Microsoft Boosts MDF For Small Business VARs

Microsoft is now running a pilot program that gives SBSC partners up to $1,000 in MDF credit which can be applied to Microsoft's Ready To Go Marketing campaigns, according to Eric Martorano, director of U.S. partner strategy and marketing. Microsoft has also changed a policy that required partners to match Microsoft's MDF funds, essentially making it a deal with no strings attached.

"SBSCs have been asking for more marketing support, and we recognize that during these economic times it's hard to continuously invest in driving demand," Martorano said.

Microsoft's Ready To Go campaigns include Microsoft-focused events, services, templates, case studies, and newsletters, and they're designed to help VARs devote the bulk of their time to business oriented activities.

"VARs are usually technology specialists, not marketing experts," said Martorano. "We provide marketing expertise that concentrate on drive demand and support customers."

In the pilot program, which runs until the end of the year, Microsoft's goal is to gather feedback from partners, said Martorano, who declined to offer additional details. This seems like an odd goal because VARs probably won't be complaining much about receiving more channel support from Microsoft, particularly when they're not being asked to match the company's contribution.

Microsoft's SBSC partners have been vociferous critics of Microsoft's pricing model for hosted Sharepoint and Exchange, and some have been less than thrilled by the company's moves into online software sales and retail. But Mark Crall, president of Charlotte Tech Care Team, a Microsoft partner in Charlotte, N.C., says the MDF pilot program will help reassure SBSC partners that Microsoft does, in fact, have their back.

"Once again, Microsoft has stepped up the plate and put their money into us, their partners," Crall said in a recent blog post.