Satya Nadella (Microsoft)
Satya Nadella will address more than 2500 developers, start-ups and entrepreneurs in Jakarta today, as Microsoft makes its partner priorities clear in Indonesia.
In delivering the keynote at DevCon - Digital Economy Summit 2020, the CEO of Microsoft is expected to outline the vendor’s strategy for driving developer success in Southeast Asia, with enhanced Azure capabilities set to feature heavily.
The arrival of Nadella - echoing a similar local address in 2016 - highlights a continuation of Redmond’s policy to increase developer engagement across the world, billed as the most viable route to market for the technology giant.
“This event will inspire and educate you, the builders of tomorrow,” a Microsoft invite read. “If you are a developer, entrepreneur or executive who is poised to help Indonesia become the crown jewel of ASEAN, this event is for you.”
In aligning with the developer community, Microsoft is once again sending a subtle - or perhaps not so subtle - signals to its traditional channel base.
For this won’t be a trip of channel convenience, there will be no reseller one-on-one meetings or strategic addresses, rather, this visit will lay the groundwork for Microsoft’s future partner strategy in Indonesia, and the wider ASEAN market.
In this instance, sometimes, it’s not what you say, it’s what you don’t say that counts.
Amidst a whirlwind visit to Indonesian shores, Nadella’s agenda is built around lending credibility to an event addressing today’s development challenges, with heavy focus on Azure products such as Arc, Stack Edge and Synapse, in addition to artificial intelligence, machine learning and DevOps capabilities.
While the vendor isn’t completely slamming the door shut on its core base of value-added resellers, it’s deliberately shifting focus to independent software vendors (ISVs) in Southeast Asia. In 2020, more so than before, ISVs represent the beating heart of Microsoft's new channel across the region.
Similar to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud, the message to the reselling channel is clear; catch up and change, explore hyper-specialisation and pursue profitability through managed services and productising intellectual property (IP).
In essence, the onus is now on partners to build and develop unique solutions on top of cloud platforms, offering the originality required to ensure ongoing success.
While the traditional and transactional methods of the channel will not disappear overnight in Southeast Asia, and nor should such a fallacy be encouraged, the direction of travel is clear.
In flying over 13,000km from Redmond to Jakarta - adhering to a meticulously planned out schedule - Nadella’s visit is as purposeful as it is symbolic.
But the key question for the channel remains, can you read between the lines?
