Microsoft Inspire Takeaways: Flexibility, Inclusivity and Enablement are Paramount

If we learned anything from Microsoft Inspire 2021, it’s that there’s never been a better time to be a Microsoft Partner.

Last week at the annual Microsoft Inspire conference, CEO Satya Nadella stated that “We want to be the best partner for our partners. “Our partner ecosystem is core to who we are and what we do as a company. You have demonstrated a remarkable commitment to our customers, to our communities and the world through this year of great constraints and change. Ultimately, what you have built is an inspiring reflection, I would say, of the difference each of us can make with digital technology,” he said.

Announcements of new products, services, features and functionality are always exciting. But, for SIPPIO, the bigger-picture takeaways are what have our whole team buzzing.

No other company in the world is better positioned to influence corporate cultures, and we applaud Microsoft’s investment in driving lasting change, strengthening the communities in which we live and work. To glimpse Microsoft’s commitment to inclusivity, however, one only needs to look at its mantra of empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

SIPPIO’s continued growth is in no small part a result of our emulating Microsoft’s partner-centricity. As the largest global platform provider of Azure-native voice services, we are following Microsoft’s lead by helping carriers and channel partners capitalize on an unprecedented opportunity to build more inclusive and profitable as-a-service businesses.

At Inspire, Microsoft also introduced a new set of benefits for ISVs designed to fuel continued integrations within Teams.

Nick Parker, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President Global Partner Solutions, shared a few significant announcements during his presentation, including the news that, starting July 1, Microsoft lowered its marketplace transaction fee from the industry-standard 20 percent to 3 percent. Also of note is that later this year, Microsoft will expand the payment instruments available in Microsoft AppSource, giving customers the flexibility to purchase using credit cards or invoices and enabling them to buy applications right within Microsoft Teams.

Other noteworthy changes coming this fall to the ISV Connect program include reduced revenue-sharing fees, simpler go-to-market benefits, ISV app license management and discounted environments for development, testing and demos.

Microsoft’s commitment to empowering its global partner ecosystem with tools to support hybrid work environments is as clear as ever.

Microsoft makes it as easy for your mom as it is for your CEO to use their tools. We built Partner Portal with this same “easy button” concept. For example, we created a graphical user interface (GUI) to enhance the user experience and exploit the power of Microsoft while removing the requirement to invest in highly skilled PowerShell developers.

The only way to do this effectively is through a predictable and repeatable process. A healthy voice practice starts with an empowered partner who can provide accurate customer quotes and quickly turn quotes into orders to activate customers and earn revenue.

Partners and carriers can leverage Partner Portal to optimize productivity, reduce days outstanding for accounts receivable and recognize top-line revenue with billing and collection oversight. Additionally, they can add their own SKUs and use APIs to move data to CRM, ERP or other billing systems.

We built eight data regions globally to provide location proximity and awareness. We then layered the automation app, SIPPIO Voice Panel, available on AppSource, on top to quickly onboard customers. Voice Panel provides benefits beyond standard scripting by providing import utilities, user and policy management and route selection for continuity.

We’ve done all the heavy lifting with the investment of resources, a golden architecture and config running in Azure which leverages superpipes directly into Microsoft Teams and supplies all the customer and partner management apps with support into the SIPPIO global calling platform.

SIPPIO invites prospective MSPs, partners and carriers of all types and sizes to take us for a spin. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised and would love for you to join our ecosystem in driving value, productivity and agility with Microsoft Teams.

Are you interested in becoming a Voice Champion with SIPPIO? Find out how by visiting this link: SIPPIO Voice Champions