14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s Office 365 service is gaining momentum, and the company appears determined to cash on that as much as it can.
Thus, it has made official during its annual Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Toronto new opportunities for its partners interested in what the service has to offer to them.
Overall, Microsoft claims that 2012 is one of the most important years in its evolution, and that great products and services are coming to the market.
“This will be the biggest product and services launch year in our company’s history, creating massive opportunities for our partners to grow their businesses,” Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, said at the conference.
“With Windows — Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Azure — and Office 365, there’s never been a better time to be a Microsoft partner. The opportunities for us to do amazing things for our joint customers have never been greater.”
One of the main focus points for Microsoft this year is Office, which has over one billion users worldwide, courtesy of the impressive success that Office 2010 has seen so far.
At the same time, the company is determined to push hard on services associated with the productivity suite, and has announced some new features for Office 365, including:
Office 365 Open is a new way for partners to sell Office 365. It establishes a traditional reseller model, enabling partners to realize more revenue, deliver packaged services with a single invoice, and own the customer relationship.
Office 365 Advisors Program updates let the most active partners earn more up front with Office 365. Starting today, partners who sell more than 150 seats are eligible to earn more revenue.
According to Kurt DelBene, president of the Microsoft Office Division, the newly announced investments are expected to help the already strong division to grow even more.
In late June, Microsoft celebrated one year of Office 365, and announced the launch of Office 365 for Education, which is being offered for free to students around the world.