We have been given permission.
We can say <wait for it> … Hybrid.
At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, DC last July the word was used over and over again. Microsoft execs repeated it and they want partners to repeat it too. Reality Check: Microsoft wants and needs partners to help get their customers in the cloud.
Part of going “To the Cloud” may involve a stepping back and forth between traditional On-Premise systems and Cloud based systems … hence the need for a Hybrid Model to span the gap. And the need to Mind the Gap is critical for successful deployments.
But, the question remains ---
How much Hybrid'ness can your customers take?
This is where Microsoft needs to rely upon the tried and true and trusty Partner Ecosystem. The partners KNOW their customers. The partners KNOW what the customers are asking for. The partners KNOW (for the most part) that they want to play in this Cloud First strategy Microsoft is embracing.
What do Partners Need to Know? (Tweet This)
Partners are interested in helping their customers. Since their customers are asking about cloud based solutions they want to know what Microsoft has to say and how they can play.
Partners want to know and are expecting Microsoft to help here with definitions, revenue, recognition and transparency. So, the request to Microsoft is … please help partners understand the following:
- What Microsoft means by hybrid (Definitions)
- How Partners generate revenue and get recognition from Microsoft for hybrid deployments (Revenue & Recognition)
- How their local Microsoft reps are being paid and recognized (Transparency)
Say it with me … Hybrid. Hybrid. Hybrid.
More Good News
Microsoft IS getting the word out.
If you want to know more go to the Microsoft Partner Network site. If you happen to be in the Seattle area on October 16th you are cordially invited to the IAMCP Seattle event with Microsoft’s Gavriella Schuster. Click on this link here and register so we know you are coming. Send me any questions you have. We hope you can join us!
What Do You Think?
- Are your customers asking for Hybrid Deployments?
- Is Microsoft providing the information you need?
- How much Hybrid'ness can your customers take?
Drop a comment here or in the social channels below. Inquiring minds want to know.
Jeff is an expert in the Enterprise Content Management industry. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and is currently the Chief Evangelist at K2. Tweet him @jshuey or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+ He is active in the Microsoft Partner Community and is the co-founder and President of the IAMCP Seattle chapter.
He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to the Personal Branding Blog.
Comments
And so they lost the messaging war by focussing too much on greenfield opportunities vs. brownfield.
Hybrid basically is an other term for "legacy integration". Because from a purely logical financial, security and performance rationale, there is very little reason to build hybrid systems:
They are more expensive,
They are more brittle
They are less secure
They are harder to manage.
But they appeal to senior management in companies that are being actively pitched FUD messages to the contrary by these traditional outsourced DC vendors
Karl has lightly enumerated a single instance of hybridization, and the worst case at that.
Companies with active development in all matters of internal and external IT have NO LEGACY obligation or committments. They are playing to win their customers and save for POS hardware, no one is interested in yesterday's UX or server or adp system.
Management harder? Well if you're not really managing then it will be.
Secure? You're joking Karl. Security isn't a footprint characteristic, its a policy, process and implementation field. Heartbleed was caused by an engineer who DID NOT follow the official spec, not by someone who deployed the resultant software into a hybrid plant.
Brittle? Choose your vendors wisely do you?
Expensive? Training is expensive. On the other hand, not being able to hire the bright young engineers who demand advanced system architecture ... is pretty costly too.
Ok. I no longer feel provoked.