Well, there has been some terrific momentum with our search products that our partners produce. As part of an initiative in H2 FY09, we launched a bi-monthly Search Partner Solutions Showcase Series directed to the Microsoft Field. These sessions are made available live as well as on-demand for easy field access and encompasses both sales and technical roles.
We identified some of our key partners and invited them to present for 30 minutes, in a joint session with another partner and share details and demos of their Search solutions that integrate or are built on Microsoft Enterprise Search technology. This series has been a great success with the field, with positive feedback including: “This is a great idea. More partner presentations on how they have customized technology, etc. would be great”
Promoting partner-to-partner connections is a critical element in our partner ecosystem development, and here we are sharing the recordings of some of the partner solutions showcased to the Microsoft Field.
We encourage you to review these and explore the opportunity for joint customer solutions with your peers in the Enterprise Search partner community. Feel free to contact the partners directly, where listed, for details, demos and more information about their solutions. Log into Quickstart for Microsoft Search today and start connecting! https://www.quickstartmicrosoftsearch.com/Pages/PartnerShowcaseSeries.aspx
Also, if you have additional topics for us to consider for the blog, or for the Search Partner Solution Showcase series, please let us know!
Each year, the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) Awards program recognizes partners who have delivered innovative solutions built on Microsoft technologies. This global program represents a unique opportunity for you to showcase your solutions and to earn recognition from peers and customers.
To qualify for any WPC award, your organization must meet the appropriate requirements for that award. Many award categories are associated with Microsoft Competencies and specializations, and you must be active in the specified competencies and specializations to be eligible to apply for those awards. Learn more the WPC 2009 Awards, the 2009 awards categories, and the awards rules before applying for an award.
To be considered for an award, your company must nominate one of its specific solutions using the Award Submission Tool. Partner entries will be accepted through this tool through April 2, 2009.
Finalists and winners for the 2009 awards will be announced on June 15, 2009, and will be recognized at the Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 13-16, 2009.
Demonstrate how you are delivering innovative Microsoft solutions by nominating your organization for a WPC award today.
This has been an exciting – and transitional – year for enterprise search and our partners.
We have witnessed dramatic changes in the enterprise search landscape, and Microsoft itself has raised the ante by combining the innovation and agility of FAST with the discipline and resources of Microsoft.
Today, our compelling set of industry-leading enterprise search products meets the varying needs of customers, provides upgrade paths as those needs change, and offers tremendous potential for partners to expand your markets, develop new revenue streams, and increase sales.
You are integral in helping us fuel our vision of search – to connect people to information through engaging experiences that turn information into outcomes – and we thank you for your efforts in assisting us in the integration of the new Microsoft Enterprise Search Partner Program (MSPP). Many partners have joined the MSPP and leveraged www.quickstartmicrosoftsearch.com to begin pursuit of the Search Specialization – a first step toward providing innovative and customized solutions with Enterprise Search from Microsoft.
Since we announced the Enterprise Search Roadmap at FASTforward’09 in Las Vegas in February, development has begun on many new search partner programs. Stay tuned this spring for details and announcements on the latest search partner resources that will include the new enterprise search Web site, Partner Extranet, Solution Profiler, and tools to encourage more collaboration among the partner community.
We look forward to an upcoming year of continued opportunity and innovation in enterprise search. We hope to see you this July in New Orleans at the Worldwide Partner Conference. For more details, please visit https://partner.microsoft.com/2009 Worldwide Partner Conference.
At FASTForward 09, Microsoft announced its new line of up of Enterprise Search products. This Enterprise Search Roadmap was the key announcement for FAST and Microsoft customers and partners in attendance on February 10th, 2009 at FASTforward ’09 in Las Vegas.
The graphic above reflects what Microsoft is doing with the FAST product set. In addition to this, we still have Search included in the upcoming release of Sharepoint 14, and there is some enhancements to the search functionality that you will be happy to see..
The first key message
With FS14, Microsoft is committed to Internet Business and Business Productivity for Enterprise Search. FS14 combines the best-in-class search capabilities of FAST ESP with the simplicity and low TCO of SharePoint thus offering the best of both worlds; providing a compelling out-of-the-box search experience and also delivering a high-end search platform that can be used to build advanced search applications.
Using FS14, customers can take advantage of their SharePoint investment to do three things.
Go beyond the search box to create conversational search experiences that allow users to refine queries.
Make the most of their content by using a content pipeline to make information more valuable.
Tackle challenging search requirements like extreme scale, advanced linguistics, and sophisticated relevance tuning.
The next message
Microsoft is changing the game in Enterprise Search. Enterprise search customers have historically been forced to choose between powerful, high-end search platforms or more mainstream, out-of the-box infrastructure solutions. The new product line-up from Microsoft continues to offer these traditional options, but also gives customers a new choice: an infrastructure solution with integrated high-end capabilities.
Finally-for customers interested in FS14, Microsoft is offering a special promotion between now and product availability
ESP for SharePoint is an ESP-based product that allows qualifying customers to buy high-end search capabilities at favorable terms today while enjoying a defined licensing path to FS14 at availability. To qualify, customers must own the SharePoint Enterprise Client Access License (CAL).
You can find additional information about the disclosure and upcoming products can be found at www.quickstartmicrosoftsearch.com
FASTForward 09 was held at The Mirage, Las Vegas on Feb 9-11, 2009
WOW FASTForward 09 was amazing!!
I wanted to share with you some activities and key partner messages that occurred during our three days together. Here is the first of 4 parts about Partners@ FASTForward 09. This first section is all about the Partner pavilion. Many comments we have heard regarding the theater is that is was the best work for FASTForward to date! Congrats to the team that worked so hard in putting this together! Here are some tidbits..
The FASTforward’09 Partner Pavilion
A showcase for search technology, the FASTforward conference was the perfect venue for our partners to spotlight their products and solutions. Attendees visited our 21 sponsors in the FASTforward’09 Partner Pavilion during the conference and excitedly participated in our Passport to Search program. It was a fun way to explore the world of innovative search-based solutions and services featured in the FASTforward’09 Partner Pavilion. The more each attendee “traveled,” the better their chances of winning great prizes!
The overall view of the Partner Pavilion
The FASTforward’09 Partner Theater
The Partner Theater was an exciting new feature located inside the FASTforward’09 Partner Pavilion. An intimate and informal setting that seated an audience of 30 participants, the Partner Theater hosted 12, exclusive partner presentations that spotlight and explore search-related topics, services, and solutions that could help attendees drive innovation, transform their business processes, and redefine their user experience. Seating for all Partner Theater presentations was on a first-come, first-seated basis. Attendees joined us to learn how our partners could help them incorporate search successfully into their business strategy. Prize drawings were held for presentation attendees after each scheduled session.
The Partner Theater and list of partner presentations
Well, next week, we will see the key announcements and great keynotes that were presented. For additional information on FASTForward, please go www.quickstartmicrosoftsearch.com
This blog is for partners and about partners who deliver solutions on our Enterprise Search platform. Please come back in a couple of days to see the launch of this blog. and see the upcoming announcements!
