RCP Magazine

What's New

• Microsoft's 2010 Product Roadmap

  Redmond will be releasing an arsenal of new enterprise technologies this year including upgrades of Office, SharePoint, SQL Server, Dynamics and more.

• Trust in the Cloud

  Partners inevitably put their credibility on the line when cloud offerings go offline.

• Make a Mark with Your Marketing

  As the economy improves this year, partners should have differentiation in mind -- starting with marketing.

• Finding Some Sales Sanity in 2010

  Last year may have been a depressing one for sales teams, but every difficult situation has a lesson in it.

• Notebook Nation

  Laptops and netbooks aren't just for road warriors anymore. Here's a look at just how big the portable-computer market is -- and the trends that are driving its growth.

• A Cloud Solid Enough to Stand On

  The City of LA's decision to replace its e-mail system with Gmail can serve as a rubric for what makes a cloud offering desirable to organizations.

• A Virtual Door Opens for SMBs

  Microsoft's maturing virtualization stack offers opportunities for partners with customers of all sizes, including the "S" in SMB.

• Cutting LARs to the Bone

  For LARs, recent changes to the way Microsoft treats its reseller channel have really hurt.

• A Fast Start for Windows 7

  If you're rooting for Microsoft, there's encouraging news this year that the backsliding is coming to a stop.

• Preparing for the Multi-Platform Mobile Opportunity

  Smartphones will grow exponentially in the coming years. If you're betting on one mobile platform, you may want to rethink that strategy.

• Partners on Health Care: Mixed Prognosis

  For many channel partners, government action on health care is producing both anxiety and opportunity.

• Marching Orders 2010

  Are we continuing in a recession or coming out of one? No one can be sure. In our fourth annual Marching Orders feature, RCP's experts offer advice to put your company in good stead either way.

• Microsoft's Private Cloud Formation

  As CIOs largely reject the early crop of cloud services for business-critical apps, Redmond readies private and hybrid cloud platforms.

• Microsoft, Partners Fumbling Toward Community

  As part of the recent overhaul of its partner program, Microsoft made a big bet on leveraging existing social networks.

• Partner Hosting Still Has a Future

  Long the subject of benign neglect, the Services Provider License Agreement has been rejuvenated in the last year with significant program changes.

• Bringing a Little Personality to Sales

  Selling based on your buyer's personality can help increase your sales volume and improve your velocity.

• 2009: Good Riddance

  It is customary to end a year by reflecting on positive moments. But by nearly all measures, 2009 was one of the worst business years on record since the Great Depression.

• Survey Says: Partners Matter to IT Pros

  More than 2,300 customers responded to a Microsoft-sponsored survey identifying what solution provider characteristics matter most to them, and how and why they choose a partner.

• Get Market Development Funds While the Getting's Good

  Since Windows 7 launched, Microsoft has resuscitated two well-received partner funding programs: The Big Easy and the HP/Microsoft Frontline Partnership.

• Q&A: Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Yousef Khalidi Discusses Private Cloud Migration

  Yousef Khalidi talked about Microsoft's new Azure cloud services at the Interop trade show on Thursday.

• Passing the IT Torch

  Some of the IT industry's top innovators are within striking distance of retirement age. Here's a look at what that means for them, their companies and the channel.

• Ready, Set ... Wait and See

  Services Ready is a good idea, but it won't work in the long run unless Microsoft gets over it's paralyzing paranoia.