Launch Central for U.S. Partners : BPOS

The BPOS Opportunity (and how to get your BPOS internal-use licenses)

dianeja — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:58:24 GMT

The Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) has been in market for several months now, so it might seem strange to talk about it in the Launch Central blog. But we think many partners still don’t know about the great business opportunity you have with Microsoft Online Services, and I’d like to highlight some resources and information that can help.

BPOS Reloaded Multi-City Tour. There’s still time to attend one of these live 2.5-hour events, which are offered at no cost to Microsoft Partner Network members. Read what the U.S. Partner Learning team said about these in their blog. Their post includes the list of cities (events are coming up in TX, KS, OH, IL, FL, GA, MI, NJ, PA, DC).
U.S. Online Services Events, Training & Offers. This partner portal page is comprehensive, and lists in-person and virtual courses, partner offers and incentives.
Up to 250 BPOS Internal-Use Licenses for BPOS Resellers. You can’t sell what you don’t know. Enroll to resell Microsoft Online Services, and qualify for internal-use license benefits.
Microsoft Online Services RSS Feed. Stay on top of the partner resources and information about Microsoft Online Services.

Looking for a particular resource about Microsoft Online Services or BPOS and nothing above fits the bill? Send us an e-mail at grpvine@microsoft.com or direct a tweet to @msuspartner.

Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) Activation Seminar

dianeja — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:32:05 GMT

You are invited to attend a seminar to learn why and how to sell Microsoft Online Services suite of services. This 100-level seminar is designed for Microsoft partners interested in understanding more about Microsoft Online Services and the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).

In this 2 ½ hour seminar, you will learn how the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) fits into Microsoft’s Software-plus-
Services cloud computing vision and see the products in action, plus:

Understand how you can profit by becoming a BPOS reseller;
Discover how to target customer traits and handle their objections.

Register today to attend this seminar in a city near you, with dates throughout October and into November. Once you have signed in to the Partner Learning Center, choose the “Register” button in the top left hand corner to view all cities and dates. All seminars are hosted at a Microsoft facility and run from 1:30pm to 4:00pm. You may have the chance to win a great prize for attending!

Is Launch Central Everything You Thought It Would Be?

dianeja — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:44:00 GMT

At a recent team offsite, I was thrilled to see the words "Launch Central" in a slide presented to us by a partner of the resources he considered to be critical for his company's success. A colleague and I came up with the Launch Central idea almost three years ago in preparation for the launch extravaganza of Vista, Office, and Exchange. We wanted to create a memorable phrase that we could use on the partner portal and in our newsletters; I added the blog a few months ago as yet another touchpoint. Today, it's become second nature for people to ask how to add information about their launch so that partners are aware of the resources.

Lately, though, I feel like we aren't quite toeing the line in utilizing Launch Central as well as we can. Sure, we have information about Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) and Windows Essential Server Solutions, both families of products launching later this year. We have retained the information about our Unified Communications Launch and our recent "Heroes Happen Here" launch of Windows Server 2008, SLQ Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008. We have content in our Monday morning partner newsletters and in this blog. But it still feels like we may not be meeting your needs for staying informed, aware, and active when it comes to our product launches.

I'd like to ask your advice. If Launch Central were yours to maintain, and you just wanted to keep the information flowing through the partner portal via the home page (https://partner.microsoft.com/us), Launch Central page, newsletters, and blog, what would your game plan be? What's missing that you'd like to see? Are there other vehicles or efforts you'd leverage? You are welcome to post your comments on this blog, or you can send me e-mail through the blog. If you want to be truly anonymous, you can use our Rate This Page functionality on the Launch Central page (https://partner.microsoft.com/US/salesmarketingsection/smcampaigns/launchcentral) and tell us your thoughts there.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Diane Golshan, Sr. Marketing Manager, US Partner Group

BPOS Launch Preparation Heats Up - Get Trained on Licensing and Business Policies

dianeja — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:53:00 GMT

The October launch of our Microsoft-hosted suite of online services that includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Live Meeting, and Office Communications Online, affectionately called BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite), is only a few weeks away. BPOS represents a new business model for Microsoft, as we get further into the business of hosting services as indicated by our release earlier this year of CRM Online, and will also be a new business model for partners working with Microsoft. To help you get acquainted with this new model, we are offering six web seminars at the end of August that will help you understand the licensing and business policies and enable you to have a savvy and knowledgable discussion with your customers.

You can see the list of available web seminars, dates, and times on the Partner Learning Center here. The three courses are:

Level 100: Introduction to the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) Licensing and Pricing
Offered on August 26 and August 27
Level 200: Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS): Sales Channels - MOSP, EA, SPLA
Offered on August 26 and August 27
Level 300: Microsoft Online Subscription Program (MOSP): Online Experience Walk-Through for Microsoft Partners
Offered twice on August 28

Remember that training available through the Partner Learning Center is a benefit of Microsoft Partner Program membership. To access the course information, you will need to sign in with the Windows Live ID you used to register for the Partner Program.

More soon--there is lots of activity as we prepare for this exciting new offering!

Diane Golshan, Sr. Marketing Manager

Prepare for the Upcoming Launch of Microsoft Online Services

dianeja — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:39:00 GMT

A significant announcement at our Worldwide Partner Conference at the beginning of July was the business model and pricing for the Microsoft Online Services Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) that we will launch in October (find out more at the Quickstart for Microsoft Online Services, including how to enroll to sell these Microsoft-hosted services).

In preparation for this launch, we are offering four one-hour online sessions from our May roadshow, viewable on demand at no cost. Developed with the Institute for Partner Education and Development (IPED), these sessions take you through market dynamics and opportunity, how to prepare your business for a managed services practice, and how to build and manage relationships with your software and services customers. We invite you to view these sessions.

•	Session 1: The Market Dynamics of SaaS
•	Session 2: Building a SaaS Business Practice
•	Session 3: Selling Software & Services
•	Session 4: Managing SaaS Customer Relationships