Building successful B2B partnerships with Microsoft's Gøran Andersson

_*]:min-w-0 !gap-3.5"> In this episode of the Paal15 Podcast, Jesse Muller sits down with Gøran Andersson, Microsoft's Director of Partner Development, to explore what makes partnerships truly successful in the B2B technology landscape. With 25 years in the IT industry and five years leading Microsoft's global partner practice for Modern Workplace and Teams, Gøran shares battle-tested insights on partnership strategy and execution. What You'll Learn: Listen in as Gøran shares Microsoft's journey building the Cloud Solution Provider program from their first European partner in 2013 to hundreds of thousands of partners today. Gøran explains how they shifted from a licensing model to a true partnership model, putting partner services at the center of the value chain. Gøran and Jesse discuss the importance of shared risk and mutual dependence in strong partnerships, how to navigate change management across large partner ecosystems, and why communication and transparency are non-negotiable when making disruptive changes. Gøran also breaks down different partnership models - from transactional project-based relationships to scalable platform economies - and explains how Microsoft adapts its approach for different partner types, whether they're MSPs, telecom providers, system integrators, or ISVs. Gøran's key piece of advice? Partnership isn't something you do on the side - it's a dedicated practice requiring specific skills, investment, and measurement. The strongest partnerships are symbiotic relationships where success and failure are truly shared. This epsidoe is essential listening for partnership professionals, business development leaders, and anyone building B2B ecosystems.