We have been a member of the Microsoft Platform Ready (used to be called “Front Runner”) for over a year now and it is a fantastic program for all of the Microsoft partners out there. Some of the benefits are obvious, such as development resources and marketing materials available for the tested solution. Here are few more we discovered by using the program: 

-          It helps deliver the success message to the customers and prospects alike quickly and ahead of the official testing by VeriTest.

-          We actually received substantial savings on our Certified for Microsoft Dynamics CRM test for eSign365 based on the fact that our product was already platform ready for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

-          Achieving platform ready qualifies partners for the Silver ISV competency if product is platform ready for the Windows Azure platform.

-          Last but not least MPN has been giving us hints of the upcoming Gold Windows Azure Platform Ready certification for our products running in the cloud. I wonder if that test will also be administered using the Microsoft Platform Ready program?

It seems that the Platform Ready program is here to stay. It has been constantly growing and adding benefits during our participation and we are excited to see what it has to offer in the future.