Hosting a Virtualization Event

Q: (from Michael)

I am a gold partner with the Virtualization Solutions competency.

We are working on several server consolidation opportunities and want to enhance our profile in the area as an infrastructure solutions provider by putting together an event.

We are finding that sales cycles for Hyper-V Server Virtualization are very long and a lot of time goes into educating the customer about how the product competes against VMWare.

Having done a number of small scales projects over the past 9 months we are now confident that we can provide mid market customers with larger data centers a solution that is based around Hyper-V.

So we want to organize an event that will bring us new leads and help to educate existing ones while building credibility.

We have never done a Microsoft Event.  So I need help.

A:

Congratulations on your progress and I am more than happy to help with your efforts. There are several resources that you need to be aware of:

• Partner Territory Manager – you can find yours at https://partner.microsoft.com/US/salesmarketingsection/usregions – They can provide general insight and direction
• Local Engagement Team Business Development Manager – you can find yours at https://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/local/partner/connect-with-local-businesses.aspx They can to provide logistic guidance and possibly direct you to available marketing funds.

Here are some content and messaging resources:

• You should start with the Ready-to-Go campaign materials:
  https://partner.microsoft.com/US/salesmarketingsection
• The specific campaign that might work for you is the “Virtualization and Management”
  https://www.mspartnerdirect.com/action/microsoft/site/library/CampaignView?campaignID=1617
  Which includes information on Windows Server, Hyper-V, and System Center Virtual Machine Manager. The campaign materials include a proposed timeline, suggested invitations, presentations, demos, and follow-up materials.

My suggestion is that you reach out to the parties listed above and review the campaign materials.

del.icio.us Tags: Virtualization,Event,Partner

Technorati Tags: virtualization,event,partner