New Channels and Deployment Goals for Partners

In announcing pricing and the partner channel model for its hosted services at its annual Worldwide Partner Conference in July 2008, Microsoft has finally laid its cards on the table and cemented its commitment to a “hybrid” computing model involving both on-premise servers and online services. Partners gave the new model a mixed reception, with some likely to benefit and others to be hurt. The company also hinted at a new development platform for building and delivering Web-based applications, and expressed concern that deployment of key products such as Vista and Office 2007 is below expectations.

Online Pricing and Partner Model

The announcement that partners could sign up as Online Services Advisors and get commissions for bringing customers to Microsoft’s online service starts a new chapter for Microsoft, bringing to an end three years of slow progression from an “incubation” project at one customer’s site to a suite of online services that will be available to customers worldwide at a very competitive price.