Microsoft channel partners facing hurdles with new technologies

It became obvious to me when watching Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella giving a keynote speech at Build 2018 event that every, I mean every Microsoft partner will have a mountain to climb if they want to be part of the exciting new Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, analytics, and overall digital transformation. You might ask the question why I pose this claim, hasn’t this been around for a while? Yes, we have had discussions of these things, but they are now moving into mainstream implementations where it is expected from a Microsoft channel partners to be able to intelligently talk about this.

Continous delivery of features and functions from Microsoft platforms

I see the change first hand by delivering management workshops for Microsoft partners and the stakes are getting higher and the expectations of knowledge of each team member is also getting higher. Part of my own challenge is to keep myself updated on everything that is happening in the technology field, especially with the ever-increasing velocity of new Microsoft services that are been introduced from Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, and Office 365.  We were used to having new releases of server technologies every two years, now you can expect to have new services been released on a continuous basis. There is, of course, a logical reason for this as well. Organizations have moved to continuous delivery with pre-defined development cycles and this enables software vendors to make updates to its clients or release new features on an ongoing basis. The same applies to Office 365. The Office 365 admin console keeps on growing with new services and we are required to study the impact of these to ensure that organizations get maximum benefit out of these platforms.

Methods of continuous learning

It is a blessing that Microsoft provides a lot of the online content free of charge so we can learn about these technologies whenever we have time. I am also a consumer of Udemy courses where I can quickly pick up topics of interest and consume them during my travel. Udemy allows you to download the content and view using the app either on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

It is an exciting time to be working in the technology field

I have been in the industry for quite a while and I have not been as excited as I am now in a long time. Technologies and innovation is truly giving developers an amazing opportunity to create disruptive solutions that we have not seen before. However, this will require another skillset from the developers as well. If you are a Microsoft partner developing solutions, the management needs to make sure there is plenty of time for the developers to learn and consume courses to avoid a situation where you do not have personnel that can build solutions that organizations require. That would be a nightmare scenario. My nightmare scenario has been since I was a young guy that my skills would not be good enough whatever I do, so my theme is “continuous learning every day.”