Finding Value in the Partner Ecosystem

As you know, this month’s #CollabTalk tweetjam is focusing on the topic of Microsoft Inspire, which took place earlier this month in Washington DC. We have a fantastic panel, with participants from various organizations within Microsoft, as well as across the global Microsoft partner ecosystem, including many tweetjam regulars. To get a jump on things for the tweetjam, I was able to spend some time talking with two people that I met through my own partner interactions over the last few years, and recorded the videos below as part of my Digital Sack Lunch (#DigitalSackLunch) interview series. Whether or not you make the tweetjam this week, you can get some great insights into the value of attending #MSInspire — and participating in the Microsoft Partner Network (#MPN).

The first video is with Dr. Petri I. Salonen, Founder and CEO of TELLUS International, a Dallas, Texas-based marketing company with a long history in the partner community, as well as in the International Association of Microsoft Channel partners (#IAMCP). Petri shares his takeaways from the DC event, and shares some of his personal experiences with partner-to-partner networking within the MPN.

The second video is with David Gersten (@dsgersten), VP of Sales & Marketing for Bond Consulting Services (@BondwithERPCRM), a Southern California-based Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner. I’ve known David for many years now through the IAMCP, where I was the co-founder and president of the Seattle chapter, which I organized with current-president Jeff Shuey (@jshuey), and David was a SoCal Board member and former president. He now serves as Secretary on the IAMCP-US Board, as well as the West Region Lead. As with Petri, David shares his takeaways from MSInspire, but then spends more time going into the value he and his company have seen through his participation in the IAMCP.

I’m looking forward to this month’s #CollabTalk tweetjam, and I hope to see you there on Thursday!