Calgary event date has changed to Tuesday November 17th, 2015. I hope you will still be able to join me.

Since I joined the Microsoft hosting team last year I have seen tremendous innovation in both technology and the programs that Microsoft is making available to partners.  The pace of change in our industry is happening faster than I have ever seen before, and customers are looking for partners who can help them navigate through these changes and take advantage of these opportunities.

At WPC earlier this year Microsoft made a few announcements about either new or updated programs (see below) and to help partners understand these new (or updated) programs, the hosting team is going to be touring across Canada to deliver a series of hosting days where we will outline these program changes and what they mean to our partners.

Join me at Microsoft Hosting Days to learn more about Microsoft’s recent datacenter announcements and what it means to hosting and managed services partners.  Learn more about our new Azure Certified Hybrid program for partners offering hosted solutions from their datacenters and the opportunity ahead with hybrid solutions.  Finally we’ll talk about the expansion of the Cloud Solution Provider program that allows you to sell a broader set of Microsoft cloud services (Azure, Office 365, EMS) along with your own services and intellectual property to provide a greater range of solutions to your customers.

The Cloud Solution Provider program allows you to sell Microsoft cloud services along with your own offerings and services.  You (the partner) own the complete customer lifecycle through direct billing, provisioning, management, and support.  This program allows you to take advantage of Microsoft’s investments and innovations and provides you with opportunities to rapidly develop new service offerings based on these innovations. The Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program enables your business for success in a Cloud First, Mobile First world. When you become authorized as a CSP partner, you can sell Microsoft cloud services including Office 365, Microsoft Azure, and CRM online along with your own offerings and services.

Microsoft Azure Certified for Hybrid Cloud provides you as a service provider the possibility to showcase and brand your unique and differentiated solutions. This program benefits service providers who have either deployed a Microsoft Cloud solution in their own datacenter, or are looking to build an Azure enabled hybrid cloud solution. If you are one of over 250 partners who has already joined the Cloud OS Network, you can refine your initial investments, allowing you to differentiate your offer, and make it easier for customers to find and recognize your Microsoft validated and Azure consistent solution.

I hope you are able to join me at hosting days as this is a great time to be a Microsoft hosting partner.