COUNTDOWN TO THE Microsoft World Partner Conference in Washington JULY 13TH – July 17th.

Hi all,

Only 1,5 month from now, the Microsoft World Partner Conference (WPC) will take place on July 13th till July 17th 2014 in Washington.

Last year in Houston

Last year at the WPC in Houston, former CEO Steve Ballmer presented that 2014 will be the biggest year of most innovativ solutions Microsoft has ever launched in history.

This year in Washington

That was Houston. This year and fiscal year 2015, Microsoft will launch their new CEO Satya Nadella to share his new strategy and vision in Washington.

I will be there as well on behalf of my company JCC Consultancy (www.jccconsultancy.com). I will solely attend Executive sessions and keynotes like I did at the SharePoint Conference last March in Las Vegas and I will live share the information I am collecting at these sessions. For more information on the SharePoint events and blogs take a look here.

For those who has not decided to attend the WPC in Washington, let me give you some of my personal bullet reasons why you should be there:

•  Bullet one: The New CEO Satya Nadella will kick off with the Strategy Keynote on Microsoft new strategy and vision. As Microsoft has decided to change her strategy into Services and Devices and transforming her internal organization and the international Channel Partners, for me it is crucial to hear from Satya what his vision is on the coming years if it comes to Cloud and Mobile. His vision and strategy will definitely impact the way Microsoft partners are doing business and force them to seriously rethink and rebuild their current Srategy, Sales, Marketing and Delivery activities.

Reflect, rethink and decide

Based on my experiences talking to Microsoft Non Managed Partners last year and the first 4 months and helping them out in making the right business decisions in terms of Strategy, Sales, Marketing and Delivery, I seriously would recommend  all Microsoft partners worldwide to reflect,  rethink about the continuity of your company and decide.

Ask yourself 3 major questions and decide whether to come to Washington or not.

1. Is my current business model outdated or is it future proof and ready?
2. How do your customers see your company? Do they see you as the Trusted advisor for the future and a leading innovative organization? Or do they see you as a follower who still believe in the old fashion way of doing business?
3. Does your company has the right Cloud proposition at this moment? If not, I would seriously recommend you to ask yourself not twice, but three times, why your company does not have Unique Cloud proposition

 STAY THE COURSE OR CHANGE IT

For those who answerd the questions above in a positiv way, i can only say, thumps up and stay the course for the coming years. For those who answered at least one of the questions in a negativ way, come to the World Partner Conference in Washington and find and hear the right information so you can make the right decisions for your company, business in terms of Cloud, Enterprise Social, Mobile and Big Data and change your business model and make it future proof for at least the coming 2-3 years.

 

• Bullet two: ENFORCE YOUR BUSINESS IN A STRATEGICALLY WAY AT THE WPC

The WPC is the place where Microsoft partners and customers can meet up and start new future business and strategical partnerships. Last year at the WPC in Houston, you can see on the picture above what the figures are of attendees. This year will be the same if it comes to the number of attendees. If your company is looking for new business partners to enforce your current business model or solution propositions, the WPC is the holy place to find the right partner to work with or join forces. Besides this you can also meet Microsoft stakeholders from Microsoft Redmond who can help you out to introduce you to other key player within the Microsoft organization.

My personal example, was my One on One executive meeting with the General Manager of Office 365 worldwide, Jared Spataro at the SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas last March. If I did not go the SharePoint event in Vegas, I would not have the chance to meet up with Jared who is normally working from HQ in Seattle.

If you want to read more about my meeting with Jared, take a look here.

•  Bullet three: Over 300 sessions on Cloud, Social Enterprise, Big data and Mobile

Here is a general overview of how the agenda will look like.

WELCOME RECEPTION

Come to the opening of The Commons from 5pm-7pm on Sunday July 13th at the Convention Center, and get registered early! Pick up your badge, network with colleagues, and see the premiere of The Commons.

VISION KEYNOTE MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY

One of the biggest reasons to attend the 2014 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference is the opportunity to hear directly from Microsoft leaders at the Vision Keynotes at Verizon Center Monday and Wednesday. This is an opportunity to hear the vision for how together we are moving forward – in a cloud-first, mobile-first world.

TRACK KEYNOTES

Industry experts, partners, and Microsoft present top customer opportunities, and how partner, and Microsoft solutions are helping them solve their key problems. This year we have 5 Track Keynotes – Cloud, Big Data, Enterprise Social, Mobility & Devices, and Leadership, Sales and Marketing.

SESSIONS

With so much good information to choose from, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly the right session mix. This year, we’ve simplified our offerings by reducing to five major focus areas. Use the calendar and session scheduler to build the perfect WPC to meet your business needs, and start discovering the right sessions to help you build your business now with the sessions catalog.

Breakout Session

During over 250 sessions, top worldwide subject matter experts, successful partners, satisfied customers, and independent analysts share their knowledge with you. Informative, revealing, and entertaining, our sessions focus in customer scenarios, real-world examples, tangible solutions, in-depth reviews of key business strategies, and return on investment.

60 minutes, PowerPoint based, videos, demos, 150-500 seats

Interactive Discussion

With less of a focus on presentation, Interactive Discussions are most successful when the small-in-size audience is open to sharing, is active in participation, and possesses some knowledge of the topic at hand. These over 80 sessions are kept small in seating and room size on purpose to foster the intimacy of the discussion. Arrive early to claim your seat!

60 minutes, no PowerPoint, 50-80 seats

Regional Session

Come learn how Microsoft’s latest solutions can help you achieve growth and increase your profitability in your region. This year we have 22 Regional Keynotes – APAC, Brazil, Canada, CEE, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, LATAM, MEA, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, US.

120 minutes, PowerPoint based, videos, demos, 150-1,000 seats

Hopefully, I have convinced you to reflect, rethink and decide whether you will attend the WPC in Washington and i really hope to see you there.

Have a good one.