BLOG UPDATED 7:44 P.M. EST (DEC. 18) TO REFLECT REQUESTED CLARIFICATIONS BY MICROSOFT

Just spoke with Julie Bennani, general manager of the Microsoft Partner Network, for the company’s Worldwide Partner Group about changes the developer is making to its customer satisfaction research process and how it relates to attaining a Gold partner designation.

For starters, customer satisfaction surveys are now a mandatory part of becoming a Microsoft Gold partner.

The changes are part of the company’s evolution of the current program into the Microsoft Partner Network.

Surveys can be sent under a number of different auspices. For example, they could be sent out jointly (identified as a project being conducted by Microsoft AND Specific Partner) or they could be sent out just branded with the Specific Partner’s name. A third-party research company will monitor which businesses and organizations are being surveyed on behalf of partners, so that they don’t get survey-weary.

Another change is that surveys are more random in the past. There is no “minimum” level of satisfaction that is required in terms of customer satisfaction ONLY that the partner complete 10 surveys for EACH area where they hold to receive a Microsoft Gold designation. So, they need 10 surveys for Security, 10 surveys for Unified Communications and so on. A particular business could be surveyed about more than one different area.

Bennani says the idea behind keeping the surveys more random is that the partner and Microsoft will receive a truer reading of customer satisfaction across a given partner’s customer base. When a partner is responsible for meeting a certain customer satisfaction level, they might be tempted to game the results a little bit by providing the research firm with a list of their “best” customers. Now, the only real requirement is that the customers are ACTIVE: That they have worked with the Microsoft partner in the 12 months prior to a given survey date.

Partners that submit to this process will receive their scores, specific comments and an analysis of how they perform against similar partners. They can also add their own custom questions. What’s more, if they are really ambitious, partners can actually run surveys on a quarterly basis to keep better tabs on how they are doing.

On the face of it, I like the idea of making customer satisfaction process part of how high a tier a partner can attain in a vendor’s channel program. Although I personally think more attention should be paid to how a partner actually does, I guess that will sort of take care of itself. I mean, how willing would YOU be to fill out a survey if someone had done a really bad job. Maybe there become degrees of Gold-ness, with Gold partners holding a higher customer satisfaction score entitled to more field benefits or more attention from partner account managers.

I also like the fact that satisfaction is being more ingrained into the partner consciousness AND that the survey process forces ongoing activity. Satisfaction is more likely to reflect a long-term relationship, rather than a one-off tactical success story.

Now that customer satisfaction surveys as a partner measurement tool have been in place for roughly seven or eight years now across the channel (not just at Microsoft), I’m betting we’ll see some more adjustments in the year to come from other vendors.

VAR. Reseller. ISV. Systems integrator. Consultant.

You may be familiar with these high-tech partner labels, but channel managers must get ready to become comfortable with an entirely different set of technology solutions influencers.

The transformation of Microsoft’s partner program into a beast called the Microsoft Partner Network (come on they have 640,000 partners, the program IS a beast) is a harbinger of things to come across the channel. Not tomorrow, necessarily, but over the next 12 to 18 months as businesses come out of their shells and start investing in technology again.

When I spoke with Allison Watson, Microsoft corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group, before the company’s partner gathering earlier this month, she said Microsoft has been segmenting its partner types even moreso than it has done in the past based on changes in the way that customers buy or acquire technology. If a 20-something is only familiar with free applications, then Microsoft better figure out how to get inside his or her head. Stat.

As an example, Web design firms and developers are of keen interest, especially as Web sites and Web 2.0 applications increasingly become the front door to businesses. Of course, hosting companies are another focus, because of the influence they hold in small and midsize businesses who are considering cloud-based software options. Here’s some detail on Microsoft’s new effort with hosting providers. Routes to market surrounding home media continue to be evaluated.

Julie Bennani, general manager of the Microsoft worldwide partner program, figures there are 9 or 10 major business models that technology companies now must consider as routes to market, especially as the industry moves to what Microsoft calls “software plus services” and the rest of the world calls software as a service. You think 640,000 partners is a lot, the company could grow up to 1 million by pulling in these next-generation influencers, Bennani figures.

Who knows who these partners are? Your guess is as good as theirs, but you can believe the Microsoft is very busy finding out.

Of course, supporting all these partners will be a tricky matter indeed.

That’s why you’ll see more money being spent on tools and resources that address two major areas:

1. Embracing social media and social networks to communicate. Watson estimates that Microsoft has about 3,500 followers and the company is looking closely at how social networks can accelerate and improve customer support. (Here’s a separate blog I did for my Business Brains platform that discusses Microsoft’s plans.)
2. Business development resources for partners transitioning from an old model to a new model. Let’s face it, it’s easy to stick with what works until it doesn’t work anymore. Problem is that is happening rather quickly. An example of something that could help soften the blow is the Profitability Modeler, a Microsoft tool that helps partners estimate three-year profit and loss impacts for moving into new business areas. A similar resource is an updated Practice Builder and Services Ready Initiative.