Winstar Deal Suggests bCentral Reseller Strategy

Wireless ISP and application service provider (ASP) Winstar will resell bCentral services and increase the number of Microsoft applications it hosts. As part of a Dec. 2000 deal, bCentral services will be offered on Office.com, Winstar’s advertising-supported Web site that provides content for small businesses, and will be sold as a co-branded service through Winstar’s sales force, which also sells broadband Internet access, telephone service, and hosted applications. As part of the deal, Winstar will sell new hosted services based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, Exchange Conferencing Server 2000, Commerce Server 2000, and Passport.

bCentral’s Evolving Role

bCentral, founded in 1999 as a catchall small business Web site offering information, Web hosting, and online promotional services, has expanded to offer hosted e-commerce and business applications. Small businesses can use bCentral to create and maintain a simple e-commerce site, sell items on business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces, manage customer contacts, and track business finances through a Web browser. (For details on bCentral’s evolution and offerings, see “bCentral Drives Small Business E-Commerce Strategy” on page 21 of the Nov. 2000 Update, and “New bCentral Services Detailed” on page 25 of the Dec. 2000 Update.) Microsoft’s purchase of Great Plains Software will further enhance the service, allowing companies to access a greater variety of hosted accounting and financial management applications. (For implications of the Great Plains buyout, see “Great Plains Acquisition Signals Move into Verticals“.)