Microsoft Inspire 2017: 5 Must-Watch Sessions for Partners

If you weren’t one of the 15,000 or so people in attendance at the Microsoft Inspire 2017 conference this week, rest assured you can catch up on all the content in the comfort of your own home with on-demand sessions. Here are the ones we think you shouldn’t miss. 

If you want to go in chronological order, or even if you want to hear about the bigger picture at Microsoft, this is a great place to start. (If you’re running short on time, skip to 2 and 3 where we have broken off relevant segments from the Day 1 keynote.)

Featuring Microsoft’s new Corporate Vice President of One Commercial Partner Ron Huddleston, Microsoft’s corporate VP for Azure Julia White, and CEO Nadella. Here’s a written overview of the keynote, as well as a look at the message of simplification that was carried over the presentation. 

Watch here. 

Here are the other two major keynotes from the event, on Day 2 and Day 3 respectively. Each of the Vision keynotes run around 2 hours each.

·         Microsoft Inspire Day 2 Vision Keynote. [Read the summary here.]

·         Microsoft Inspire Day 3 Vision Keynote. [Read the summary here.]

2.  Microsoft Inspire 2017: Satya Nadella

Nadella talks about how Microsoft’s partners are helping customers around the world digitally transform their business, touching on the key pillars of digital transformation at Microsoft.

Watch here. (80 minutes)

​3.  Putting Partners First with Ron Huddleston

​If you don’t have an extra couple hours to watch the whole Day 1 keynote, you can zero in on Ron Huddleston’s part of the session, which talked specifically about the changes to One Commercial Partner. It’s well worth the 18 minutes of your time.

Watch here. 

4.  Microsoft’s Vision for IoT

There’s a lot of information out there about the Internet of Things (which you can keep up with thanks to our sister site the IoT Institute) but for partners, it’s nice to know what it means when the rubber hits the road. This session hones in on what partners need to know about the IoT opportunity, which Microsoft says is a massive differentiator for its partners.

Check it out here. 

5.  Microsoft’s FY18 Commercial Sales Strategy: Update for Partners

If you are looking ahead and want to know more about the commercial sales strategy for next year, this is for you. Microsoft CVP Commercial customer segments Chris Weber talks about where it is investing key resources to help partners succeed. 

View it here. 

If you’re a Microsoft partner, we’d love to hear what your biggest takeaways from the event were. If you’re interested in writing about your experience from the show, please get in touch.