What’s happening with the SBSC programme?
This is really an open-ended post; I don’t have the answer for everyone but I know why we have a blue badge next to our corporate logo…
Many in the UK are looking to Microsoft to raise the awareness of what a MS Small Business Specialist means to the business community and Robbie Upcroft and the team are working on a few things that they hope to release in the next few months. This particular conversation is happening here.
I leave this post open for constructive comments so that any feedback can be used to make the partnership work better…
For me, the badge represents a platform whereby I can be recognised by Microsoft as a proactive partner. Without the blue badge to separate me from the rest of the registered partners, I would have to work twice as hard to find the connections I have through this programme - these connections work for me like they do in the community. As a Premium Partner, I have access to a subsection of the partner site which gives me insight into SBS themes (both technical and business orientate) that I can then translate into a language my clients understand. I get to use a whole heap of things that I now have access to as a SBSC partner.
I’m not niaive to forget all the things we have been promised haven’t been delivered 100% but I know they are on the way. Robbie and the team have made in-roads that others wouldn’t have been able to achieve. In the meantime, the SMS&P team in the UK are reaching out to us in other alternative ways (i.e. David Overton, the PTS team)
Stick with it and above all, don’t just rely on a blue badge to get you new business. Want to know about how to change things now? Join a group… or check out the list to the right of this blog site.
[…] What are your goals? Be fully managed? Be totally efficient? Quit your current IT job? Get married? (oh, I’m going to get killed for that one) Susanne has a nice writeup of how she got her business closer to Microsoft. Don’t be afraid of the community. Don’t be afraid of asking for help. None of us are 100% satisfied with what we have and what we do - this is why we are still out there trying, working, communicating, asking, connecting, evaluating, competing, most of all: bsing. This is all a big learning experience, a big puzzle. We’re all trying to put it together one clueless piece at a time. […]
I think these guys have delivered a lot so far and you’ve just got to sit down and chat with someone like Dave Overton, to realise that they are completely dedicated to supporting partners.
Also, you’ve got to engage constructively with Microsoft and ask for things? Hey, a lot of times they’ll say no but sometimes they do say yes! Trust me, I know from experience.
Vijay