Microsoft puts partner-to-partner unions at top of agenda

Glenn Woolaghan claims partners working together can help fill the skills gap

Microsoft's partner business and development lead Glenn Woolaghan has urged partners to consider teaming up in order to plug the industry skills gap.

Woolaghan (pictured) took on the new role in July after leading the company's SMB business since joining from Symantec in 2013.

Earlier on this week, Microsoft held a UK partner summit in Twickenham, which attracted more than 700 attendees. Woolaghan said that the gathering attracted an almost entirely different group of partners than its Worldwide Partner Conference which happened in July.

Speaking to CRN today, Woolaghan said that the event revolved around three main themes: the skills gap, promoting partner-to-partner activities, and moving away from product pitching to "incorporating adaptive change management to customers".

The skills gap - on a technical and commercial basis - has been talked about a lot in the industry for a number of years. Woolaghan said that partners can plug this by working closely together in partner-to-partner type activities.

The concept is not new, and was mentioned at its WPC event in the summer. But Woolaghan said it is becoming so important, the vendor is considering creating some sort of formal programme around it.

"Customer needs are becoming much more complex and customers are being more aware of technology and what the cloud can do for them," he said. "A lot of our partners are small businesses so we can't expect them to, if they are very good on Office, to build an Azure practice or a CRM and a voice practice. So I think it's about finding complementary partners - non-compete ideally - who, if you leverage your IP and attach it, you can enter new markets which you couldn't do with your own skill set."

When asked if any specific programmes or incentives are in place, he said.

"We're working on it," he said. "Any vendor doesn't want to marry partners purposefully, they have to find partners which suit their long-term goal. We ran a partner roundtable and we had good feedback where they said we are coming across each other opportunistically but it would be great if there was some sort of tool or way to advertise the benefits of partners. We're looking at potentially getting a tool or a programme or something like that where we can highlight the skills of certain partners, the IP they have, certain referenceable case studies and so on, so it's easier for partners to say ‘this is the gap I have'."

"Customer needs are becoming much more complex and customers are being more aware of technology and what the cloud can do for them"

Although SMB partners, who may lack expertise in certain areas, may seem like an obvious beneficiary for partner-to-partner activities, large firms can cash in too, Woolaghan said.

"Softcat [for example] and those guys have always done it to an extent," he said. "They've always had a partner network. If you think back to the days we were launching Office 365, Softcat worked closely with Perspicuity because they didn't have that capability and skills. Perspicuity had that. That's one example. What we're trying to encourage now is, when we talk about partners, don't think about it in a traditional sense like resellers, think about ISVs as well and influencer bodies who are developing IP who can meet customers' needs. We're encouraging partners to go more vertical so they are more relevant to the customers."

Chris Dunning, CEO of Microsoft partner TechQuarters, said aligning with similar firms has been good for his company.

"We work with Caretower on security - we don't want to do pentesting, it is not our bag," he said. "We're also part of Ingram's Trust Alliance which is useful. We stick to what we're good at."

When asked if there is any risk teaming up with competitors, Dunning said:
"You've got to be logical - all the conversations with partners has got to be like ‘if we bump into you in an account, give me a call and we can work it out'. You've got to trust those individuals."

Mitchell Feldman, CEO of RedPixie agreed and said:

"I think you have got to work with a partner you can trust and you have to have clear demarcation points. It's about having a grown-up relationship with a partner where there is trust. You've got to be very clear and understand who owns the customer."

Skills central

Although thee skills gap has been a big challenge for Microsoft partners - and the rest of the channel - for a while, Woolaghan said the picture is improving.

"It's getting better because our message is resonating. It's not just us - other vendors in the market are saying the same thing as us. Everyone has a similar message. We're being much more purposeful about where our business is. I am now running our partner business and development organisation and our number one priority is skills.

"I have a newly appointed skills lead and we have tripled the size of the skills team. That's our investment in terms of people and a lot of the programmes we are running this year are around skills."