Hi All,
In June this year we will be launching the new Small Business Competency. The new competency is designed to help Partners that sell to small business take advantage of the growing opportunity in both Online Services and current opportunity in on-premise solutions within this customer base. The competency leverages Small Business Server 2011, Microsoft Office 365 and Windows 7.
One of the biggest changes is the reduced number of Microsoft Certified Professionals required for this competency. Silver Small Business will require one MCP, and two MCPs are required for Gold. The competency allows Partners that have a high level of expertise in Office 365, Small Business Server and Windows 7 , but potentially have a smaller number of staff to attain a competency. Having studied the requirements of the new competency, they are very robust – so although a smaller number of MCPs are required, Partners should understand that we have set the bar high in terms of requirements, and so Partners that attain the Small Business Competency will be recognised as having a high level of expertise and skill in the technologies the competency reflects.
I will updating the blog with the latest information about the competency – and we will shortly have some additional training for Partners that wish to prepare for the competency before it is released. We will also have some incentives and extras for UK Partners – again, more info will be released via this blog.
If you have any feedback or questions, I’d love to hear from you – alex.kureen@microsoft.com
Full requirements for the competency are as follows:
To earn the Microsoft Partner Network Silver Small Business Competency, you will need to achieve the following:
To earn the Microsoft Partner Network Gold Small Business Competency, you will need to achieve the following:
Have a great week!
Alex