Microsoft Puts Partners at Center of $4.5 Trillion Transformation Opportunity

Microsoft Corp. unveiled Microsoft 365, a new set of commercial offerings that draws from the best of the company’s commercial products across Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security.

Microsoft 365 is designed to empower all companies and all workers, recognizing that people are at the heart of digital transformation. It puts people at the center, giving them flexibility to work where and how they want, and giving them new ways to collaborate with others — all while protecting company data.

Microsoft introduced two Microsoft 365 offerings. Microsoft 365 Enterprise is the evolution of the company’s Secure Productive Enterprise offering, and includes Office 365 Enterprise, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Enterprise Mobility + Security. It provides customers with the latest and most advanced technology for empowering employees.

Microsoft 365 Business, available in public preview starting Aug. 2, is designed to give small-to-medium sized businesses a complete productivity and security solution, while streamlining IT management. It includes Office 365 Business Premium, security and management features for Office apps and Windows 10 devices, all managed in a centralized console for deploying and securing devices and users in one location.

Microsoft 365 represents a new and more cohesive approach to how Microsoft goes to market with commercial offerings, and reflects the shift partners and mutual customers are making — from viewing productivity, security and device management as individual workloads, to seeking a comprehensive approach to secure productivity.

Microsoft 365 represents a significant opportunity for partners to increase deal size, differentiate offerings, and grow managed services revenue. According to Forrester Consulting, Microsoft 365 Enterprise increases partner revenue opportunity by more than 50 percent vs. selling and deploying Office 365 alone.

Microsoft also announced two new ways it is helping partners connect with customers and bring innovative solutions to market. Last year, Microsoft piloted a new Azure co-sell program to provide comprehensive sales and marketing support for partners building solutions with Azure.  In its first six months in market, this program helped close more than $1 billion in annual contract value for Azure partners, created $6 billion in Azure partner pipeline opportunity and generated more than 4,500 partner deals.

Azure is the only public cloud providing partners with this incredible benefit through which Microsoft sales reps are paid up to 10 percent of the partner’s annual contract value when they co-sell qualified Azure-based partner solutions. This means Microsoft is uniquely incenting its sales reps to work hand-in-hand with Azure partners to drive new business together and enabling partners to leverage the Microsoft salesforce to grow their business globally.