Microsoft Dynamics Extends Leadership to Deliver Value to Its Partner and Customer Ecosystem

DENVER, July 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- New products and programmes underscore Microsoft Dynamics' commitment
to its partners and to providing solutions to help businesses reach their
full potential.

At its Worldwide Partner Conference 2007, Microsoft Corp (Nasdaq: MSFT)
today underscored its commitment to the Microsoft Dynamics(TM) ecosystem,
announcing investments in technologies and initiatives to strengthen this
ecosystem to deliver greater business value to customers and open new markets
and opportunities for its partners.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )

In support of this commitment, Microsoft announced an investment of 
$20 million (US) in several new initiatives that will help extend its
award-winning partner programme to be delivered through the next year. Along
with these investments, Microsoft today introduced Microsoft Dynamics
Entrepreneur Solution, a new product designed to help small businesses join
the Microsoft Dynamics product portfolio early in their business cycle and
achieve greater efficiency and better customer service, and Microsoft
Dynamics AX Mobile Sales and the Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Development Tools,
a new solution and tools for customers and partners to develop mobile
applications that work with Microsoft Dynamics AX.

"Today we are celebrating the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem and the
partnership we have built with our network of technology experts over the
years to deliver real business value to our customers," said Kirill
Tatarinov, corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions. "With
the announcements today, we are reaffirming our commitment to our ecosystem,
enabling our partners to be confident in the opportunities created by
Microsoft Dynamics. Our mutual customers can be assured of getting
high-quality solutions to meet their specific business needs."

Increasing Investment in Partners

Microsoft Dynamics partners, on average, are experiencing revenue growth
that is twice that of their industry peers,(i) and Microsoft Dynamics
continues to invest in programmes to directly help partners meet the growing
demand for Microsoft Dynamics solutions. In the year ahead, Microsoft will
amplify its partner investments in the following:

--  Training and Education
        --  Investing in training and education for 4,000 partner technical
            sales resources
        --  Investing in training and education for new hires secured by
            partners that are part of the Microsoft Dynamics President's 
            Club, a programme that recognises exceptional sales performance 
            among Microsoft Dynamics value-added resellers and independent 
            software vendors (ISVs)
    --  Increasing Partner Capacity
        --  Investing with our President's Club partners to recruit and hire
            1,000 professionals and building Microsoft Dynamics solution
            delivery capacity in partnership with selected global systems
            integrators
    --  Partner Benchmarks and Business Management
        --  Communicating the Microsoft Dynamics 2007 World Wide Partner
            Economic Report and introducing the Microsoft Dynamics Partner
            Scorecard and Partner Benchmarks to improve management and best
            practice sharing across the Microsoft Dynamics partner community
    --  Extending the Microsoft Dynamics Ecosystem
        --  Launching the Certified for Microsoft Dynamics programme with the
            goal of building a strong portfolio of Certified for Microsoft
            Dynamics solutions by investing in partner marketing co-funding,
            with up to US$10,000 available to the initial partners who 
            complete the process of certifying their Microsoft Dynamics 
            solution. The same partners will also participate in channel-
            building events and gain early access to pre-release products to 
            accelerate the process of bringing new applications to market. In 
            addition, a new logo is being introduced that Microsoft Dynamics 
            ISVs may use to highlight their Certified for Microsoft Dynamics 
            solutions.

"Our decision to bet on the Microsoft(R) platform was the right one,"
said Randy Forkner, president of Collins Computing Inc. "Microsoft's
commitment to its partners and ecosystem has been unwavering. The investments
that Microsoft Dynamics has made over the years, and continues to make in
helping its partners grow their capacity and provide opportunities, has
helped me build a strong, profitable business that my customers have counted
on since 1986."

New Markets and Technology Innovation Fuel Ecosystem Growth

Today Microsoft is announcing Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur, a business
management solution designed to enable small businesses to quickly get up and
running with their business application. The new product, based on Microsoft
Dynamics NAV, offers ERP functionality within finance, purchasing, and sales
and marketing. As these customers grow their business and require additional
functionality, they can easily step up to the next level with Microsoft
Dynamics NAV. The global, phased roll-out of Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur
will commence later this calendar year with launches in four countries:
Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

The introduction of Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur also provides an
opportunity to a new set of partners that focus on small, growing businesses
to offer a solution within the Microsoft Dynamics family of products. There
will also be new opportunities for existing Microsoft Dynamics partners as
the business systems and IT needs of Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur
customers expand. More information on the Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur
Solution can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/entrepreneursolution.

Microsoft today also announced a new offering extending the Microsoft
Dynamics AX business management solution to mobile clients to fulfil the
promise of business applications that offer better value where the work gets
done: on the shop floor, with customers and at other locations away from the
office. These offerings include Microsoft Dynamics AX Mobile Sales, which
enables salespeople and managers to place and track orders remotely, look up
sales history and manage campaigns from their mobile devices while on the
road visiting customers. Also included in this offering are Microsoft
Dynamics Mobile Development Tools, which give partners the ability to extend
the value of Microsoft Dynamics solutions to the mobile environment. This
means partners have the opportunity to build mobile solutions based on
Microsoft Dynamics that target specific business processes and roles critical
to people on the move. As part of these mobile offerings, Microsoft extends
its relationship with Motorola to marketing and channel activities to help
channel partners provide a complete mobile solution, consisting of both
applications and devices. Additional details on these new solutions can be
found at
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/jul07/07-10dynamicsax.mspx.

About Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and
supply chain management solutions that helps businesses work more
effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing
specialised services, these integrated, adaptable business management
solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline
processes across an entire business.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise
their full potential.

About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)

Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft
employs more than 12,000 people in 60 subsidiaries, delivering products and
services in 138 countries and territories.

(i) IDC white paper sponsored by Microsoft, "Microsoft Business
Solutions: Partner Pathway to Business Performance," document No. 206030,
April 2007

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For more information about Microsoft Dynamics:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/businesssolutions/default.mspx

For more information from Microsoft Dynamics case studies:
http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/product/casestudies.mspx?mg_id=10154&wt.svl=10154

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com