partner licensing models for Microsoft cloud services overview
- Another step in licensing transformation: new policy and guidance for Enterprise Agreement customers
- Explore the Licensing section of the new partner portal
- With the Cloud Solution Provider program, you set the price and terms, and directly bill customers for cloud services
Building amazing US partner experiences for WPC 2016
The US WPC planning team just returned from a week in Toronto, spent touring this year’s WPC host city and conference site. Designing amazing event experiences starts with location, and there are some tips and tricks the team has learned about looking for and securing venues that can help you plan your next event.
- Read the tips and tricks for designing event experiences
- Download the United States agenda for WPC 2016
- Introducing a new content experience at WPC 2016
The Microsoft Action Pack subscription is designed to help your cloud business grow
If your company is making the move to the cloud, consider purchasing an Action Pack subscription. This annual subscription (which now has an auto-renew option), includes benefits and resources that help your entire team—across sales, marketing, development, and technical roles—become familiar with the latest Microsoft products and technologies. Bring your solutions to life, go to market faster, and increase your profitability using the Internal Use Rights cloud services and on-premises software, access to world-class developer tools, and other benefits.
- Learn more about the Action Pack
- Microsoft Action Pack benefits for ISVs
- Not yet an MPN member? Discover the value of partnering with Microsoft
- Steps for renewing your Action Pack
March 1 and March 3: ISV and App Builder partner community calls
On the March calls for developer partners, Microsoft and partner subject-matter experts will share guidance, tips, and best practices for building a strong marketing engine that will help you attract prospective customers. From crafting your company’s value proposition to effective networking to social platforms, these will be conversations that benefit your business.
- March 1: How ISVs can use partnering for business growth, with Diana Kreklow
- March 3: Building a successful ISV business with Microsoft: Partner Spotlight on QUADROtech
- ISV resource center
- Marketing resources for ISVs
March 2–3: Extend to the cloud with Microsoft Operations Management Suite (OMS)
In this level 200/300 technical workshop delivered over two days (4 hours each day), you’ll learn how to implement simplified IT management to a cloud-enabled datacenter. Microsoft OMS is a cost-effective, all-in-one IT cloud management solution that lets you gain control over any hybrid cloud, and manage and protect Azure or AWS, Windows Server or Linux, VMware or OpenStack.
- Register for the March 2–3 training
- 5 reasons why you should use Microsoft OMS
- Watch the February 2016 Azure Partner Community call about OMS
- Datasheets, ebooks, blogs, and other technical resources
Businesses are generating new data faster than ever, and are eager to capitalize on that data to better understand their customers and make more informed decisions, faster. To do this, technology leaders need new approaches to how they utilize data. In this webcast, learn about the latest BI and analytics trends and understand the success factors for organizational analytics, live data monitoring, and data visualization.
- Register for this sales excellence training
- Office 365 Enterprise E5 includes analytics tools that offer personalized and organizational insights
- Value and opportunities with Office 365 Enterprise E5
- See the sales excellence webcast schedule
March 3 Sales excellence training: Where is collaboration headed in the Age of the Customer?
How we interact and work with each other is rapidly evolving as businesses continue to put a premium on both internal and external customer experiences. Attend this webcast to learn about today’s trends in collaboration, how ease of use enhances collaboration, and the intersection of the cloud with collaboration.
New courses just added to Cloud Platform University Online
Cloud Platform University Online offers interactive, scenario-based online training for Sales and Presales Technical roles. Each course is delivered over a four-week timeframe, and engages participants in an orchestrated set of learning experiences that include video, expert instruction, customer case study, discussion forum, and applied assignments. Between now and the end of June, there will be 10 courses offered. Registration is free, and participants complete assignments and activities at their own pace during the course timeframe.
- See the full list of available courses and register
- Registration for “Selling Hybrid Identity and EMS” and “Selling Azure and SQL Server for Business Continuity” closes February 29
- Sales excellence webcasts introduce you to a wide variety of Microsoft products and technologies
- Interested in data platform sales training? See the learning path
Meet your training goals with help from the Hot Sheet
Stay on track with your training goals. Refer to the US Partner Community Hot Sheet for a schedule of in-person training and virtual courses, calls, and office hours are available. The current Hot Sheet includes listings through April 2016, and we’ll add new courses as we learn about them.
- Go to the current Hot Sheet
- Get started with the new Partner University on-demand training platform
- Find on-demand technical training on Microsoft Virtual Academy
- Find on-demand sales training from our Sales Excellence series
- Download our one-page partner training reference sheet
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