Changing Demands on Large Account Resellers

The roles that Large Account Resellers (LARs) play for Microsoft are being re-examined, as the company raises its expectations for the services they should perform. In addition, new hosted services that Microsoft will sell directly to customers and through a wide range of other partners raise concerns among this specialized category of high-end resellers that their profit margins will be shaved as customers turn to other channels. The changes could lead to further consolidation among LARs, and could affect the level of service that customers get from their LARs.

What LARs Do

LARs are Microsoft resellers who are authorized to sell licenses to midmarket and enterprise customers through Microsoft’s Select and Enterprise Agreement (EA) volume licensing programs. These programs are aimed at larger customers, starting at about 250 desktops, and offer the best discounts among Microsoft’s volume licensing programs. All such agreements identify a particular LAR as the agent through whom the customer buys software under that agreement. (Customers can have multiple agreements that name different LARs, particularly in the Select program.) As a result, tens of thousands of midmarket and enterprise customers work with LARs throughout the world.