CASE STUDY: Provocative Selling with Diagnostic Assessments: Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization Assessment

Microsoft sought a better way to engage with decision makers for core IT infrastructure, business productivity and application development, but was having trouble moving its enterprise sales group and channel partners from the traditional product/solution presentations.

To address this opportunity, Alinean developed a suite of Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization Assessment tools, which are used to diagnose customer’s most pressing issues, and help them advance along a four-step capability and maturity model. The suite consists of three assessment tools to engage at a strategic level with core IT infrastructure, business productivity and application lifecycle development decision makers.

The assessment tool automates the benchmark comparisons, scoring and intelligent recommendations, delivering a 20+-page assessment report. In a tough selling environment, the tool has helped Microsoft and its channel partners proactively engage customers, collaboratively set customer goals and strategies, help deliver tangible savings and incremental value to customers, while allocating discretionary budget to Microsoft proposed projects.

The assessment tool has been available since 2008 and consistently generates more than 600 analyses per month, driving more high level customer engagements, significant evolution of Microsoft’s relationship with clients from tactical to strategic, and generating substantial multi-million dollar incremental sales opportunities.