“We decided to bring the learning to where the individual sits, instead of asking them to go somewhere else to find it,” says Casey Trujillo, BrainStorm VP of Sales. “Communicating in the same platform where most of the organization spends their workday just makes sense. It’s a new way of working. Why wouldn’t we do it?”

Recognizing the digital transformation moment

Too often, IT professionals are asked to do so much with so little. The challenges of the pandemic and the ensuing Great Resignation added more burden to their already crowded plate. BrainStorm set out to find a scalable experience that didn’t add extra effort for the end user while enabling IT professionals and reducing their workload.

They found the perfect opportunity to showcase this app when they were approached by a global auto manufacturer to help solve this very modern work problem. With only three people in the IT department trying to enact a standardized approach to hybrid work for a company with 30k employees, scaling up was unmanageable. Unfortunately, they found the current setup was leading to poor productivity, decreased collaboration, and dwindling employee satisfaction.

BrainStorm stepped in to create a personalized communication plan with specific goals users could track in the platform. These goals included:

• Reducing internal email while increasing chat in Teams
• Decreasing email attachments and increasing collaborative documentation sharing through Teams and OneDrive
• Decreasing the number of meetings while increasing engagement during meetings

How did the app work? Essentially, BrainStorm developed a 12-week, scalable program offering platform and productivity tips messaged through the BrainStorm-developed Teams app. By building their solution on top of the Microsoft Teams platform, BrainStorm was able to transform a learning tool into a productivity and collaboration platform designed to help customers adapt to a more efficient hybrid and remote work approach. The app communicated with users to ensure a better productivity approach for using Teams and helped them focus on their work-from-home goals. The company was thrilled with the result and how it enabled better collaboration across time zones and continents. As Trujillo says, “It helped eliminate ‘Reply All-itis’.”

Here’s a short video that walks through how BrainStorm enables IT professionals to help their employees take better advantage of their Microsoft productivity stack. BrainStorm also developed a best practices sample comm plan for partners ready for digital transformation

What has BrainStorm learned about finding success as a Microsoft partner?

1. Communicate with your users in a language that speaks to them. They want to know, “what’s in it for me?”
   1. Go to where your users are: That’s why BrainStorm decided to enact digital transformation within Teams.
   2. Speak in the terms of the user: if you can find why it benefits them, it will eventually trickle up to benefit the org as a whole.
   3. Automate it: it should take little to no effort on the user’s part.
   4. Engage the user: If you’ve set up a good program, it should intrigue them to become a part of it and help them want to do more.
   5. Trust the data: We have the data to help give you results of your digital transformation Once you review the data, then you can rinse, lather, and repeat back to step one.
2. Know the Microsoft language, scorecard and who wants to work with you. We have a business development team that aligns with enterprise and the client configuration manager.
3. Familiarize yourself with the Microsoft Partner Network. It’s an everyday go-to for finding resources like plays-in-the-box, starting co-sell actions, and more. It’s regularly updated and available for all partners.
4. Use the Marketplace to drive awareness and visibility. It’s the easiest way to share any changes, updates, and improvements to your platform. Plus, it’s a great help with the transaction process. Microsoft is investing time and resources into growing Marketplace, and we have found that aligning with Microsoft and learning where they are focused is a key way for us to grow so we are investing more there as well.
5. Connect with other partners. One of the fastest ways BrainStorm has scaled their solutions is by teaming up with other Microsoft partners. They recognize their secret sauce and work with other partners to help their customers. “We don’t do deployment or sell licensing,” says Trujillo. “Our whole goal is to enable other partners, like Smartsheet or DocuSign, create a scalable solution to give customer ROI.”

Digital Transformation is daunting, but it’s not as hard as it seems. “Every partner can use our learnings to help them be successful,” says Trujillo. “We also love to form partnerships with other partners and welcome the opportunity to provide additional value to your customers. We created a 90-day free trial experience and any partner with at least 200 users or more can try it out or offer it to their customers.”

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 As a woman, proving myself as not only capable but an expert in the field was a higher mountain to climb. Even today, high school girls my daughter’s age still think of tech as a man’s world. There is a critical need for influencers who will use their voice and position to elevate a new generation of innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs.  

 I recently sat down with one of these trail-blazing women, Chaitra Vedullapalli, co-founder of Women in Cloud, Meylah and veteran tech leader and entrepreneur. She spent 20 years working with tech companies, including Microsoft, before taking the route of what she calls a “curious tech entrepreneur”. Her determination to build a million-dollar tech company revealed just how challenging it is to access enterprise opportunities, find funding, and find a network, particularly for women, who were notably absent from programs designed to accelerate growth for cloud companies.  

 As a result, she leaned into the industry relationships she did have and began to build the network she would have wanted as an aspiring tech entrepreneur, including an accelerator designed to skill, connect, and elevate women-owned businesses to the million-dollar threshold. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation: 

 Begin interview – edited for length and clarity 

 Heather Deggens, VP of Global Partner Solutions US Go-to-Market: For those who aren’t familiar with Women in Cloud, what is it?  

Chaitra Vedullapalli, Co-founder, Women in Cloud: Women in Cloud is first and foremost an economic access movement in the trillion-dollar cloud industry. We are a community-led economic development organization taking collective action to generate a billion dollars in net new economic access for women entrepreneurs and professionals by 2030 through the global partnerships with corporations, community leaders, and policymakers.  

 All of this is united by the corporate Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) program, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are focused on job creation, diversity and inclusion, tech innovation, and sustainability, really providing women and allies a powerful platform to accelerate industry leaders. 

 The genesis of Women in Cloud really began when I was pivoting Meylah from B2C to Enterprise Ecosystem, which was extremely hard. So, I met with Karen Fassio, Director Global Partner Marketing at Microsoft, to seek guidance about how to scale to build a million-dollar cloud business through the Microsoft channel. Well, going through the process, we’ve figured out that women entrepreneurs are not represented in the Microsoft channel, or Google or Amazon or IBM channels for that matter.  

Heather: What did you find to be the main barriers for more women entering and ascending in tech?  

Chaitra: I found that lack of representation and lack of access are the main challenges for women in tech. First, there aren’t a whole lot of role models for women who are building tech solutions. Most people struggle to name three women billionaires. And on the other end of the pipeline, female-founded startups have decreased by 27 percent year over year according to CrunchBase. 

 Second, skilling, funding, customer markets, and technology are not accessible. Let me use an example from India. To become a cloud-certified individual requires thousands of dollars of investment. Culturally, parents in India are willing to pay for a wedding, but not for the skilling. Even with the funds to do so, there are too few programs for women to gain the fundamental cloud skills they need to become a confident tech entrepreneur or professional. 

 Only 2 percent of women-owned businesses make a million dollars in revenue, which is 3.5 times less than our male counterparts. Only 3 percent of the corporate procurement dollars in the Fortune 500 brands and 5 percent of the federal contracts actually go to female-owned companies.  

 So, after doing the channel research, supplier research, and venture research, we realized that there was an opportunity to create a cloud innovation cluster for driving B2B enterprise-ready solutions in the market, and also make it available through the Microsoft marketplace. Women in Cloud Co-Sell Accelerator became that structured program to help nurture women through this process, because you can’t just hand someone a template for building a successful co-sell ready cloud business. There’s a lot of things that need to come together. And Microsoft stepped in to be our foundational partner to make this idea come to life. 

 Heather: We know that diversity is key to innovation. Why is elevating women to leadership opportunities and economic access important for tech as a whole?  

 Chaitra: There are two data points that best illustrate this. First, the representation of female leaders. The percentage of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies climbed from zero in 1995 to 4.8 percent in 2018, which is progress, but very small. The most highly compensated executive roles continue to be overwhelmingly dominated by men. On the startup side, only one out of eight CEOs are women.  

 Oh the other hand, despite small representation, the impact of women in leadership is clear: companies with at least three female leaders saw a 66 percent increase in return on investments (Women Who Tech). So, when we think about the digital transformation initiatives these organizations are going through and the advanced leadership skills required, having women in leadership is a strategic advantage.  

 However, there is a significant lack of programs and platforms available to create the talent pool we need to help women rise up the chain to these executive roles that shape not only companies but industries. Very few companies are investing in leadership initiatives for women or allyship programs to enable their success. Colleges and the market fall short as well.   

 That’s why we launched #empowHERaccess, a digital advocacy campaign to spotlight the role models and leaders who are championing economic access for women across the globe. Last year we reached over 1.5 million people across the globe which allowed us to amplify the women leaders people needed to see more often. 

 This year more and more enterprise companies are in search of comprehensive global sustainability operating models and developing more leadership opportunities for women. So, where do they start? To address the market needs, we are launching the WICxLEAD, the next generation Corporate ESG Women’s Leadership Accelerator, designed to empower corporate women and entrepreneurs to ignite economic access. Our scholars will learn how to lead and influence digital transformation projects through cloud and AI technology, teaching them how to grow their executive presence, personal brand identity, public speaking impact, global access creation and community development strategies giving them a powerful platform to accelerate as industry ESG influencers and purpose-driven leaders. 

 Heather: In addition to those initiatives, Women in Cloud launched an accelerator that is currently recruiting it’s seventh cohort – how did that come into being?  

 Chaitra: When we piloted the Meylah Cloud Ready program, designed in partnership with Microsoft, of the 5,000 partners who participated, we couldn’t identify any women. That was what triggered Karen and me to sit down and look at how we can create better access. Because the problem is not their solution or talent, it’s access to the right resources, the right people, and the right customer at the right time. Those conversations led to the Microsoft Cloud Co-sell accelerator.  

 Heather: What is unique about this Cloud Co-Sell accelerator? What benefits does it provide to women-led businesses? 

 Chaitra: The Women in Cloud Co-Sell accelerator is uniquely designed to help founders win enterprise opportunities. The goal of the six-month program is to assist women tech leaders and entrepreneurs to co-build, co-market, and co-sell with Microsoft and their distribution channel. The program was designed to help them get access to Azure credits and the advisor community, a startup program to help them build their solution in the market, and also a global stage to showcase their business, and build an enterprise-ready pipeline of solutions that are made available through Microsoft Azure Marketplace, where customers are buying right now. And we have a very structured pipeline to do that. 

 Heather: What has the impact of the accelerator been so far? Can you share some success stories? 

 Chaitra: So far, we have led six cohorts with more than 70 companies graduating during the past three years. More than 50 solutions have been listed on the Microsoft Azure marketplace as a direct result, 10 to 20 percent of which are transactable solutions and close IP prioritized and co-sell ready. Our portfolio valuation size of all companies combined is around $350 million.  

 We have one company, Stylyze, that was acquired by Neiman Marcus last year. Most member companies are winning deals for enterprise organizations like Home Depot, f5, Walmart, Cargill, JPMorgan Chase, so we are penetrating most, if not all, enterprise companies.  

 One of the most exciting things we are seeing is our members’ solutions filling the industry solution gaps. When you think about Microsoft’s IPS framework, we have very structured solutions for Retail, Agriculture, FinTech, and so on. And the companies are really building enterprise ready solutions to win the billion-dollar markets through digital transformation. 

 Heather: What are the criteria for women-owned companies interested in participating in the accelerator? 

 Chaitra: First, the company must be at least 51 percent women-owned. Second, they must have a SaaS solution that can be listed and transacted via marketplace and be prepared to invest the time in building an enterprise-ready cloud solution – that’s really important. Third, they must be coachable and ready to take necessary actions to win customers. They can come from any part of the world because we are digital and global. 

 If you’re a Microsoft partner, you know it’s not easy to go from zero to becoming a successful partner of Microsoft. That’s why we require companies to complete a full set of requirements in order to graduate, which results in a very immersive process. We provide B2B Enterprise Ready Blueprint and engine for them to do that. 

 Heather: How can they learn more and apply? 

 Chaitra: They can go to womenincloud.com/initiative-cloud-accelerator as well as our other initiatives.  

 I would really like to encourage women who want to build an enterprise-ready solution to join our program for the structure, community, and access that will help them win opportunities. With us, they don’t have to figure it out all by themselves. 

 End interview 

 I am so grateful for Chaitra’s drive and how she turned her own experience into a launchpad for other women to thrive in tech. Microsoft is proud to partner with Women in Cloud to create economic access for women in the cloud economy.  

 Wishing you a meaningful Women’s History Month – let’s make cloud history together.  

Learn more 

• Learn more about Women in Cloud or apply for the accelerator 
• Also check out Microsoft-sponsored Women in Tech, designed to connect women across the Microsoft ecosystem

The areas below will help you facilitate customer engagement and grow market share, enabling partners at all levels in their lifecycle to build intelligent solutions, accelerate time to market, reach new customers, and be discovered in the Microsoft commercial marketplace by millions of customers.

We hope that this will be a useful guide in helping you identify which priorities integrate well with your partner competencies and what steps you can take to grow into these key opportunity areas.

Priorities for the next half year

These select priorities have been defined for Microsoft and partners to focus on in the second half of our fiscal year (January-June 2022).

1.      Make Hybrid Workplace a reality for customers with Microsoft 365 E5

We see a massive opportunity as customers continue to embrace Hybrid Workplace and look for productivity solutions that facilitate rich team collaboration and foster employee engagement, while strengthening your cybersecurity posture. Microsoft 365 E5 continues to be a top priority for Microsoft field teams in our fiscal H2 (January-June 2022).

Microsoft partners make the possibilities of the Hybrid Workplace a reality for our customers – through workshops and pilots, and accelerating deployment and adoption of these advanced workloads.

The following workshops can help establish the value for Microsoft 365 E5 workloads:

• Modernize Communications
• Microsoft Viva
• Microsoft Viva Insights
• Threat Protection
• Discover Sensitive Data
• Manage & Investigate Risk
• Hybrid Cloud Security

Please nominate customers for workshops in MCI Engagements via aka.ms/MCI/Claim.

2.     Employ the power of Surface for employee retention

Our customers are among the many organizations struggling to overcome what’s been coined ‘the Great Resignation’ where as many as 40% of employees are considering leaving their job this year¹. One of the primary pain points – reported by 70% of workers – is the need for improved devices to support a successful hybrid work experience².

Microsoft Surface is one way we are helping customers achieve a competitive advantage in holding onto top talent. In fact, when Microsoft asked their customers about the benefit of M365-powered Surface devices, 86% agreed that they help drive employee satisfaction and retention³. Devices partners can take Microsoft services to market on their devices, offering incremental value to their customers.

To ensure that more customers recognize this opportunity, we’ve launched Modern Work Assembled, an integrated Microsoft 365, Surface, and Services Partner program aimed at streamlining cross-solution selling. New integrated training and BOMs are available to help partners kick off customer-centered conversations, and there are a number of channel and customer incentives and promotions available for you to leverage. Speak to your PDM for more information.

Get started:

• Learn how to include Surface in your Hybrid Workplace conversations.
• Explore Q3 Surface offers you can leverage through March 2022
• Invite your customers to our February Webinar: Reimagine workplace dynamics and adapt your business to the new world of work
• Learn more about the Windows 11 optimized Surface Premium devices: Surface Pro 8, Surface Laptop Studio and Surface Laptop 4

¹Work Index Study

²PC Devices Forrester Research Paper

³M365+Surface TEI Study

3.     Boost Business Applications billed revenue and Dynamics 365 customer adds

The US Business Applications market has grown beyond $78 billion⁴ this year. There is significant growth potential for Microsoft solutions and partners. Leading customers to their first Dynamics 365 workload is key to accelerating our market share and hitting our growth objectives in FY22 and beyond. Microsoft Internal Research shows that winning that first workload with a customer, and deepening relationships with business leaders (BDMs), is key to strengthening our impact across the customer’s organization and expanding reach into other next-best workloads.

In H2, we continue to focus on leading customer conversations with industry stories and business impacts that speak to the circumstances of the customer. In this way, we demonstrate empathy for our customers’ challenges, can better anticipate their questions, and build trust among BDMs.

Our FY22 Business Applications Partner Offers Presales Program enables partners to utilize Business Value Assessments to accelerate the sales process and funds pre-sales engagements at a customer level.

Partners are encouraged to understand our Sales Plays, Industry Marketing Priorities, and leverage our presales offers to grow their business.

• Learn more about the Microsoft Business Applications business opportunity and ways to grow your practice.
• Leverage the Partner Plays-in-a-Box bringing together capacity and enablement, go-to-market, and co-selling resources for Business Applications.
• Explore partner GTM resources and case studies: Dynamics 365 Partner Portal (microsoft.com)
• Request funding for pre-sales engagement: FY22 Business Applications Partner Offers – Presales
• If you need help closing a large deal, fill out the Partner Lead Sales Resource Engagement Form to ensure that you have the right resources to close the deal.

⁴ Microsoft Internal Research

4.     Drive co-sell readiness through Commercial Marketplace

Through Microsoft’s global co-sell programs and our cloud-based Commercial Marketplace, we are working toward enabling our partners and customers for digital transformation.

One meaningful benchmark of progress is enabling our partners to take advantage of transformational business opportunities like marketplace and Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC). Becoming co-sell ready is the first step to getting there. By publishing transactable offers on the marketplace, partners gain access to Microsoft’s global customer base to build awareness of their solutions and drive frictionless B2B sales at a global scale. B2B sales at a global scale.

Microsoft’s industry-leading commercial marketplace gives partners unmatched access to customers and opportunity to drive sales more effectively and efficiently. Simply creating a listing in marketplace gives you access to over 4 million active visitors per month across 140 geographies. Through relationships with Microsoft field sellers and partner-to-partner co-sell, you can scale your sales force through the Commercial Marketplace while earning Marketplace Rewards.

Microsoft is committed to ensuring our partners know how to leverage commercial marketplace and how to benefit from associated FY22 Marketplace Incentives, such as the Teams Build With incentive. Publishing on commercial marketplace is easy – set up your account, prepare your offer, create your offer, publish, and go to market. Get started now with step-by-step guidance for publishing to commercial marketplace.

Takeaway

Staying aligned with Microsoft priorities ensures you are prepared to move into key industry growth opportunities and take advantage of programs, resources, and incentives Microsoft offers to drive mutual growth.

Stay connected

Keep a pulse on these priorities throughout the quarter – join Microsoft and other US partners in the US Partner Zone within the Microsoft Partner Community!

Nominations are open for our annual Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards! Read on to learn more about the awards, why you should submit a nomination, and how.

Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards showcase stand-out talent & build trust

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize partners who demonstrate excellence and truly stand out in a competitive field. The prestige that comes with these awards opens the door to business opportunities and increased recognition from Microsoft and the partner community. Past winners report receiving greater trust and respect among customers and partners alike thanks to the esteem of these awards.

Nominations may be submitted now through April, 5, 2022 at 6 PM PT via our online submission tool.

Winners will be showcased in Microsoft press releases and will receive a marketing kit including award partner badges, social templates, and press templates to use to endorse their achievement. They’ll also be showcased at Microsoft Inspire 2022, the pinnacle partner event of the year! You can find more information on the Partner of the Year Awards homepage.

Join a showcase of partners in diverse categories

The Partner of the Year Awards are a truly global showcase of distinguished partners. Partners from more than 100 countries and regions around the world can submit nominations in more than 58 categories, ranging from cloud technology and entrepreneurial spirit to AI and Modern Workplace solutions.

We’re excited to announce several new awards this year:

• Azure category: Migration to Azure award (expanded)
• Business Applications category: Dynamics 365 Customer Insights & Marketing award, Dynamics 365 Finance award, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and Intelligent Order Management (IOM) award, Power Apps award, Power Automate award
• Modern Work & Security category: Compliance award
• Business Excellence category: Operational Excellence award

We are so proud of the way our partners step up to solve customer problems and positively impact their communities – we can’t wait to recognize and celebrate your accomplishments together.

Explore US-specific partner awards

The Microsoft US Partner (MSUS) Awards complement the global Microsoft partner awards program and focus on US-specific partner impact. Both the worldwide and MSUS partner awards use the same nomination tool and process. MSUS Partner Award categories include solutions such as business apps and intelligent cloud, but also diversity and inclusion, customer experience, and social impact.

Wondering what past award winners have in common? Check out our Partner Success Guide blog series to learn how to nurture the five attributes of successful Microsoft (partners? Award winners?) and see how you stack up!

What to expect in the nomination process

Partners submit self-nominations to be considered for the Partner of the Year Awards. Partners may submit different entries or nominate different solutions for the same category or enter the same solution for different categories, if all category requirements are met.

Entries are to address all category questions in an executive summary of 8,000 characters or less. Login to your Partner Center account to access the award application tool and further instructions for submitting your nomination.

Submit your nomination today!

Official rules and guidelines are posted on the Partner of the Year Awards page. The deadline for all nominations is April 5, 2022 at 6:00 pm Pacific Time (PT).

Here are quick links to key resources:

• Submit a nomination
• Download the official rules
• Download the awards guidelines

Download the Partner of the Year Award FAQ

 This shift has resulted in an explosion of data, an immense opportunity for retailers with the right technology to harness and generate insights and provide unmatched online experiences that resonate with customers. However, the vast majority of retailers of all sizes are playing catch-up, and urgently looking for the solutions and partners that will help them move into a digital-first economy. 

 Microsoft Cloud for Retail was launched in January 2021 as a comprehensive solution to getting the most out of their data, empowering employees, and exceeding customer expectations.  

 Microsoft Store shifts to digital first in one month with Microsoft Cloud for Retail 

When the pandemic struck, the Microsoft Store experienced the same impact that reverberated among retailers across the globe. However, instead of derailing business-as-usual, it accelerated a journey to digital-first that had been in the making since the first two physical stores opened in 2009. In 2011, we launched our e-commerce site and were building the foundation for a digital-first organization by making key investments in our organization, technology, and people. Bringing together the digital and physical store teams in 2017 was critical to building the culture we needed to make that shift. 

 Today, the Microsoft Store has a significant global footprint, covering 190 markets around the world and receiving 1.8 billion monthly visits from customers. Our team of global associates surpass 1,500 in number and collectively provides customer support in over 120 languages. A company of this size and geographic diversity must lay the groundwork in advance in order to pivot quickly in response to sudden market changes.  

 That groundwork enabled Microsoft Store to seamlessly step in as Customer Zero for Microsoft Cloud for Retail, implementing the capabilities that made sense and innovating on top to build unique capabilities tailored to Microsoft Store needs. For example, solutions like Dynamics 365 Customer Service Hub, Power Apps, and Teams made it easy to humanize the customer journey and deliver the best of the in-store experience online. 

 Years-long investment in our people and culture enabled us to make a rapid shift to digital transformation and go digital-first in less than one month. With our own house in order, we were able to quickly return to helping companies, educators, and consumers navigate the personal and digital impact of the pandemic. 

Microsoft Cloud for Retail sets up retailers for success 

So, what is important to know about Microsoft Cloud for Retail, the solution that underpinned Microsoft Store’s swift and successful digital transformation?  

Microsoft Cloud for Retail is a suite of cloud-based tools that brings together different data sources across the retail value chain. It uniquely connects experiences across the end-to-end shopper journey through a set of capabilities that deliver more relevant personalized experiences and operational excellence for sustained profitability. Critically, Microsoft Cloud for Retail is built on a robust, unified data platform that enables retailers to enrich core business processes and turn data into actionable insights.  

As demonstrated by Microsoft Store, retailers achieve maximum flexibility to adopt capabilities to address their most pressing business needs – be it understanding customers better, empowering employees, building a resilient supply chain, or reimagining retail.  

How partners can expand your Retail practice 

As we continue to roll out solutions for Microsoft Cloud for Retail, our ambition is to work in lock-step with Microsoft Retail partners to empower Retail customers to seamlessly connect their customers, their people, and their data. Increased data sovereignty for Retail customers provides you with new opportunities to help them harness the data to build the predictive and analytical power required for their own competitive advantage.  

 There are limitless avenues for you to align and enable Microsoft Cloud for Retail, including: 

• Scale your own go-to-market by aligning sales and marketing motions with ours. Strategic partners with co-sell ready solution will have curated presence on digital platforms and can leverage the Microsoft Field as a distribution channel and global sales force with co-sell ready solutions that extend core cloud capabilities.  
• Build on Cloud for Retail as a platform, taking the composable capabilities and using them to enrich solutions already in market-either for a specific Retail customer or at scale.   
• Enrich the overall Cloud for Retail ecosystem by building new or updating existing SaaS or PaaS solutions that take advantage of whitespace opportunities, extend core cloud capabilities, or deliver complete retail business processes 
• Unlock new revenue and high value service opportunities by tailoring Microsoft Cloud for Retail to each customer’s environment and business processes, driving ROI through greater adoption and use.  

Takeaway 

The Retail sector is advancing like never before with customers’ expectations changing by the minute. Microsoft’s current Retail customers and those companies looking to rapidly transform to digital-first are actively seeking out technology partners who can bring superior technology, industry knowledge, and experience. Whether Retail is your bread and butter or an area you’ve considered expanding into, now is the time to learn more about Microsoft Cloud for Retail and take the next steps to give your Retail customers what they demand and need to thrive. 

Learn more 

Explore Microsoft Cloud for Retail | Microsoft 

Learn more about Microsoft Industry Clouds 

—Martin Luther King Jr. (1963)

Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy inspires us to be kind to ALL humans, to ensure equality for ALL people, and his dedication to the nonviolent pursuit of racial equality moves me to action.

His life’s work led to the Civil Rights Act which banned discrimination in employment, public accommodations and other aspects of life, and the Voting Rights Act to stop discriminatory voting practices such as literacy tests.

His posthumously published book, A Testament of Hope, urges Black Americans to continue their commitment to nonviolence, but each and every person bears a personal responsibility in this effort to make MLK’s dream a reality. As an ally, I can work to dismantle systematic racism that has been ingrained into our society. It takes all of us working together to bring hope and love to every corner of our nation.

While progress has been made thanks to MLK and many civil rights leaders, there is much work left to do. MLK’s nonviolent protests and commitment to equality paved the way to the current Black Lives Matter movement which has elevated discussions around the racism that is still experienced today. Institutional racism is a legacy of past and current public policy, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms, that continues to perpetuate inequity and opportunity gaps.

Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to racial justice and closing the opportunity gap

In an effort to help correct these gaps, Microsoft collaborated with the Black partner community to launch the Black Partner Growth Initiative (BPGI) and other initiatives to provide access to resources, skilling, and opportunities needed to overcome barriers to growth and accelerate success in a long-unlevel playing field.

Microsoft has taken our role in addressing economic inclusion with a commitment to increase Black partner representation in our ecosystem by 20% within three years. We’ve scaled up existing programs and launched new initiatives in a multi-year, multi-faceted approach to building a more inclusive workforce.

During the recent Voices for Innovation webinar, I had the opportunity to speak with partners about the important work we’re doing around this at Microsoft.

During that webinar, I highlighted a few of the core programs we’re expanding and adding in an effort to increase representation and strengthen our culture of inclusion within our partner community, including

• Microsoft Accelerate
• Career Connector
• Clear Vision Impact Fund
• Black Partner Growth Initiative

Microsoft Accelerate

We recognize that nurturing a more diverse workforce means investing in people early on. In 2020, Microsoft launched a global skills initiative with the aim of training 25 million people worldwide with skills needed for in-demand tech roles.

US-based implementations of the global initiative include Microsoft Accelerate and Microsoft’s community skills program. Microsoft Accelerate partners with local community leaders and businesses to provide no-cost tech skilling to underserved communities.

The Accelerate program is near and dear to my heart as I was in the room when this concept was born. We were in Atlanta, GA, where MLK grew up and went to college, meeting with the mayor’s staff, the chief of police, members of the city council, Chamber of Commerce, and other community leaders, discussing the unemployment problem in Atlanta and the surrounding areas.

Two primary challenges stood out: 1) significant unemployment rates impacting the citizens of Atlanta, and 2) numerous local companies that could not find qualified workers to fill their open positions.

Our former Microsoft US President, Kate Johnson, said, “What if we could help with both of those problems?” The idea was born to work with major cities for digital skilling for citizens and then also work with the Chamber of Commerce to host job fairs with local businesses that needed qualified workers once they had the skills needed.

Microsoft Accelerate centers on amplifying free training and resources within communities. The start-to-finish program provides subsidized upskilling and resources for small business owners to build digital skills, for students to be prepared for their first job, for those looking to change careers, and for educators to integrate technology into their classrooms.

Atlanta was home to our first pilot program. Since then, five additional cities have been added, with more to come!

Career Connector

As was the case in Atlanta, demand for digitally skilled workers is at an all-time high, with companies across the US struggling to identify enough capable applicants. At the same time, businesses are looking to build more diverse and inclusive workforces that better reflect the communities and customers they serve.

To bring the impact of skilling programs like Microsoft Accelerate to fruition, there is a need to connect historically overlooked talent of nontraditional backgrounds with the employers that need their skills. Career Connector, launched in 2021, does just this by creating a channel between job seekers historically underrepresented in the industry to tech and tech-enabled jobs across Microsoft’s network of customers and partners.

We aim to match 50,000 skilled workers with growing companies within three years.

Clear Vision Impact Fund

The Clear Vision Impact Fund, launched in August 2020, seeks to counter chronic underinvestment in minority-owned businesses through improved access to capital, and thereby enhance the positive impact that these companies have on the communities in which they operate.

Formed by Siebert Williams Shank & Co. with an initial $257 seed investment from Microsoft, the fund invests growth and operating capital in small and medium-sized businesses, with an emphasis on minority-owned businesses.

As of March 2021, the fund has grown to over $100M, well on the way toward the target size of $250M.

Black Partner Growth Initiative

The US-based Black Partner Growth Initiative (BPGI) is setting the framework for delivering programmatic elements that can be replicated globally for minority communities.

Created in close partnership with Black channel partners, the BPGI provides personalized guidance and support to help Black partners engage successfully with the Partner Network, and accelerate growth through greater community connections, stronger partnerships across Microsoft’s expansive ecosystem and platforms, and access to capital.

We’ve been blown away by the positive response of Black partners and their active engagement in helping to evolve and improve the program to better meet the needs of this community. This engagement has helped shape the brand-new #MicrosoftAdvance accelerator which kicked off with its first high-potential cohort in January 2022.

#MicrosoftAdvance accelerator participants unlock business resources designed to aid success, including 1:1 consultation with a dedicated advisor and tools to help jumpstart marketing.

While we view the first year of this initiative as a measured success, we are also intensely aware that our work in this area will continue to mature and evolve as we deepen collaboration with our partners, become sharper students of their lived experience, and learn from our partners and continue to better understand what a truly inclusive economy looks like.

Advancing racial justice and inclusion in your sphere of influence

Diversity helps us think about our processes, programs, and products in a different light. By working on these initiatives as well as our internal diversity and inclusion efforts, we not only produce better products and solutions for all, but also, we give our children a diverse group of people to look to for inspiration.

These programs and more offer unique opportunities to join other partners across the ecosystem who are partnering with organizations in their own community to equip students, displaced workers, and underserved populations with digital skills and more equitable opportunities to find their place in the thriving tech industry. Consider how you can leverage your own business and social connections to build a more diverse talent pool for high-demand sectors and establish Microsoft technology hubs in your area.

“Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.” – Verna Myers