Wanna Be An Astronaut?

by Diane Krakora, CEO

I certainly do! And Sir Richard Branson might actually be able to make that childhood dream come true. The Microsoft 2011 Worldwide Partner Conference closing keynote speaker was thought provoking and motivational, in a reserved, subdued manner.  Sir Richard Branson is world class entrepreneur and it is inspiring to get a glimpse of the $18 billion kingdom he’s built. If you’re over 40 years old you remember what vinyl is and you certainly know Virgin Records and hopefully you’ve been able to experience the unique value proposition of Virgin Airways.  Branson’s 60,000 employee Virgin empire holds over 50 separate entities including record labels, retail outlets, exported music publishing, computer gaming, broadcasting, satellite television and radio, and film and video distribution, a digital magazine, spirits and sodas, a health care group, airships and balloons, cosmetics, renewable fuels, several non-profits, a formula one team, and Virgin Galactic – my ride into outer space. Virgin Galactic licenses the technology behind Spaceship One, which is funded by Microsoft co-Founder Paul Allen – which is probably why he’s on the WPC stage. It certainly isn’t because of the Virgin Group’s decision to standardize on Google Apps.

Hire a Cloud Kid

by Diane Krakora, CEO

In the days of web 2.0 technologies and social networking, job seekers are being very creative – from setting up Google Alerts, to leveraging KnowEm and updating on-line profiles weekly to stay at the top of queue. Here at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, about 100 recent college graduates are walking around wearing bright blue “Hire Me” t-shirts.

Cloud Little Brother

by Diane Krakora, CEO

My older brother made me better. He was born two years before me and not only paved the way through our parents’ faulty expectations of curfews and perfect school attendance; he also motivated me to greatness. I was always trying to keep up – playing his sports (football, baseball, kick the can), stealing his books and listening to his music. I learned faster by following him around – and he continued to be pissed he wasn’t farther ahead than his annoying little sister. Maybe we’re unique because we’re both competitive, however there is evidence the second child develops more rapidly when they are close in age to their sibling.

Sitting here at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, I’m starting to believe a similar phenomenon is happening with solution providers transitioning to the cloud.

Sub-dude

by Diane Krakora, CEO

The 2011 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Summit kicked off today in Los Angeles with a tone previously un-experienced at a conference. No rock and roll band jamming “it’s a beautiful day” at 8am – a respectable 9am start time with a cool, but understated, synchronized dance act from Japan –  with the message “there is power in walking together”. The opening video segment highlighted a Japanese software company that developed a cool app on Azure to help quake victims find people, share stories and photos and connect with each other. It was a good example of winning together (the conference theme), however a bit sobering to recall the tragedies befallen the globe in the last 365 days.

In a cloudy world… does the network matter?

by Diane Krakora, CEO

In this rush to “everything as a service”, has the network – the highway to the cloud – gotten lost? We all KNOW we need routers, switches, hubs and security to access all the goodness the cloud can offer us. Does the quality of the network matter?

With HP’s New Programs, Can Its Partners Find Clarity in the Cloud?

by Diane Krakora, CEO

HP’s recent Americas Partner Conference 2011 had its proverbial head in the cloud, with new cloud products and programs one of the focal points of its annual partnering meeting. Coming off a strong year of revenue performance and market share gains, HP’s Americas channel revenue grew by over 20% in 2010. Combine that with the company’s assertion that it is the IT company best positioned to provide integrated solutions for cloud computing, as well as new cloud partner strategy programs, and HP may be the one to watch in the race to the cloud this year.

The big question will be if the company can live up to its aspirations, particularly when partner roles in cloud delivery seem foggy at best.

Webinar Wrap-Up: Three Best Practices for Partner Automation

Learn the secrets to enrolling and engaging partners in your automation program

Diane Krakora, CEO

Amazon Consulting CEO Diane Krakora recently shared a webinar microphone with Nancy Gapter, vice president of marketing for distributor Arrow ECS for an interesting discussion on the Three Best Practices of Partner Automation.

Amazon Consulting has been working with Arrow ECS to help automate the distributor’s partner relationships and vendor supplier management. Together, we’ve created a powerful system for partners and suppliers – one that offers such fundamental elements as a marketing shopping cart, a training path, a portal where partners can get tools and resources and watch videos (an excellent medium for communication, by the way).