Microsoft's Worldwide Partners Conference starts Monday with a speech from Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. I will be tapping some live notes here while watching the webcast starting at 9 a.m. The webcast is at www.digitalwpc.com if you want to watch along. If you want to follow along on Twitter, the hashtag is #WPC11.
To find out what WPC is all about, check out our earlier blog post on WPC 2011.
9:11 a.m. Microsoft is showing a video of the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami.
9:15 a.m. A Japanese dance troupe has taken the stage. I don't know their name, but they are dressed like salary men. The WPC organizers are pretty savvy about riffing off natural disasters. In 2009, the organizers took the conference to New Orleans, where they had the music collective Playing for Change perform on stage.
9:18 a.m. If you're not watching this video, imagine footage of the "Matrix."
9:19 a.m. The band was World Order. They are done. Microsoft Corporate Vice President Jon Roskill is now on stage. He asked all the Japanese partners in Staples Center to stand and be recognized. And he's recapping the volunteer day Microsoft held Sunday at the start of Worldwide Partners Conference.
9:22 a.m. Jon Roskill has shaved his beard since a video he posted Sunday morning.
9:24 a.m. There are 12,000 people at WPC this week, Roskill said, representing 640,000 partner companies who employ 15 million people. "Winning together is the theme of WPC 2011. Winning together and changing the world," he said.
9:27 a.m. "When I say VmWare service providers, you say, 'Ssssssssss,' " Roskill said, talking about a partner company winning a Chinese government contract against VmWare.
9:34 a.m. Los Lobos and Smashmouth will be playing Thursday at WPC.
9:36 a.m. "Microsoft has always been a leader in each of the major technology transformations over the years," Roskill said. "From mainframes to PC, PC to server, from client server to the Internet, to the transition we're in right now driven by mobility and the cloud."
9:37 a.m. Microsoft generates 95 percent of its revenue through partner companies, Roskill said.
9:39 a.m. Roskill said 58 percent of partners are moving into the cloud, but most still consider it "opportunistic" rather than core to business.
9:41 a.m. Steve Ballmer is on stage.
9:44 a.m. "As Jon says, we make 95 percent of our revenue through partners. I can't find the last 5 percent myself," Ballmer said. "I'm just going to say that we've got 100% of our business with partners."
9:46 a.m. Ballmer is talking cloud computing to partners. As in, you're either with us or you're not. "Last year's WPC was, for me, scary," Ballmer said. "I'd say some of the feedback we got from partners (was) we're not sure we like the cloud. The cloud is a disruptor. It is a disruptor for all of us and disruption can be hard for all of us. I basically said last year at this meeting we're all in on the cloud 100 percent and we want partners who want to come with us."
9:49 a.m. Ballmer is showing a video of the Imagine Cup student software competition happening this week in New York.
Lokelani McMichael Freida Pinto Eva Longoria Susan Ward Emmy Rossum
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