Sela Canada and WPC
Eran Barlev
Director of Sela Canada
Gold Application Development
Gold Application Lifestyle Management
Gold Learning
Gold Mobility
Silver Devices & Deployment
Silver Midmarket Solution Provider
Silver OEM
When asked how Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) helped his company, Eran Barlev, Director of Sela Canada doesn’t mince words. “I tripled my business, and I expect it to double again by the end of this calendar year.”
Not bad for a $2000 investment. That’s the approximate price of an all access pass to WPC, Microsoft’s premiere event for partners which will be held this year in Houston.
“WPC pulls out all the stops when it comes to helping partners. From great business content delivered by some of the world’s best speakers to sneak peeks into what Microsoft has coming, to direct access to executives, product managers and industry leads, WPC is where I need to be to put everything in place for the coming year” said Eran Barlev, Director of Sela Canada.
Eran also credits his membership in IAMCP, the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners who work closely with Microsoft to help members get value out of their Microsoft relationship. “IAMCP run events throughout the year that keep the networking going. I have established partner to partner relationships in a few short minutes that might have taken months to evolve without the common IAMCP bond.”
Eran spoke about the value of the Regional Keynotes when Microsoft Canada traditionally shares deep insight about the coming year.
“At the Regional Keynote Microsoft Canada spent three hours presenting the strategy for Canada. They showed us what the trends would be and where they would be spending in marketing and promotion. That kind of information is critical for my business. I need to know where they are investing so that I can align. When we go to market together, the message is strengthened and everybody wins.”
As a result of his attendance at WPC, Eran built trusted relationships that led to a new offering based on the Windows 8 platform. “We created the 3 weeks start-to-store program. It really came about when I was brainstorming with one of the Microsoft product managers. I brought the idea back to my team and we buttoned it up with an approach and a guarantee. Now we are delivering mission-critical Windows 8 apps in less than 3 weeks. If I could only go to one conference a year, it would be WPC without a doubt.”
Gail Mercer-Mackay
President of Mercer-MacKay Solutions
Member IAMCP Canada / IAMCP International Board Member
Chairperson IAMCP Women in Technology