When it comes to fostering managed services, Microsoft may not be the first company to come to mind. Sure, the company’s Office 365 is a staple and supported by hosts of managed service providers (MSPs), and Microsoft has recently been pushing infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) with its Windows Azure cloud computing platform. But, the company hasn’t exactly gone out of its way to support the MSP space.
That may very well be changing, however, according to a recent interview with Phil Sorgen, Microsoft channel chief and The VAR Guy. While discussing his plans for moving forward, Sorgen offered up that Microsoft is aware that businesses are increasingly outsourcing basic IT services to MSPs and that Microsoft’s partners and customers are indeed focusing on managed services.
Sorgen mentioned hosting a partner advisory council recently, at which MSPs were a major topic. He said that companies are continuously finding ways to increase profitability in the cloud, and commented that “repeatable IP” is powerful. In other words, IP may be monetized in different ways, and Microsoft has observed VARs becoming ISVs to glean more profits from their offerings.
“We see partners and customers focusing on managed services,” said Sorgen. “When a technology is not a differentiator, the customer has the propensity to seek out an MSP for those services.”
“We have an achievable plan to become a devices and services company,” he added. “I have to focus on ensuring our partners and Microsoft succeed for our customers.”
Microsoft did recently announce a strategic partnership that resonates on both the MSP and IaaS fronts. CloudBerry Lab, a provider of public cloud solutions, is supporting Windows Azure Storage in its white-label Managed Backup service for MSPs. We can expect to see many more of these types of announcements in the coming months as Microsoft builds up Azure in an effort to take on AWS.
But, in terms of offering strategic support and fostering a community for its MSP partners, Microsoft has traditionally not gone out of its way. That may be changing though, if Sorgen’s comments are any indication. And, in an interesting role reversal, it may be cloud computing that is forcing Microsoft to understand the value of its MSP partners instead of MSPs proselytizing the value of cloud computing.
“I think the cloud opportunity -- pick the product, say Office 365 -- is clear,” said Sorgen. “It democratizes IT. It gives SMBs access to capabilities and infrastructure they couldn’t have built for themselves. For a large business customer, it’s about services like email -- which is mission critical but doesn't differentiate you as a business. When we give that enterprise customer the right SLAs and cloud services to work more efficiently, they can focus IT resources to help grow the business.”
Edited by
Blaise McNamee
