Microsoft Partner Network increases process efficiency by 78 percent

Microsoft Partner Network (previously the Microsoft Partner Program) is a community created by Microsoft to serve the needs of its partners and to help them reach their full potential. The network provides opportunities to strengthen capabilities, expertise to help serve partner customers better, and communities that spark innovation and connection. It is designed to create innovative solutions that drive profitability and sustain competitive advantage.
 

The Partner Skills Development (PSD) Group is responsible for the planning of various training events around the country. The planning of each event requires extensive coordination of many people across various processes.

The PSD Group needed a way to assign specific tasks and track accountability to key group members. Lacking a common management and logistics center, the group’s efficiency was low causing time and money to be wasted. For example, when registration for an event is low, this information did not always reach the executive team in time. The opportunity to cancel events, and thereby avoiding unnecessary spending, would be missed.

 

Without better oversight, managers did not have the visibility to guide the planning process efficiently.

 

 

Leveraged the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Platform extensibility end points such as workflow, custom data views and aggregation of data we managed to build a solution that allowed the planning staff, both internal and external to Microsoft to be able to have complete control on the event planning process.

 

 

  

With the new logistics planning portal in place, the Partner Skills Development Group was able to make key group members accountable.  As an added improvement to overall process, the portal made it possible for external vendors to participate directly in the planning process. 
Managers are now able to quickly view the overall health of the planning process and react proactively to any concerns.  

Ultimately, the solution helped Microsoft increase proactive involvement and monitoring of processes resulting in 78 percent increase in efficiency.