The Empower for ISVs program has many benefits specifically designed to help ISVs build, test, and take a software product to market. The program is a one-time deal that is designed to help a small software company or startup quickly get through the paces and get a product to market.  The program is available on a subscription basis - you sign up for a year, and can extend it one additional year.

Unlike the Certified and Gold Certified partner levels, the Empower for ISVs does not have substantial requirements for you to join.  The program is designed as an incubator - it gives you some of the benefits of the full partner program while you focus on getting your product to market.  It takes most organizations a few years to really learn how to partner with Microsoft, and this program helps startup companies get used to working with Microsoft while they are focusing on getting a product to market. Most companies that are successful at taking their product to market 'graduate' from the Empower for ISVs program by obtaining a Certified or Gold Certified partner level.  I think this program is good for Microsoft because it helps startup companies get used to some of the important dimensions of the partner program so that when they make a business decision on partnering with Microsoft in the full partner programs, they already have some experience with Microsoft and start out on the right track.

The full requirements of the Empower for ISV program are listed on the Microsoft website (link provided below), but the short story is that a company has to be an ISV, register its product with Microsoft, and pay an annual fee of $375USD for the first and optionally second year of membership.  To qualify as an ISV, you need to build, test, and take a software product to market that is built upon the Microsoft stack.  Simple and cheap.  There is no better way for a small software startup to engage Microsoft.

You may think that with such a small entrance fee ($375 USD) that the benefits must be small as well.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Once you are accepted into the program, you receive a number of software licenses that can be used internally in your company to run your business and build your software product while you are enrolled in the Empower program.  Included in these software benefits are Windows and Office licenses for uo to 5 workstations, server and 5 client access licenses for Windows Server, SQL, Exchange, and Sharepoint,  and most importantly an MSDN Premium Subscription for up to 5 developers.  The retail cost of a single MSDN subscription is $5469, so do the math...

The benefits of the program also include up to 10 hours of Microsoft Advisory services for ISVs.  This is an excellent benefit as you have access to a great team of professionals at Microsoft that are very connected to the product teams and understand how to help you as an ISV engage Microsoft and provide an excellent liason to some of the product team members for the technologies that you will be using in your application.  If you have a problem in your development cycle, or just want some guidance and direction on how to integrate with any of the Microsoft products, this team is your answer.

You enroll in the program, and the clock starts ticking.  You have 24 months to bring a product to market.  In reality, your investors probably require you to bring the product to market much earlier than that.  You are an Agile company right?

While you are in the program, you will be heavily focused on your product development cycle.  Throughout the development cycle, you will have access to managed newsgroups.  These newsgroups are monitored newsgroups that when you post a message on the newsgroup, Microsoft will ensure that you get an answer within a couple of business days.  This is an excellent way to get support and assistance in building your application.  If the question is too complex, or too proprietary for help using a public newsgroup, you can engage the advisory team to get additional advice and assistance through that channel.  Use both channels - they have a lot of value to you building your product.

While you are in the program, it is important for you to also be thinking about what is next.  You will eventually complete your application development cycles and take your product to market.  You should be studying the Microsoft partner program details to prepare for your next stage.  I highly recommend reading the book while you are in the Empower for ISV program, as well as attending the Worldwide Partner Conference that is held in July each year.  These will both help prepare you for your next step.  I also recommend learning all the opportunities Microsoft has for profiling and presenting your company and solution throughout the various Microsoft websites.

Keep one thing in mind - the Empower for ISVs program is designed to help you get started with partnering with Microsoft, but it is not an end to itself - the real benefits are when you graduate into the full Certified and Gold Certified partner programs and learn how to properly engage Microsoft on the partner and technical levels.

Throughout your one or two year membership in the Empower program, you will realize the business benefits on a daily basis.  You will complete your product development cycles and prepare to take your product to market.  One of the things you will do as part of the Empower program is to have your application tested.  This might include a full certification test, or it might just be the ISV platform tests, which are broader, but easier to pass.  Either way, your application will achieve the certifications that you aspire to obtain which will definitely be a great marketing asset to help convince those first few customers that your product is safe for their environment.  Once you pass those platform or certification tests, you will have pretty much everything you need to achieve the ISV competency.  You will exit from the Empower program, with your Empower license use rights expiring, but you will enter the Certified partner program with your first competency.