1. How many members does the MapPoint Alliance Program have?
Currently, we have 57 members of MapPoint Alliance Program and many more pending.We started the program in early September (2001).
2.does the MapPoint Alliance Program differ from the business partner model used by ESRI and MapInfo?
First of all, our Alliance program is not a "business partnership." Most GIS companies require third parties to become business partners before they can resell their software, or build apps on their platforms.When it comes to MapPoint or any other Microsoft software, anyone can be a reseller, as long as they can set up an account with a distributor.So, we're very different here.
3.How have you tried to make the MapPoint Alliance Program partners successful in using MapPoint technology?
The MapPoint Alliance Program is predominantly an information vehicle to streamline communication with third parties that offer MapPoint services.It doesn't compete with Microsoft's main partner program - like the Microsoft Certified Partner Program.Individuals are encouraged to obtain product and technology certifications - again, we rely on the mainstream Microsoft partner infrastructure for this, it isn't part of the Alliance Program.Support isn't part of the Alliance program either, again, this is handled by other Microsoft programs.
4.What are the long range plans for the program?
Overtime our goal is to integrate our solution providers into Microsoft's Certified Partner program so we can use their infrastructure such as localization of the partner site into multiple languages, sponsorship of events like Microsoft Fusion.But at this point we haven't established a timeframe when this integration will occur.
For addition information about the Microsoft MapPoint: www.microsoft.com/mappoint