Learning Consultant Partner Engagement Program
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Business Challenge
Microsoft works with key IT partners worldwide to take advantage of the market opportunities created by new Microsoft technologies, such as Unified Communications, Business Intelligence and Enterprise Content Management. A crucial part of this collaboration is a solution plan that establishes agreements with Partners to deliver on revenue opportunities, requiring Partners to get their consultants, IT staff and sales teams up to speed quickly on new technologies in order to deploy solutions with their customers. Because Microsoft account managers are focused on overall product strategies and don’t necessarily have readiness planning skills, they needed support to help their Partners get product deployments underway as quickly as possible in order to meet revenue goals.Solution
Based on its track record managing Microsoft Learning’s Microsoft Certified Learning Consultant (MCLC) program, WrightRobbins was engaged by the Microsoft Partner Account team to develop the MCLC-Enterprise Partner Engagement Readiness Program for the Microsoft Enterprise Partner group (EPG). MCLCs have expertise designing learning solutions to bridge the gap between current and desired business performance, and are an ideal resource to help Microsoft Partners develop effective readiness plans with training and certification goals that map specifically to skills needed to deliver on their product deployment plans. WrightRobbins’ responsibilities included:- Creating and executing a business plan to align consulting engagement paths with EPG objectives.
- Developing and delivering a two-day training program to ensure that qualified MCLCs were knowledgeable about Partner needs, how to best utilize Microsoft training resources, meet business objectives, and ensure successful product deployments.
- Acting as the single point of contact to secure an appropriate learning consultant for each Partner, manage the readiness engagement process and maintain its momentum, allowing Microsoft Partner account teams to stay focused on overall account strategy and execution.
Results:
- 16 enterprise Partners engaged for global training and readiness planning over a 6 month period, focused on Business Intelligence, Unified Communications and Pre-Sales. The expertise of a dedicated MCLC helped Partners hone in on the specific learning solution needed, resulting in reduced ramp-up periods and smoother deployments.
- Training and readiness roadmaps created for 3,500 Partner employees globally.
- Achieved cost savings for Partners on training delivered of 40% below global average through class fill rates. MCLCs’ knowledge of Microsoft Learning resources helped Partners sort through the options to complete the most cost-effective and time-efficient learning plan possible.