One of the key components of the Microsoft Partner Network is the "Competency." A competency is a product-centered designation that a partner is competent to deliver certain types of solutions.
At the entry level of the MS Partner Network is "Network" classification. That means you have not achieved any competencies. In the previous incarnation of the Partner Program, these were the "Registered" partners. At this level you can buy an Action Pack and get some server and desktop licenses for internal use.
The next level is the "Silver" partner, followed by the "Gold" partner. Silver and Gold partners have achieved competencies by meeting specific requirements. These requirement include the familiar Microsoft product exams, client references, and sometimes development of hardware, software, or services that are consistent with Microsoft standards.
The Microsoft Small Business Specialist designation is not a competency, although it requires exams and other hurdles.
In all there are currently 28 different competencies. They fall into five categories (These are my categories, not Microsoft's. Obviously, there is some overlap between some of these designations.):
1. Infrastructure, Server, Desktop Competencies
- Desktop competency
- Server Platform competency
- Systems Management competency
- Volume Licensing competency
2. Cloud/Hosting/Virtualization-Centric Competencies
- Hosting competency
- Virtualization competency
3. Programming/Development-Centric Competencies
- Application Integration competency
- Application Lifecycle Management competency
- Business Intelligence competency
- Content Management competency
- Data Platform competency
- Digital Marketing competency
- Midmarket Solution Provider competency
- Mobility competency
- Portals and Collaboration competency
- Search competency
- Software Development competency
- Web Development competency
4. Business/MS Dynamics Competencies
- Customer Relationship Management competency
- Enterprise Resource Planning competency
- Identity and Security competency
- Project and Portfolio Management competency
- Software Asset Management competency
5. Misc. Other Competencies
(Not applicable to most SMB Consultants)
- Distributor
- Independent Software Vendor (ISV) competency
- Learning competency
- OEM Hardware competency
- Unified Communications competency
See https://partner.microsoft.com/global/program/competencies.
I have listed these categories from what I consider the most relevant to SMB consultants to those least relevant to SMB consultants. So you can see that "Infrastructure, Server, Desktop Competencies" category includes the products you have traditionally supported in the SMB space.
The next category is Hosting and Virtualization. Obviously, that's the direction Microsoft is going.
The third category is basically Programming and Development. As a rule, programming houses don't do a lot of technical support, and most SMB's who focus on servers and workstations don't do much programming.
The fourth category is centered on the Dynamics family of products. Normally, Dynamics partners just focus on that. And the fifth category includes hardware manufacturers, software companies, product distributor, etc. Again, not central to what most SMBs are doing.
Do You Need a Competency?
Many - MANY - SMB Consultants have never bothered with competencies. A large number of us are Small Business Specialists with Action Pack subscriptions. With an investment of $300, Action Pack subscribers receive an amazing amount of software (see https://partner.microsoft.com/40112699).
Assuming you have 1-10 desktop users in your company, focus on the SMB market, and have the Small Business Specialist designation, do you need a competency? What does it get you?
Well, The truth is that you probably would not find much value in the MS Silver or Gold competency levels. The Silver program costs $1850 and the Gold program is a couple thousand dollars more than that. Since you get all the software you need, there are only a few goodies you won't get at the Network Level:
- Presales support
- 5-pack of Support incidents
- The very deep catalog of software in MSDN
In the very small space, presales support is not very difficult. What do you sell? Server, Desktop, and Office are most of it. Add the occasional Exchange or SQL license and you're done. In ten years as a Certified Partner we have never used Microsoft's Presales support. We get support from Ingram and Synnex.
Most people at the small end of the market only call Microsoft for Server-Down incidents, which still remain available to you. So it is unlikely you'll need to drop $500 for a support call.
The software remains the only other major benefit. And really, the MSDN premium catalog is nice to have! But realistically, you have what you need.
It seems that Microsoft has done a nice job of "Right-Sizing" the benefits and programs for SMB Consultants. As we move to the cloud and sell fewer servers, it will be interesting to see what else is added to the Network Partner program over the next few years. But for now, we are pleased to say that Microsoft provides an excellent collection of resources for their partners.
-- karlp
----------
Here is a list of the competencies from above with their relevant products. I compiled this, but other than the bold category titles, all of this information is drawn from the Microsoft Partner Site.
1. Infrastructure, Server, Desktop Competencies
Desktop competency
- Desktop Optimization Pack
- System Center Configuration Manager
- Windows Desktop
Server Platform competency
- Windows Server
- Windows HPC Server
Systems Management competency
- System Center Configuration Manager
- System Center Data Protection Manager
- System Center Operations Manager
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager
Volume Licensing competency
- Microsoft Volume Licensing Solutions to Small and Medium Organizations
- Microsoft Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations
----------
2. Cloud/Hosting/Virtualization-Centric Competencies
Hosting competency
- Data Protection Manager
- Exchange Server
- Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server
- Lync Server
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
- Office SharePoint Server, Application Development
- SharePoint Server
- SQL Server
- System Center, Data Center
- System Center Service Manager
- System Center Virtualization Manager
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows Server 2008 Hosting
- Windows Server Virtualization
Virtualization competency
- Desktop Optimization Pack
- System Center Configuration Manager
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager
- Windows Server / Desktop Virtualization
- Windows Server Virtualization
----------
3. Programming/Development-Centric Competencies
Application Integration competency
- Biz Talk Server
- SQL
- .Net
Application Lifecycle Management competency
- Visual Studio
Business Intelligence competency
- SharePoint
- SQL
- Virtual Earth Application Development
- Visio Application Development
Content Management competency
- SharePoint
Data Platform competency
- SQL
Digital Marketing competency
- FAST Enterprise Search Platform Development
- SharePoint
Midmarket Solution Provider competency
- .NET Framework 4
- Exchange Server
- SharePoint - Forefront Client and Server
- SQL Server 2008
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring
Mobility competency
- Silverlight
- SharePoint
- Windows Mobile
- Exchange Server
Portals and Collaboration competency
- SharePoint
Search competency
- SharePoint
- FAST Enterprise Search Platform Development
Software Development competency
- .NET Framework
- SharePoint
- Visual Studio
Web Development competency
- .NET Framework 4.0, Web Applications Development
- SharePoint
----------
4. Business/MS Dynamics Competencies
Customer Relationship Management competency
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Enterprise Resource Planning competency
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM
- Microsoft Dynamics C5
- Microsoft Dynamics GP
- Microsoft Dynamics NAV
- Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management
- Microsoft Dynamics SL
- SQL
Identity and Security competency
- Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server
- Microsoft Forefront
- Windows Server 2008
Project and Portfolio Management competency
- Microsoft Project Server
Software Asset Management competency
- Software Asset Management (SAM)
----------
5. Misc. Other Competencies
(Not applicable to most SMB Consultants)
Distributor
- Distributor
Independent Software Vendor (ISV) competency
- Software program development consistent with Microsoft products
Learning competency
- Delivering Microsoft Training
OEM Hardware competency
- Hardware development consistent with Microsoft products
- Deployment Toolkit
- Windows Desktop
- Windows Embedded Standard
- Windows Server
Unified Communications competency
- Exchange Server
- Lync Server
- Office Communications Server
- Product development consistent with Microsoft products
----------
:-)
At the entry level of the MS Partner Network is "Network" classification. That means you have not achieved any competencies. In the previous incarnation of the Partner Program, these were the "Registered" partners. At this level you can buy an Action Pack and get some server and desktop licenses for internal use.
The next level is the "Silver" partner, followed by the "Gold" partner. Silver and Gold partners have achieved competencies by meeting specific requirements. These requirement include the familiar Microsoft product exams, client references, and sometimes development of hardware, software, or services that are consistent with Microsoft standards.
The Microsoft Small Business Specialist designation is not a competency, although it requires exams and other hurdles.
In all there are currently 28 different competencies. They fall into five categories (These are my categories, not Microsoft's. Obviously, there is some overlap between some of these designations.):
1. Infrastructure, Server, Desktop Competencies
- Desktop competency
- Server Platform competency
- Systems Management competency
- Volume Licensing competency
2. Cloud/Hosting/Virtualization-Centric Competencies
- Hosting competency
- Virtualization competency
3. Programming/Development-Centric Competencies
- Application Integration competency
- Application Lifecycle Management competency
- Business Intelligence competency
- Content Management competency
- Data Platform competency
- Digital Marketing competency
- Midmarket Solution Provider competency
- Mobility competency
- Portals and Collaboration competency
- Search competency
- Software Development competency
- Web Development competency
4. Business/MS Dynamics Competencies
- Customer Relationship Management competency
- Enterprise Resource Planning competency
- Identity and Security competency
- Project and Portfolio Management competency
- Software Asset Management competency
5. Misc. Other Competencies
(Not applicable to most SMB Consultants)
- Distributor
- Independent Software Vendor (ISV) competency
- Learning competency
- OEM Hardware competency
- Unified Communications competency
See https://partner.microsoft.com/global/program/competencies.
I have listed these categories from what I consider the most relevant to SMB consultants to those least relevant to SMB consultants. So you can see that "Infrastructure, Server, Desktop Competencies" category includes the products you have traditionally supported in the SMB space.
The next category is Hosting and Virtualization. Obviously, that's the direction Microsoft is going.
The third category is basically Programming and Development. As a rule, programming houses don't do a lot of technical support, and most SMB's who focus on servers and workstations don't do much programming.
The fourth category is centered on the Dynamics family of products. Normally, Dynamics partners just focus on that. And the fifth category includes hardware manufacturers, software companies, product distributor, etc. Again, not central to what most SMBs are doing.
Do You Need a Competency?
Many - MANY - SMB Consultants have never bothered with competencies. A large number of us are Small Business Specialists with Action Pack subscriptions. With an investment of $300, Action Pack subscribers receive an amazing amount of software (see https://partner.microsoft.com/40112699).
Assuming you have 1-10 desktop users in your company, focus on the SMB market, and have the Small Business Specialist designation, do you need a competency? What does it get you?
Well, The truth is that you probably would not find much value in the MS Silver or Gold competency levels. The Silver program costs $1850 and the Gold program is a couple thousand dollars more than that. Since you get all the software you need, there are only a few goodies you won't get at the Network Level:
- Presales support
- 5-pack of Support incidents
- The very deep catalog of software in MSDN
In the very small space, presales support is not very difficult. What do you sell? Server, Desktop, and Office are most of it. Add the occasional Exchange or SQL license and you're done. In ten years as a Certified Partner we have never used Microsoft's Presales support. We get support from Ingram and Synnex.
Most people at the small end of the market only call Microsoft for Server-Down incidents, which still remain available to you. So it is unlikely you'll need to drop $500 for a support call.
The software remains the only other major benefit. And really, the MSDN premium catalog is nice to have! But realistically, you have what you need.
It seems that Microsoft has done a nice job of "Right-Sizing" the benefits and programs for SMB Consultants. As we move to the cloud and sell fewer servers, it will be interesting to see what else is added to the Network Partner program over the next few years. But for now, we are pleased to say that Microsoft provides an excellent collection of resources for their partners.
-- karlp
----------
Here is a list of the competencies from above with their relevant products. I compiled this, but other than the bold category titles, all of this information is drawn from the Microsoft Partner Site.
1. Infrastructure, Server, Desktop Competencies
Desktop competency
- Desktop Optimization Pack
- System Center Configuration Manager
- Windows Desktop
Server Platform competency
- Windows Server
- Windows HPC Server
Systems Management competency
- System Center Configuration Manager
- System Center Data Protection Manager
- System Center Operations Manager
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager
Volume Licensing competency
- Microsoft Volume Licensing Solutions to Small and Medium Organizations
- Microsoft Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations
----------
2. Cloud/Hosting/Virtualization-Centric Competencies
Hosting competency
- Data Protection Manager
- Exchange Server
- Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server
- Lync Server
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
- Office SharePoint Server, Application Development
- SharePoint Server
- SQL Server
- System Center, Data Center
- System Center Service Manager
- System Center Virtualization Manager
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows Server 2008 Hosting
- Windows Server Virtualization
Virtualization competency
- Desktop Optimization Pack
- System Center Configuration Manager
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager
- Windows Server / Desktop Virtualization
- Windows Server Virtualization
----------
3. Programming/Development-Centric Competencies
Application Integration competency
- Biz Talk Server
- SQL
- .Net
Application Lifecycle Management competency
- Visual Studio
Business Intelligence competency
- SharePoint
- SQL
- Virtual Earth Application Development
- Visio Application Development
Content Management competency
- SharePoint
Data Platform competency
- SQL
Digital Marketing competency
- FAST Enterprise Search Platform Development
- SharePoint
Midmarket Solution Provider competency
- .NET Framework 4
- Exchange Server
- SharePoint - Forefront Client and Server
- SQL Server 2008
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring
Mobility competency
- Silverlight
- SharePoint
- Windows Mobile
- Exchange Server
Portals and Collaboration competency
- SharePoint
Search competency
- SharePoint
- FAST Enterprise Search Platform Development
Software Development competency
- .NET Framework
- SharePoint
- Visual Studio
Web Development competency
- .NET Framework 4.0, Web Applications Development
- SharePoint
----------
4. Business/MS Dynamics Competencies
Customer Relationship Management competency
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Enterprise Resource Planning competency
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM
- Microsoft Dynamics C5
- Microsoft Dynamics GP
- Microsoft Dynamics NAV
- Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management
- Microsoft Dynamics SL
- SQL
Identity and Security competency
- Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server
- Microsoft Forefront
- Windows Server 2008
Project and Portfolio Management competency
- Microsoft Project Server
Software Asset Management competency
- Software Asset Management (SAM)
----------
5. Misc. Other Competencies
(Not applicable to most SMB Consultants)
Distributor
- Distributor
Independent Software Vendor (ISV) competency
- Software program development consistent with Microsoft products
Learning competency
- Delivering Microsoft Training
OEM Hardware competency
- Hardware development consistent with Microsoft products
- Deployment Toolkit
- Windows Desktop
- Windows Embedded Standard
- Windows Server
Unified Communications competency
- Exchange Server
- Lync Server
- Office Communications Server
- Product development consistent with Microsoft products
----------
:-)
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