Microsoft adds small-business partner specialty

Microsoft is singling out its partners that sell to the small-business market and making them a special group within the Microsoft Partner Program, it announced Friday at its Worldwide Partner Conference 2005.

Free IT resource Hear how top CIOs turn change into a competitive advantage. Sponsored by HP Free IT resource Try Sun servers, workstations and storage products free for 60-days. Sponsored by Sun Microsystems

The overall partner program recognizes various competencies in technology specialties, and the new small business group, of the Small Business Specialist Community, identifies one of those specific competencies, said Steven Guggenheimer, vice president of small business for Microsoft.

There are three requirements for joining Microsoft's Small Business Specialist Community. A company must be first be a Microsoft partner, and then pass two tests, one on sales and marketing to small businesses, and another that tests technical proficiency in Microsoft's small business products, Guggenheimer said.

The third requirement is that partners must either subscribe to an Action Pack if they are a reseller or solution provider, or an Empower Kit if they are part of Microsoft's ISV community, he said. Action Packs and Empower Kits offer software, marketing materials and other resources partners can use to sell Microsoft products to customers.

By signing on to the new specialty, partners can use the Microsoft Small Business Specialist logo on marketing materials and business cards and have access to a new online community that helps them share marketing resources, Guggenheimer said.

They also receive 25 points in the Microsoft partner program and will be highlighted on Microsoft's customer site for small businesses when a company is looking for technical assistance, he said.

"When [small businesses] do a search for partners, we surface a Small Business Specialist to the top of that list," he said. "It does a better job of connecting customers with these partners."

Microsoft has been boosting its investment in the small business segment over the past three years, and has developed several software products aimed at this market.

At the conference this week, Microsoft added a new product to its small-business arsenal, Small Business Accounting 2006, which will be available in September. Other small-business products include Small Business Server, Microsoft Office Small Business, and Small Business Financials.

Guggenheimer said Microsoft plans to continue to offer new products targeted specifically at small businesses, but would not to go into further detail about what those might be. However, he said not to expect an explosion of small-business products from Microsoft because that's not what companies in that segment want.

"Small businesses don't want 100 million things, they want a few things that work together for them," Guggenheimer said. "There won't be hundreds [of Microsoft offerings], but a couple of core things that belong to the other pieces of the puzzle."

In addition to the small business designation, Microsoft added four new Microsoft Solutions Competencies to its program to help its partners differentiate themselves in the market. These new competencies are Custom Development Solutions, Mobility Solutions, Licensing Solutions and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) Hardware Solutions.