I’m excited to be spending a second day at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C. True to the conference’s name, I’ve been meeting with many of our key partners who are building outstanding apps and solutions with Microsoft technologies, including Windows, Windows Phone 8, and Microsoft Azure. Partners have been core to our business since the beginning, and they’ll continue to be critical to our future.
Yesterday, I touched on something new we are offering for partners with our new Vertical ISV Partnership Program. This technical program will help our partners succeed in a cloud-first, mobile-first world as we strive to best serve our mutual customers.
Today, I want to highlight several partners who announced new and cool apps and technologies.
Trend Micro– Trend Micro announced new and enhanced security capabilities and offerings for Microsoft Office 365 customers, including Trend Micro Cloud App Security and Hosted Email Security. The new products help businesses and IT professionals protect against data loss and secure their systems from malware while using cloud solutions like Office 365. As a result, business can focus on customers, instead of worrying about the limitations of existing IT infrastructure.
Work In Field– Work In Field announced that its mobile in-vehicle GPS app and Microsoft Azure-backed cloud service Vezma is now generally available for customers around the world. Using Vezma, customers and partners can track their journeys – as well as items like fuel consumption and expenses – and upload that information to the cloud. Additionally, businesses can manage and deploy vehicle tracking applications, improving their overall field performance and productivity.
Viggle– Viggle pushes the boundaries of how consumers engage with mobile technology and helps people connect with the entertainment they already love. Viggle announced a great, free app for the Windows Store and Windows Phone 8. Viggle rewards you with points when you engage with your favorite sources of entertainment, such as listening to music or watching TV, which you can redeem for a wide variety of rewards. Now, Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 users can experience the same award-winning Viggle app as found on iOS and Android. Further, we will be working hand in hand with Viggle to help them use our cloud services on Microsoft Azure and promote the app across marketing initiatives.
Epicor– Epicor announced that its Epicor Retail Store Windows 8 Edition is now available. The solution gives retailers a next-generation and highly intuitive point of sale solution that leverages Windows 8 to empower store associates to deliver an efficient, personalized and inspired customer experience. This can aid retailers in boosting “units sold” and “dollar per transaction” metrics, while supporting improved operational effectiveness (e.g. more streamlined inventory replenishment, price changes, promos, etc.). Additionally the solution provides “store in a box” flexibility for off-site events.
For more details about our partners and WPC, head over to the Microsoft News Center and the WPC website.
Cheers,
Guggs