Amber Hickman |
A variety of sessions at Microsoft Ignite 2024 focused on key partner impact and new opportunities available for the partner ecosystem.
In ‘Driving Growth Together’, a session hosted by Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, and Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer and corporate vice president of global partner solutions at Microsoft, the pair highlighted recent partner success, including the 2024 Partner of the Year Awards.
“Without [our partners], our products are just products,” said Althoff. “They don’t become solutions until we partner together.”
Dezen then revealed new updates for the Microsoft Artificial Intelligence Cloud Partner Program, including the new Partner Center AI assistant. The virtual cloud assistant provides users with tailored insights and intelligent suggestions to help them initiate support tickets if they need assistance, get analytics on Azure usage, track earning and more.
In addition, Microsoft is launching new resources to help partners drive adoption of Microsoft Copilot. This includes the Copilot Scenario Library focused on customer service, sales and marketing; the Copilot Success Kit and Adoption Kit for industry partners; and the Copilot Immersion Experience to help partners demonstrate Copilot scenarios with pre-sales engagement.
“Partners are key to Microsoft’s ability to achieve our mission to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more,” said Dezen. “We hold ourselves accountable to your success, and we measure that in many ways. One of the ways that we do this is we measure the value that we deliver to the partner ecosystem and how we enable our partners to build healthy, thriving growth for businesses.”
In another session, ‘Accelerating industry partner growth in the age of AI’, Kathleen Mitford, corporate vice president of global industry marketing at Microsoft, sat down with fellow executives Satish Thomas, corporate vice president of Microsoft industry clouds and solutions, and Julie Sanford, vice president of go-to-market programmes and operations and global partner solutions, to discuss the role partners play in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Kathleen Mitford, Satish Thomas and Julie Sanford talking at Microsoft Ignite
Mitford started the session by explaining why industry AI is a key focus for Microsoft.
“What a doctor is looking to do with a patient is different than a teacher with a student, which is different to somebody on a factory floor,” she said. “So, Microsoft’s approach to industry starts with the Microsoft Cloud.”
A key element of Microsoft’s approach to developing industry AI is the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, which Sanford likened to one overarching concept suitable for every partner’s needs.
“I like to say we have one Microsoft partner programme, and we have worked hard to make sure we’re simplifying it for partners to engage with us,” she said. “Think of it as one umbrella where we bring all our investments and assets together across the whole lifecycle of the partner ecosystem, whether it’s onboarding, skilling, getting access to marketing resources or co-selling with our massive sales organisation.”
Sanford discussed how partners across different industries are making the most of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program and the use cases they are developing as a result.
“Manufacturing customers, for example, are talking about accelerating product development through generative design,” she said. “Then, in retail, they’re talking about personalised shopping services through natural language. Finally, with our healthcare customers, especially with DAX joining our portfolio, it’s all about documenting care and streamlining workflows.”
When asked about the next steps for Microsoft and its investment into industry AI, Thomas and Sanford discussed an increase in collaboration with the partner ecosystem to accelerate the growth of Microsoft’s industry clouds, with more industries being added to Microsoft’s designation programme for software developers and continued investment in all AI skilling.
Finally, in a session featuring Mayank Kapur, director of modern work partner marketing, he revealed the key partner investments for the 2025 financial year.
One key investment area for the year will be in partner enablement, with a focus on practice development guidance, developing the modern work partner community and improving modern work readiness and training.
There will also be investments made into partner skilling resources such as the partner skilling hub, a virtual training camp for certification enablement, and Microsoft Level Up, a new platform designed to modularise training and make it easier for partners to pick up.
Discover more news from the event on our dedicated Microsoft Ignite page