A Look at What’s Next: Driving Momentum for 2021 and Beyond!

It’s true that times of transition are often strenuous, but change is a necessary part of growth. Now that summer is around the corner, I’m feeling a renewed sense of optimism about 2021. We’re not only entering a new season in the physical sense, but many of us here at Microsoft, are also transitioning into Q4 of FY2021 and planning for what comes next. The past year has proven it’s not always easy to predict the future but looking forward there’s a lot to be excited about! In fact, there has never been a better time to embrace change and prepare for new opportunities.

As Satya Nadella recently pointed out, our goal at Microsoft is to keep partners at the center of all things. We’re continuing to help you navigate the road ahead, build stronger partnerships, and innovate with new technologies and solutions. As we move into this new quarter and ramp-up to big events like Inspire 2021, I want to share some exciting opportunities, initiatives, and resources that will help you build momentum and success in the coming months.

Emerging technologies and trends are a major opportunity for partners

Staying on top of emerging technology and trends is a core priority for partners, which is why we’re heavily invested in helping you develop your technology stack and improve operational readiness. To that end, we have several key focuses for partners in 2021 and beyond, such as:

●     Enabling Remote and Hybrid Work – As your customers continue to shift to remote and hybrid work, there is a significant opportunity to help them transform their digital workspaces through solutions like Microsoft Teams. Our go-to-market resources can help you create a plan to leverage the Partner Network and introduce remote work solutions to your audience.

●     Enhancing Security for SMB Customers – Security continues to be top of mind for partners and customers alike, especially for small businesses. Our Security in the Cloud campaign helps you offer the benefits of Microsoft 365 so your customers can protect their data and devices, and we’ve put together a Security Partner playbook and Security Practice Development Playbook to help you become a trusted advisor in the cybersecurity space.

●     Improving Business Continuity with Cloud Services – The cloud has become a business imperative for maintaining business continuity, and your customers are continuing to look to you for support in moving to the cloud. For service partners, there are new opportunities on the horizon to grow your cloud services business with Azure and to differentiate your organization with Advanced Azure specializations.

Of course, we’re not only investing in industry opportunities – we’re investing in you! As always, one of our biggest priorities is partner enablement, and in addition to the above, our goal is to help you maximize your partner-to-partner relationships and grow your business with the full support of the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN).

The partner ecosystem is growing and there’s more to come!

We couldn’t do what we do without our partners and it’s true that together we achieve more! If you haven’t already seen our Partner roadmap, I encourage you to check it out, as it gives an excellent birds-eye view of recent and upcoming changes to the MPN. It also provides a glimpse of some of our biggest partner investments for 2021, including:

●     Expanding co-sell opportunities into the SMB market – As I wrote in a previous blog, we migrated co-sell into Partner Center to help you manage your relationships and opportunities in a centralized location. This year we are increasing our focus on co-selling within the SMB segment to support our growing ecosystem of ISV partners. We also have new ways to manage your experience within Partner Center.

●     Adding new rewards and incentives for partners – Our three priorities for partners are to enable new ways of working, facilitating partner growth, and accelerating digital transformation. Because of this, we are creating new ways to manage your experience within Partner Center as well as new rewards to celebrate your expertise.

●     Continuing to promote diversity and inclusion initiatives – Together with our partners, we are on a journey to realize more inclusive economic opportunities, and in FY2021 we are focused on showcasing partner solutions from women-led organizations as part of our #BuildFor2030 campaign. We are also empowering partners to build inclusive technology and to advance diversity on a global, national and local level.

To echo what Gavriella Schuster said earlier this year, we're incredibly excited to see what we can accomplish together, especially as we focus our combined efforts into the next quarter.

What’s Next?

After such an incredibly difficult year, it’s nice to feel enthusiastic about the future of our partner community, and I’m delighted to be on this journey with every one of you. Even though we’re still in a time of transition, you have gone above and beyond to make the most of it, and I’m already celebrating everything you will accomplish in Q4 and beyond.

I’m especially looking forward to connecting with you at Microsoft Inspire 2021 on July 14-15, where we will showcase even more of the partner opportunities ahead. I can’t wait to see you there!

Until Next Time,

Alyssa Fitzpatrick