MPN Partner Manager - Does this exist?

[Akatora]

Our company recently became a Silver Member, but other than the auto-email confirming our new level of membership, we have had no communication from anyone at MS welcoming us to this level and serving as a kind of partner manager between our company and MS. Do these individuals exist at MS? How can we connect with a human being to talk us through our benefits, competencies, and help us manage the relationship?

Thanks in advance, and apologies if this is a repeat question from the past.

[PerWerngren]

Hello Akatora,

Andra is 100% correct and I agree with her.

My best advice is that you try to build a relationship with Microsoft locally. If you can articulate your unique value proposition which in other words can be described as your technical or vertical specialization, then you can start to build a relationship with relevant account managers inside Microsoft. 

If you're truly great at something where there is a demand, then it is fairly easy to start working with Microsoft. I always suggest that you should not ask for things, but instead offer to help.

Once Microsoft sees that they can become more successful in different accounts and verticals by working together with you, then you will soon realize that you're on the path for success.

Please remember that this is not something that will happen overnight, instead it takes a long time and lots of work - but once it pays off, then it really pays off! A partnership takes time to build but can last forever!

Regards, Per 

[Akatora]

Thanks, @PerWerngren ! I appreciate your advice and position. However, my concern is that as a company, we have given Microsoft money to become a Silver Member, and no one from Microsoft has reached out. This feels wrong--it is in Microsoft's best interest to ensure companies that have spent money (and for small businesses, significant money) to reach out in some capacity. How does a company even offer the help you are suggesting if there is no point of contact on Microsoft's end? There is no one listed in the portal for us to contact, and we independently have had to search for how to get in touch with someone, including posting the question here. It is hard to begin building a relationship with a company, at any level, if there is no one we can talk to.

Directions about submitting the form @Andra suggested is fine, but the form isn't working. Additionally, we had to find our way to the partner community forum and post a question here to discover that this is how a request to talk to a Microsoft individual is made. Why isn't this guidance provided to new partners when they sign up? Or easily discoverable in the portal?

We recognize there is hard work ahead of us. We're excited about building a relationship and making the most of Silver Membership status for our own company and for proving our value to Microsoft. We are not seeking advice on how to be a successful partner with Microsoft and are not requesting meetings with executives to bypass any proven partner process Microsoft may have in place. We are asking if any kind of representative from Microsoft is assigned to a Silver Member, and if so, how do we get in touch? The form Andra linked to is only a solution to this question if the form is working, and it is not.

[AlexCBrewer]

Hi @Akatora 

In my previous role, I was working for an indirect reseller and we got our support through our direct reseller partner who had all the connections and got me directly connected to an individual at Microsoft who could deal with whatever my question was at the time.

If you are not huge Microsoft aren't going to connect directly with you, hence going through a reseller. They dealt with my personal relationship side of the partnership and got stuff sorted from Microsoft.

As far as making Silver partnership worth it. Obviously it depends on exactly what you do, but the IUR licences are worth waaaay more than the fee alone provided you have the employee count to use them enough of them. Add to that the rebate and discounts on anything you sell it quickly adds up and makes it a no brainer.

Many Thanks,

Alex C Brewer

[Andra]

Good day, @Akatora ,

Thank you for your reply and feedback!

I have confirmed this is the correct link, please try: aka.ms/CEDnominate.

Let me know if the page is loading, you should see this:

Thanks,

Andra

[PerWerngren]

Hi Akatora,

Thanks for your kind reply! I think that it is fair to say that as a Silver Partner there is nobody automatically assigned to you and you will need to forge a relationship with relevant Microsoft people.

But there are great other support mechanisms and different support lines that will help you in your endeavors. Sometime we put to much weight on having a named individual but Microsoft has invested a lot in different programmatic means of support.

Regards, Per

[AhmedMahmoud]

Hi Akatora  

As far as I know, Microsoft doesn't assign a PDM  to all partners, the PDMs as following

Chanel PDM: This one who manage Chanel Partners (LSPs and Distributors) 

ISV PDM: This one who manage big Independent Software Vendors 

SI PDM: This one who manage System integrators

SMB PDM: this one who manager highest transactional and potential partners for Small & Medium Business   

you might need to classify your company first then make a plan and you approach Microsoft with a plan so that they would assign a PDM for you 

Good Luck, 

[Andra]

Good day @Akatora ,

The Microsoft Cloud Enablement Desk is a program that really helps partners accelerate their partner journey. I encourage you to check this out.

Some of the benefits are the following:

• Activate your benefits
• Build your marketing capabilities
• Facilitate one-on-one sessions with technical/marketing experts
• Build your referral profile
• Guide to competency attainment
• Onboard to Co-Sell Ready status

You can nominate your organization using the following link:

Cloud Enablement Desk

Hope this helps,

Andra

[Akatora]

Thanks for responding, @Andra ! I'm actually looking to connect with a Partner Development Manager. Do we have access to one with Silver Membership level? If so, how do I get in touch (no one at MS has reached out to us since we became Silver)? There is no obvious way (that we can see) to view who is assigned to our account or how we might reach out to this individual.

While we can do our best navigating the partner portal and reading up on Silver Membership benefits, it seems ridiculous to me that no one at MS is proactively reaching out to us to make sure we are finding all the benefits and resources we need, guiding us toward which competencies/trainings/sales tactics are going to be most useful for us and our customers, and generally just helping us make the most of our membership. It leads me to doubt the cost of Silver Membership and does not encourage me to even consider Gold.

[Akatora]

Also, @Andra , see attached for failed inspect element view of Cloud Enablement Support form submission request. This form isn't even working, so making the request isn't possible.