232 – Unlocking Growth: How to Become an Ultimate Partner to Microsoft in 2025

Per Werngren Joins Ultimate Partner®

In this episode, we sit down with Per Werngren, CEO of Idenxt, an expert who advises partners within the Microsoft ecosystem across North America and Europe. With a wealth of experience in building relationships and growing business opportunities, Per shares his insights on how partnering with Microsoft can drive success, particularly through the strategic use of AI.

We also explore the tech industry’s crucial role in shaping policy, focusing on its impact on local jobs and taxes. Drawing from his extensive experience, including leading the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP) to expand from 4 to 44 countries and generate over $10 billion in annual revenue, Per discusses the importance of collaboration and the value of the P2P Maturity Model he developed.

Join us to gain valuable insights from Per’s leadership experience in multi-national organizations and his expertise in fostering partnerships that drive growth across cultures and geographies.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode

0:00 – Partnering with Microsoft, building relationships, and growing business opportunities.

4:27 – Tech industry’s role in shaping policy, with a focus on local jobs and taxes.

9:41 – Leveraging AI for growth through partnerships with Microsoft.

https://youtu.be/Ek7R1oxR4js?si=MFxE2emqmUAjl-c1

LISTEN ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP

Ultimate Partner LIVE – Executive Summit ’24 – Now OPEN!

The Doors Are NOW Open – Ultimate Partner LIVE ’24

I’m thrilled to announce the Ultimate Partner LIVE Executive Summit 2024, which will be held in Dallas, TX, on October 22nd and 23rd!

This year’s summit promises to be bigger and better. It will be an immersive experience bringing together over 300+ partners across ISVs, LSPs, and SIs. Join us for two days of insightful discussions, hands-on workshops, and unparalleled networking opportunities with industry leaders and Microsoft executives.

REGISTER HERE

Transcript

Keywords:

partner, microsoft, ai, communities, partnering, ultimate guide, years, stockholm, organization, msps, call, icp, voices, achieve, leaders, great, talk, created, local, innovation

Transcript (Generated by Otter A.I. – Please Excuse Any Typos) 

Per Werngren 0:00  

I think you shouldn’t be just in one community. It will enrich in you and will enrich the other communities. If you are engaged in multiple communities, yes, and multiple communities means that you will get more business opportunities.

Mike Gervais 0:18  

Microsoft’s purpose is in service of your purpose. And again, 2024 is the year that partners come out as the leading edge of the spear on finding this buyer intent. You

Vince Menzione 0:29  

show up to every meeting and demonstrate why you are relevant every

Sharon Schoenborn 0:34  

day. I have to force myself to make sure that I’m taking one step ahead in terms of my own learning that

Vince Menzione 0:39  

flywheel success is where you will build momentum, and that momentum will continue, and then you feed into the other systems to say, this is what we did. This is how we did it together. Welcome back to The Ultimate Partner. I’m Vince menzion Your host, and my mission is to help leaders like you achieve your greatest results. Through successful partnering, we’ve been bringing leaders that are driving the transformation to this platform. And over the years, I’ve gotten to know so many great, award winning partners, and also leaders of communities and just great leaders in this world of hyperscaler and Microsoft and and the like. And I have had a great fortune of having a friendship with an incredible leader who’s here in the studio today because he came all the way from Stockholm, Sweden to join our event. Pear waringgren, thank

Per Werngren 1:27  

you. Vince. Communities like these are the things that we need in this ecosystem, and it’s a pleasure being here. It’s a pleasure supporting ultimate partner experience. And I have a background, as you said in it. Well, I used to have hair, and I have been running IT companies and it financial companies who in my life, and I discovered the beautiful thing about recurring revenue in the 90s, and that has been my mission. All companies I’ve been running should be recurring revenue. Companies, you

Vince Menzione 2:02  

were ahead of the curve with that. And you You also were headed the curve in terms of working with Microsoft and helping to build the, what we now call the ecosystem. We used to call the Microsoft Partner Network. Take us on on that journey a little bit. Why? Why did, how did you get involved with Microsoft? And then you helped start the imcp. You were the founder the imcp, the International Association of Microsoft channel partners. Tell us how you got there.

Per Werngren 2:25  

Yeah. So as everyone I wanted a closer relationship with Microsoft in at the turn of the century, and I engaged with what was a very small organization called the amsp association of Microsoft solution partners, I think it was called, Oh,

Vince Menzione 2:44  

interesting. I never heard of that one. And

Per Werngren 2:47  

they quickly changed their name to amcp, and then they changed and we changed our name to iamcp, because that was when I joined. So it was a tiny organization, and we were, or we claimed that we were in four countries, but in reality, it was only us interesting. And I took that association to 44 countries. So I was traveling the world, meeting Microsoft people, meeting partners, opening up local chapters, and it was super fun and also a good education, because I learned what makes the partner ecosystem tick, what makes partnering tick. And I quickly understood that every country said that we are unique per in our country, we do things very differently, but after having visited so many countries, I saw so many commonalities, and then I thought that, Okay, I better capture this into a model. So I created a P to P maturity model.

Vince Menzione 3:50  

Yes, you’ve covered it on our podcast. You run our earlier guest on our podcast a few years ago with that, that’s right.

Per Werngren 3:55  

And during these years, when I run the imcp, when I expanded imcp, I also built my relationship with Microsoft, so I got the inside track on so many aspects, and I was part of efforts in Europe trying to swing legislation in favor of Microsoft partners, interesting. So after a few years, I saw the fruits of that of these efforts, and saw that legislation were coming our way. And it is the same thing that ICP have been doing in the United States, talking to legislators, or government elites, as we call them, about things that make sense for smaller companies that employ locally, pay taxes locally. Yes, that’s what politicians need to hear, absolutely. And they hear the multinationals talk all the time. But when they hear Microsoft partners smaller companies, they see that, wow, the needs for the multinationals are really the needs for the smaller companies, right? And they are aligned the

Vince Menzione 5:01  

taxpayers locally, they’re driving the economy locally in your country or your region, yes, and this is, this is really what we call voices for innovation today. Was it called Voices for innovation? Then? Yeah,

Per Werngren 5:11  

absolutely. So. So voices for innovation. I think we started 2006 the year my daughter was born, and our first event was with Steve Ballmer at the Conrad hotel in Brussels. So that was amazing years.

Vince Menzione 5:36  

We’re excited to announce ultimate partner live executive Summit, October, 22 and 23rd in Las Colinas, Texas, we’re bringing back the event that we hosted last year, but in a new facility with state of the art capabilities and live streaming. This is your opportunity to engage with other technology leaders, to learn the what, why and how to achieve your greatest results, partnering with Microsoft and other tech giants, featuring leadership tracks, fireside chats and workshops designed to help you achieve more. The doors are opening next week for Early Bird registration. And you know, I’m active with voices for innovation today, absolutely, and I’m on the advisory task force here in the United States, and it really became more of a US function. I believe, right? I think the international components faded off or didn’t continue. Yeah,

Per Werngren 6:29  

and also, the issues that we were fighting for in Europe we came over to was yes, yeah, prominent. And I think that voice for innovation is an phenomenal platform, and there has been so much success around voice for innovation in like, 15 years now,

Vince Menzione 6:47  

yeah, and it’s fascinating, you know, this is a great conversation we can have about what we don’t see from legislators. I’ve been on Capitol Hill meeting with my local congressmen and senators. I’ve been to the White House with Microsoft as part of voices for innovation, and it’s striking technology is driving the world right now, and yet our lawmakers do not really understand the issues surrounding technology the way they should. Many of them are octogenarians, and I mean, they print off emails and handwrite notes on them. I mean, these are people that don’t even use common tools that we take for granted today, and yet we’re asking them to pass legislation around topics like AI, like Cloud for good, all these, all these topics that are so important, so germane to threats and all the issues that we have in the world. And yet we need to educate them. And to your point, when a Microsoft comes to them, or a Google or an Amazon, it’s one thing, but if you as a local entrepreneur like I am, and you employ people locally in your region, and it impacts jobs, it’s a very different conversation that you can have with your local lawmakers. Yes,

Per Werngren 7:55  

they love to hear that story. And it is also, as you say, it is complex for these octalionarians, that it is easier to understand farming, and perhaps the needs for the AI industry is harder for them to grasp. But we can explain for them that they don’t need to understand AI, but they need to understand that local jobs, local taxes are important, and they listen to that.

Vince Menzione 8:20  

So I want to talk about community for a second. I’m going to say some things that are maybe a little bit provocative, because I tend to be a little bit provocative at times. I said this, you know, we talked yesterday at our event. I talked about Walt Disney, which one of the most amazing entrepreneurs, visionary and entrepreneur, right? Creative and entrepreneurial skills together. He created something that didn’t exist. He created the Disney Empire, the Disney World. Disneyland because he didn’t see what he hoped to see from the world. And he created something fresh and something new. And I’ve been saying for a long time, since I left Microsoft, in fact, I was disappointed when I came out that there wasn’t the organization that I expected to see. And this is not as you know, I’ve been a member of imcp. I’ve been member of other partner communities and organizations. It’s the reason why we started ultimate partner experience, because we want to build something unique, something different. And you’ve been a big supporter, champion, if I if you will, and I want to bring all that. I want to I want this to be a big tent. I think we could do more together. I look at ultimate partner and ultimate partner experience as an education platform, not necessarily just a community, but a place where we can bring great leaders in the room, like we did yesterday at this event, and maybe do something that nobody else can do. Have a unique and independent point of view, but a supportive point of view for the hyperscalers, and that’s where I see where we’re going with this. And what would you say?

Per Werngren 9:41  

So, so, like, with customers, we talk about multi cloud, yes. And why not have multi communities? Yes. So, like, you don’t need, and I think you shouldn’t be just in one community. It will enrich and you and will enrich the other communities. If you are engaged in multiple communities. Is yes, and multiple communities means that you will get more business opportunities. So we have the imcp, we have the women in cloud, we have the vit network, and we have a few other really nice communities that are growing and that are doing a great job, and now we have the ultimate partner experience. What I think is unique with ultimate partner experience is that here in this community, we are agnostic to technology. We love technology, but we love all vendors. We want to build a big tent, and ICP members that I’ve spoken with see that this is something that adds value to the imcp

Vince Menzione 10:47  

Yes, we had some imcp members in the room yesterday,

Per Werngren 10:49  

absolutely. And I had great conversations with them, and they see that this is something that really adds so I would encourage imcp members to also become members of this lovely community. Thank you, and also take a look at other communities, because it will enrich them. I

Vince Menzione 11:09  

appreciate that, and we’re going to share this with our community and with broadly with the community. We are thrilled to announce our partnership within partner software, the world’s leading provider of partner management technologies, serving over 4 million partners globally in partner excels in delivering cutting edge solutions for partner relationship management and partner marketing automation. Their robust platform offers essential tools like program compliance, tracking, customizable partner journeys and comprehensive business planning. These features Empower partner teams to swiftly transition from program design to achieving maximum value in partner is dedicated to supporting partner ecosystems everywhere and continues to innovate with new modules like analytics studio designed to help track and maximize the ROI of your partner program. For more information, visit impartner.com

Vince Menzione 12:11  

you are big in this community, this partnership world. You work with a lot of organizations to help them achieve their greatest results. We’re entering the second half of the near the new the beginning of Microsoft’s new fiscal year 25 what would you say to our viewers and those listening today? What should they be doing better differently to help them achieve their greatest results? So

Per Werngren 12:35  

nothing is constant. Change is something that you shouldn’t try to avoid change is something that should embrace now. We are in the middle of change. We are in the cloud era. Some are more in the cloud era than others. I think everyone need to become more into the cloud era and also around AI. Perhaps AI is not the money maker for partners, but it is the conversation starter. They need to make sure that their people understands AI, that their salespeople can have conversations around AI, and they need to make sure that they improve the performance of their companies with the use of AI, like when they are developing software, use AI when they are trying to make their customer Help Desk more efficient. Use AI, etc, gives co pilots for everything that builds knowledge, but also it builds profitability. But selling AI to customers, is not a money maker today, but it is what you need to do. Because if you’re not doing it, someone else will have those conversations, and someone else will sell the vanilla projects. So and it’s

Vince Menzione 13:52  

and it’s helping to spark the rest of the transformation of those organizations, right? Yes, absolutely. It becomes the plumbing, in a way, yeah, yeah.

Per Werngren 14:00  

Very much, very much. And there are some the low hanging fruit around AI, when it comes to making money, today is the projects where you get ready for implementing AI. That’s right. And I have never been a fan of projects, because projects end, recurring revenue never ends. But projects, many partners, are making a living out of projects, and it’s a great way to start an engagement with a customer around AI, but then try to find the formula for creating some kind of recurring revenue. Recurring revenue is important not only for the value of the recurring revenue, but also it gives you a reason to be in constant contact with your customer. So

Vince Menzione 14:43  

you’ve done a lot of work. I mean, you’ve led several or you’re I’ll call you a serial entrepreneur, right? If you’ve led several different organizations, what’s what strikes you the most now? What are you working on now that is most informed, that will help our like, Where should our. Viewers, listeners, think to reach you, and what value do you want to add for them? Yeah,

Per Werngren 15:05  

so I love to help MSPs to find their module, to find profitability. As Jay McBain has said, there are many MSPs that are not making a lot of a profit. And I think as an MSP, if you do things right, you should have a decent return on the investment that you have made running your business. So

Vince Menzione 15:27  

that’s what you’re helping that’s what you’re driving today. Primarily random, yes, absolutely.

Per Werngren 15:30  

And then general questions around partnering. Everyone wants to become a better partner to Microsoft, and they want to become a better partner to others. And what I often explain, and I know that you are a fan of that, is that it starts with the top if you don’t have senior leadership buy in, partnering will never fly. That’s right. So you’ve got to get the mindset right, absolutely, and that is important. And sometimes people need my help to convince boards around the value of partnering. I

Vince Menzione 16:04  

love that. I love the work that you do. I love your passion around partnerships, around Microsoft. I love having you as a friend. I appreciate you so much for coming here, flying all the way from Stockholm. Still, my heart warms by just the fact that you made the trip out here for our event

Per Werngren 16:21  

like vice Vince, it is an honor to be here, and I’m proud to call you my dear friend. So it was an easy decision to see that it had value coming from Stockholm all the way to nice Boca Raton to be part of this wonderful event. Thank you, sir, because I truly support this organization and I truly support the work that you and your team are doing.

Vince Menzione 16:41  

Thank you so much, my friend. Great to see you. Great to see you. Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. I want to thank you for supporting the Ultimate Partner. If you like what you’re listening to, please subscribe on either Apple Spotify or subscribe to our new YouTube channel the Ultimate Partner. Thank you so much for listening and watching. The Ultimate Partner. Thanks for listening to this episode of Ultimate Partner. Hopefully this episode and all the episodes we’ve recorded are helping you better align your partner strategy to achieve your greatest results. So I want to ask you something, have you implemented everything you’ve been learning, and are you now achieving the growth and revenue objectives that you hope to achieve, if not, it’s time to take action now join ultimate partner experience. We’re building the community I’ve always dreamed about with UPX. You get access to exclusive Industry Insights, unparalleled networking opportunities, tons of educational resources and support from a community that shares your goals. Join us now. Visit our website, the ultimate partner.com, and sign up today. You.