For this special series of the podcast, leading up to Microsoft Inspire, I interview leaders from Microsoft's One Commercial Partner team to discuss the work that their teams are doing in this age of rapid digital transformation.

My guest for this episode is Brent Combest, the general manager of the US One Commercial Partner organization responsible for Microsoft Value-added Service Partners to build profitable practices with and through Microsoft.

Brent and I discuss the work his team does to help partners transform their businesses and build profitable and sustainable business models, his journey from the channel to Microsoft, and what's in store for partners July 15 through the 19th in Las Vegas, Nevada. And if you're coming to Inspire, please join me in the commons theater on Wednesday, July 18th at 2:30 for a special session where I'll share what they don't teach working with Microsoft.

You can listen to the podcast or view the transcript here or on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Player FM, other Android podcast players.

As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach out to me on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or on email at [email protected]. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the rating link. This helps others find the podcast.

Links discussed on the interview:

* aka.ms/modernpartner

* Microsoft Partner Practice Development Playbooks https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/campaigns/cloud-practice-playbooks

* Automotive Book of Dreams v1

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW

Brent, welcome to the podcast.

Brent:                 Thanks for having me.

Vince:                 It is great to have you here. Thank you for taking time from your compressed schedule. You are the general manager in the One Commercial Partner team focused on helping value added service providers scale their business with and through Microsoft. I'm excited to hear from you about your organization's role and focus, how partners can maximize the results of their practice with Microsoft, your view on this amazing transformation, and what's in store for partners in Microsoft Inspire. So welcome.

Brent:                 Thank you very much. I'm happy to have this conversation. Some great topics there.

Vince:                 So first off, can you explain to our listeners, in simple terms,