imageRecently, I’ve been hearing more from customers looking for Microsoft’s help in quantifying the ROI that deploying the 2007 Microsoft Office System will support.  We’ve been fortunate to have both a consulting arm, field sales and Partners that can help customers with this, through offerings such as the Rapid Economic Justification.  Last November, we added a benefit to our Software Assurance licensing agreement to make this a paid-for service, the Business Value Planning Service.

 What it is

Microsoft Business Value Planning Services (BVPS) is a Software Assurance (SA) benefit through which Microsoft pays Partners to deliver and engagement through which a certified BVPS consultant helps customers develop a plan for improving business process through the use of the Microsoft Office System.  Depending upon the specifics of your SA benefit, this may be funded for 3-15 days of engagement.  During that time, the consultant follows a proven agenda that includes identifying a business process improvement scenario from the following list:

  • Automated Forms: Reduce costs and streamline form driven business processes.
  • Automated Performance Reporting: Improve decision making through near-real time creation and access to performance reports.
  • Budgeting: Improve accuracy of creation and tracking of departmental budgets.
  • Collaborative Document Development: Improve a company’s ability to develop and review documents across teams and improve content reuse.
  • Content Search and Reuse: Improve a company’s ability to organize and find information through online repositories.
  • Merging Project Plans: Integrate multiple project planning efforts for better resource planning and tracking.
  • Performance Management: Improve a company’s performance management processes through more efficient and effective planning, forecasting, analysis, and reporting.
  • Project Portfolio Management: Improve a company’s project prioritization and selection, and the project portfolio’s overall strategic alignment.
  • Remote Training: Reduce costs and streamline a company’s training processes through virtual / remote training.
  • Routing Communications: Improve communication and speed issue resolution through new and integrated communications – email, telephone, instant messaging.
  • Sensitive Records Management: Improve a company’s current process for creating, managing and deleting sensitive records such as legal, financial, medical and HR.

How to get it

If you have Software Assurance, you’re halfway there!  The next step is to choose a Partner to help you, from the list of Packaged Service Providers found here.  You can also check with your preferred Partner, to see if they are already certified (if not, point them to www.MicrosoftBVPS.com for more information).  The consultant assigned will contact you and explain the agenda, find out a little more about your business and discuss the scenarios you would like to know more about.

In summary, I really like this benefit because it gets to the heart of what customers need today in justifying IT spend and valuating ROI.  If you have any questions about this benefit, you can contact Microsoft directly from bvpshelp@microsoft.com