Podcasts about one commercial partner

http://www.sherylkline.com/blogHave you ever felt like (or had the facts) another colleague is being paid more for an equal or lesser role?The good news is that you're not alone. The bad news is that it can be very unfair, disrespectful, demotivating, and bad for business.You may be thinking that this shouldn't even be an issue, and that there should not be a discrepancy. Agreed 100%.It may be time to speak up! If you already have, a few new tools could make all the difference for round 2.However, until we get further down this road, we'll need to get comfortable (or I should say, confident and influential) about asking for what we are worth.There is progress being made for pay transparency and fairness, partially in thanks to pay transparency advocate and former Corporate VP, One Commercial Partner at Microsoft, Gavriella Schuster. If you'd like to hear more about this very topic, what's being done, and what each of us can do, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and tune in to my interview with Gavriella at 2:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday, March 23, 2022!Here are the top 4 things that many overlook when asking for what they are worth, which can sabotage their efforts. Dial these in, and you'll have a better shot at getting what you want and deserve.1. Lack of PreparationPlan key points/asks/needs/outcomes. Think through how you want the interaction to turn out (not how you think it will turn out), and how you want to feel once it's over. Remember, what you think comes out your mouth. If you are optimistic and positive, it will land better than being pessimistic and bitter. Make the conversation as vivid and visceral as possible, then visualize it until you believe it's possible. In addition, do your tactical homework. What are industry standards or benchmarks in your company? What tangible data supports your ask?2. Lack of EmpathyWhen it comes to asking for better compensation, it's common for emotions to run high. Lack of empathy can make you sound nervous, doubtful, angry, or frustrated. This can likely close off others to what you have to say. If you want to be heard, prepare by taking a 360 look at what it's like to be the person you are trying to influence. Then, your tone will shift as will your likelihood of being heard. Come from a place of compassion even if you feel like you've been treated unfairly.BTW... I'm not saying you don't deserve to be angry or frustrated, BUT lacking empathy for the other and having a negative mindset will come through in your tone and gestures and will likely not yield the results you're hoping for. According to ex-FBI hostage negotiator and author of Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss, the 7-38-55 rule applies which relates to the importance of words, tone, and body language, in that order. So, you could say ‘I love you' for example and get yelled at by your significant other IF your tone and body language are off. It's vital to prepare our mindset and stay calm and optimistic, or the conversation could do more harm than good.3. A Proposal Without a First Date It's a human drive to feel acknowledged and validated, so make sure you do so even with those whom you strongly disagree including when you feel like you are not being paid what you feel you are worth. This is NOT agreeing, simply letting him or her know that... ... read more at: https://www.sherylkline.com/blog/4-things-to-avoid-when-asking-for-what-youre-worthIf you'd like more in-depth coaching for yourself or your team on this topic or HOW to control your emotions during crucial conversations, let's chat!

In this episode of Women In Technology, I'm chatting with Harsha Bennur, the senior director, leading industry partner, technology strategy in Microsoft's Global Partner Services organization. Read the description to learn more about Harsha and how to connect with her. Enjoy the video, you don't want to miss this one! About Harsha: Harsha Bennur is the senior director, leading industry partner, technology strategy in Microsoft's Global Partner Services organization. She started her career at Wipro Infotech, India and after that, she has been working at Microsoft for over the past two decades in various capacities. Most recently, she leads partner technology strategy for Healthcare and Life Sciences, Government and Education partners in Microsoft's One Commercial Partner organization, where she works with a team of strategists aligned to Microsoft's largest Systems Integrators, ISV's and Managed Services Providers. She works closely with a portfolio of managed partners to help grow their business by building solutions and practices on Microsoft Clouds. She has worked with many small and Fortune 100 customers and partners around creating different practices and solutions that drive digital transformation. She is a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion and is passionate about empowering everyone that she works with to achieve their highest potential. Over the years, Harsha has been very focused on career mentoring both internally and within the channel. She has been on WIT panels at Columbia University, United Nations, Grace Hopper, Global Gender Dialogues, and other panels where she talks about STEM, Gender Inequality, Disability, Comp Science, equal access to education, etc. She has a BS in Computer Science (valedictorian) from Karnatak University's GIT and a Master's Degree in Computer Science from UCF, Florida. Her passion is to encourage young women and girls to pursue their dreams and use technology as an enabler to do the same and she loves spending time with her family, especially her daughters. ✉️ Connect with Harsha: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hbennur/

The Two Guys are joined by a very special guest today - Gavriella Schuster, Microsoft CVP of One Commercial Partner. Gavriella talks about her 25 years at Microsoft and really brings some very insightful and impactful views on diversity and inclusion in the technology industry, and what we all can do to help improve diversity in this very exciting industry. Elliott also gives the audience a live introduction to Producer Blair.

In this episode of shoot the moon podcast, Revenue Rocket's CEO Mike Harvath and EVP of Business Development Matt Lockhart sit down with Brent Combest, General Manager, One Commercial Partner at Microsoft. Hear what is in the works at Microsoft and how the partner network of Microsoft Managed Partners around the world will play a role. The dialog spans the past lessons learned, trends, and the momentum seen in cloud services and technology categories and how M&A plays a role in the construct of the Microsoft Partner Program.Discover how the next 18 to 24 months are critical to IT service providers remaining relevant, as growth fueled by M&A combinations along with technology enablement advancements will see those not capitalizing on the strategic benefits fall short and eventually priced out of the industry. This episode is a must-listen!

Today we have a treat in store for you, as we step into the fascinating data-driven world of Phil Harvey. A self-confessed beardy data geek he has worked in a wide range of industries and currently his interest lies in the impact of data on what we know and how we know it. In this deep dive into data you will discover: The difference between ethical and unethical AI Robotics, AI, automation and machine learning 101 and what work in the future will be like, when the robots have arrived Phil is a big beardy data geek who loves working with data and solving interesting data problems. He is especially interested in software skills for technical people in data, empathy, ethics, and in the impact of data on what people know and how they know it. Starting his career with a BA in AI, he has worked in a wide range of industries from surveying, to architecture, to advertising, to being the CTO and technical founder of a data start-up. Phil now works at Microsoft as a Senior Cloud Solution Architect for Data & AI in One Commercial Partner. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving us a short review. It really makes a difference! For show notes and past guests, please visit: wndyr.com/podcasts/ For transcriptions of this episode visit: wnydr.com/podcasts/Phil_Harvey Follow Wndyr: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wndyrsocial/ Twitter: twitter.com/wndyrsocial Facebook: facebook.com/wndyrsocial

5th May 2020 - We are joined by Bruno Delamarre, General Manager, One Commercial Partner & SME, Microsoft MEA. During his 9-year Microsoft career, Bruno has successfully managed and deployed program and product initiatives growing market share through strategic alliances with Services and ISV partners. He joins us to discuss strategies to navigate ambiguity, such as: 1) Communication; 2) Clarity of updated expectations to your channel; and 3) Conversion i.e. recognising the need for change from a business process point of view, and embracing it.

Con il lancio del progetto “Ambizione Italia #Digital Restart” Microsoft ha avviato un'iniziativa senza precedenti nel nostro Paese. Serve ad accelerare la Digital Transformation, rilanciare le PMI con cloud, piattaforme collaborative e intelligenza artificiale. Le soluzioni introdotte con la piattaforma So Smart vanno in questa direzione allo scopo di supportare in concreto le piccole e medie imprese italiane. L'iniziativa ha l'ambizione di contribuire al rilancio dell'economia italiana in un momento di crisi senza precedenti dovuto alla pandemia da Covid-19. Microsoft ha deciso di investire molto sul nostro Paese perché crede nella capacità di ripresa delle aziende italiane. Questo è il messaggio di Fabio Santini, direttore della divisione One Commercial Partner di Microsoft Italia. Santini ricorda che, secondo uno studio del Politecnico di Milano, entro il 2024 in Italia verranno create 10mila opportunità di lavoro che si tradurranno in un impatto di business pari a circa 9 miliardi di euro. In che consiste il progetto? Cos'è e come funziona So Smart? Rilanciare le PMI con cloud, piattaforme collaborative e IA, come? Per realizzare una completa trasformazione delle PMI a costi accessibili, questo progetto comprende: offerta e incremento dei servizi in cloud; sviluppo di programmi di formazione digital e reskilling; ricorso graduale a piattaforme e strumenti digitali basati su intelligenza artificiale; diffusione estesa dello smart working e stimolo a ricorrere sempre più a piattaforme collaborative, anche con l'attivazione di forme di mobilità smart; sostegno di progetti che hanno come obiettivo l'open innovation per la sostenibilità. La trasformazione digitale ha un compito importante: guidare la sostenibilità ambientale puntando su un'economia ‘digicircolare‘ che unisca economia circolare e digitale. Le soluzioni software destinate alle imprese, basate su piattaforme in cloud, consentiranno un significativo risparmio energetico con un calo drastico delle emissioni di CO2. Le soluzioni in cloud con tecnologia Microsoft vengono erogate tramite Data Factory Azure, che utilizzano attualmente energia proveniente al 70% da fonti rinnovabili. Si punta al 100% entro il 2025. So Smart: cos'è e come funziona Pensata per le piccole e medie imprese, la piattaforma modulare in cloud So Smart rappresenta la prima soluzione ERP con tecnologie Microsoft. Questa soluzione cosiddetta “one click away” è capace, in 10 giorni, di digitalizzare da zero un'azienda. I tempi di installazione sono brevi, l'utilizzo è semplice. L'obiettivo è far crescere l'impresa gestendola completamente online. Il vantaggio è rappresentato dal supporto di Business Central, Power BI, software di produttività/condivisione come Word, Excel, PowerPoint e Teams, senza contare la piattaforma di e-learning che integra video-lezioni guidate. Migliorerà anche il supporto ai clienti grazie a funzioni intelligenti ma ciò che, prima di ogni altra cosa, deve migliorare è la conoscenza digital delle persone e delle aziende. So Smart punta sulla formazione attraverso l'e-learning con questionari online, video tutorial, la presenza di personal coach sempre pronti ad assistere gli utenti. Le imprese potranno contare su un costante supporto per il loro business, vendite, acquisti, magazzino, contabilità. Decisioni basate sui dati anche per le PMI italiane La Digital Transformation deve significare la possibilità di trasformare i dati in informazioni e di prendere decisioni basandosi sui dati. Questa possibilità non deve essere un lusso solo per le grandi aziende, ma deve supportare anche le piccole e medie imprese. Ciò è possibile grazie all'introduzione in cloud di soluzioni intelligenti che raccolgono dati, li memorizzano e li analizzano per migliorare le performance delle aziende. L'intelligenza artificiale a costi accessibili può fornire alle aziende: dashboard personalizzate; data mining; analisi sta...

Natalie Singh, the Enterprise Channel Director for the North East Region, State and Local Government, and Manufacturing in the One Commercial Partner organization at Microsoft.

Globally, work has increasingly gone virtual for many, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The sudden shift from working in groups to working from anywhere has given rise to many challenges and newfound opportunities. This is where technology comes into the picture and has the power to transform a virtual workplace into a more inclusive nest where everyone thrives. Tune into part three of our ‘Belonging’ podcast series where Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner at Microsoft, and Alan Alper, Vice President of Global Thought Leadership Programs at Cognizant, discuss how technology enhances inclusion and creates a more inclusive economy.

Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, top companies are those that not only weathered the pandemic successfully but also demonstrated how progressive leadership and policies can drive inclusiveness. Such organizations have a diverse leadership team who are transparent and do not shy away from expressing honestly and openly. They even make room for differently-abled contributors and ensure that no employee is disenfranchised. Listen to part two of our ‘Belonging’ podcast series that featuring Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner at Microsoft, and Alan Alper, Vice President of Global Thought Leadership Programs at Cognizant, who discuss the top-down impact of leadership culture, inclusion and intersectionality, microaggressions, the human nature of work, vulnerability and empathy amid COVID-19.

For most of us, a large part of our adult lives is spent in a professional work environment, either physical or virtual. Humans as we know are social animals and have a constant urge to feel like we belong, even at work. However, this need is largely ignored by employers who still tend to believe that this will happen without any intervention and they do not have an active role to play. To better understand the importance of belonging at work, Cognizant and Microsoft partnered to gather insights from nearly 11,000 full-time workers worldwide. Tune into our three part podcast series on ‘Belonging’ that features Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner, at Microsoft, and Alan Alper, Vice President of Global Thought Leadership Programs at Cognizant, as they discuss our research findings and how we can collectively nurture belonging in the workplace.

What opportunities lie ahead in the world of AI? How can businesses prepare? And what must leaders do to avoid putting their business and wider society at risk? These are just some of the topics we cover with Phil Harvey, our guest in this week's episode. Phil is a Senior Cloud Solution Architect for Data & AI in One Commercial Partner at Microsoft UK. He's the co-author of Data: A Guide to Humans, which will be published in January 2021. And he's talking in the Smart Cities stream at the conference in October.During our chat, we talk about the ways that data in smart cities relates specifically to people's lives and why it's essential that it's handled ethically. Phil also explains why leaders who aren't using AI responsibly risk damaging their business as well as the people they serve.We move on to discuss the need to educate wider teams to help identify business risks and Phil shares some key advice on implementing AI responsibly, including some of the steps already taken at Microsoft. Last, but certainly not least, we explore the importance of soft skills like empathy. Phil explains why we must have a deeper understanding of people, as well as the data that we're working with. We loved talking to Phil and we hope you enjoy the episode. To get in touch with Phil or to find out more about his work and book, you can visit his LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipdavidharvey/To catch his talk at the Anthropology + Technology Conference on 9th October, visit us online at anthtechconf.co.uk and sign up for our newsletter. We'll be in touch as soon as tickets go on sale. 

Joining Jeffrey Palermo today is Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, Shawn Weisfeld! Shawn works on the One Commercial Partner team helping Microsoft Partners architect solutions that run on Azure. He is also a Microsoft Certified Trainer, who, in addition, runs the Azure Meetup in Austin TX and two community websites. These two fantastic websites are SouthCentralCommunity.com, where he lists all the groups and events that he knows about in the region, and UserGroup.tv, where he posts recordings of technical user groups and conferences for folks to watch for free.   In this episode, Jeffrey and Shawn are diving into the topic of Azure certifications! Shawn works with partners every day helping them get Azure certified and in today’s conversation, he is sharing his experiences, some of the ins and outs he learned throughout his career, invaluable tips and tricks, and his go-to resources!   Topics of Discussion: [:40] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [:50] About Jeffrey’s current promotions and offers. [1:30] About today’s episode with Shawn. [2:22] Jeffrey welcomes Shawn to the show! [2:27] Shawn speaks about his career background and shares how he ended up in his current role! [4:10] Shawn speaks about his community speaking outside of his main role and answers the question of whether or not he would be willing to speak at a virtual user group [4:52] What is the landscape for certifications, in general, these days? [5:52] What percentage of the developer population are getting certified? And how has that changed over the last 10 years or so? [7:22] Why certifications are important to obtain even if you’re a senior developer. [11:31] How many people are getting certified in the industry? And what does it do for them? [12:29] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [12:53] Jeffrey shares some quick announcements. [14:43] Shawn gives a rundown of the relevant certifications in the DevOps space from a Microsoft perspective. [19:57] Shawn explains how you can take a test for a certification at home. [21:38] Are there currently any discounts on Microsoft certification tests? [22:40] Shawn provides his top tips and advice for those looking to currently take a certification test at home! [28:07] Is there anything in the works for certifications regarding DevOps capabilities integrating GitHub? [30:11] Shawn shares what’s new and upcoming with him! [31:13] When can people register for future conferences such as Microsoft Build? [35:19] Jeffrey thanks Shawn for joining the podcast!   Mentioned in this Episode: Azure DevOps Clear Measure (Sponsor) .NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer's Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo — Available on Amazon! bit.ly/dotnetdevopsebook — Click here to download the .NET DevOps for Azure ebook! bit.ly/dotnetdevopsbookforcommunity — Visit to get your hands on two free books to give away at conferences or events! Jeffrey Palermo’s Youtube Jeffrey Palermo’s Twitter — Follow to stay informed about future events! Jeffrey@Clear-Measure.com — Email Jeffrey for a free 30-point DevOps inspection (regularly priced at $5000!) — Spaces are limited! SouthCentralCommunity.com UserGroup.tv Azure DevOps Podcast Shawn Weisfeld’s Resources How to Use Microsoft Teams to Host a Virtual Lab or Virtual Hackathon Event Microsoft Certifications Microsoft Training and Certifications DevOps Learning Plan Exam AZ-400 Pluralsight AZ-400 MeasureUp Microsoft Exam Policies   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

For our final episode of 2019 we have a very special guest, Microsoft Vice President, Gavriella Schuster. As the Corporate Vice President for the One Commercial Partner, Gavriella leads the business strategy across all commercial partners, is responsible for managing the partners, and leading programs globally. Listen in as Gavriella shares her journey through tech, finding great success as a woman in tech, and her thoughts on the opportunities and struggles that women may find within the tech industry. Don’t miss this exclusive episode capturing the highs and lows Gavriella has experienced, and the advice she has for you!

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen famously said software is eating the world. Perhaps, but it's more like software is reshaping the world. Software, delivered via the cloud, is increasingly making the world more digitally defined. Each technology generation is giving us a greater ability to shape and reshape our business infrastructures with greater ease and speed. Digital transformation and evolving go-to-market models are also changing the nature of the channel, which is no longer just about reselling product. It's about service delivery, completeness of solutions, and customer experience. Through this evolution, vendors' go-to-market strategies will shift from traditional resellers to marketplaces for automated sales, independent software vendors for complementary applications that complete solutions, and professional service organizations for the expertise and support to create superior customer experiences. Toby Richards, general manager of partner GTM and programs at Microsoft's One Commercial Partner organization, joins POD2112 to discuss how digital transformation is reshaping channel strategies, relationships, and go-to-market models. Despite the many challenges ahead of the channel, Richards and Microsoft see tremendous opportunities for partners that can meet the market's evolving needs based on virtual systems and better outcomes.

I am fresh back from the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Advisory Council meetings last week. AppSource, and the whole ISV strategy was a central topic. Unfortunately I cannot share too much because of NDA handcuffs, but I can share some public themes, and my opinions. You have said this before Yes, I am aware that I have written much about AppSource in the past, in fact, exactly 18 posts. In many of those posts I said something along the lines of "Now is the time to get onboard with AppSource", and I am about to say it again. I am familiar with the story of the "Boy who cried Wolf". So how is this time any different? AppSource has come up short I am keenly aware that when it comes to Business Applications, AppSource, and the larger OCP "Sell-With" motion, have not lived up to our expectations... okay, it's been a shit show. ISVs, some possibly at my encouragement, have gone down the path and invested a lot of time and money, for little or no result. So why would I have the balls to even suggest you look at it again? Are ISVs Important? Looking at the primary competition in the business applications space, Salesforce.com, it is hard to argue that ISVs are not key. AppExchange is a major driver for Salesforce's success, just like Google Play is a major driver for Android and the Apple Store is a major drive for iPhones. If your goal is to be a platform company, then ISVs are the only way to ever get there. Microsoft telegraphed their recognition of this not long ago, with the hiring of the now late Ron Huddleston, the purported "architect" of AppExchange. Birth of OCP Ron skipped right over the low-hanging fruit, and instead aimed straight for the top of the tree with the One Commercial Partner program (OCP). Ron was not a guy who wanted to fix things, he wanted to re-invent them. He put all of these vaguely defined, not fully bought into plans, for OCP in motion towards a big fuzzy goal, and then left the company long before the goal was achieved. When Ron departed, the reins of all of those motions were let go, and the meandering began. It's not like ISVs had a clear understanding of what Ron was doing in the first place, he was one of those "Trust me, it will all make sense in the end" kind of guys. Is AppSource and OCP a Failure? If you are a Business Applications ISV, I think it clearly has not been a success yet. But we are not the only players in AppSource or OCP. Azure partners are in there also,  on the other side of the wall. I am not sure who picked up the dropped reins on the Azure team, but they are blowing the lid off of it. Azure ISVs via AppSource or OCP Co-Sell are seeing every bit of the success we had hoped for. So... it is working... just not for us. Why not? Leaderless Up until now, AppSource and OCP efforts for Business Applications have been driven by a smattering of people on the team, each with a very narrow slice of responsibility, and little or no authority to do very much. There was a lot of shoulder shrugging going on. Many of the dropped reigns were laying on the floor. Some of the people on this team have responsibility for recruiting new ISVs to this dysfunctional platform. I assume James Phillips is the one we can credit for reaching out and asking for a "Fixer"... and his wish was granted. Meet "Guggs" Steven Guggenheimer (Guggs), is a 25 year Microsoft veteran, and has been a Corporate Vice President for at least the last 10 of those. For us, he is a "Fixer" who has been brought into the Business Applications group to fix the ISV business for James. I have certainly heard his voice echoed before over the years, like hearing a battle cry from the leader of another group, down the hall from ours, but he was never engaged with our teams. Where I was previously betting on a concept I believed in, now I am shifting my bets to the man who might finally make it happen. Step One As content is being throw at you rapid-fire at these PAC meetings, there is an assumption of NDA. Occasionally, someone will ask if some particular item can be publicly shared. It becomes hard to remember which items were green-lighted for sharing, so I seldom share anything. But one item was clear, and that was around a new high-level taxonomy for ISVs. Up until now, we were all just ISVs, which meant you had to level-set with everyone at MS where you played. We now have three high-level buckets, "Build", "Extend", and "Connect". You may have solutions in more than one, but each solution should mostly fit into one of these 3 buckets. Saying "I am an ISV on the Build track", should shorten your conversations in the near future. So what exactly are these buckets? Build "Build" refers to a new type of ISV, one who builds on the CDS platform, without using any first-party apps. Our RapidStart CRM was the first end-to-end solution built on the "Build" track. Needless to say, I am a big believer that this new motion will be huge for Microsoft and ISVs. Extend This is probably one of the largest tracks, and includes ISV solutions that were built to run on top of one or more of the first-party applications. I think we will see some of these "Extend" solutions, transition over to the "Build" track over time. Connect Connect is for ISVs who have external IP that "connects" with either Build, Extend or first-party solutions, for example:  DocuSign or InsideView. What's coming for ISVs? Like I said, I lost track of what we could and could not share, but there is a lot. Guggs has been given a mission, he has the track record, he has the authority, he has the support, he knows how to navigate Microsoft, and he is in-charge. He seems like a "no-nonsense" kind of guy, who already is grabbing up the loose reins. So is now finally the "real" time to jump in? At the risk of crying wolf again, I say Yes... again.

Evelyne, grade 11, spent some time with women who are leading the way in the global IT community. Join her as she interviews Trish following a 'Women in IT' conference held at Insight Canada in Montreal, Quebec. Suzanne Gagliese, Vice President, One Commercial Partner, Microsoft Dee Ann Lama, Vice President Sales, Cisco Trish O’Keeffe, Senior Manager, Insight Canada Inc. Jenny Dho, Vice President Sales, WSP Global

Ron Huddleston, Chief Partner Officer at Twilio, joins the AppChat Podcast to discuss the importance of building out ecosystems and the differences he has seen building multiple ecosystems for various companies. Other subjects include breaking down various ecosystem models, how Huddleston's previous experience prepared him for working at Twilio, and the importance of trust and credibility in the industry. Here are the key topics, with timestamps, as well as the full interview transcript: Key Topics 00:00-01:58 Introducing the AppChat and our guest, Twilio's Chief Partner Officer Ron Huddleston 1:59-3:28 The challenges of indirect software sales 3:29-8:43 The importance of software companies building out an ISV and/or SI ecosystem 8:44-12:34 The differences in building out an ecosystem for Salesforce and Microsoft 12:35-17:10 The differences between a pure, cloud-based ecosystem, and a hybrid model including cloud and on-premise 17:11-20:02 How much Huddleston uses his previous experiences building ecosystems for Twilio, and how much he has to continue to discover and invent 20:03-25:54 The importance of trust and credibility when building out ecosystems 25:55-29:06 Building an app and sticking to the commitment you made to your ecosystem 29:07-30:22 Closing out and how to get in touch Full Transcript Intro: 00:01 You're listening to the AppChat, a podcast focused on SaaS growth strategies, plus successes in the Salesforce ecosystem, and beyond. Here's your host, CodeScience CEO, Brian Walsh. Brian Walsh: 00:14 All right. We're back on the AppChat Podcast. And today, I'm joined by Ron Huddleston, who, Ron, you have an incredible background when it comes to building out ISV ecosystems. Let me get this right. So you're currently the Chief Partner Officer at Twilio. Ron Huddleston: 00:31 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 00:32 Before that, CVP, One Commercial Partner organization at Microsoft. Ron Huddleston: 00:35 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 00:36 SVP of the AppExchange at Salesforce. Ron Huddleston: 00:38 Yep. Brian Walsh: 00:39 And started the OEM, ISV program at Oracle, where you were vice president. Ron Huddleston: 00:44 Yes. Brian Walsh: 00:45 Are there any bigger partner programs in the world to run than that? Ron Huddleston: 00:51 Amazon, maybe, now? Brian Walsh: 00:53 Maybe now, yeah. Ron Huddleston: 00:54 Yeah. Yeah, they're breaking new ground. But the Microsoft thing was definitely a big one. They've all been really fun. I do think that the folks at companies that get to build ecosystems, ISV, or SI, or any type of partner ecosystem, I think that it's probably the most fun job you can have at a bigger technology company, because you get exposed. It's not the same thing over and over. You get to really understand how to work with other folks and understand what's important to them. And so I stuck with it -- it was probably my 20th job at Oracle -- and when I found it and started building it, I just realized it was the most fun, like exciting, interesting, technically satisfying, from a business perspective, satisfying thing you could really do. So just from a personal perspective, I think it's probably the most fun you can have in cloud technology for a job. Unless you're like the CEO of a startup, or doing what you're doing, like building things. But if you're going to work for somebody else, I think it's a great job. Brian Walsh: 01:59 But I mean, I find that sometimes indirect sales, especially indirect software sales, can be extremely challenging. Like you're not actually doing that final license sale. You're lining up the partners and enabling them. I mean, is there something wrong in your head? Ron Huddleston: 02:14 No, there's not. It does carry its own set of complexities. But the strange thing is, whether it was on-premise or the cloud, those complexities repeat each other over, and over, and over again. So there really, after 20-odd years of doing this, there's not much you haven't seen, because where things get complicated is around human behavior, not necessarily around bringing really great solutions, and great partners, and technology together to solve problems. That's kind of the easy part, just to like address customer problems. Where things get a little crunchy is how human start, where things can get complicated, is when you're aligning different people, different organizations, different teams. That's where things get a little more complicated. I think everything up to that is not as complicated. But again, it's a pattern. And the patterns tend to repeat themselves. So you can sort of see around corners, the longer you do these kind of things, which makes it easier every time. This is, what, my third, fourth- Brian Walsh: 03:18 Fourth one. Ron Huddleston: 03:19 It kind of makes it a little easier every time you do it because you know, I probably made 10,000 mistakes. And you only make the same mistake three or four times. Brian Walsh: 03:29 Eventually, you get it right. So why an ecosystem? I mean, there's a huge amount of effort and investment. Why is it important for a software company to actually build out an ISV and/or SI ecosystem? Ron Huddleston: 03:44 Yeah. There's a lot of reasons. It depends on, are we talking about the technology company themselves that want to build an ecosystem? Brian Walsh: 03:51 Yeah. Ron Huddleston: 03:52 So you have to be a bigger company in order to do that, obviously. It's really hard to do it, otherwise. You can certainly build a small, little portfolio of folks that you work with if you're a smaller company. But there's nothing better than a broad ecosystem because it does a couple things. First things first is, if there's any way, shape, and form you're trying to prove out the sort of platform nature of the technology that you're trying to provide, the long road to get to that level of credibility is trying to do it yourself; trying to hire all the people in the world with the right expertise to sit down with a customer and explain to them, "No, bet on us. We're future-proofed. And you can do all of these things with us. We're a platform," it is really hard. The easier way to do it is to work with an ecosystem of technology, or IP, ISVs, and SIs; and the ones that are trusted in the space, that are maybe already trusted by the customers that you want to serve, and work with them to have them understand how your platform can help. And then build what's essentially, if those are the ingredients, then you know, the recipe book is how all those ingredients come together to help essentially cook a meal, like serve a beautiful meal for the customer, right? And so that's why it's a cool job. You get to be the chef, kind of. That's a good analogy, I'm going to use that analogy -- 20 years, I just discovered a new analogy. But you know, if you think about it that way, as ecosystems, as, you know, sure, you can call it one broad ecosystem, but really, it's a bunch of small solution maps, or what I was just calling recipes. It's a group of technologies, partners, companies, expertise, that solve particular problems. And no one company can really solve anything complicated on their own, really. Like it is just hard to do that over, and over, and over, and over again. You know, if you want to be broad-based, it makes it ... If you want to be a broad solution, like a platform, it makes it really hard to also solve problems, complicated problems, by yourself, right? If you want to stay really narrow and be like a really verticalized application or SI- Brian Walsh: 06:12 You can go super deep. Ron Huddleston: 06:13 You can go super deep. You can solve things on your own. But if you want to be big and broad, it's just the permutations of options are almost impossible. That's why ecosystems are so important. They drive credibility, but they also are the only way to solve really hard, complicated problems if you're trying to solve a lot of them. Those are the two reasons that it's great for the partner, or the platform, but it's great for all these companies that are sort of looking. It's great for cutting-edge companies. Like in the cloud, it was a wonderful thing. People actually all start relational databases. Like there were a lot of companies that were building up relational database practices back in the day. And there were these little, small startups that were building relational databases, or were driving Java for, like J2EE or something. Brian Walsh: 07:05 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 07:05 And I know this is going to sound really old. Brian Walsh: 07:07 We, you and I sound ancient right now. But keep going. It's great. We're reminiscing. Ron Huddleston: 07:10 Yeah. But the point was these companies, these smaller companies that would never have -- it was going to be a long time until they were big enough to where people really get exposed to them. Having an ecosystem, being part of a partner's ecosystem, of a vendor, a big platform's ecosystem, helped the companies that were the best, the most innovative, had the best technologies, sort of punch above their weight class, and could help change the market really quickly. So it's this symbiotic relationship between these platform players that need partners for the two, you know, for lots of reasons, but the two reasons I highlighted; but it's also great for partners, for ISVs and SIs, because it helps the best rise to the top. It helps the best innovate. And you know, it also, if you are the type of SIs or ISVs that are specialized in a particular place or industry, it helps you get access to customers where you might not get access before. So it's a real symbiotic thing when it's working really well, and nothing stands in the way, and there's no friction. And it's really just about sort of, you know, matchmaking. Like, you know, you're a cook. All your ingredients are great. You cook the best stuff. Everything, your oven works. Your waiters are awesome. I guess waiters would be sales in this analogy, right? Brian Walsh: 08:31 Yeah. Ron Huddleston: 08:32 Yeah. The waiters understand stuff. Brian Walsh: 08:35 Sales ops are your line chefs, right? Ron Huddleston: 08:37 Right, there you go. I'll work this analogy out at some point. I think it has legs. I'm thinking about it. Brian Walsh: 08:44 There's always an interesting thing, like if I compare where Microsoft has embraced their ecosystem, and I look at where Salesforce has, around capital efficiency, right? Because in the Salesforce world, there was almost no investment, outside of VC investment, almost no investment of, "Hey, let's invest in you to bring this product to market." Whereas we've seen, even on the Oracle and Microsoft side, lots of investment into ISVs to help them get started with an ecosystem. Ron Huddleston: 09:09 Yeah. I think Salesforce would argue, particularly back in the day when they were building it up, when we were building it up, where we didn't really have as much market presence. There are two things that companies can do to invest in you. They can certainly invest time or technology, but they can also -- I'm sorry, they can certainly invest money or technology, but they can also invest time and access. And at Salesforce, the way I pulled the AppExchange together was, you know, there were limitations around technology, and dollars, and investment dollars, which eventually got solved in one way, or shape, or form. But there was really very little limitation to time and access that could be provided. And so the big strength that Salesforce had at the time was, they were leading in the cloud. So they had, they were innovators, had access and had a sales organization. So a lot of the beginnings of that ecosystem were built around people receiving essentially go-to-market support, help, and guidance from Salesforce, in return for their technical investment in building something with Salesforce. And that was the trade-off that they made. Microsoft is a different beast, and they grew up through partners, and they always had partners. But they'd gotten to such a point where they were so dominant in the marketplace that they'd essentially become demand fulfillment. The partner channel was super optimized for really educated customers to come in and want to buy something. And they would go to very specific partners that would then fulfill that. And it was very educated demand fulfillment to a very educated market, which is entirely different than what we were setting up the One Commercial Partner team to do, which was to create demand. So, instead of having 1,000 points of connection with super-specialized partners, have partners that could show up in front of customers and say, "What problem do you have? What question do you have for my answers?" And then they could represent the full cadre of everything that Microsoft could do. You know, it's a huge technology portfolio. So they were just really limited historically because partners had to sort of pick their lane and stick with it. And so one of the things that's a great thing we did there, was break that down and only create very few lanes. So partners were expected to really lead the way and create demand. But in order to do that, we also had to change the finances. We had to change economics. We had to create a lot of incentives for the direct sales organization to work with them, which is a big part of it, too, because selling stuff, versus taking orders, is expensive. And so we had to make sure the partners could make money doing it. And so in that particular case, you know, the trade-off was, being able to represent Microsoft across the board is a tough thing to do, but if they'd invest their time, and energy, and attention, in learning how to sell and create demand, we made the economics work so that they could get a payback, which is a little different. It's almost the opposite of what Salesforce was doing. And so they're just very different situations. Brian Walsh: 12:29 Got it. Ron Huddleston: 12:30 But like I said, you know, you do this long enough, you've seen almost everything. Brian Walsh: 12:35 Well, let's actually study one more difference within that, which is you had a pure, cloud-based model. And then within Microsoft, you actually had this hybrid. You had cloud, right, like this emerging cloud ecosystem with Office 365 and Dynamics. You also had this gigantic on-prem, you know, basis of licenses. Is there a huge difference between those two types of ecosystems? Or are they basically the same? Ron Huddleston: 12:59 No. There really isn't. I mean, the economic models are different. But enough folks, I would say 8 years ago, 10 years ago -- God, 10 years ago, 15? I don't know ... Like 2008, 10 years ago, 2007, 2006, '07, '08, that's when the financial model differences, forget the technical differences, the relationship differences, the functional selling -- Brian Walsh: 13:24 Customer success, all that stuff. Ron Huddleston: 13:25 All that stuff, the actual financial models of how people expected to generate revenue and make a living, being a technology company or a consulting company, they were so different between cloud and on-prem that moving financial models was the primary thing holding people back from taking the step to the cloud. People liked the technology, but they couldn't take the jump. Like a lot of companies failed because they tried to put a foot in both camps, and you just couldn't. There's one financial model, on-prem, it's very short-term focused; one financial model, cloud, is very longterm focused. And if you're trying to serve both masters, you'll make bad, suboptimal decisions. And so I had a bunch of rules about the cloud. One of them was, you have to pick one or the other. You have to like, divest to one or the other. I think those days have changed, where even if people are doing a lot of on-prem stuff, like there's even the Microsoft SIs, or resellers, they've worked it out in such a way, through financing, through managed services, through something that they're emulating software as a service, financially. And so the technological flip is just a matter of time and opportunity. It wasn't a matter of this big burden, I'm sorry, barrier, an obstacle which is changing their whole financial model, which is really hard. I mean, I literally had sought out, the same way you guys were product development outsourcers, I'd sought out financial development outsourcers, as well, that helped to finance companies through the gap, like the two or three-year revenue gap when they make the transition, because the financial model transition was a lot harder than the technical transition, back in the day. Now, I don't think it's as hard. At Microsoft, it's, you know, some of the companies are so big, I think that the inertia is probably harder than the finances, you know? Just the daily grind, inertia of things makes things tough. Brian Walsh: 15:17 And I think some of your work in there really paid off; the Lighter Capital helping with MapAnything. Ron Huddleston: 15:22 Oh, yeah, I bet they made a crushing at that. Yeah. Brian Walsh: 15:26 Yeah. And now, I think Series D, and they're gigantic. Ron Huddleston: 15:29 Is Lighter Capital doing pretty well? I haven't talked to those guys in a while. Brian Walsh: 15:32 I think they're doing great. Ron Huddleston: 15:34 It's a great business model, I mean. Brian Walsh: 15:35 It is. Ron Huddleston: 15:35 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 15:36 It's interesting. They were so far ahead on that non-equity based funding for it. And now, I see Indie.vc. I see a lot of players coming in. Ron Huddleston: 15:44 Yeah. No, it's a good way to do it. Here at Twilio, there's so much. The funny thing is, it really feels a lot like the initial cloud, call it, revolution in 2007-08. Brian Walsh: 15:57 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 15:58 It's just in communications. And there's a lot of folks that are in the exact same spot; not that they're in financial, a big financial difference, model-wise. But telecommunications is like a different financial model, in a weird way. It's very like, usage oriented. It's got spikes. It's got a lot of weird things they're not used to, particularly if people are selling cloud seat kind of stuff. It's just a different sort of world for them. And a lot of folks don't have specialization in a lot of these things. And so, you know, building things like PDOs and financial development outsourcers are things that we're going to have to do here at Twilio as well, because there's thousands and thousands of ISVs and SIs that, whether they know it or not, are going to be using Twilio in the next couple years, because it just fits. Everybody who's moved to the cloud, there's probably an opportunity -- and touched a customer in some way, shape, or form -- there's an opportunity for them to work with Twilio. And you know, we've just got to make it easier. That was one of the things that, you were around at Salesforce when we did that, too. We just made it easier for people. Brian Walsh: 17:04 Totally. Well, let's jump into Twilio while we're here. You're assembling an amazing team. Ron Huddleston: 17:10 Yeah. They're good people. Brian Walsh: 17:11 It seems like you're applying all of your lessons from the past, you know, experiences building an ecosystem. How much do you have to continue to discover and invent? How much of this is just pulling out your playbook and running with it? Ron Huddleston: 17:24 You know, a lot of it is playbook stuff. I will say, the difference between communications technology, like it carries a lot of legacy with it. Like there is, you know, a whole lot of underlying technology that, if you're unfamiliar with it, which I am, you know, like the seven layers. That's just, there's a bunch of crazy stuff. Brian Walsh: 17:45 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 17:45 If you're unfamiliar with it, there's a lot going on there that has significant material impacts on business models that could work or couldn't work. So you bring the same playbook, and then you have this set of realities, constraints, and the technology as it exists, that then make things viable or not viable. And it is, you know, it's fundamentally a bit of a different thing, because it's a very API-forward company, which leads people down a lot of weird roads. Like what is an SI? What is an ISV? Which, by the way, we can get philosophical on this. Brian Walsh: 18:23 How do you differentiate? Ron Huddleston: 18:26 Like at Salesforce, people would just like get their heads wrapped around an axle, because you know, back in the day, when we were creating the partner program, I always tried to explain reselling, and OEMing, and trying to get like, I think, Veeva kept it on their first contract to sell Salesforce underneath their technology set. People were like, you know, "The technology is staying here. These are ours, it's in our -- this isn't the Salesforce," what do they call those things? I'm sorry. Do you remember those, at Salesforce, they have a name for the PODs that- Brian Walsh: 18:59 The ORGs? Ron Huddleston: 19:01 Not the ORGs, but whatever. It's Salesforce property. We're running it in our own data centers. Brian Walsh: 19:07 Right, in a POD. Ron Huddleston: 19:07 So how are you reselling anything? I'm like, "Well, it's, you know," even, and then licensing, which is just a human, you know, construct. It's not real. Like all these things, applying them to the cloud, it's semi-nonsensical, but it is a way to put these constructs together, and rules together, that help enable ecosystems to exist and thrive. There's something that they can sell, that they can put margin on, that they can build a business on. There's something that they can learn about, and then configure, and then leave with the customer. If you don't have the concepts of ownership, and passing ownership, and control, which don't make a lot of sense when you think about like a multi-tenant cloud, but if you don't have those things, you can't build businesses. And so, you know, a lot of it is building the faith that these human constructs exist, and that you can sell them, which for API companies, is a new thing. Like, I don't think AWS even does that yet. Brian Walsh: 19:59 No. But- Ron Huddleston: 20:00 It's weird, I know that I'm like waxing philosophical, but it is a- Brian Walsh: 20:03 But I mean, it all comes down to trust, right? Ron Huddleston: 20:06 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 20:07 You have to build trust with this partner that you will create these things, that you gave them your word, that they can actually invest millions of dollars to go forward with it. Ron Huddleston: 20:16 Yeah. Trust and credibility, in this space, is kind of what it's all about. And it's a thing about companies, too, is you know, they can, over time, their perspective on the importance of ecosystems and what the value is can change. But if you're leading up those ecosystem efforts, like you've got to try hard as hell to live up to the commitments, and consistencies, and visions that you put out there -- to the point where you're willing to sort of, you know, throw yourself in front of a train to make sure that like, you know, people don't change the philosophies you put in place, because people are betting their lives, their businesses, on what you're laying out as the vision and value of the partner program you're putting out there. And you're making these commitments, and anything that drives inconsistency, anything that's not committed, anything that violates trust in those things is a huge, huge problem. Like you know, you can spend years building up the trust that's required to build an ecosystem. And in one day, you can blow it. So that's, by far, the most important thing that you need people to understand who are setting up partner programs, or building teams, or you know, maybe looking to hire someone to build up their organization. Make sure that she or he, you know, the first thing out of their mouth needs to be like trust and consistency because without that, none of the rest of this really matters. Brian Walsh: 21:48 Yeah. And it's also, I think, the confidence that these larger organizations are actually going to stay in it, right? Ron Huddleston: 21:54 Yeah. Brian Walsh: 21:55 You know? This is not going to be a one-year test, then we're going away, because we're asking the likes of major companies to actually invest their future in this opportunity. Ron Huddleston: 22:04 Yeah. And you know, a lot of them don't take the jump and wait a year, wait two years, to see. I mean, the cloud took forever. It took four or five years for the bigger companies to jump. Brian Walsh: 22:15 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 22:15 But now, things are happening a lot faster. But there'll still be some companies that'll wait a year or two to jump. But you'll recall this, the ones that made it first in the cloud, the ones that were really successful were all the first ones, the people who moved fast. The consulting companies that moved fast, the ISVs that moved fast, the companies that jumped in there and took the risks were the ones that succeeded in the end. The ones that played on the sidelines, unless they were super dominant, they were playing catch-up, and still are. Brian Walsh: 22:44 And you watch the outcomes and success of those. ServiceMax, I mean, that was coming about when Service Cloud wasn't even fully baked, and almost a billion dollar exit. Veeva went public. DocuSign just went public. Ron Huddleston: 22:56 Yeah. Those were all the early ones, yeah. Brian Walsh: 22:58 Yep. They all came in. All right. So there is a PayPal Mafia: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman. Ron Huddleston: 23:06 I don't know any of them very well. Brian Walsh: 23:08 Yeah, I know, but that's your social circle, I'm sure. You go surfing with them. I propose that there's actually an AppExchange Mafia as well now. We have you out there, Avanish at ServiceNow, Leyla took back over of the AppExchange, Todd Surdey is now at FinancialForce, Sean Hogan at Nintex, Brian Snyder at GE. That original crew, those people who were there on those early, Wild West days, are out there in the SaaS ecosystems. Ron Huddleston: 23:36 Yeah. Ross Eberhart's over here. Mike Rosenbaum's running product over there. Like, yeah, and a lot of trust amongst all those people. And we will, I'd love to work with any of those people. Avanish and I are always trying to figure out how we can do stuff. That's just a great group of people that, I think a lot of them learned a ton through that phase. There's even some folks that were from Oracle that are still in the Mafia, if you're going to call it that. Like, because Molly Bellero Fischer is still doing it. Ross is still doing it. Anders is still doing it. Ryan Begin's still doing it. Annie Heppberger, I think, runs partners now for Oracle. Brian Walsh: 24:23 Brent Floyd. Ron Huddleston: 24:24 Yeah. There's a lot going on; Kevin Walsh is still doing it. He's an Oracle person. Yeah. There are- Brian Walsh: 24:30 Joanne Pantuso is still doing it. Ron Huddleston: 24:32 That's right. Once you get a taste of working in ecosystems and partners, you don't really want to do other stuff, just because it's so fulfilling to help companies do something new, and grow, and to be part of their story. It's really fun. Like I said in the very beginning, in the opening when we were talking, if you could, you know, I had a lot of, I probably had 15 different jobs at Oracle. And this was by far the most fun. And I was a young man back then. And I had decided like, this is the thing I wanted to do. If I was going to work for somebody else, this is it, because there's no beating it. Like there's nothing, there's really not beating it once you get it going. That's why Twilio is so exciting, by the way. It's like the new Wild West. Brian Walsh: 25:13 Yep. Ron Huddleston: 25:13 It just reminds me of like the cloud. And a lot of those people are the same people, the Mafia you just mentioned, there's a lot of those same people that all recognize the same thing I do. Which means like, you're not running around saying, "Oh, trust me. This happened before." There's a bunch of people here that have lived it and are like, "Oh, my God. This is so interesting. It's exactly the same. And let's-" Brian Walsh: 25:34 We get to do it right the first time, this time. Ron Huddleston: 25:35 Yeah, yeah. Here's the thing -- we did it right before. I think I'd argue the Microsoft One Commercial Partner is set up the right way. We'll do it right here, it's just things are happening much faster. Instead of taking three or four years, it's happening in like 12 months. Brian Walsh: 25:52 Wow. Ron Huddleston: 25:53 It may be faster. It's crazy. Brian Walsh: 25:55 Well, and strategically, like technology-wise, adding in the whole serverless infrastructure, so you can host code now. You've got Flex, so you can start building out sort of UIs and the whole thing. Ron Huddleston: 26:05 Yeah, it has a face. Yep, that's a real thing. You'd be surprised how much having a face matters to LOB leaders, versus developers. Brian Walsh: 26:12 And I bet it also adds to some of the defensibility of it, right? Like, there's less attrition as you start adding even more and more layers, people can get deeper into your system, rather than just an API. Ron Huddleston: 26:23 Yeah. The thing about Flex, the most interesting part about Flex is the underlying technology. I don't want to give percentages, but I'd say a vast majority of the underlying technology has been around, you know, started 10 years ago, and it's been enhanced ever since. The moment that Flex came out, where it was a way to put a face, a UI, on what was possible in Twilio, the interest was a thousandfold, because it opened up people's minds to what Twilio was. Versus an API, which is a very difficult thing for non-developers to understand. You put a UI on it and explain what it is, you've just cracked open a huge market that should have been already there. It's just, people didn't understand what this, what Twilio could possibly do. And Flex wrapped that up nicely. Now the challenge is, when a platform, an API platform, which is a beautiful offering for SIs and ISVs, because it's like the cookbook that you need to do anything, which is just perfect for a partnering system. Brian Walsh: 27:21 And it's so damn easy to use at Twilio. Ron Huddleston: 27:23 Yeah. When you build an app, though, you, no matter what, unless you're picking exactly the right space, are probably going to bounce up into some elbows of people that have already built on your platform. And so, same problem at Salesforce, same problem at Microsoft, when you start expanding what you do and putting, you know, faces on things, and making new applications, like you mentioned Service Cloud and ServiceMax, that is a, you've got to tread very slowly, and know what you're doing, and make very considered decisions, because the chance that you are violating a commitment that you made to your ecosystem is probably very high. Now Twilio had never had a partner program, and really made a ton of commitments in that direction. But understanding the effects of things like this, and what's important, and what's not, is critical to our business going forward. And George and Jeff totally get it and understand. And so the idea of having governance, like a buy-build partner governance, and the impact that doing any of those actions, besides partner, if you buy or build, taking all that into consideration is one of the reasons why I feel really good about being here. Because they're super dead serious about it. And what they're focused on is, if they do buy or build, they're doing it underneath, like on the platform layer. Like even Flex, sure, it's a face. It's a UI. But if you really look at it, it's like an SDK for a UI. You know what I mean? It's not really a -- you could technically use it out of the box, but no one will. Brian Walsh: 29:02 Right. It's just the starting point. "Here, let me help you imagine this." Ron Huddleston: 29:06 Right, yeah. Brian Walsh: 29:08 That's fantastic. Well Ron, thank you very much for joining us. What's the best way, if somebody either wants to find a great job in an ecosystem, or they're looking to partner with Twilio, for them to get ahold of you and your team? Ron Huddleston: 29:20 If people want to do either of those things, the best way to get partnering going is to go online, and go to "become a partner," and go to the community. And then you'll get routed to like the person that you'll, you know, one of the 50-odd people that you'd be dealing with in to learn and become a partner. And there's people that are there just to quickly follow up and make sure you know how to do it and what's important. But if you're interested in getting a job, you can email me at rhuddleston@twilio.com, because we're hiring. We're going to hire another, you know -- lots. We're in super hiring phase right now. Brian Walsh: 29:59 Fantastic. Well, Ron, thank you very much for taking the time today, and glad we got this scheduled, and finally do it. Ron Huddleston: 30:04 Yeah, no. I'm very, very impressed by your fancy equipment and the level of professionalism in putting this podcast together. Brian Walsh: 30:11 Hey, look, I've grown up just as much as you have, okay? Ron Huddleston: 30:15 Yes, clearly you have. Brian Walsh: 30:18 All right, Ron. Thank you so much, everybody. Ron Huddleston: 30:20 All right. I'll see you around the water cooler. Bye. Outro: 30:22 Thanks for listening to this episode of the AppChat. Don't miss an episode. Visit AppChatPodcast.com, or subscribe on iTunes. Until next time, don't make success an accident.

Sonia and Colleen head to Las Vegas for Microsoft Inspire, the company’s biggest partner event. Global Chairperson Christine Bongard shares more about the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners Women in Technology community. Colleen interviews Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of the One Commercial Partner team, Gavriella Schuster. Please subscribe, rate, and share the episode. Find us at www.wibt.com. Send feedback to wibt@microsoft.com or tweet @MicrosoftWomen.

  For this special series of the podcast, leading up to Microsoft Inspire, I interview leaders from Microsoft's One Commercial Partner team to discuss the work that their teams are doing in this age of rapid digital transformation. My guest for this episode of the podcast is Melissa Mulholland -  Melissa is the worldwide lead driving strategy and business development for how businesses can be profitable in the Cloud. Specifically, Melissa is focused on enabling partners and customers to accelerate their business transformation in the Cloud delivering increased profitability, efficiency, and scale across Microsoft's Cloud services. In this episode Melissa and I discuss her work consulting with Microsoft Patners to transform their businesses – the amazing body of work she and the team have produced to help partner capitilze on the digital transformation opportunity - her career journey - and what’s in store for partners at Microsoft Inspire, July 15 to the 19th in Las Vegas, NV. If you are coming to Inspire, please join me in the Commons Theater on Wednesday, July 18th at 2:30 for a special session where I’ll share “What they don’t teach working with Microsoft”. You can listen to the podcast or view the transcript here or on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Player FM, other Android podcast players. As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach out to me on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or on email at vincem@cloudwavepartners.com. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the rating link. This helps others find the podcast. Links to the content we discussed: The Digital Transformation Opportunity eBook Series https://aka.ms/dtopportunity Inspire Session: https://myinspire.microsoft.com/sessions/94a2be88-99be-4307-8a62-3347da7ef013?source=sessions How to reach Melissa : https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-mulholland/ Transcript of the Interview Vince:                 Melissa, welcome to the podcast. Melissa M:         Thank you so you much, Vince.  It's a pleasure to be here today. I love getting the opportunity to connect with people like yourselves, and the partner community. Vince:                 Well, thank you for taking the time from your compressed schedule to talk to our listeners about the amazing work you and the team have been doing to enable and empower our partners, and all the great sessions in store for partners next week at Microsoft Inspire. And, I know just how busy this week must be for you. So, again, thank you so much. Melissa M:         Of course. The pleasure's all mine. When it comes down to it, it's being able to connect with the partner community that inspires me. It gives me all the great insight around the work that I do at Microsoft, because it's thanks to partners that really drive our revenue across our ecosytem. Vince:                 So, for our listeners who don't know, can you explain your role and mission in the Worldwide One Commercial Partner Organization at Microsoft? Melissa M:         Thanks for that. Yes. So, I've been at Microsoft ten, across a variety of different roles. But, I would say that the role I'm currently in right now, is by far, the one I'm having the most fun in, in my ten years at Microsoft. So, in the one commercial partner organization, I help partners by consulting them and helping them drive their business transformation, with the ultimate objectivity of course, of being profitable. And, I do that by, going and listening, and learning from successful companies that have built specialization and focus areas in helping drive customer problems. And so, it's been a really interesting journey over the past year, that I've been in this space, because it's fostered all this great content that we are able to share out with the broader ecosystem. So, many are maybe familiar with Partner Practice Deve...

For this special series of the podcast, leading up to Microsoft Inspire, I interview leaders from Microsoft's One Commercial Partner team to discuss the work that their teams are doing in this age of rapid digital transformation. My guest for this episode is Brent Combest, the general manager of the US One Commercial Partner organization responsible for Microsoft Value-added Service Partners to build profitable practices with and through Microsoft. Brent and I discuss the work his team does to help partners transform their businesses and build profitable and sustainable business models, his journey from the channel to Microsoft, and what's in store for partners July 15 through the 19th in Las Vegas, Nevada. And if you're coming to Inspire, please join me in the commons theater on Wednesday, July 18th at 2:30 for a special session where I'll share what they don't teach working with Microsoft. You can listen to the podcast or view the transcript here or on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Player FM, other Android podcast players. As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach out to me on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or on email at vincem@cloudwavepartners.com. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the rating link. This helps others find the podcast. Links discussed on the interview: aka.ms/modernpartner Microsoft Partner Practice Development Playbooks https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/campaigns/cloud-practice-playbooks Automotive Book of Dreams v1 TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW Brent, welcome to the podcast. Brent:                 Thanks for having me. Vince:                 It is great to have you here. Thank you for taking time from your compressed schedule. You are the general manager in the One Commercial Partner team focused on helping value added service providers scale their business with and through Microsoft. I'm excited to hear from you about your organization's role and focus, how partners can maximize the results of their practice with Microsoft, your view on this amazing transformation, and what's in store for partners in Microsoft Inspire. So welcome. Brent:                 Thank you very much. I'm happy to have this conversation. Some great topics there. Vince:                 So first off, can you explain to our listeners, in simple terms, the role of your organization at Microsoft? Brent:                 Sure. We reside inside of the One Commercial Partner organization here in the US and my team has 26 partner development managers inside of it and collectively, we look after about 650 partners from around the United States, some of the top partners that are driving our transformational cloud business. And our mission as a team is to help these partners develop modern practices that develop strong, sustainable growth in a very profitable way so that these partners are able to reinvest and create additional growth for the future. Vince:                 So why is Microsoft investing in this team and at this time? Brent:                 Well for us it all starts with our business model. Microsoft, for as long as I can remember has been a partner obsessed company. To the degree that we invest heavily in understanding our channel, what's driving success and wanting to share those best practices across the ecosystem. We invest as a company about a million dollars a year, just in research to understand what makes the best partners as great as they are. And then, from that, we take that knowledge and want to help others from across the ecosystem to flourish. And this is really the core of PDM does, a partner development manager does. They are, in my mind, an adjunct board member or an adjunct executive of a partner's leadership team. Their role is to come in and to help them paint that long-term vision for where they're going to go strategi...

For this special series of the podcast, leading up to Microsoft Inspire, I interview leaders from Microsoft's One Commercial Partner team to discuss the work that their teams are doing in this age of rapid digital transformation. I was delighted to welcome back to the podcast Eduardo Kassner, the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for the worldwide One Commercial Partner Organization under Gavriella Schuster. Eduardo was a previous guest on #39 - Fundamentals of Innovation for Partners to Transform.   In this episode, Eduardo and I have a lively discussion on the state of disruption that is continuing in our industry, the work that his team has been doing to enable and ready partners to embrace the transformation, the amazing content and eBooks that they have been delivering that we all need to be aware of and have access to, and what's in store for partners and some must attend sessions at Microsoft Inspire, July 15th through the 19th in Las Vegas, Nevada. As with each of my episodes, I appreciate your support, please tell your friends about the podcast and where you can find us. And I’d love your feedback you can reach me at vincemenzione on linkedin twitter facebook and Instagram or at vincem@cloudwavepartners.com. Designed to Disrupt https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/designed-to-disrupt-reimagine-your-apps-and-transform-your-industry/ Sessions we discuss at Inspire. General Sessions & Breakouts Type Title Time Location General Session | Eduardo Kassner Are you ready to capture the Artificial Intelligence opportunity? Come and learn from the best in the Market. MONDAY | 12:30-1:15 PM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom F Breakout Learn best practices for finding and retaining top technical talent MONDAY | 1:45-2:30 PM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom F Breakout Partner Capital Adequacy in a Cloud-first World MONDAY | 3:00-3:45 PM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom F General Session | Melissa Mulholland Capitalize on the Digital Transformation Opportunity MONDAY | 4:15-5:00 PM North, Level 0, Islander Ballroom A Breakout There is nothing trivial about providing Cloud Migration or Operations Services. Come learn from the best and accelerate your practice. TUESDAY | 4:15-5:00 PM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom C Workshops & Booth Sessions Type Title Time Location Booth Partner Profitability + Partner University ALL DAYS | 11:00 – 6:00 PM MPN Booth on Expo Floor Workshop Want to build an AI Practice, or add AI Services to your products? Build your strategy based on best practices TUESDAY | 12:30-1:15PM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom I Workshop Beat the technical skills gap. Come build your strategy to attract, develop and retain top talent. TUESDAY | 2:00-3:00PM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom G Workshop Accelerate the sales process with packaged cloud solutions WEDNESDAY | 2:30-3:30PM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom G Workshop Accelerate your cloud business model WEDNESDAY | 4:00-5:00PM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom G Workshop Value Based Pricing Approached – Shifting Project Revenue to High Margin Recurring Revenue WEDNESDAY | 8:30-9:30AM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom G Workshop Want to provide the best Cloud Migration & Operations services? Come learn from the best practices and accelerate your success WEDNESDAY | 9:45-10:45AM North, Level 0, South Pacific Ballroom G Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy this episode. Transcript of the Interview. Eduardo, welcome back to the podcast. Eduardo K.:                      Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be back. Vince Menzione:             I'm excited to have you back. I know how compressed your schedule is right now. This is a great time for a discussion about what your team's been up to, and what's going to happen at Inspire in Las Vegas. I'm happy to have you back right before the event this year. Eduardo K.

  Warren Wilbee, Sr. Director of Microsoft ISV Partner Recruitment I was pleased to have Warren Wilbe, who leads Microsoft’s U.S. efforts recruiting Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) join my podcast to discuss Microsoft's efforts to recruit software companies to its Azure Cloud. Warren's team of Partner Business Managers work with key ISVs across the United States as part of Microsoft's One Commercial Partner organization, or OCP. In this episode Warren* and I discuss his teams focus, how he gauges success, how partners can engage with he and the team, and what makes a great partner. If you are an ISV that is a Microsoft Partner or want to learn how to become one - you will find this episode of particular interest. Books Warren has  read or gifted often - Phule's Company - Robert Asprin.  How to reach Warren - wwilbee@microsoft.com *About Warren - Prior to joining Microsoft, Warren spent 18 years working as a technical leader and architect across the U.S. and Canada with various ISVs, primarily software companies focused on providing ERP Solutions. Warren lives in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children. When he isn’t enjoying time with his family or exploring technology, you’ll probably find him reading science fiction/fantasy or cruising on one of his motorcycles. You can listen to the podcast or view the trascript below. You can also find Ultimate Guide to Partnering on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Player FM, other Android podcast players. As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach out to me on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or on email at vincem@cloudwavepartners.net. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the rating link. This helps others find the podcast. This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Cloud Wave Partners. TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW Warren. Welcome to the podcast. Warren Wilbee:              Hey Vince. Thanks for having me on. Vince:                               It is great to have you on. You lead a team focused on helping independent software vendors, ISV's, and are very focused on recruiting great companies to the Microsoft as your platform. I'm excited to have you join today to tell our listeners about your business, what you look for in great partnerships, what you're seeing happening in this age of rapid change, and your career journey. Warren Wilbee:              I look forward to the discussion. Vince:                               Can you spend a few minutes explaining your role in the Microsoft OCP organization and where your organization is focused? Warren Wilbee:              OCP, let's decode that to begin with. OCP stands for One Commercial Partner. It was an organization that was created this last summer when several different organizations that all had been focusing on different partner types and sometimes often quite frankly, a little bit of overlap, came together to present a cleaner face to our partner community and to help us serve them better. My part of that very important organization is to focus on independent software vendors. My team focuses on recruiting new software companies to the Microsoft platform and also we have a large swath of partners that we have dealt with over the years that we still provide service. Vince:                               You work with some organizations that are new to the cloud or new to Microsoft. How do you gauge success with your partners? Warren Wilbee:              My organization exists to make our partners successful. When we start working with a partner, one of the things that we like to do with them is to help understand their vision, their mission, where they're at and where they're going and redefine success largely on how we help them meet those objectives using our platform. The thing is that we hold ourselves accountable to in...

Toby Richards, General Manager Worldwide Partner Programs In this episode we peel back on the Worldwide Partner Transformation going on at Microsoft and the One Commercial Partner or OCP organization that is driving much of it with Toby Richards, the General Manager of Partner Programs at Microsoft. Toby and his team are responsible for partner programs worldwide at Microsoft including the Microsoft Partner Network program, the CSP - Cloud Solution Provider partner experience, community engagement and the Microsoft Inspire partner conference. In our discussion we focus on how his team is supporting and leading this worldwide partner transformation, what programs are getting the most attention and what has changed. Toby has spent over 25 years in the technology industry, holding several leadership roles within Microsoft including Customer & Partner Experience, and most recently, Partner Support within the company’s WW Services organization. In our discussion we also discuss his career journey. In this episode you will learn: What programs are getting the most of his attention during the worldwide partner transformation. How he is thinking about the startup community and early stage partners with IP. The new Microsoft Partner Community Portal and plans to expand the content to drive greater collaboration. His experience in the Customer and Partner Experience Organization and how he has applied his perspective on the change and transformation with an emphasis on customer success. The Modern Partner Series and its four attributes: 1. Differentiate to Stand Out, 2. Optimize your Operations, 3. Modernizing Sales and Marketing and 4. Focus on Customer Lifetime Value. The greatest challenges he sees with partners transforming and making the shift to the new model. Why it’s important to follow the incentives. What he believes makes a great partner The IDC Study on Partner Profitability. His professional journey and why the voice of customer always wins.   You can listen to the podcast here. As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at vincem@cloudwavepartners.net. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast. I hope you enjoy this episode! Vince Menzione

One of the most important and pivotal areas of focus for the company is the the group of Microsoft Strategic Partners with Licensing Solution Competencies. I've been interviewing partner leaders on how the business is evolving since the formation of the OCP or One Commercial Partner organization and this week's discussion led me to Scott Buth, whose team focuses on supporting some of the largest strategic partners at Microsoft. During Scott’s nearly 10 years at Microsoft, and 14 years in the Channel, he has held a variety of roles from sales and product management to partner account management across software and hardware. Now as Director of Partner Development in Microsoft's One Commercial Partner organization, he is responsible for the solution and practice development within Microsoft’s US Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) Partners aligned to Microsoft’s four solution areas – Modern Workplace, Apps & Infrastructure, Data & AI, and Business Applications. . In our interview you will learn about Scott's role and the mission of his team, what strategic levers he applies to help these partners evolve their practices and where he sees the growth for Microsoft's largest strategic partners. In addition, you will learn: How his organization works across OCP - leveraging resources from Build With, Go-to-Market and Sell With organizations to help partners better align on business planning, strategy and market expansion. The infusion of PTS or Partner Technology Strategists and "the swarm" of CSA - Cloud Solution Architects available to partners. Challenges partners face during the transformation. How partners are developing new revenue models. How he sees the business evolving with CSP - Cloud Solution Provider program. Qualities he believes important to great partnerships: commitment, transparency and accountability. The importance of having a growth mindset and listening. His personal and professional journey and business philosophy. You can listen to the podcast and read the transcript of this episode below. As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at vincem@cloudwavepartners.net. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast. Thank you for following and listening. I hope you enjoy this episode! Vince Menzione Transcript Vince Menzione:             Welcome to the 30th episode of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering. In this episode, I walk the hallways once again at Microsoft to interview partner leaders during this season of change and transformation. In this episode, we'll peel back on the organization that manages some of Microsoft's most strategic and largest partners. My guest today is Scott Buth, director of partner development in the One Commercial Partner Team. We'll learn about Scott's role and mission, how his team engages with these partners, strategic levers he's applying to help these partners grow, and where he sees the growth. As with each of my episodes, I appreciate your feedback. With the latest version of iOS, it's easier now than ever to rate and review this episode. You can also email me at VinceM@cloudwavepartners.net. Thank you for listening and thank you for supporting the Ultimate Guide to Partnering. Scott, welcome to the podcast. I'm really excited to have you on today to share with our listeners your role leading what we refer to as the "strategic partners with license solution provider authorization" at Microsoft, and how you go to market, what you look for in successful partnerships, your career journey, and your personal story. So, welcome. Scott Buth:                       Thank you, Vince. I appreciate you having me on today. Vince Menzione:             Just really great timing to have you, given the state of change in the channel and at Microsoft...

In my podcast and recent series - Season of Change and Transformation,  I interview leaders from Microsoft on how the recent reorganization is impacting partner engagement for over 300,000 partners to ensure partners stay in lock step with the technology giant. In this 28th episode, I visit with William Lewallen who leads the Cloud Solution Provider Program in the United States for an encore episode and update on the program for Microsoft's Fiscal Year 2018. William was an early guest on Episode 5 of Ultimate Guide to Partnering and as a member of the OCP or One Commercial Partner organization he leads the engagement of over 8000 CSP partners for Microsoft's United States subsidiary. In this encore episode you will learn: Where the CSP Program now sits within OCP - One Commercial Partner Organization. His point of view on the energy level in Bellevue and sense of renewed commitment. Changes and enhancements to Microsoft's Cloud Solution Provider Program since Episode 5. Where he is focused to drive incremental growth for the business. Channel incentive levers that favorably support the program. Where people can learn more about CSP - HERE You can listen or read the transcript of this episode below. As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at vincem@cloudwavepartners.net. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast. Thank you for following and listening. I hope you enjoy this episode! Vince Menzione Podcast Transcript Vince Menzione:             William, welcome to the podcast. William L.:                        Hey, Vince. Good morning. Vince Menzione:             It's really great to have you back on this encore episode and update on the business. You were an early interview guest - Episode 5, and given the state of change and transformation, I thought it would be great for our listeners to get this check-in from you on the state of the CSP or Cloud Solution Provider business. So, welcome. William L.:                        Yeah. Thanks for having me back and congratulations. We're a long way from Episode 5 now, and I've listened to most of them. And I think what you're doing is great and providing a real great set of resources for partners. So, congratulations. Vince Menzione:             Thank you for that very generous feedback, and for our listeners who didn't tune in to Episode 5, can you take a moment to peel back on your role at Microsoft and the Cloud Solution Provider program in greater detail? William L.:                        Sure. So, the Cloud Solution Provider program, CSP, is a sales program that allows partners to resell our cloud services alongside their own managed professional services and IP. So it's a program where partners are responsible for deploying, managing, provisioning, management and billing, so they can offer a more streamlined experience for their customers. And my role in the US subsidiary of Microsoft is, I am the lead for the program. Vince Menzione:             And your role sites in the new One Commercial Partner, or OCP, organization. Is that correct, William? William L.:                        That is correct, and the reorganization put all of our commercial partners - so think of that as non-consumer partners - into a single organization called One Commercial Partner. There are a few teams that make up that organization. There's a Build With side, and I think you spoke with somebody about kind of some more details on that, essentially where we're doing partner and practice development. There is a Sell With side that's focused on co-selling alongside our sales teams in the field. I'm part of the Go To Market, or GTM, team, which is really kind of putting glue between the entire looking left to right across the partner life cycle from re...

I've dubbed this interview and series, Microsoft's Season of Change and Transformation. This is the first interview in a series to help the partner community best engage with the technology giant as it evolves it's partner business to better serve partners and customers. As most of you know, Microsoft announced a major reorganization to it's customer and partner - facing business in early July which included the formation of a "One Commercial Partner" or OCP organization. This included three key elements - "Build With", "Go to Market", and "Sell With"*. *In an earlier episode, Bill Hawkins helped decode the announcements for our listeners in greater detail and you can listen to this Episode 18 as a primer. With Microsoft summer and implementation still underway, I thought it would be good to walk our partners down the hallways of Bellevue and Redmond and "peel back" through interviews with partner leaders on how to best align and engage with Microsoft at this critical season. My guest for this interview episode is Eric Loper. Eric leads a "Build With" organization of partner business development managers focused on growing competencies, capabilities and capacity with Microsoft's top partners in the United States. This is a second or " encore" interview episode with for Eric. If you listened to Episode 2 of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering you will remember Eric as my very first interview guest. At the time Eric and I had a great discussion and he shared with partner listeners the essential elements of partnering, his observations on technology trends and recommendations on how to best engage with the technology giant. You can listen to that episode here. For this interview episode, Eric updates us on how the changes are positively impacting his organization, the renewed excitement and energy around partners, how both partners and partner sellers now need to think and act, and the increased investments in growing the business with and through partners. A full transcript of the interview is below in the show notes. If you have not listened to the podcast, now is your chance by going to iTunes , Google Play, Player FM, other Android podcast players or by going to my website “Ultimate Guide to Partnering“. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings tab. This helps others find the podcast. You can also follow and like on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Thank you for following and listening. Vince Menzione Transcript of our interview. Eric, welcome back to the podcast. It is so great to have you back for this encore episode and to update our listeners on you and the business. You were my very first interview guest about 25 episodes ago. Boy, have we come a long way since then. At the time, you had a fairly small team, focused strictly on the National Solution Provider Program, and your organization was nested in the US business underneath the S&S&P team. Flash forward six months now, all of that is changed, and I'm super excited to have you here, and hear from you about the changes. The charge in the energy in Bellevue and RedMon right now. So, tell our listeners a little bit about what's happening. Eric Loper:                       Awesome. Well, first of all, thanks for having me. It's always good to have a chance to catch up. By the way, I listened to some of your conversation with Bill Hawkins the other day. I thought that he did a great job. I took away some things from that and excited that you continue to deliver something that's pretty cool for our partner community. Vince Menzione:             Thank you. So tell us, how is the charge in energy in Bellevue right now? Eric Loper:                       I think there's a ton of excitement. We're in a place right now where we are seeing great investment. Some of that is really recognizing the opportunity this year in the US.

In the Microsoft Partner Network Podcast, we speak with industry leaders and Microsoft partners about the big ideas shaping business and technology today. In today’s episode, we hear from Eduardo Kassner, Director of Strategy and Innovation for Microsoft’s One Commercial Partner group. He dives into the topic of the technology skills gap and how companies can get the talent they need to succeed. Tune in weekly for access to the latest episode. For a full transcript of the podcast, check out the blog, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter @MSPartner.   Host: Rachel Braunstein, Microsoft Digital Marketing Manager Follow her @rkbraunstein and on LinkedIn.   Guest: Eduardo Kassner, Microsoft Director of Strategy and Innovation Follow him @ekassner and on LinkedIn

I recently returned from an amazing week in Washington DC where I had the opportunity to present to partners on "how to take their Microsoft relationship to the next level", visit many old friends and meet new friends. I also received some amazing feedback on Ultimate Guide to Partnering. This is an important time at Microsoft and partners need to better understand how the changes will impact their business and engagement with the tech giant. I asked a voice of the Microsoft partner field to help me take our listeners through the changes - what it means to partners and how this ultimately translates into action in the days ahead. In this latest episode of the podcast I was joined by Bill Hawkins from Microsoft's One Commercial Partner or OCP organization to share his thoughts on the changes, how they will impact partners and how partner sellers will engage to drive partner success in FY18. In the discussion Bill pointed to an overarching theme - the right resource, engaging with the right partner, at the right time. We discuss exactly what has changed. The slide below provides an overview of the roles and motions and we go through each element in more detail on the podcast. We touch on the shift in compensation to better align sellers to the consumption model versus the transaction. Everyone in the field will be pivoting harder in this regard. More details on incentives plans will follow as changes roll out to the segments. They have not been released as of the date of this podcast to individuals in the Microsoft organization. Toni Townes Whitley discussed the shift to "industry focused - partner powered" which is fundamental and allow for da eeper and more focused engagement by Microsoft sellers with partners into a given customer's business. The 6 verticals are: 1. Financial Services 2. Manufacturing 3. Retail 4. Education 5. Health - 430 accounts, roughly $2B. 6. Government We conclude here that it's a great time to be a partner! Satya's announced 4 key solution areas for the business during his Monday keynote - its important to note that these are not stove-piped business silos, but interdependent solution sets: 1. Modern Workplace & introduced MICROSOFT 365 2. Business Applications - including DYNAMICS 365 3. Applications & Infrastructure - 4. Data and AI In the days ahead, I'll be asking leaders from Redmond and elsewhere to join the podcast and share more details on how these changes translate into success for partners. Now more than any time - its important that Redmond have a persistent channel and message to partners and field sellers on how to drive the change to effect mutual success. I'm happy to be a conduit at scale through Ultimate Guide to Partnering. I hope you enjoy this episode. If you have not listened to the podcast, now is your chance by going to iTunes , Google Play, Player FM or going to my website “Ultimate Guide to Partnering“. Please review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings tab. This helps others find the podcast. You can also follow and like on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Thank you for following and listening. Vince Menzione

Carolyn and Seth look at some of the big announcements coming out of the Microsoft Inspire partner event, including the Microsoft 365 bundles, the One Commercial Partner model, and consumption-based compensation.

Carolyn and Seth look at some of the big announcements coming out of the Microsoft Inspire partner event, including the Microsoft 365 bundles, the One Commercial Partner model, and consumption-based compensation.