Microsoft begins MBS partner transition program

Microsoft Corp. has added the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) business software product line as the ninth “competency” in its Partner Program framework, it said on Tuesday.

Microsoft announced changes to its partner program last week, adding a third tier of partners, called Registered partners, and a series of predefined competencies on which partnerships will be based. Partners can now work up their way up through Registered and Certified to Gold Certified member status by collecting Partner Points based on the skills, or competencies, they can offer to customers.

By qualifying for the MBS competency, a Microsoft Business Solutions reseller will be able to show that it is skilled in providing ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) software, and will be able to work towards Gold Certified status, Laurent Delaporte, vice president of small and midmarket solutions and partners for Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) said.

MBS resellers around the world have been clamoring for Certified Partner status, and the MBS competency will allow them to gain it, Jerry Pyle, group manager of Microsoft’s partner segment planning team said. It will also simplify the MBS reseller structure, he said. “The MBS partner program has differed country by country and product by product, and so this is pulling about 80 agreements into one. The feedback we’ve had from resellers about it has been very positive,” he said.

When announcing Microsoft’s quarterly results recently, Chief Financial Officer John Connors said that the company’s MBS group has had trouble maintaining its relationships with U.S. resellers. The MBS division includes Great Plains, Navision and Microsoft CRM products, and there have been difficulties in merging the channels for each product, he said.

The company is hoping that these problems will be improved by bringing resellers into the global program, Delaporte said. He stressed, however, that the situation on Europe has been easier. “We haven’t lost momentum in EMEA, and are still seeing double digit growth in licenses in MBS,” he said. However, EMEA resellers have welcomed the opportunity to become certified partners, and also the change from country-level management to a worldwide agreement.

Microsoft originally announced the global partner program in October 2003, and said that MBS partners would be able to join from July 1, 2004. That date still stands, Delaporte said, and resellers will be able to change immediately or continue on current contracts until July 2005. He expects that most will have signed the new agreement by the end of the year, he said. Resellers will also be able to choose contracts up to 23 months long, as opposed to the current 12 months.

Customers in Europe will gain particular benefits from the changes, Delaporte said. “Many Business Solution customers need licenses in more than one country, and it has been hard for them to find resellers in each country. Now they will be able to identify partners with MBS competencies,” he said. One partner will now be able to provide them with all the licenses they need, across different countries, he said.

While larger partners in particular see a lot of value in having a worldwide agreement, Delaporte says many smaller resellers also find themselves dealing with customers who need licenses in more than one country.

The former Navision Regional Operations Centers around Europe are to be consolidated so that resellers order software from one central point, Delaporte said. This will simplify both ordering and invoicing, he said.