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While Microsoft Corp. is expected to use this weeks Worldwide Partner Conference to flesh out its vertical sales push, company brass also are going to detail the small-business and midmarket initiatives that Microsoft will launch in the coming year.
Microsofts annual partner conference kicks off on Thursday in Minneapolis. More than 6,000 resellers, OEMs, systems integrators, software specialists and other kinds of partners are slated to attend.
Microsoft execs began detailing Microsofts increasingly vertical sales emphasis in March. This week, Microsoft execs will outline a new “Go Vertical” framework, designed to provide partners with training and tools for developing their own vertical sales plans that will mesh with Microsofts. Microsoft is expected to evangelize to partners in the ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) spaces, especially, the importance of refocusing vertically.
Simultaneously, Microsoft is stepping up its sales strategies in the small-business and midmarket spaces.
The company is expected to launch a new program specifically for partners targeting small businesses, known as the “Small Business Specialist Community.” (Microsoft officials said in March they were developing such a program, designed to target resellers that sell Microsoft networking and system products, including Small Business Server, to companies with 25 employees or fewer.)