Technology has changed, buyers have changed
The
Microsoft WPC (World Partner Conference) 2014 took place in July and
took place in Washington D.C. We spoke to Ronald Meeske, CEO of CTU,
about the conference.
Tell us about the WPC experience
and why it is important for a partner like us to attend?
I attended WPC this year
in Washington D.C., a lovely city with a lot of interesting attractions. WPC
is a conference where Microsoft
partners come together, attend strategy sessions and where Microsoft shares its
vision going forward. Any person (whether you are in sales, technology or a
learning partner) can gain value by understanding the business. Microsoft
promotes their strategy through their partners because they don’t go to the
customer directly. It is a great event where there is a meeting of minds around
Microsoft and the technologies that it represents.
From a partner’s
perspective you learn a tremendous amount through all the exhibitions and
connections with other partners. It enables you to forge your own strategy in
moving forward and implementing the right strategy for your business.
What is Microsoft’s vision for
its partners?
Microsoft’s central
theme for the year forward is “mobile first, cloud first” - a drastic departure
from last year’s vision of devices and services. I am very grateful that they
have embarked on the new strategy of “mobile first, cloud first” because it
really embodies the whole Microsoft experience. Our lives at this stage are
being touched tremendously by the cloud and I think they’ve got it right on the
button with their strategy.
Everything is
moving to the cloud: our daily lives and things that we do at our place of
business. At this stage you don’t see anybody without a mobile device, no matter
where you are. If they have got internet connectivity, they have got a
connection to the world and I think that embodies Microsoft’s whole strategy.
What kind of impact does this
new strategy have on the market?
I think it is going to
have a great impact on the market. One of their strategies is that they have a
single multi-product platform so they can connect with people on multiple
levels all the time. The other thing that Microsoft has done very successfully
is adapt their platform to other vendors and providers so that you can still
have the same experience, even though you might be implementing a different
technology. Today, technology is different but versatile. Our buyers have
changed, we as Microsoft partners need to have new sales strategies and
capabilities in order to sell this to our new generation customers.
The focus throughout the
conference was the customer experience. What do the customers really experience
and what experience do they have. The focus on the market that was always
sales-driven is now more on the customer.
Tell us more about the internet of things.
The internet of
things can be divided into three sections: the internet of people, the internet
of information and the internet of places. I think this is going to develop and
change over time.
The internet
of information: Any customer has
access to information, they do their own homework. By the time they get to the
seller of services, they have a good idea about who is in the market and the quality
of their products and services. This makes it interesting from a marketing
perspective. How do you connect with your market if you really only have a
connection with the customers at the end of their buying decisions?
This has changed how one
should market oneself. The information age has enabled us to put a lot of
information on the internet. Your company should have loads of information
available online to connect with the buyers via computers or mobile devices.
You should also differentiate yourself and your products in terms of what you
have on the internet to guide the customer to your experience and not to
someone else’s (a competitor’s) experience.
On the other
side of the coin, one has the big data debate going on today. In big data you
can gather a huge amount of information of customers and you can use that
information to connect with your customers at the decision making stage. You
can use that to rebuild buyers and connect customers to the right product
The internet
of places: We live in a society
that is very busy in towns and cities where there is a tremendous amount of
travel. I think moving around should be completely controlled by technology.
The example that was given at WPC states that there are cars that can drive
themselves these days. I think that through technology it should be able to
work out the best travelling route for you, may it be by train, car or any
other mode of transport, to get you to your place of work or appointment and
update your diary accordingly. I think the environment and places we live in
will have an impact on how we will live in the future.
The internet
of people: This includes all
the social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Every single child today
that can hold a mobile device is on a social media platform. We always say that
our children’s social lives will disappear, but I think they know more about
each other’s lives today and I think they connect more with others today than
they did in the past.
Social media changed the
world tremendously. It has brought grandparents closer to their grandchildren
even though they are in different towns or countries. It is something that has
revolutionised the world.
From a
marketing perspective you just cannot ignore social media. Your company should
have a social media strategy and we should engage in social media. It is the
place where everybody congregates. It is a fantastic opportunity for companies
to provide services that the people need. You can easily identify and connect
with the right customers through big data. You can also lead a discussion or
you can be a thought leader on social media.
Are there any new strategies
that you’ll now consider implementing in your organisation after what you
learned at WPC?
Yes, absolutely. We’ve already been talking about this
in our organisation. CTU is going to completely move to the cloud. It will
completely change the way we operate. From a user perspective it’s not going
to be a big change but from the way we are operating and in terms of cost effectiveness
there will be a significant change.
From a provider
of services perspective we have implemented a social media strategy over time.
From a delivery perspective we will have to reconsider exactly how we deliver
training and development and the experiences our customers have. Training any
time, any place. This is something we will study and we will try to implement
what our customers expect.
Tell us more about product
versus solution selling.
The behaviour of our sales people and what the customer expects: Our
sales people generate our non-consultative sales. What they are selling is a
product and they are very successful at that. You need to add value to the
customer and not just sell him something. Solution selling goes above the
traditional products. Within the next 2 years, connectivity will likely be
sorted out around the world and this will have an immense effect on the
technology that can be implemented. Take a look at what you can do with Azure
now and how quickly you can build a solution for a customer. From a Microsoft
perspective it is vitally important that the partners understand what we can do
with technology in terms of a single platform with multiple products. The sales
game is changing from pure product to solutions selling. This is a huge
business opportunity that innovative companies can take advantage of.
What does the
future of our customers look like in terms of what they expect from training
partners like us?
Just to share some things about how the customers have changed over
time: The customers today do their own research – they know who you are; they
know the company and its customers; they can see what others say about the
company and the products/ services; they know the company’s track record. This
is all before they make contact with you. The question is now: Will the
customer still come to your company? The time is now to start being fanatical
about customer service.
What exciting technologies or
services can we look forward to?
Microsoft Cloud for Business is the leading and most comprehensive
enterprise cloud offering today. It can be done across 3 platforms: private,
hybrid or public cloud. There are four areas that Microsoft is looking at
currently: productivity (Office 365, Yammer and Skype), platforms (Azure), management
(SCCM) and business apps (CRM and ERP). Windows Azure skills will be become one
of the focus areas as it is very important in streamlining all of the products
and bringing them together. The ERP solutions are comprehensive, in the cloud
and will increase productivity if used correctly.
In summary
Technology is changing. Your experience is going to change and in the
future you are going to determine what your experience is going to be. We will
then fulfil that experience. It doesn’t have to be more expensive. It depends
on what you do.
From a CTU perspective: content will become free (MVA) and the focus is
going to be skills and skills development. The lab environment will become very
important. Online training, labs and interactivity are becoming more important
in the business environment. Situational mentorship is lacking in the learning
experience today. Every learner that goes on a learning experience should have
a mentor that will help ensure the success of the experience. This can also be
the reason behind people not completing their online training or distance learning.
We need to create a new experience to make sure that there is a proper transfer
of skills.
A word to CTU’s customers: Watch this space. We are embarking in a
totally new direction to get the people trained to a higher level and offer a
fantastic experience. There are going to be challenges. A lot of things are
going to the cloud. There will be different learning experiences that people
aren’t necessarily used to. I believe that students spending time at a learning
institution for a number of years should have a great experience. It should not
just be about the learning. It should be about the experience as well, leading
to employability at the end of the day.
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