Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications

    Prepping Partners to Go for the Gold

    By
    eWEEK EDITORS
    -
    May 21, 2001
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      In a continued effort to enhance its Gold Certified Partner Program, Microsoft has added new certifications in the business-intelligence and collaborative-solutions categories.

      The latest designations fill two holes that were identified by Microsoft partners and that also were recently announced in conjunction with the upcoming release of Project Guides, blueprints designed to help partners sell and deploy solutions.

      The newest certification additions come before Microsofts mid-July Fusion 2001 partner conference, where Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates will be the closing keynote speaker outlining where partners play in the companys .Net Web- services strategy.

      The two new designations were missing from the menu of certifications the company had initially put together when it debuted the Gold Certified Partner Program, its top-tier program, in November. At the time, the goal was to have the latest designations by May, says Rosa Garcia, general manager of the Partner Program Group at Microsoft.

      Gold Certified Partner certifications were created in categories such as e-commerce solutions, software products, support services, enterprise systems, and hosting and applications services.

      “We have delivered as promised,” says Garcia. “We needed to create two more certifications.” She says the certifications for business intelligence, for instance, identify the “deep experience” and expertise around data-warehousing, data-mart or OLAP functionality based on Microsoft technologies.

      Given the growing importance of databases as they relate to e-commerce, Web systems and a customers internal data, the certification around business intelligence looks to tap the expertise partners have developed in knowledge management, Garcia says. “Knowledge management has been in and out of fashion for a while, and it is still important and there are still a lot of services around it.”

      The need for those services may come to play more at a time when the economy is not as robust as it was a couple of years ago. “When the economy is not going well, companies cannot make intelligent decisions,” because they may lack access to data-warehousing information that could glean good business intelligence, according to Garcia.

      The new certifications show a push by Microsoft to have its partners zero in on core competencies, says Lee Blackstone, CEO of Blackstone & Cullen, a 30-person application-development firm founded in 1989. The company is a Microsoft Gold partner in business intelligence and collaborative solutions.

      “I think Microsoft is really nailing down core competencies,” says Blackstone, who along with his partner, Frank Cullen, helped Microsoft come up with some of the criteria for the certifications in business intelligence and collaborative solutions.

      “For the collaborative-solutions certification, we wanted people to have done a project or generated a quarter of a million in revenue,” says Blackstone, adding that the revenue criteria is not warranted in all the Gold certifications. “We felt that the revenue piece is important because it goes beyond a pilot costing $20 thousand to $30 thousand.”

      Claudia Imhoff, CEO and president of Business Intelligence, is not a Microsoft Gold partner because of the small size of her five-person company. Still, she plays a big role helping Microsoft create criteria.

      “The new category is important because it does identify those consulting partners that have good breadth and depth in business intelligence and indicate they have the capabilities,” Imhoff says.

      “I serve as a sounding board [for Microsoft]. We are getting into specifics to find if partners are using analysis services, or creating multidimensional analysis and modeling capabilities,” she adds.

      Imhoff notes that the strict certification requirements in the business-intelligence category will allow Microsoft to “weed out the people that just build databases.”

      And you think TVs “Boot Camp” is tough. There are no weak links here.

      eWEEK EDITORS
      eWeek editors publish top thought leaders and leading experts in emerging technology across a wide variety of Enterprise B2B sectors. Our focus is providing actionable information for today’s technology decision makers.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×