Josh Condie – This is great opportunity to advance 2 competencies quickly, and at a significantly reduced cost. Here is a very exciting offer for partners everywhere (not just the U.S.). Right now, the first 2,000 partners who take “Exam 74-324: Administering Office 365 for Small Businesses”...

  Josh Condie – If you have just begun to sell Microsoft Online Services such as Office 365 and are looking for the deep guidance to accelerate your new practice, then this course is just what you need.  You will learn about all of the programs and resources available to you and your customers...

Josh Condie – In continuing the theme of the blog entry that my friend and colleague Steve Deming posted about 3 weeks back (8/8/12), Microsoft is now making free exam vouchers available for individuals who were unable to pass exam 74-323.  The voucher is for the new exam: 74-324. Steve’s post ...

    Josh Condie - Microsoft is creating a new exam, 74-324: Administering Office 365 for Small Business . This exam will be based on a training course specifically designed to meet the needs of partners administering Office 365 for small business customers. In summary, if you’re seeking Small...

Josh Condie – Yesterday, Microsoft announced Office 365 for Government.  This represents a great opportunity for our SMB partner community, especially at the local and regional government level.  Small State and Local Government entities are the perfect candidates for secure and private cloud...

B    V    A Customer Transitions of BPOS to O365 - Transition Roadmap, Eligibility and the Role of Advisor Partners (OFF212PAL)   This is a joint Microsoft Internal AND Partner facing Webcast provided by Academy Live. November 08, 2011 8:00 – 9:00 am Pacific Click here...

  Woody Walton I talk about Microsoft Online Services a lot.  I talk to partner about BPOS, about the forthcoming Office 365 release, about the shift to the cloud, and the choices customers have.  It is my job to help Microsoft partners navigate the wealth of options we have available...

  It’s finally here!  Sign up at http://www.Office365.com to learn more about Microsoft’s next generation of Online Services. Now you have to find out which version is right for you.   The Small Business version or the Enterprise Options.  Please keep in mind, Enterprise versions...

Get Ready to Deliver the Best Windows Experience, from the Cloud Today at CeBIT in Germany Microsoft announced that Windows Intune will be commercially available on March 23, 2011. Windows Intune offers your customers a comprehensive solution that brings together cloud services and an upgrade subscription...

  We are pleased to announce the recent availability of more Office 365 key readiness messaging to help you take our value proposition to market. Take advantage of all of the resources listed below in your conversations and engagements with customers. Module 01: Office 365 Ignite (Beta)—What's New...

J.J. Antequino ---------------------------------- UPDATE (10/3/2012):  This newsletter is no longer active. With the upcoming launches of Office 365 and Windows Intune, you will definitely want to stay up to date! Receive bi-weekly partner updates with U.S.-specific content, including: Announcements...

Q: (from Brandon) From our conversation, here are the answers to your outstanding questions: Bandwidth requirements: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc745931.aspx Microsoft Security Best Practices Whitepaper: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud/tools-resources/whitepaper.aspx?resourceId=Cloud_Positioning...

US Exchange Extend Offer Sell your first BPOS or Exchange Online deal, and you could earn $1000! As a TPAM-managed VAR that sells Exchange on-premise, you could earn $1000 for selling your first BPOS or Exchange Online deal. Qualifying deals must be sold between January 7 th and March 31 st , 2011 (Microsoft...

Woody Walton Hello and Happy New Year!  You may have seen my post last month on Moving your customers to BPOS or Office 365? Check their BANDWIDTH! The SpeedTest tool is a great start, but you may require some guidance on what is needed from a bandwidth perspective from a normal or heavy user of...

Woody Walton In traveling and conducting VAR Summits across the United States in October, November, and December of last year I noticed that of those partner I encountered who were actively selling or signed up to sell BPOS, very few were aligned with a distributor (Ingram Micro, Tech Data, D&H,...

    The Cloud is here and it is real. According to a study recently completed by Everything Channel’s IPED Research division, by 2012, at least 50% of all customers will have some form of a cloud solution underway.  Many partners continue to ask these questions:   How do I get started...

Q: (from Willie) Do you know where I can send my partner for training on SharePoint Online basic setup and configuration?   A: The resource that we recommend for partners to search for training is: http://training.partner.microsoft.com I searched for “SharePoint Online” (include the quotes) and...

Q: (from Matt) Do you know the process on how to get a IUR (internal use licenses) for hosted CRM?   A: As of November, we’ve got a posted PDF: https://partner.microsoft.com/us/40149008 Which talks about access to 250 IUR CRM seats for partners who are Gold or Silver certified in the CRM competency...

Cloud technology is getting a lot of attention. And a lot of businesses have questions about what the cloud can help them do. Materials from Ready-to-Go Marketing can help you provide answers about the cloud—and promote the uniqueness of Microsoft cloud solutions—to your customers. With the Cloud Power...

Our friends at MSPTV in conjunction with Redmond Channel Partner are hosting a pre-holiday webcast to help you plan for the new year and making that transition to the cloud.  I know many partners are wondering how Cloud services fit in their practice and how its going to impact their business. ...

Q: (from Willie) Can you elaborate on the difference between the plan 1 and plan 2 for the E3 and E4 suites? A: When you look at the differences in Exchange in E1 & E2 compared to E3 & E4, you will see we’ve added Voicemail & Advanced Archive Capabilities. That is the difference between the...

If you’ve been trying to figure out how to make the transition to the cloud, but didn’t know where to begin, this is the perfect opportunity for you to gain the in depth knowledge you need and get your questions answered at the convenience of working from your desk or home office.    Microsoft...

Q: Where can I get help understanding the considerations that need to be addressed to successfully move my business to support Cloud solutions? A: The Cloud is here and it is real. According to a study recently completed by Everything Channel’s IPED Research division, by 2012, at least 50% of all customers...

Q: (from Scott) We did our first install for Microsoft BPOS. We have an issue with the customer public folders for Exchange. We can not upload these. We were told we need to use Sharepoint. Is BPOS going to support public folders for Exchange later? A: It appears neither Exchange Online nor BPOS support...

J.J. Antequino ---------------------------------- I know this is short notice, but I wanted to make sure our Florida partners were aware of this seminar next week (November 2nd).  If you are located in or close to Central Florida, please join Mark Williams from IPED as we explore doing business...