Started in 1994, IAMCP International is the world's largest community of Microsoft Partners. It currently has thousands of Microsoft channel partner companies as members, with over eighty chapters operating in more than forty countries globally. By working in close collaboration with Microsoft, IAMCP is able to align partner planning and strategy to Microsoft's go-to-market campaigns. Mal Shaw intends to build a vibrant and active Australian IAMCP chapter that will become the primary Microsoft channel-partner community in Australia and the lead association for Microsoft partner events.



With thousands of Microsoft channel partners operating in Australia, there is huge growth potential for the Australian chapter to increase its membership to hundreds of active channel-partner companies throughout each state and territory.

Mal Shaw believes the success of the Australian chapter will be achieved through local engagement from channel partners and national engagement by Microsoft. "We have witnessed the growth of IAMCP around the world and are seeing strong support from Microsoft that the IAMCP is the main channel association that Microsoft is looking to engage with globally. Partner-to-partner networking is at the heart of the IAMCP and is a great way to find new services and products to sell to customers. We know from recent IDC reports that the IAMCP network engages in approximately US$10.2 billion of Microsoft partner transaction activity each year, and there is a clear opportunity for our Australian chapter members to improve their sales potential through shared knowledge amongst this community of trust."

The IAMCP focuses on key delivery areas for its channel partner members, including

• partner-to-partner business networking opportunities in Australia and globally
• increased engagement opportunities with Microsoft
• advocacy for the needs of Microsoft channel partners and secondly back to Microsoft in terms of providing feedback. This includes responding to government policy challenges to the IT industry, reducing software piracy, promoting innovation, and more.

"Our initial goals are to achieve a membership scale of significant size and, importantly, of influence to Microsoft. One of the IAMCP's key roles is to advocate on behalf of its channel partners back to Microsoft. The bigger the scale of the Australian association, the more powerful our voice will be to advocate on behalf of our members and influence Microsoft partner and marketing programmes."

Why join IAMCP?

IAMCP provides an excellent route for generating partner-to-partner business networking opportunities. Every member that joins the Australian IAMCP chapter potentially represents a whole new set of services that other members can sell to their customers. Typically, selling to existing customers is easier than finding new ones, so this is a great way to find new services and products to sell. Many IAMCP chapters take pride in having built a "trust community" in which members can feel comfortable actively partnering with other members on customer projects. Every member is there because they want to take the opportunity to partner.



The IAMCP also plays an important role in helping members engage most effectively with Microsoft. This is achieved by working together to make sure its channel-partner members are ready when Microsoft releases new technologies, sharing best practices amongst members, and learning from each other.



The re-establishment of the Australian IAMCP chapter has been achieved with the support and direction of Per Werngren, an IAMCP International board member and former worldwide President of IAMCP International, and Microsoft Australia's Partner Strategy and Programmes Manager, Toby Bowers.



"Microsoft is keen to engage the Australian chapter of IAMCP as a pathway to the partner community for enablement and feedback and as a conduit to Microsoft for partners," said Bowers. This was echoed by Werngren, who added, "IAMCP is delighted to re-establish its Australian chapter at a time when IAMCP and Microsoft are working more closely together than any time in my ten years of involvement."



Shaw reiterated that the strength of the Australian chapter will come from its membership. "We are inviting Microsoft channel partners to join the chapter and make it a vibrant and active one for the benefits of all its members."