Exit Interview

This month, Robert Guo days Desai swap responsibilities. During the day, WHO has went to the United States of the Group five-year partnership , Will become a regional vice president for small and medium-sized enterprises and cooperation of additional Partners (SMS P) of organizations in the United States. Into the work day is Desai, WHO has become a regional Vice president of SMS page two sides will continue report at the same time the boss.

Microsoft channel partners in the same day, the WHO will now bear more client-oriented role, for her, in the long run, as the public face of the U.S. channel and her views on future cooperation partners.

[Note: The issue marked with an asterisk not included in Q A printable version of the Double Star, said that no longer response than the answer printed in the magazine. ] Can you describe your primary responsibility is as The vice president, responsible for the partners in the United States group » * My task yes, yes¡­¡­ yes ah, I am not going to . My job is two-fold.

one, is a partner of the U.S. overall strategy. The second is, and then implementation of both Microsoft Partner Program in the U.S. market, enhance as necessary, and management is our biggest partners and resellers ISV at the same time.

I think a lot of people may have been surprised To understand you directly to sales, not to°¬ÀûÉ­ÎÖÉ­.

whether there was a°¬ÀûÉ­ÎÖÉ­U.S. counterparts within the group, or 1:00 line, Your position is » * I have peer world as a whole. I peer into the report subisdiaries and sales and marketing areas, which they A part of. This is the linear relationship. Then we have broken the relationship between and Allison, we are part of the team . Thus, as I have described the role, I set U.S. Strategic partners, in collaboration with certain Allison and her organization . She set the overall Microsoft Partner Program construction, and all the services, And walk.

you have a sales role in the report of Michael Park? » * Half of my job is basically to manage our largest reselling and ISV relations of cooperation. I am responsible for us to complete a good distributor - Ingram Micro, t echdata. (4 H Company, synix, etc.). We direct market dealers and our dealers, so that Dyeing, Dell, insight, ASAPs , software Of the spectrum, first-class partners, and 18 of these.

largest independent software developers, we have received, our management about There are 400 independent software developers direct for my organization. Then we can also manage the national system for the top 100 integrators. And system integrators who are often re-sale of our products.

If you think of Microsoft and the fact that 96% of the sources of income.

flowing through the channel, multi-billion dollar business, Microsoft The United States is that all the transactions through the channel, I direct management.

[Click image to see a larger view. ] SMS Poors organizational chart shuffle of Microsofts recently re-arrangement of its senior management in small Mid-market solutions and partners group as a career development To move the administrative staff, particularly Robert Guo days Desai, experience in different roles. Changes take effect July 1.

What you will do things in your new job It » * If you think of todays work today is the work of the Faced by the partners.

I have received a sense of how the case is on the market and small business customers and mid-market customers or business customers, through the lens Partners, because I have a partnership facing the work. Tomorrows work will be very small and medium-sized business customers part of the point is that Driving solutions and income through these customers, but with partners. What I will can do is to interact directly with the end of the very real The use of customer our technology.

I will be responsible for sales and marketing organizations to reach SMEs marketing space, in the western region.

tell us a little about what led to the switch Why do you rush into a « ** I have about the last year itch to become more customer face. As I think the amount of technological innovation, we have in todays market, Will be in the next 12-18 months, its unprecedented I 22-year career in the software business. I have never seen the technical lineup, we have come out , We are now the laboratories.

Vista and Office to absolute replacement technology platform For our customers. [And with the rich integration, we are now the desktop and server Products,] kind of solutions and applications and absorption our technology platform Will be enormous. I would like to be out in the on the front line with customers and partners on what this Wave technological innovation is really all about what direct business Will be conducive to a customers business.

I have liked the work with partners in the past five years. Over the past five years Over the years, for me, the past 22 years, I have been in the technology business.

This has been a peak of my career so far. I do not think it could because I have a lot of other great career Career experience, but this 1, by large, has been the top .

Nevertheless, when I think of the amount of innovation, I was too excited the out on the market and said the work with customers and really breakthroughs and innovation, we had them on how to reduce the technical through their full realization of the benefits of this integrated platform us - the "people ready" platform We have been talking about.

, for me, is so attractive, I started discussing with the management Microsoft team here in my next role, why do I want it to become in the field Sales and customer facing.

set stage, on which some of our countries The partnership plan is when you start work in this area » (General Motors in the spring 2001Äê, vp in May 2003) ** Our partners are satisfied with the erosion. I think the partnership lost their connection with Microsoft. They do not feel like they part of, not necessarily Microsofts. I have to say that the partners, as we has become a very enterprises Customer-focused, and in this regard, it is direct marketing focus. In their view, as they lost contact.

said, basically, I went to about five years ago.

From Ballmer and Bill Gates, they clearly said that this Is true, Microsoft is the company that we have today because our Partners. The company, built on partnership and cooperation. We lost some muscle, they hope to significantly because partners need to part of the overall structure of the way Microsofts business.

Therefore, we began a series of very important series of investment Over the past five years.

Now, when you fast-forward, the National Commission, if you look at our registration Partners, if you look at our resale partner, Certified Partner , The ISV partners, in the entire board of directors, with our partners Degrees in their their highest level ever. In the majority of partners circumstances, we lead the world in both the overall Satisfied with the partners in the United States or our subsidiaries from being No. 2 A small margin.

it is a very meaningful journey.

and partners feel the same, we are real. We have achieved a lot different, in their business. We are selling one. We are marketing together. We are invest in their business in their technical training. More recently, the We have to make more investment in training on how to operate Their business more effective and better.

all these things really proved beyond a shadow of a doubt partners are interwoven into the structure, we do business.

partners will remain a key success factors for Microsoft, now and for the future, I can See it.

We must ensure that our plans and our products are world-class So far, and the industry-leading Because they add a great deal of valuable partner of the business itself.

and partners of the growth and profitability Whether they are very, very small Or very, very large or anywhere in between.

What are you most proud of the individuals from your time Work in this area » Is satisfied with its cooperation partners increase » ** Yes. I tell you what, I am also very grateful. I am incredibly humility, from a trusted partner has said. They would say, I believe that Guo. For me, confidence is one of the things it does not¡­¡­ Get any better than that. (Laughter). Mean what they say, is the peoples views, you, as have a huge Integrity. What do you do, you say what you that you intend to do so. You listen, and you. Trust is hard-earned But when you earn it, its something Obviously you need to as incredibly valuable. And in this regard, and this is my humbles majority.

Therefore, cooperation with partners, just to measure the fact that the partners feel like them part of Microsoft. They feel that as part of their way we do business. I said, sometimes as a partner, Microsoft, When we think of Partners and to market, this is only part of the In this way, but we Surge To gas. This is just what we do. In fact, the partners think this in a very real, in their business , On its sales growth, profit growth and its own customer satisfaction , Man, this is magic.

one of the challenges when you have been taken over Is the integration of Microsoft Business Solutions partners? » How would you rate the integration of the partner program, and how the now to » * I think its great. I think we have some obstacles to (then) In order to overcome in the past 2 1 / 2 years or so that we have been in this. But Now, when you consider the product itself and how to enrich the comprehensive they are in the office, and SharePoint, and SQL Server, use our Development tools, Visual Studio 2005, which partners are now seeing in Very real is the great benefits of the integration work, whether from the business and A product perspective, we have done so in the past three years Or so.

Now, in this context, the plan itself, because the product So rich, making the whole very meaningful, in their view, not just ERP applications, and expand the business of things, such as portals, driving things, such as business intelligence, a basic database And structure is essential. And, if they do not have, in particular skills or the capacity to do work Because they are part of larger, Microsoft Partner Program, Can be partners of cooperation and partnership with those skills. All of this is not provided to them three years ago. It clearly is now available to them. So I feel like the dynamic of our business, the minimum in the United States and I Am sure that this is what is happening worldwide and will flourish Because we have been both products and processes, simultaneously.

You will strengthen cooperation from a purely partnership role, , but you give you the location of a good view into the future. What is The biggest challenge, you will see for partners and For the future of the people in your shoes - Robert » ** The biggest challenge is how to help our partners, and the subsequent customers, we will be spending the amount of innovation in the market.

if you think the customers through the life cycle is only the second, Tens of thousands of customers still in Office 98. Where is more customers than you could shake a stick in the Windows 2000Äê, Office 2000 when, SQL Server 2000 in, Exchange 2000 or Exchange 5.5. I think The biggest challenge is why it set the platform from a technical point of view so that this awareness, for everyones business. And to be able to talk about , in a building, this is not only products and functional And function.

more important in a drive to discuss the commercial value.

I think this is the pillar of our "people are prepared to" Commercial perspective, we have on the market. It said that "people is in the centre and the core is what makes business Either crazy to be successful, more successful or frankly, some less than This point.

Software plays a very important role, so that people can rally around the goal, they have their professional life, to Crazy beyond these goals. And to be able to, and then to describe what role software actually play, for example, developing great insights what really happened in the business, so that you can make the great decision to move forward. This is a product «not, but in fact not the case. Its understanding of the level of business insight, a small-business customers May need, this is probably a little bit different than what Boeing May be required. How can we teach partners, customers and how we talk about such a way that, hey, this is the collection of this product or a Technology solutions you will get rich business insight you looking for - you will have the right to do so.

In order to be able to put our products in this area building before talks to millions of customers, I think that is a big challenge.

What is the greatest opportunity to do? I Also think that [innovation wave] a very important opportunity.

So many of our The partnership is still in the 1990s way of doing business, This is the speed, feed, reselling the products. They are not rich in Business solutions can be discussed about the customer. Considered a change in business model It needs changes in people, you hire This is the seller, needs Changes in the consultants you.

Thevar I believe that the channel is undergoing this evolution The right now - this is a somewhat painful. It is, therefore, A very significant challenge for us become very involved in helping these Partners develop their business model, and then at the same time, to Their skills and toolings To be able to talk about their customers " Were prepared to "building.

Increasing compliance with the flow can be empowered Labor. Authorized workers with great business insight and then later What is products of technology and what technology is the backbone of all This need. This will be great. We can do this »Ye.
Microsoft is doing some action, to software services. Any advice to partners on how they will be able to lead close to Microsoft have not been in trouble with any potential changes in the business thing to do? software as a service, management services, which means that there are many different things to a lot of different people and I think the first thing we are Work is to provide a better level of a clear definition, and the All of this means to Microsoft. We will be talking about some of that, in our global partnership meeting so that people know, in a more detailed Level, what is the meaning of definitionally to Microsoft. We have to be very Transparent with our partners in the channel where we will and the subsequent Where, within its mandate, the opportunity.

Therefore, so that they will be close to the same thing Attended The global partnership meeting. Lever microsoft.com / partners Portal, because we use that as a communication mechanism if they attend Partners on a quarterly basis, we have in our field. This will be a theme, we will address that once we have our own strategy laid out ,
We are very transparent, with partners where we are preparing.

of this strategy presented is to treat To do so by the partner conference, or to an early model? * I think this is a model in this early stage, I think, as importantly, we will give a sense of partnership definition of Construction We are thinking.

Let me give You give a few examples. These are not formal terms, but it Only to how you feel, which is extensive.

Some people think that software as a service is the same thing, as a management services, means things like networking and remote monitoring.

Right »and not send technical personnel, to see how the network is performing, it now, and remote network management.

Or things like patch management, as an example, it was once considered You to the site. You know, the patch management or virus shrubs, You can do all long-range.

Some people when they hear the word, in fact, They want to host product, whether it is hosted mail and messaging. Whether Host database application, you know that we provide a host version of SQL, an example. Now you can host the CRM, so some people think that We have to go to follow the path like a salesforce.com. I think we Need do is to reconcile all these different types of people think about service network of software platform. We have made built in the local way, we are thinking, and we have That is to say, Hey you can see, heres what kind of business model, we and you Can be extended. Think, if you think about CRM, but as an example. Let us call on its sales force automation, just to point more directly, Right? Amount of customization, in fact, a customer need or want to To truly automate their sales force, will be incredibly important people start their shopping patterns and there are some things them in the care of the environment, then some of the Things, they do a - the prerequisite for the environment. Therefore, sales force automation, Customer relationship management, pharmaceuticals, retail, different for the manufacturing, Financial services, is the realization of all of these incredibly different.

Because we from the core platform, we need to ensure that we have can be extended to our partners so that they could go, in fact, and custom apply for the special business needs.

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