Each month, your first-Friday delivery of the U.S. partner newsletter, emailed to you as a benefit of your Microsoft Partner Network membership, contains a list of our recommendations for U.S. SMB partners located in the West Region. We also use this list to update our West Region page on the U.S. partner portal.

These recommendations were in the U.S. partner newsletter delivered Friday, August 3. This week’s role-based training recommendations are for Windows 8 and Microsoft Office 365.

We’re inspired by the athletes representing their families, communities, and countries at the 2012 Olympics, and having a great time cheering them on. We have some great opportunities for you that we hope will have you cheering—see our August recommendations below.

• The next West Region partner call is on Friday, August 17 at 10:00AM Pacific Time. The registration link will be available on the West Region portal page soon.
• Sign up for the new VAR Rebate that began July 1 and earn up to 20 percent when you sell Open Value agreements. You must register for this rebate even if you have participated in previous versions of the VAR rebate. Terms and Conditions.
• Excited about Windows 8? It released to manufacturing on August 1, and will be available to everyone on October 26. Get the latest partner resources.
• Windows Server 2012 arrives September 4. Sign up for a reminder to join the online launch event – where you can learn, connect, and play to win amazing prizes.
• Expand your opportunities through partner-to-partner networking. The IAMCP US offers you an opportunity to meet and collaborate with partners who have complementary practices to meet customer needs.

You can read all the content delivered in each issue of the U.S. partner newsletter on the U.S. Partner Team blog. The next newsletter will be delivered to U.S. partners on Friday, August 17.