Ron Lovern, Executive Vice President, Triton Networks

“The Microsoft NCE model and partner incentives are focused on long term relationships and growth. I would think that there was probably a high-end customer license switching from partner to partner than straight turnover with the older partner program.

“It would seem that the NCE changes that Rodney oversaw were not so much directed at smaller MSP models that built a practice around managing Microsoft services, as much as it was designed to drive change in the market and the way end users are managing cloud services.

“Cloud service providers and all-in-one cloud providers may offer more volume opportunities for Microsoft services, but the majority of companies in the SMB and midsize markets are communicating differently today.    

“As we move more to cloud and real time communication mediums and media platforms, we will see more communication options in the market. Microsoft is attempting to lock down business to stave off the coming downward trend of our reliance on Microsoft in the business market. We are seeing more and more clients moving to Google, AWS and others to host their cloud services.

“There are more ways for consumers and businesses to communicate today than what allowed Microsoft to dominate the market in the past. A number of small to medium businesses are opting out of traditional email and business office communication methods.

“At recent Channel events, I do recall Rodney making a strong pitch for moving support and other services to the cloud and having partners such as Sherweb, PAX8 and Intermedia. That is important to understand as both of these hosted cloud and communication providers do more than just hosted email.

“I would not be surprised if Rodney ends up at a hosted cloud communications provider or Microsoft Cloud partner growing their market strategy as a result of his past experiences with Microsoft in cloud, communication and IOT services. All communication growth areas.”