Darcy Burner's WebLogSoftware vendor centralIMO: What Microsoft does right that other software vendors could learn from- January 29, 2004 One of my principal motivations for joining Microsoft four years ago (when the .com boom was still in full swing and Microsoft was a very unfashionable place to be!) was because I wanted to understand what they were doing differently than the other companies I'd worked for or been exposed to. Lotus made great products when I was there (and may still, for all I know), and yet SmartSuite lost to Office. CenterLine struggled to a gasping death, never really quite getting it...http://blogs.msdn.com/darcyburner/archive/2004/01/29/64758.aspx A tisket, a tasket, a logo in your basket- January 29, 2004 In my current role, I'm the Microsoft business owner for the .NET Connected logo program: Because a significant portion of my job involved providing training and information about Windows Server 2003 to ISVs, I also spend time thinking about the Certified for Windows Server 2003 program: I meet regularly with the folks who own the Certified Partner program: And there are a whole bunch of other Microsoft logo programs for ISVs, including my personal favorite graphic, which I...http://blogs.msdn.com/darcyburner/archive/2004/01/29/64295.aspx On opting in and opting out- January 27, 2004 I've developed a bad habit. Whenever I'm asked for marketing information and then given one of those checkboxes which allows me to specify that I don't want anybody to contact me, I click it so that nobody will contact me. It's an understandable reaction, I think, to the overwhelming amount of spam in my inbox and junk mail in my snailmailbox, but I have come to realize, from the other side of the problem, someof the drawbacks. For instance, we're giving away free VeriTest...http://blogs.msdn.com/darcyburner/archive/2004/01/27/63609.aspx The disconcerting thing about being a Microsoft employee- January 26, 2004 So as I said in an earlier post, I've been at Microsoft for almost four years. I worked in other places in the industry prior to that, in a variety of roles, including in technical sales roles. I've talked to a lot of customers, and I still have a lot of friends at other companies in the industry. When I was working for other companies and talking to customers, it was common to start at neutral and eventually gain someone's trust when it became clear that you were being...http://blogs.msdn.com/darcyburner/archive/2004/01/26/63226.aspx On programs for small ISVs- January 26, 2004 I got a fair amount of feedback on my first post, all of it (so far) very constructive. So today let's walk through some of the queries posed. (Microsoft legal would like me to add the following disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Now that that's out of the way...) First, let's start with ...I would like to hear how she believes the small ISV fits into the picture with Microsoft. (Avonelle Lovhaug) Senior management at...http://blogs.msdn.com/darcyburner/archive/2004/01/26/63213.aspx Software vendors, aka "ISVs" in Microspeak- January 23, 2004 Imagine, if you will, that there is somebody in Microsoft whose job it is to make sure that companies who want to develop software on the Microsoft platform have everything they need to do so successfully. They need to have developer tools like Visual Studio, they need information (MSDN and MS Press books, for instance), they might need training. That's not all, though. What else do software companies need in order to be successful I have some theories, but I suppose it might..http://blogs.msdn.com/darcyburner/archive/2004/01/23/62382.aspx |