News in the Channel - issue #15

MICROSOFT SURFACE FOR BUSINESS

Surface – which is increasingly important for all businesses, Clare adds. “We have industry leading security in Surface devices, which is combined with Microsoft 365 with layers of different security built in.” Tips for resellers While Surface for Businesses has many selling points, there are other aspects that resellers should highlight when talking to customers about it, Clare adds. “We also focus a lot on total cost of ownership, which shows how customers can save money over the course of three years when buying a Surface against a comparable other device,” she says. “This comes down to productivity, employee experience and direct savings. If you're buying a Surface device the value you get includes faster boot times, reduction in deployment times, savings on consolidating devices and you also get residual value at the end of its initial life with the customer.” Another important consideration for customers is sustainability – and this is something that resellers can highlight with Surface too. “Sustainability comes into a lot of conversations, and we can provide sustainability calculators to resellers to be able to talk to customers and show customers what the carbon footprint is and what it means for their business in terms of what they're purchasing,” says Clare. “This is something that we really focus on.” Market reaction Since Microsoft went live with its channel expansion programme at the beginning of the year, there has been an enthusiastic response from resellers to it, according to Clare. “We've seen lots of resellers already opening up and selling devices, so we're gaining momentum and we're where we want to be right now,” she says. “People that understand the value of Surface, love Surface and it's going from strength to strength.

Simple entry Through this channel expansion model, Microsoft is now working with resellers that the company has never worked with before, Clare adds. “It really has opened up a new channel for us,” she says. “People that understand the value of Surface, love Surface and we’re going from strength to strength it’s great to see access opening up for more users to come onboard”. “By doing this, we've essentially removed every barrier to entry. Now, to access Surface it is as simple as getting in touch with one of the distributors and they can give them the right resources.” To learn more and start purchasing Surface, reach out to your distributor team at Ingram Micro, TD SYNNEX or Westcoast. There will also be a range of offers coming up for resellers to offer to customers in March.

We can provide sustainability calculators to resellers to be able to talk to customers and show customers what the carbon footprint is... “ ”

Watch an on-demand webinar here for more information about what this could mean for your business.