09/01/2005
September 2005 - Taking the Partner Pulse
Our 2005 Partner Survey reveals members of the Microsoft Partner Program are mostly a happy, loyal lot. But there’s room for improvement in areas ranging from pricing and licensing to accessibility and security. Plus: Helping partners go vertical, why Microsoft Partner Awards matter and much more.
From the business wires this week: a remote desktop solution for 64-bit Windows, a portable fingerprint scanner for laptops, a spam filter for Outlook and 64-bit servers and workstations.
From the business wires this week: learning resources for Comptia A+ and Microsoft SQL Server 2005, an IM firewall and a network traffic monitoring tool.
Next year, Software Assurance will include a sizable increase in training vouchers. The increase can prove to be a boon to Microsoft Certified Training Partners.
With exam rollout problems apparently worked out, Microsoft has begun beta testing exams 70-293 and 70-294.
From the business wires this week: a beta desktop virtualization software, an e-mail storage software suite and a KVM-over-IP device for remote management of servers.
From the business wires this week: a business security suite for Windows Server, a VSAM-to-SQL Server conversion tool and a small-business dual-core server.
Readers report a significant increase in salary over last year's survey results.
From the business wires: a firewall that IDs hackers, a GUI command line console and more.
New packaged services spell opportunity for partners, but is the same true of Microsoft's managed services strategy?
Partners to get new opportunities in delivering deployment services and training.
The new PartnerPoint portal reaches out to partners by offering services that supplement the Microsoft Partner Program.
Microsoft's latest salesforce reorganization opens new opportunities for enterprise partners, but raises questions about the company's long-term ambitions.
Are we stating the obvious when we reveal that Windows Server 2003 dominates on servers among our readership? How about if we told you that it wasn't total and utter domination?