Without Gates, Microsoft`s Channel Changes Little - Helping Microsoft 'Get it'
(
Page 4 of 5 )
Doug Ford, president
of Microsoft gold partner The IT Pros, says he still struggles to help
Microsoft "get" his business, which brings in about $5.2 million a
year. He says while he enjoys the
benefits of MSDN subscriptions and on-demand support, he doesn't have much direct contact with the vendor whose software he sells exclusively, and he doesn't see that
changing at all with Gates' departure.
"We sell Microsoft
software exclusively; their basic Office software, Exchange, so maybe they
think we're just like any other partner," says Ford. "We really want someone to take an interest in us and help us capitalize
on the software, the integration opportunities, but no one has really done
that."
Compared to his
experiences with Network Appliance and even Dell, Ford says his experience with
Microsoft's channel program isn't much to write home about. Dell, he says,
invited The IT Pros to its inaugural channel summit meeting, where Ford and
some of his staff got "hours of facetime” with Michael Dell.
Compared to that,
Microsoft seems downright uninterested.
"We've gone
through a bunch of reps by now. One did
call who seemed actively interested in our business and wanting to help us
build it, but then the programs and support she pitched to us were all for SMBs
with, like, five or six desktops, and that's just not us. She -- and they -- don't seem to get our business,"
he says.
Ford says he understands that it
is difficult for a large company such as Microsoft to give individualized attention to
every partner, and that there's still plenty of value and opportunities with
Microsoft's products.
Microsoft Partner 
