Skandia Team GBR

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Talking About.. Microsoft SharePoint Technologies - Sales Academy

Ok so in my quest to learn or re-aquaint myself with "Sales" as opposed to pure technology I registed to go to the Microsoft SharePoint Technologies Sales Academy at Microsoft UK, TVP.

So I arrived 5 mins later expecting to be ushered into the back of an auditorium to watch death-by-powerpoint..but no, I was usherd (with some othe latees) into a conference room, around 16 people were gathered to learn how to sell Sharepoint technologies..

So the agenda looked interesting the presenters a PTS and an MPT were great, knew most of their stuff and were "interesting".. I struggled for the first bit of the session though..in my rush I hadn't had a coffee..arrggh powerpoint and a lack of caffeine isn't a good mix don't try it at home kids!

The content in this session was far superior to the Microsoft Ignite Sales Tour that I posted about a week or so ago, which is strange becuasse (a) the PTS guy had input into the Ignite content and (b) they are basically on the same kinda subject...selling Microsoft solutions not technology...

The day went well, I won't say I learnt a massive amount and it still worries me that "sales-people" in this field seem not too know as much as I would expect around the broad technology stack.. but it was OK, saw some more glimpses of Office 2007 and WSS3.0 which are looking good and also heard a bit more detail around Sharepoint licensing which was both useful and interesting (i.e. with or without CMS functionality). Also got a little more detail around the new sales campaign "People Ready Business" which will hopefully stimulate a surge of customer interest, intrigue, questions and hence opportunities to engage...

I also got clarity on a couple of products which is both cool that I am now enlightened but a bummer that I'd got them "wrong" previosuly... the main one being my lack of interest in Windows Rights Management Services which I thought was all around DRM, and I gues it is but its much more than just the DRM around your media files so I think that will have to go on my list of things to gen up on soon along with Groove as well which I'm just starting to get my head round.. jeeze this is gonna be one hell of a year for brain-crunching; a whole raft of new Microsoft stuff shipping and then all the Social Media / Web2.0 stuf that I think is gonna have a huge impact on business..

So it was a fairly useful day, the content on business pains was same-old-same which makes me think that I don't need to learn about it, just work out the best way to artiticulate it... hit a heap of traffic on the way home but that gave me a chance to drown James, one of the guys I work with in a stream of consciousness around the day and ideas I was having... and then catch up somemore podcasts... day done thanks... happy Easter!

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