The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference is one of the biggest annual hi-tech conferences in the world, it is run by Microsoft, for Microsoft Partners
Deployment takes Partners...One Word - Partners It is up to the Microsoft partner ecosystem to help customers understand the possibilities...Adoption will continue. Partners will continue to fill gaps
This is where partners come in
Contrary to what Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, said at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Los Angeles … Paper Still Matters...Partners have a significant opportunity too
Hint: Partners are the Secret Sauce...However, there is work to do, there are products to ship and there will be (as always) a need for partners to fill in the gaps. A key point for partners -- Gaps are Opportunities
The partners that are doing this today have a leg up. There will be many more partner opportunities to extend their solution expertise with SharePoint as the foundation
My Guesses and a Few Questions that come to mind: Yammer and Skype -- VOIP calls for Customer Service, Between Employees, between customers and partners and so much more
Good News - Partners Still Matter Microsoft is making it easier
Similarly for Microsoft, there is no option but to push for change -- both to how they develop and deliver products, as well as how partners interact with them
SharePoint’s success and widespread adoption demonstrates the power of community, innovation within the community, and the economic benefit shared by all -- including partners, integrators, suppliers, customers. In early October, I had the opportunity to attend the SharePoint Conference and attended a presentation from Microsoft that had some incredible numbers about SharePoint success that rival any consumer focused technology. 125+million licenses sold 20000 users added daily 93000+ partners 65000+ customers