This alliance represented an exciting time because it underscored the reality that an industry-respected company like Intuit would bet on Microsoft to deliver a cloud computing platform to the people they care most about: their developers and customers.

Intuit’s decision was not an easy one as there are many options to choose from. Therefore, we knew that in order to “do right” by Intuit and its partners, we must deliver against the mutual commitments we set forth. Above all, be consistent in our delivery against Intuit’s priorities. More than a year has passed and I’m thrilled to share that Intuit and Microsoft are continuing their partnership. (See Intuit's Alex Chriss's announcement here)

As part of this decision we’ll be releasing version 2.0 of Intuit’s Windows Azure SDK for Intuit Partner Platform. If you are a partner or customer then you are most likely curious about what’s in store with this update. Here’s what you’ll find:

-      Support for one-click publishing & authentication of federated IPP and Intuit Anywhere apps hosted on Windows Azure; the primary cloud platform of choice for Intuit’s Developer Network...(prior custom coding concerns related to identity management (e.g. Auth, OAuth, OpenID etc) will be significantly reduced)

-      A flexible, secure platform (on Windows Azure) that provides better development tools, an easier development cycle and a quicker time to markets around the world

If you’re a member of the Front Runner Program (for third party developers) then you’ll also benefit from technical and business support that simplifies getting your apps hosted onto Windows Azure, while also integrating with Quickbooks data. Once you are on-boarded, Intuit & Microsoft will promote your application to Intuit’s 26M million (and growing) SMB customers.

At the core of any lasting partnership are the real (aka what makes this partnership real and credible) benefits that partners and customers can rely upon, and which translate to tangible business outcomes. It’s testament to the Microsoft/ Intuit partnership that partners are willing to speak up about their experience.  Propelware and CoreConnex are two such examples:

• Joe Dwyer, CEO of Propelware: Extend market reach 300 to 500 percent and Saves 50 percent on time, cost of development
• Frank Coker, CEO of CoreConnex, Inc.: “We are estimating that it will cost 30% to 60% less to run the Corelytics™ Financial Dashboard on the Windows Azure cloud than it would cost for us to run in our own data center.
  Further, the Microsoft Windows Azure platform removed the up-front capital investment; which in turn, allowed us total flexibility to take on a spike in growth and global expansion without any worries about server capacity or bandwidth. Finally, the data security and system reliability features of Windows Azure are much greater than what we could afford if we were building this on our own. We have nearly 1,000 companies in 11 countries using the Corelytics™ Financial Dashboard and they depend on us to be always-on in support of their business management processes.”

To our friends at Intuit and to every Intuit developer partner, we continue our thanks and look forward to meeting you at Intuit’s Cloud Jam, and at future Intuit and Microsoft developer events.

Liz Ngo, Global ISV Group, Microsoft Corporation

-----------------------------

My name is Liz Ngo from the Global ISV Group at Microsoft Corporation.

In early May of 2011, I shared with many of you that an update to foursquare’s official app for Windows Phone 7 was soon to come. Today marks a leap forward for both our companies with foursquare’s Windows Phone update 2.0 release available for download.

To get to this moment, the team set out to harness key principles in our design and development approach:

• Anticipate and deliver on the needs of the customer.
• Take advantage of the great opportunity to push the boundaries that exploit foursquare’s new, flexible, and robust APIs.
• Never lose sight of Microsoft’s unique design language and capabilities for smartphones.
• Display the rich set of foursquare data in a graphical way that is personalized to the individual, yet meaningful to our friends and communities.
• Ensure the application is well received (aka just damn cool to use) by foursquare and Windows Phone fans worldwide.

The combination of these tenants resulted in wholesale changes to foursquare’s 2.0 app that redefines the customer’s interactions and expectations. In addition to the new redesigned metro UEX, key features also include:

• Panorama dashboard view of updated places, friends, me and explore
• Super-fast check-in via one click “tap and hold” on places in the panorama
• Leaderboard Live Tile
• Useful new sorts, e.g. places by “here now”, friends by “name”
• Mapping of nearby places, friends and specials
• ...and many more!

Although today represents an important achievement, we look forward to continued updates and possibilities ahead.

I want to thank all our friends at foursquare, colleagues at Microsoft (Kyle, Tom, Bryan, Casey, Mike, Ben, Steve, and Gunther), and the folks at nVentive. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

Below announcement dated May 4, 2011

Greetings, my name is Liz Ngo, from the Global ISV Group at Microsoft Corporation.  I have the fortunate luxury to collaborate with many talented partners; one of which is foursquare.

I am here to give a special shout out to our friends from both the foursquare and Windows Phone communities.  Over the last year, we have discovered and learned from many of you that Windows Phone 7 is a great leap for Microsoft.  In the spirit of this, foursquare will soon unveil a new foursquare mobile app that will take advantage of some of the unique capabilities, features, and experience for Windows Phone 7.

Keep up the enthusiasm, keep up the dedication, and we will continue to keep you posted as we continue to develop the new official foursquare mobile app for Windows Phone 7.

-------------------------------------------------

Greetings, my name is Liz Ngo, from the Global ISV Group at Microsoft Corporation.  Today marks an exciting moment for Microsoft and our partnership with Intuit Inc.  I hope many of you have read today’s announcement regarding:

 “Intuit and Microsoft Joining Forces to Deliver Web Applications to Millions of Small Businesses.”

As such, I am sure there are many questions, one of which could be “Why did Intuit and Microsoft choose to partner?”  Just as there are many ways to express “Thank You” in all the world languages (again, thank you Intuit), there are equally a myriad of ways to define the term “Partnership”.  Whether you are two individuals or two corporations, the decision to enter into such a relationship does not come easily. Then again, the best things in life rarely do.  Prior to reaching this decision, there are common linkages that both companies needed to consider:

Strategy

• Alignment in important decisions such approach and direction (ideally due north) as companies grow; while industries shifts and economic conditions change.

Software plus Services and Cloud Services

• Both companies have made significant investments in the area of cloud computing. Intuit’s Partner Platform, Microsoft’s Windows® Azure and Business Productivity Online Suite are key pillars both companies will continue to invest in the many years ahead.

Sharing and Side by Side

• Both companies are unified in the belief that exchanging ideas and new concepts; while working collaboratively will result in the generation of value and growth for both companies along with the partners and developers in our ecosystem.

Small Businesses

• Both companies fundamentally believe that with the changing economic landscape, our millions of small business customers will need (more than ever) new services and a greater support infrastructure from companies that they entrusted and invested in over the years. We look forward to continually serving these important customers

Services and Solutions

• By combining our vast ecosystem of more than 750,000 development firms and channel partners, both companies are well positioned  to reach the market more quickly and provide a greater diversity of offerings and services to over 27 million important small business customers.

One final note, as there are many ways to express partnerships and say thank you, our teams at Microsoft also wanted to extend in every way a big  “WELCOME!” to Intuit’s developer and channel community. Here’s to great partnering and success ahead!

Liz Ngo

Sr. Business Development Manager

Global ISV Group

Microsoft Corporation

In a recent post, we encouraged participation in the 7 Ways to Change the World competition.  Thanks to those of you who submitted solutions from organizations you work with who are affecting social and economic opportunity.   Here’s a follow up to let you know about all of the wonderful winners of the competition who are affecting positive change in the world.   From November 16th-24th, one winner each day was announced for 7 days.

• Congratulations to Peter Pheap who submitted the video on behalf of Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula. The winning entry shows how a high school student uses his PC in different ways to support his community on his way to work at the Boys & Girls Club.
• Congratulations to Clint Lunde who submitted the video on behalf of SkiDUCK. The video explains how technology can help the team at SkiDUCK to be more efficient, spending more time helping deserving children and less time on administration.
• Congratulations to Elizabeth Wallace who submitted the video on behalf of the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound: Bremerton Branch. The video: “Our new club member” takes a creative look at how a new PC with Windows 7 gets welcomed into the club. Boys & Girls Clubs of America has a lineup of tested and proven nationally recognized programs that address today's most pressing youth issues, teaching young people the skills they need to succeed in life. More than 25 national programs are available in the areas of education, the environment, health, the arts, careers, alcohol/drug and pregnancy prevention, gang prevention, leadership development and athletics.
• Congratulations to Sherill Carrington who submitted the video on behalf of the United Way of Central Carolinas. The video: “Impacting the Non-Profit Need” looks at how technology can help non-profit organizations to do more with less, helping them to reduce costs, and drive efficiencies, enabling non-profits to develop creative solutions to address the needs of their communities.
• We’d like to congratulate Jennifer Jackson who submitted an entry on behalf of the American Red Cross: Dallas Area Chapter which presents a humorous look at how Windows 7 will help the Dallas Area Chapter to snap it, shake it and stick it.
• We’d like to congratulate Danielle DeVoe who submitted an entry on behalf of the Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group.
• Congratulations to the first winning entry, announced Nov 16th, submitted by Stephanie Hood on behalf of the More than Me Foundation. The More than Me Foundation is an organization that strives to bring education and mentorship opportunities to students in countries where access is commonly denied while strengthening and building our local community through the project work.  They are currently working in Post-War Liberia.

For more information about these organizations, visit the Unlimited Potential Blog and see all of the videos from the winners and others who submitted their projects.

Wishing you much success,

The Global Partner Team

Hey folks,

For those of you not at PDC that want to keep up-to-date with the exciting announcements there, we’re covering PDC live until its conclusion.  To watch, go to www.microsoftpdc.com

There is an all-star lineup of guests including Mark Russinovich, Patrick Dussud, Steve Marx, Bob Muglia, Dave Campbell, Yousef Khalidi, Ray Ozzie, Erik Meijer, Kurt DelBene, Scott Guthrie, Don Box, Chris Anderson, Gary Flake, Carl Franklin & Richard Campbell (.NET Rocks).

· To participate, send a tweet to @ch9live

 After the conference, sessions will be available for review at this link:  http://microsoftpdc.com/sessions/

Cheers,

Global Partners Team

Following on Mr. Asimov’s sentiments, Microsoft is changing, updating and improving its resources for ISVs.  The Innovate On program will be retired on Friday October 30th.  Instead, we encourage you to explore the following resources: 

Greenlight helps you make your applications compatible with the latest Microsoft technologies.  Greenlight currently supports Windows and Windows Server with SQL and Exchange and Office coming soon and other technologies added regularly.  Be ahead of your competition, win business, and keep your customers satisfied.  Visit the Greenlight site to find the tools and technical resources you need to make your application compatible.

Channel 9 Learning Center (we blogged about this on Monday)

The ISV Portal on the Microsoft Partner Network where you can learn more about the ISV Software Solutions Competency within the Microsoft Partner Program.  It is designed to help you target and differentiate your software offerings. Learn how you can minimize risk and speed your time to market through ISV-specific benefits, like code samples, internal-use software licenses, and access to technical and business support.

Thanks to all who engaged through Innovate On and participated in developing the 25,000 projects that were supported through the program.  We hope you will find continued value in Microsoft’s other programs to build your businesses going forward.

Best wishes for continued success,

The Global Partner Team

There will be landing pages for each course offering, and the first two are now available:

1. Visual Studio 2010 RC and .NET Framework 4
2. Windows 7 for Developers 

In addition to the great course material, on the landing page for each course you will find a link that allows you to download an entire Training Kit as a self-extracting package.

We hope you’ll enjoy and take full advantage of the Channel 9 Learning Center.

Cheers and happy developing!

Global Partner Team

To celebrate the launch of Windows 7 we are announcing an exciting new online competition called 7 Ways to Change the World! The competition encourages people to submit their ideas on how technology can help a nonprofit have a greater impact in the community.

How do you enter?

Step 1: Visit this website to find out more about the contest:  http://www.7waystochangetheworld.com.  Note, you must be a US Citizen and NOT a Microsoft Employee to be elligible.  See site for more details.

Step 2: Create a 2-minute video explaining how you believe a Windows PC could help a nonprofit make a greater impact.  It might be a food bank managing their inventory or an environmental group tracking deforestation, the possibilities are endless!

Step 3: Submit your entry by November 11th, 2009

Step 4: Stay tuned between November 16-24th when the 7 winners will be announced, one winner will be announced on each of the 7 weekdays.

What do you win?

There will actually be 7 winners, and each person who submits a winning entry will receive a new PC with Windows 7 and a $7,000 grant for their chosen non-profit organization.

Want more information?

Get the latest news on the event via Twitter and Facebook

Kind Regards

Tom Murphy

Corporate Communications, Citizenship & Community Affairs

Los Angeles Convention Center

Conference | Nov 17 – 19, 2009

Workshops & Boot Camp | Nov 16

The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is the definitive developer event focused on the technical strategy of the Microsoft developer platform.  At the PDC, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from and connect with the people behind the technology.   >>Learn More  

See the future of developer technology, register by Oct 30 and save $300 on your conference pass! >>Register Now

While you’re there, learn more about developing on Windows 7 – FREE!  Join top Windows 7 engineers for a deep-dive into developing on Windows 7.  The Windows 7 Developer Boot Camp will be held on Nov 16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center (before the PDC09 conference) and is FREE of charge for PDC09 attendees and the public.  You must register to attend; space is limited.  >>More Info

The PDC provides strategic information for ISVs' long-term platform and business model planning, including Cloud computing and other key software advancements.

Don't delay, register for PDC today!