Susanne Dansey’s Blog

Microsoft luuurves acronyms and it would be outrageous if they had a division that didn’t have one. The Partner Technical Specialist Team (PTS if you are short of time) are a group of guys and gals who have finally found out about the UK and Irish community thanks to David Overton and the SMS&P (Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners) team.

I’ve been talking to Steve Clayton and Chris Parkes about how the PTS team can help the community whilst meeting their goals and objectives.

One of the things Chris is working on is to find ways in which the Demo Showcase tool can help enable you to sell better to your customers. We chatted earlier in the week about this and some of the things now realised is that one-man-bands and most small businesses don’t have time to read presentation scripts which aid the VPC images. Another is that time is of the essence with us and whilst we would love to afford someone who can effectively roll out Demos everytime, the simple fact is that most can’t.

So how does Microsoft and the PTS team enable us to use the tools they have offered us? The Ignite tours have had mixed feedback so far and Microsoft are tweaking the next round to try and suit us better. Their regional events that matched in with the UK partner groups worked well and allowed attendees to get more value out of one event as opposed to taking time out to go to two events in a month. Realising that our time is money or the time we would like to spend at home with the family is key and I think the Demo Showcase should follow down this line as well.

So what do the PTS team suggest? Well you may see the PTS attending a group near you trying to find out exactly what you need - they’ve got the word ‘partner’ in their name so you are their focus! Chris is looking to offer those who want to use the tool an online demo tool so that you can learn the basic ideas and feel confident talking to your clients about the Microsoft Product Suite with the same confidence.

They understand partners don’t all have the luxury of a dedicated marketeer or sales bod and want to arm you with the hammer you need to add to your SB toolbox. How they do it will be seen in the next few months…

So what about the rest of the PTS gang? They see themselves as an ‘elite group of pre-sales technical experts that helps Partners keep their fingers on the pulse of Microsoft technology and solutions’ and ‘to be like super-heroes but without the funny outfits’ (aaw and I wanted to see the funny outfits!). There is a sense of these guys getting it about the community and they are making themselves more available through their blogs and PTS TV. The only way that we can have some influence on how they approach us is to feedback to them. Watch out for word from your regional group leader and here to see how things develop.

In the meantime, if you have time to get your hands on a copy of Demo Showcase then let Chris know what you think!

PTS TV focusses on several key topics (and more) such as:

• Collaboration
• Vista
• Exchange Server
• Information Worker
• Business Intelligence
• Security
• Unified Communication
• Office

Don’t forget to check out the video of David Overton on Vista!

For more information on the partner programmes and initiatives coming out from Microsoft (UK) click here.