Reaching Out to Microsoft Partners in Australia

Registered Partners – are you interested in joining us for a workshop on Friday ?

nickmayhew — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:06:01 GMT

The day will start at 8am with a breakfast session with our executive management to set the scene for the day. After breakfast we will move into a broader session to explain the current situation, to understand your thinking, and to collaborate on potential solutions in a workshop situation. We plan to build agreement that the framework is sound, and to have an actionable plan in FY10. We will finish the day with some casual drinks.

Partners participating will be provided with a complementary ticket (value $1295) to the Australian Partner Conference to be held 2-5 September on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

Azure and interactive maps demonstrator

nickmayhew — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:19:25 GMT

With much momentum behind one part of our overall S+S strategy (namely BPOS/Microsoft Online), partners will in addition begin to see more momentum building on the ‘cloud OS’ side of the equation, namely Azure.

I’ve just seen this announced internally as an example of some of the real world applications going up on the Azure platform – this one for a forthcoming event in Chicago.

http://tasteofchicago09.cloudapp.net/Map.aspx

Nice demonstrator !

Congratulations Computercorp! Winners of the “I’m Open” initiative

nickmayhew — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:47:50 GMT

As part of the recent Microsoft “I’m Open” campaign for Resellers, Microsoft ran a promotion where each new Open Value customer agreement signed between February and April 2009 earned a reseller an entry into a draw to win AUS$20,000! We are pleased to announce that Computercorp was the winning reseller! Congratulations Computercorp! We look forward to working with you to offer the great benefits of Open Value licensing to more customers in the future.

Well done and please do investigate reselling Open Value if you don’t already. Find out more here.

Building custom applications for MS Online

nickmayhew — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:46:41 GMT

I know many of our partners will be keen to see this which I found on the MS Online team blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/msonline/archive/2009/06/04/video-interview-building-custom-applications-using-microsoft-online-services.aspx

There is quite a lot of customisation opportunity with the MS Online platform – more than many partners that I have spoken to realise – so I’d encourage you to investigate. Remember to use the developer guides for more info – they are available on the discoveronlineservices.com website.

MS Online Services Updates

nickmayhew — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:25:40 GMT

http://blogs.technet.com/msonline/pages/june-2009-microsoft-online-services-release-notes.aspx

“The Microsoft Online Services Monthly Service Update for June 2009 delivers two important capabilities for Microsoft Online Services:

· Increase to 30 MB for Exchange Online attachments.

· Support for Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 client for Exchange Online

Following are release notes for the June 2009 release:”

See blog posting for the details…

Australian Partner Conference Awards – get your entry in !

nickmayhew — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:53:57 GMT

Hurry! You have just two weeks left to enter your submission in the Microsoft Australia Partner of the Year Awards. Entries close 24th June 2009, and award finalists will be announced on 10th August 2009, so make sure you submit your solution as soon as possible.

This year there are 30 award categories.

Don’t miss this chance to:

Receive your award in front of the Microsoft Partner community - at the popular Partner of the Year Gala dinner.
Gain press coverage in a Microsoft press release about the awards, and the October issue of Qantas Magazine.
Feature on the Find A Partner homepage.
Gain use of a web part and email signature promoting your business as an award winner.
Provide a testimonial about the award, and feature on Partner TV.

Submit today

Voices for Innovation – have your say

nickmayhew — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:44:32 GMT

Education, healthcare, innovation, the environment, the digital economy are all key policy issues at the heart of the political agenda for governments - local, state and federal. This means that the Australian technology industry will be affected by decisions made by government in areas such a procurement, privacy, technology standards, infrastructure, interoperability, intellectual property and accessibility to name a few. Given their role as both policy maker and the largest purchasers of ICT in the country, it is essential for government to remain informed and advised on the progress of technology and its contribution to business development, job creation, education, and government services.

Microsoft Australia regularly engages with governments, academics, thought leaders and regulators on policy development and would welcome the input of our partners. We want to have a complete picture of how regulation and legislation will affect our industry, but importantly how the technology industry can assist government in promoting choice, innovation and economic development.

Voices for Innovation (VFI) is one way for you to get engaged, keep informed and to connect with other members of the industry on issues of shared interest. With the support of Microsoft, VFI members educate thought leaders and elected officials about new technologies and the positive impact they have on global economies and jobs. By participating in VFI, members raise the profile of their company, learn from tech leaders and help win policies that are beneficial for our industry. Our members include Microsoft Partners, software developers, consumers, vendors, suppliers, shareholders, user groups, academics and others.

Invite to the Optus Small Business Workshop

nickmayhew — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:42:34 GMT

You are invited to attend a Microsoft Small Business Workshop being held at Optus. Drinks and canapés will be served while Angus Mansfield from XCentral discusses how you can cut costs using existing Microsoft IT infrastructure and Windows Mobile devices, amongst a host of other topics including:

Cutting business costs in tough economic times
Using the technology you already have to mobilize your business
How mobility can drive business value
Choosing the right smart phone package

See demonstrations of the latest Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones on the night.

Be in the running to win great prizes, including a Windows Mobile 6.1 HTC device, by answering a simple question on the night.

When: Tuesday, 16 June 2009 at 6pm-7.00pm

Where: Shop C4-C6, Greenwood Plaza, Cnr Miller St and Pacific Hwy, North Sydney, Sydney, NSW

When: Wednesday, 17 June 2009 at 6pm-7.00pm

Where: Shop C, 1 Oxford St, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW

When: Tuesday, 23 June 2009 at 6pm-7.00pm

Where: Shop 7, Stockland Glendale, Lake Rd; Newcastle, NSW

RSVP

BPOS review worth reading

nickmayhew — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:49:00 GMT

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cloud-computing-bpos,2313.html

We are building substantial sales momentum now with BPOS for enterprise agreement customers and the launch planning with Telstra continues to progress well, so I encourage all of our partners to consider how you can grow your own business and better service your customers with the new options for delivery of software+services via Microsoft Online. The article above is a good independent review that gives a good level of detail.

And of course come to the partner roadshow next week for much more info.

Reminder – Microsoft Online Partner Roadshows kick off next week

nickmayhew — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:33:21 GMT

http://blogs.msdn.com/nickmayhew/archive/2009/05/18/microsoft-online-partner-roadshow-all-cities-enrol-now.aspx for all the info.

Or Register Now to get on with it :-)

Xbox announcements - Project Natal

nickmayhew — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:27:29 GMT

http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/jun09/06-01E3PR.mspx

I was watching the BBC videos on Natal yesterday – an amazing development in interactive gaming – check it out here. it’s amazing to watch (see the second video).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8077369.stm

New content on QuickstartOnlineServices.com

nickmayhew — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:12:10 GMT

The partner specific content keeps rolling out as we continue to build momentum fast with online services. Here are the the latest updates:

www.quickstartonlineservices.com

See the Bing Test Drive on Channel 9

nickmayhew — Sun, 31 May 2009 04:11:17 GMT

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/LauraFoy/Bing-Test-Drive-Microsofts-new-search-engine/

Lots of internet/blogger chatter of course on our new search brand announcement last week. I thought this video test drive, done in the informal style of Channel 9, was a good way for Australian partners to see some of the functionality quite quickly…

Partner Conference Registrations Open

nickmayhew — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:28:23 GMT

https://www.infosalons.com.au/APC2009/ticket.asp

New on Partner TV – Public Sector Licensing for Partners

nickmayhew — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:10:04 GMT

Our very own Jane Mackarell gives a simple summary for partners of the changes we’ve made to licensing for public sector customers:

http://blogs.msdn.com/ozpartnertv/archive/2009/05/26/partner-tv-how-to-buy-in-public-sector.aspx

And the new public sector licensing website for Australia is: