Beginning on July 12, Microsoft will be making a concerted effort to get it partners to enlist their operations in the cloud. That is the Internet Cloud.
At a conference this week in Washington DC, Microsoft will be highlighting those partners that have managed to make the transition to be a more cloud-centric business. They will also attempt to convince the others in attendance that it is time for them to be leading with cloud services like Microsoft’s own Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), the Azure Cloud Platform, and the Windows InTune systems management software/service.
Cloud - Computing
Microsoft, in a critical business move, is hoping to get partners on board with Microsoft’s cloud push since Microsoft relies heavily on resellers, integrators, and independent software vendors and OEMs to act as the primary sales force. After all, if Microsoft’s partners didn’t buy into their whole host of products, Microsoft’s sales dimension would look very different.
So cloud – partnership arrangements may be discussed at the conference. According to some of Microsoft’s partners, the model is changing a bit. Today, it’s about the field driving an EA (Enterprise Agreement). The partners will need to adjust that in order to accommodate cloud products.
Some expect Microsoft to discuss the release of its BPOS Suite, which is known as “BPOS Lite”. Some of the features include the application and the cost:
The full suite is $15 per/user per month; the breakdown for each product is:
* $10 per user/month for Exchange Online
* $7.25 user/month for SharePoint Online
* $2.50 user/month for Office Communications Online
* $4.50 user/month for Office Live Meeting
* $2 per user/month for Exchange Online Deskless Worker
* $2 per user/month for SharePoint Online Deskless Worker
Project Sydney is also expected to be discussed. Project Sydney is a a secure networking offering designed to connect on-premises and cloud offerings from Microsoft.
Source: ZDnet
