by Sharon Collins, Microsoft U.S. Cloud Partner Lead
The upcoming release of the new Office, which released to manufacturing in mid-October, includes the introduction of subscription models that open up new possibilities for small businesses and for companies with workers who use multiple devices. The new Office, like Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and other recent Microsoft product releases, capitalizes on the promise of cloud computing to help increase productivity, reduce deployment costs, and more.
In a recent blog post, one of my counterparts in the Worldwide Partner Group, Ivan Lumala, talked about the training and resources now available to partners who serve customers in the small and medium business (SMB) space to prepare for the new Office and the new cloud opportunities it brings. Highlights from Ivan’s post include:
- Online training to help you understand the new Office business model, talk to your SMB customers about it, and make money selling it.
- The new exam 74-324: Administering Office 365 for Small Businesses, specifically addresses how Microsoft Office 365 can help meet the needs of small business customers. This exam is eligible for the Competency Exam Pack offer, and is one of the requirements for the new Small Business competency.
You can read the full blog post on the community site.
To take advantage of your Cloud Essentials benefits, including cloud-related training, internal-use software licenses, sales tools like the Microsoft Office 365 Demo Provisioning Tool, and Online Services Incentives, visit the Cloud Partner programs page.
You can read the November 16 issue of the U.S. partner news online at http://aka.ms/uspnewsletter, and read previous Cloud Partner-related blog posts at http://aka.ms/uscloudpartnerblog.
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If you’re not already a Microsoft Cloud Partner, enroll in Microsoft Cloud Essentials and take advantage of benefits like internal-use rights for Microsoft Office 365, Windows Intune, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online; access to tools like delegated administration and partner dashboard to manage customer trials and accounts; and advisor incentives.