Microsoft Online Services Available for Purchase Worldwide
REDMOND, Wash., Apr. 27 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Accenture, Avanade and EDS, an HP company, each sign Microsoft Online
Services agreements; more than 4,000 partners signed on globally.
Microsoft Corp. today announced that organizations of all sizes can purchase
the Business Productivity Online Suite, a part of Microsoft Online Services. The
suite or its individual services, including Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft
SharePoint Online, Microsoft Office Communications Online and Microsoft Office
Live Meeting can be purchased by businesses in 19 countries worldwide. The
Business Productivity Online Deskless Worker Suite, a low-cost version for
occasional users, is also available for purchase. Also starting today, Microsoft
is offering a 25 percent discount on the Business Productivity Online Suite to
customers who purchase it by the end of June 2009. More information about the
Partner Momentum
To date, more than 4,000 partners around the world have joined the Microsoft
Partner Program for Microsoft Online Services, making it the most successful
partner ecosystem for online business-class services.
“We’re experiencing a significant amount of partner momentum around Microsoft
Online Services and the Business Productivity Online Suite,” said Ron Markezich,
corporate vice president of Microsoft Online. “Based on the increasing demand and
enthusiasm we’re seeing, it’s clear that partners are recognizing the
opportunity, and that this is the right time to embrace Microsoft’s software-
plus-services approach.”
Also announced today, EDS, an HP company, has signed both a reseller agreement
and a go-to-market agreement which details the terms and conditions under which
both companies will market, sell and deliver the Business Productivity Online
Suite together. Accenture and Avanade have signed an advisor agreement. Both of
these partners will focus primarily on organizations with more than 5,000
employees.
Microsoft and EDS have announced that they will use their combined assets to
deliver enterprise-class communications and collaboration services in the cloud
to millions of users serving large multinational corporations. With benefits
including rapid deployment with a minimized need for infrastructure investments,
enterprise organizations can expect to take advantage of reductions in capital
expenditures and improved total cost of ownership.
With this agreement, the revenue potential for which is more than $3 billion
in cloud services and professional services for the parties, EDS becomes
Microsoft’s largest delivery partner for the Business Productivity Online Suite.
This agreement demonstrates to customers the value of the EDS Agility Alliance
and further consolidates HP’s long-standing relationship with Microsoft. EDS has
already begun to integrate Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office
Communications Online and Office Live Meeting into its industry-leading Workplace
Services offerings. EDS will offer its customers end-to-end services, including
consulting, architecture, implementation, integration and ongoing user support
for the Business Productivity Online Suite.
Accenture and Avanade are the first Microsoft partners to sign the Microsoft
Online Services Partner Advisor agreement for large enterprises. As a part of
this agreement, Accenture and Avanade will offer IT services for customers
looking to migrate from on-premises solutions to the Business Productivity Online
Suite. These value-added services include cloud strategy and assessment,
migration services, enterprise application integration, user communications and
training, and other IT outsourcing services. Accenture has integrated Microsoft
Online Services into its highly successful Next Generation Workplace Offering
solution, which helps connect people and information to improve overall business
performance.
Accenture and Avanade bring extensive experience in platform migration
capabilities in support of this agreement. For example, they have deployed nearly
6 million Microsoft Exchange Server mailboxes and have helped migrate nearly 3
million mailboxes from competitive platforms.
Other Microsoft Online Services partners, including IT Solution Partners BV,
PointBridge, Solvi Srl, Tam Tam, Wortell, YouSaaS and Zipper, are realizing
increased revenue opportunity as a result of selling the Business Productivity
Online Suite, and building best practices for delivering customization,
consulting services, migration and managed services, and development and
integration for their customers:
· PointBridge, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner based in Chicago, has
sold more than 3,000 seats of Microsoft Online Services, which generated
over $100,000 in advisor fee revenue in just four months.
· Solvi, an IT solutions provider in the Milan, Italy, area, expects to
expand its customer base by 50 percent, and reduce deployment times from
one month to one day.
· Tam Tam, a full-service Internet agency in the Netherlands, expects to
double its customer base and boost revenues by at least 15 percent by
expanding its offerings with Microsoft Online Services.
· Zipper, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in Stockholm, Sweden, expects
to increase revenues by $10 million annually with its Microsoft Online
Services offering, which it can implement 10 times faster than on-
premises software today.
More information about Microsoft Online Services partners and case studies can
be found in the software-plus-services virtual presskit for the Microsoft
Business Division at
spx.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software,
services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full
potential.
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SOURCE: Microsoft Corp.
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