Microsoft WPC 2015: Microsoft Expands Surface Channel

Some Microsoft (MSFT) channel partners who previously didn’t have the ability to offer their customers the Surface tablets now can, according to Microsoft.

At its annual Worldwide Partner Conference, the technology stalwart announced plans to expand the Surface channel, continuing its phased approach to bring Surface to resellers.

“We found we had partners with an interest in selling [Surface] and customers who weren’t happy that there were so few partners they could buy from,” noted Gavriella Schuster, general manager of Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Group. “So we are moving to add a few thousand partners globally in the next few months.”

Since Surface’s debut in 2012, Microsoft has kept a tight rein on its distribution. The company announced Surface partner programs for resellers and ISVs just before the 2013 WPC, essentially giving tier 1 partners access to sell the device. That left a lot of tier 2 partners—which make up the majority of Microsoft’s partner ranks—in the cold.

Microsoft essentially is offering Surface through device distributors, which Schuster said is a boon for the channel.

“This will help our channel because we believe lot of SMB customers will want to refresh to Windows 10 on different devices. We’re also stepping up our field to support that,” she said.

“Surface is an integral part of our Windows strategy, and the expansion of this program coinciding with the upcoming launch of Windows 10 creates exciting opportunities for partners,” noted Phil Sorgen, vice president of Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group, in a blog post.

In addition to its Surface moves, Microsoft announced an Enterprise Mobility Suite competency to recognize partners that are making that investment, Schuster said, and has plans for a Windows 10 competency when Windows 10 becomes available.

Microsoft is also showing more love for ISVs, creating an ISV hub on the Microsoft Developer Network to help developers “through every stage, whether they want to build an app and build a business, or they have an app and are ready to go to market,” Schuster said. And as Microsoft enhances its capability in Windows and Azure marketplace, it plans also to add services to help promote and distribute applications, she noted.

But that’s not all. Microsoft is revamping its competencies to recognize ISVs that have certified apps automatically at the Silver level. “We did have only one way to competencies, but it didn’t make sense for all of our ISV partners,” Schuster said.

And on the licensing side, Microsoft is changing its reporting to active users from active seats, to help partners better see which customers are using which offerings. “With Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility Suite we couldn’t really manage active users – it was listed as active seats. But by moving to active users, we can show our partners which of those services someone has activated,” Schuster said. “It gives them an idea of where opportunity is with their customers. We pay incentives based on each services, so partners should be motivated to get 100 percent usage.”

Schuster added Microsoft is adjusting the requirements so Silver partners must have 2,000 active users, from 500 active seats, and Gold partners must have 4,000 active users, from 1,500 active seats.

Microsoft also made a number of cloud-related announcements at WPC 2015, including changes to its Cloud Solution Partner program, the details of which can be found on our sister site, Talkin’ Cloud. Meanwhile, keep checking back for more coverage of partner news from WPC 2015.