Microsoft Online Store Opens in U.S.
It probably won't affect the channel except at the very low end, and even there
partners who are trying to make money strictly by reselling software are probably
going broke, anyway. But the
opening
of Microsoft's online store in the U.S. might still make a few partners
queasy.
Sure, the prices are high, and there's no threat to the services element that
brings in most of partners' revenues, anyway, but Microsoft going into the direct-sales
business in the U.S. -- it had already opened stores in Europe -- just might
not set right with partners who are already concerned about Redmond's not-necessarily-channel-friendly
cloud computing strategy.
There's always that nagging question: If Microsoft is willing to cannibalize
retailers' business, when and how might it turn on the rest of the channel?
Hey, we know that Microsoft still makes the overwhelming majority of its revenue
through partners and has probably the best channel program in the business.
Microsoft still seems committed to keeping partners happy, so there's no panic
here. There's not even much suspicion. But there are tiny, lingering questions
that weren't there so much a few years ago. That's all we're saying.
Posted by Lee Pender on November 19, 2008