Empower ISV

I looked at signing us up to the empower ISV program, but backed off as fast as my feet would carry me when I read the small print : Empower requires you to "make best effort" (i.e. take the tests) to achieve at least one of a number of MS application certification levels within 12 months. But they don't tell you this until you're already registering, and don't tell you what the costs are at all.

For our system, these costs would be in the region of 20KUSD. Not such a cheap box of software after all.

I appreciate that if you already have/need certification this doesn't matter to you, or if you're mass market shelfware you may not care about the costs, but for small system vendors like us the costs are entirely prohibitive.

Bob Moore
Saturday, November 1, 2003

I would be very curious to know what would happen if you fail to comply with a licence term like that. Would they charge you off the shelf costs for all the software you got cheap? Sue you? What? I doubt any of these things, my best guess would be that nothing would happen at all...

I had been considering using this deal in a "startup" situation - if this is truly serious, I would be surprised if the ISV program was available to non-established companies - and seeing as they have now made most of that info optional, how would they know?

Just curious as to the politics behind this...

Andrew Cherry
Saturday, November 1, 2003

"I would be very curious to know what would happen if you fail to comply with a licence term like that. Would they charge you off the shelf costs for all the software you got cheap? Sue you? What? I doubt any of these things, my best guess would be that nothing would happen at all..."

We had the same kind of discussions, at director level. With the sums involved, the SMEs this is targeted at can't afford to take the risk. It's a legal contract, and MS can afford a lot better lawyers than we can.

Bob Moore
Saturday, November 1, 2003

Sensible reaction, I agree. Personally, i'd actually go and ask Microsoft. Say something along the lines of "look, we're new, we have a good idea for a product, and we're going to have a decent stab at getting it out there. If we don't manage it are you going to clobber us? Because that's putting us off..." The new fair and friendly MS should at least give you a straight answer...

Andrew Cherry
Saturday, November 1, 2003

Would like to see an answer if someone has already got it from MS.

Sunish
Sunday, November 2, 2003

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