Channel Marker » Gold http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/channel-marker A SearchITChannel.com blog Tue, 21 May 2013 21:41:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Clearing up the Gold mess at Microsoft http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/channel-marker/clearing-up-the-gold-mess-at-microsoft/ http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/channel-marker/clearing-up-the-gold-mess-at-microsoft/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:27:24 +0000 badarrow http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/channel-marker/clearing-up-the-gold-mess-at-microsoft/ Still have questions about the Microsoft Gold, Advanced, no Gold competencies? Here’s an explanation of the branding changes that took place on the cusp of this week’s Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.

To re-iterate: What was to be the new Advanced Competency and plain ol’ Competency levels will now be Gold and Silver competencies. And the Gold and Silver designations will come within a certain area of expertise, or business solution area. So you can be a  Gold partner within content management or business intelligence or whatever. You can also be a Silver partner in other solutions area.

Got it? Get it? Good!

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]]> http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/channel-marker/clearing-up-the-gold-mess-at-microsoft/feed/ 0 Microsoft partners will once again go for the gold http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/channel-marker/microsoft-partners-will-once-again-go-for-the-gold/ http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/channel-marker/microsoft-partners-will-once-again-go-for-the-gold/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:18:54 +0000 badarrow http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/channel-marker/microsoft-partners-will-once-again-go-for-the-gold/ So remember all that stuff about Microsoft ditching the “Gold” partner designation because it didn’t mean anything? Well, never mind.

The company has re-revised plans to move to an “Advanced” tier and instead will encourage partners to go for Gold or Silver badges within their product/technology competencies.

The news stunned Microsoft partners at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington D.C. today. It was an offhand mention in the Tuesday morning keynote. Details, presumably, will come at break out sessions.

IDC channel analyst Darren Bibby said the last minute reversal confuses things coming just as Microsoft partners are being asked to gear up for the new Microsoft Partner Network and related partner programs and certifications.  

On the plus side, a Gold designation within a particular technology area or competency –say content management or business intelligence–conveys more meaning than the old, broader “Gold” designation, Bibby said.

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