Microsoft's Case for Windows Intune with SMB VARs
Monday, I blogged at length whether Windows Intune, which is supposed to be generally available on March 23, will have legs as a product for managed services providers. I came down on the side that Microsoft's direct-billing approach will be even more of an issue for MSPs looking at Windows Intune than it is for VARs looking at the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite.
Woody Walton, of Microsoft, had another perspective Monday night on the U.S. SMB&D TS2 Team Blog. In a post titled "So what is the value proposition for Windows Intune to an SMB VAR?" Walton argues that Windows Intune is more than an MSP tool.
"It may be that in the end you use other tools like Level Platforms to manage your customer's systems, but that doesn't mean Windows Intune doesn't have value to you or the customer," Walton wrote, arguing that Windows Intune makes a Windows 7 upsell relatively painless and opens up Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack features to customers. Great points, and ones with implications wider than for just the MSP market.
Walton provides four reasons for SMB VARs to represent Windows Intune: no price barrier to the Windows 7 desktop, doubling BPOS proceeds by adding Windows Intune, freeing up capital for partner services and breaking into managed services. Read his whole post here.
Posted by Scott Bekker on March 01, 2011