Innovative-e, Inc. Earns Prestigious Microsoft Gold Competency in Portals and Collaboration

Online, October 6, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Microsoft has raised the bar on the requirements for achieving gold partner status, and Innovative-e, Inc. has risen to the challenge by earning the Gold Portals and Collaboration competency under the more rigorous standards. Innovative-e is a business consulting and technology services company specializing in SharePoint. As a gold partner, Innovative-e is in the top tier of the Microsoft Partner Network. Less than one percent of all Microsoft partners earn a gold competency. Earning the Microsoft Gold Portals and Collaboration competency means that Innovative-e has access to exclusive training, software licenses and support to better serve clients.

The Microsoft gold competency recognizes that a Microsoft partner has obtained the highest level of skill and achievement within a given technology specialization. There are 29 Microsoft competencies in total. To earn a Microsoft gold competency, Microsoft partners must complete a challenging set of requirements to demonstrate depth of knowledge and business expertise. The requirements for attaining a gold competency include the following:

• The Microsoft partner must maintain at least four employees on staff who have up-to-date Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) credentials. The gold-level MCP credentials require that each individual pass two or three challenging exams. Innovative-e's MCPs for this competency are Danushka Silva, Rukshan Senarath, Seminda Rajapaksha and Stephen Hines.

• At least 10 customer responses to a thorough Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) survey are required to qualify. The survey is administered by a third-party survey company.

• At least two individuals must pass the Microsoft Sales and Marketing Assessment. The two individuals at Innovative-e who passed this assessment are Mike Taylor and Tom Fallon.

• One individual must pass the Microsoft Licensing Online Assessment. Tom Fallon fulfilled this requirement for Innovative-e.

• Microsoft partners must submit five customer references. Each reference request form is comprised of an extensive set of questions about a specific project completed by the Microsoft partner.

• The Microsoft partner must sign an agreement to achieve a targeted revenue pertaining to the gold competency within a specified period of time.

For more information about Innovative-e, visit www.innovative-e.com.