The other launch
The other launch was Microsoft Online Business Productivity Suite, which includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Communications Online and Office Live Meeting, for $15 per month. “Hold on a minute,” you must be thinking, “why would I shell out $15 per month for this when I can get even more from the Deskless suite for a fifth of the cost?”
Good question. The only answer we’re able to offer is that the information Microsoft provides says the Business Productivity Suite is “aimed at enterprise customers that require greater access to these technologies.” So we can only assume that the Deskless Suite provides ‘lite’ versions of those applications.
The interest for the channel lies in the piece of the action it gets. This is simple enough: 12 percent of the first year contact value plus 6 percent of the subscription fee every year for the life of the customer contract. These are concurrent, meaning you get 18 percent of the subscription fee for the first year.
That’s all the information we have for now, although we are hoping to speak to a Microsoft UK channel exec before long. In the meantime you can find out more about Microsoft online services here. One interesting thing to note on that link, given that Apple's cloud computing offering doesn't doesn't fully support Internet Explorer, is that the partner area seems to run only on Internet Explorer. How tiresome from both Apple and Microsoft.
We would like to hear from retailers and resellers about what they think of Microsoft software subscriptions as a business opportunity.
Update - 18:00 10th July 2008: We received the following clarification from Microsoft on the difference between the two suites:
The $3 deskless option will provide an Outlook Web Access ‘light’ experience that includes e-mail with anti-virus and anti-spam filters, calendars, and global address lists. SharePoint Online Deskless Worker will provide easy access to SharePoint portal and team sites and search functionality, giving employees web access to important information like company policies, training and benefits. It will not, though, cover the full collaboration functionality that the $15 option covers.
The $15 option includes Exchange Online for e-mail and calendars with Outlook Web Access and full Outlook integration; SharePoint Online for portals, collaboration, search and customized team sites; Communications Online for instant messaging and presence; and Office Live Meeting for Web and video conferencing. That is to say it includes client integration.
