TonyBates

7. Revenue Growth: Over the past year, Microsoft’s quarterly earnings statements have repeatedly praised Lync’s growing popularity as a unified communications platform. But how many channel partners are cashing in on Lync? And which ones are the best and brightest?

6. Growing Synergies: What type of new synergies will Lync gain with Skype, SharePoint, and the Yammer social enterprise that Microsoft acquired last year. What integrations will Microsoft offer, and where will partners continue to have their own integration opportunities.

5. Hybrid Cloud?: Lync can run on-premies but it’s also available as part of Microsoft’s Office 365 cloud. So which Lync components will customers choose to mostly run on-premises, and which will be increasingly cloud-centric?

4. Cloud PBX?: Speaking of the cloud — when will Lync become a full-blown cloud PBX. A growing number of partners want to offer customers hosted PBX services. Is Lync nearing that reality?

3. Office 365?: Microsoft will launch a range of Office 365 cloud enhancements for business on February 27. How exactly will Lync benefit from those enhancements?

2. Responding to Rivals?: Cisco today launched “a significant competitive effort against Microsoft” in the collaboration market, according to a Cisco spokesperson. It starts with Rowan Trollope, Cisco’s SVP and GM of collaboration, offering a “frank and direct conversation” about what’s changed in collaboration and why Microsoft’s approach with Lync is far from hitting the mark long-term in the post PC era, Cisco claims.

Cisco claims to have the uppor hand in a range of areas — including phones, video endpoints, voice and video gateways, networking and cloud PSTN connections. Also, a Cisco-developed global survey claims to identify more upside for Cisco over Microsoft. The Cisco-led conversation continues over on a new microsite from the company. Will Microsoft bother to reply? Hmmm…

1. Windows 8 and Surface: What synergies will Microsoft demonstrate between Lync, Windows 8 devices and Surface tablets? Although Surface RT allegedly has suffered from weak sales and Surface Pro has generated mixed reviews, interest in Microsoft’s tablet strategy seems incredibly high. Surely, Surface will be positioned as an ideal collaboration endpoint for Lync.

Either way Microsoft partners should tune in. While portions of Microsoft’s businesses face steep challenges, Lync remains in double-digit growth mode.