Celebrating decades of partnership

For nearly a quarter of a century, we’ve (first as Morse Best) made Microsoft’s mission Sappington’s focus—helping Microsoft empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Today, we’re excited to continue our collaboration, delivering exceptional results as we work to ensure that Microsoft’s innovations can truly transform business and better humanity—and are seen as invaluable to customers and partners.

Recently, we learned that we’ve again been designated a preferred vendor and a Microsoft Enterprise Marketing Preferred Supplier, a distinction we take very seriously. In this celebratory moment, we reflect on our journey with Microsoft—and a heritage of shared success.

Looking back at our major Microsoft moments

Microsoft Office 2003: Advancing productivity
One of our agency’s earliest engagements with Microsoft was during the launch of Office 2003. We created interactive Flash content and live software demonstrations for specific industries, including healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and retail. We developed a modular demo system for the Microsoft Technology Center, allowing customized experiences that showcased the real-world value of the Office suite as it set a new standard for productivity and collaboration.

Microsoft Enterprise Marketing Preferred Supplier

Sappington’s inclusion as an Enterprise Marketing Preferred Supplier is a testament to both our agency’s expertise and our alignment with Microsoft’s rigorous standards. Meeting and exceeding the criteria for this designation ensures that we’re a turnkey Microsoft partner, always ready to deliver exceptional results.

The cloud revolution: Before and after Azure
As the cloud era dawned, Sappington was present and supported Microsoft’s transition to a cloud-first company. We were involved with Azure from its inception, writing the first messaging framework and leading the launch through the initial “Journey to the cloud” campaigns. Soon after, the Azure AI team tapped us to develop a global ISV AI Acceleration program. Today, we’re collaborating with the Azure AI Infrastructure, HPC, and Specialized teams on thought leadership and product and content marketing, going well beyond PowerPoint to deliver new asset types and fresh, interactive experiences.

Modern Work + Microsoft 365: Pivoting to post-Covid
Sappington is a partner in Microsoft's Modern Work and Microsoft 365 initiatives, driving customer engagement through Customer Immersion Experiences and leading marketing efforts for the Microsoft 365 security portfolio, including product marketing, sales enablement, and core content creation. We supported the transition to remote work during the pandemic, developed remote and hybrid work sales campaigns, and drove customer adoption programs. Additionally, we’re supporting the endpoint management solution featuring Intune.

Transforming culture: Embracing a growth mindset
Since 2015, Sappington has partnered with the Microsoft Global Learning & Development team to create internal storytelling campaigns for attributes like growth mindset, customer obsession, and diversity and inclusion. We held the pen and the paintbrush on the Microsoft Diversity & Inclusion Report for four consecutive years, showcasing Microsoft’s dedication to a more inclusive workplace.

AI at Microsoft: Pioneering what’s next
Artificial Intelligence is the latest frontier in our journey with Microsoft. Sappington has been at the forefront of the AI revolution since 2018: We created the first ISV engagement program to integrate AI into partner products. Recently, we were selected to create an important AI resource for Global Partner Solutions and the Microsoft partner network: the “AI Playbook” has proven to be enormously successful with over 41,000 downloads to-date.

Looking ahead: Let’s work together on the Next Big Thing(s)

For decades, Microsoft’s biggest moments have been our priority. Sappington’s commitment is firm and durable. We’ll value and continue our Microsoft partnership far into the future as AI and Copilot take center stage and the next innovations change the way people everywhere live and work.

 For a closer look at how Sappington creativity adds value, view our Microsoft portfolio.

FURTHER READING