MBS launches accreditation scheme

Link: MBS adopts new plan for CRM launch

The programme is the division’s first official accreditation scheme since Microsoft acquired Navision and Great Plains last year.

‘Following the acquisition, resellers were accredited under the Navision Solution Centre brand or the Great Plains brand, which did cause confusion,’ said Dean Carroll, business development director at MBS.

Now, once each partner has completed the training, they will qualify as Microsoft Business Solution Certified Partners.

‘We are hoping to raise quality above and beyond what customers expect,’ Carroll said.

He added that, although all partners will initially qualify at the same level, Microsoft may add a top-level certification to the programme in the future.

David Hurley, managing director of Microsoft VAR Anglia Business Computers, said he welcomed the accreditation.

‘I fully endorse this programme because the skills of the channel partner can be a factor in the success or failure of a deployment,’ he said. ‘From a customer perspective, if a partner is not competent enough for the job, it is a bad reflection on the rest of the channel.’

Separately, Microsoft has changed the way it will sell its customer relationship management software, by incorporating it into its Volume Licensing programme.

The software will be sold through the MBS division, but will not be available in Europe until December. Customers will be tied into its Software Assurance plan, despite MBS partners usually selling through the Perpetual Licence model.

Additionally, Microsoft CRM will be sold through all resellers, not just MBS partners, and the vendor will encourage VARs to gain CRM certification.