Last week Microsoft sent out a press release regarding a report by IDC about Microsoft’s partner ecosystem and its economic impact : $ 580 Billion.
In the software industry there is this the Rule of Thumb :
$1 in software revenue generates up to $10 in the partner ecosystem.
Although 1:10 may seem a very big multiplier, simply compare it to Microsoft’s annual turnover and you’ll see it isn’t that far off.
For sure Cloud Services may impact the 1:10 ratio; but nevertheless a lot of services our partners provide today in the “on premises” world are still very relevant in the “cloud” world.
And if there’s 1 thing that distincts Microsoft from a lot of other players in the current market it is the this partner eco systems. It creates scale in consulting, implementation and management of client’s IT infrastructure. A scale that is far beyond that of any other company in the software industry :
the IDC white paper, commissioned by Microsoft, can be viewed : here
