New Microsoft Action Packs Now Available

In mid-April 2010, I was telling you that Microsoft had started cooking two new subscriptions for members of the Microsoft Partner Network. Well, baking time for Microsoft Action Pack Solution Provider and Microsoft Action Pack Development and Design is now over, and both offerings are now out of the oven and available to the Redmond company’s partners. The two new Microsoft Action Pack subscriptions have been rolled out as of May 24th, 2010, as it was initially planned, according to Eric Ligman, Global Partner Experience lead Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group.

“Microsoft Action Pack Solution Provider – This is the subscription the former Microsoft Action Pack subscription transitions into. The Microsoft Action Pack Solution Provider Subscription will continue to offer internal-use, full-version software, online technical support, and sales resources, just like the existing Microsoft Action Pack Subscription today does. On May 24th, all current and new subscribers will receive expanded benefits,” Ligman stated.

“Microsoft Action Pack Development and Design - The Microsoft Action Pack Development and Design is designed for developers and Web designers, with benefits provided to match these focuses,” he added. Members of the Microsoft Partner Network will undoubtedly notice that they will need to pay more for the new subscriptions, in comparison with the old and plain vanilla Microsoft Action Pack Subscription. When it introduced the offerings, the Redmond company also explained that, from its perspective, the evolution of the subscriptions in terms of benefits for partners was worth the price increase.

The new Action Pack subscriptions offer access to a range of technologies from Microsoft, including Exchange Server 2010, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Office 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2, Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), etc. Customers will need to assess the benefits of each subscription and decide which is best tailored to their needs.