Disclaimer: Although I did work on this project as a Microsoft employee, this article was written solely based on publicly available information.
Background
By 2021, Microsoft had built the largest and most successful partner network in the tech industry, comprised of more than 400,000 organizations around the world [1]. Accordingly, the so-called Microsoft Partner Network was one of Microsoft’s greatest assets in enabling widespread cloud migration. There were signs, however, that pointed to a need for major changes to the Microsoft Partner Network. Customers were beginning to demand more from their cloud providers, like application modernization and security, and were becoming uncertain with how the Microsoft Partner Network fit their shifting needs. Internally, Microsoft was increasingly challenged to align partner investments in these new cloud needs with the structure of the Microsoft Partner Network. And as a result, partners had begun to express dissatisfaction.
Design of the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program
I joined the Microsoft Partner Network team soon after a project was created to address these challenges. We set out to overhaul the partner network, with an emphasis on:
- Simplifying the structure and taxonomy in a manner that would resonate with customers.
- Designing data-based scoring that would provide a holistic validation of partner capability.
- Aligning partner investments to best enable the business growth of partners.
My role was to lead work on the third item by driving additional investment in partner benefits and resources, mapping those investments to the redesigned partner structure and defining those policies via technical requirements for our engineering team.
I am most proud of being able to significantly increase partner investments, such as Azure credits and support services, while ensuring that no partners would lose benefits, resources or incentives. I analyzed data on performance metrics, created financial models and influenced executives across Microsoft. I also found it highly rewarding to work hand-in-hand with our Partner Center engineering team to ensure that the policies and requirements I designed resulted in a seamless user experience.
Launch
On October 3rd, 2022, we launched the redesigned partner program, rebranded as the “Microsoft Cloud Partner Program”. The launch was accompanied by positive press, headlined by articles by CIO Digital Magazine, CRN [3], and Nicole Dezen, our CVP at Microsoft [4]. The Microsoft Cloud Partner Program has proven to be successful and appreciated by many companies like Endava which celebrated their accomplishments in the new program [5].
Lessons
This project taught me much about the product management of web applications, channel sales strategy, and influencing senior executives across business units. I learned the most about governance and change management for policies that impact thousands of global constituents. In particular, I learned that policies need to be seen as legitimate by constituents in order to be successful. It is important to be clear and transparent about not just a policy itself, but the intention behind the policy. Additionally, I learned that radical changes inherently come with a trade-off between the roll-out speed and short-term disruption. It is critical not to discount the value created from efforts to minimize that disruption as much as possible.
References
[2] https://www.cio.com/article/306796/microsofts-partner-program-gets-a-cloud-overhaul.html
[3] https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/microsoft-cloud-partner-program-launches-end-of-silver-and-gold
[4] https://blogs.partner.microsoft.com/partner/welcome-to-the-microsoft-cloud-partner-program/
