Microsoft extends direct touch to smaller VARs

500 UK resellers buying through distribution are granted a direct line into the software giant

Microsoft is for the first time providing direct touch to smaller resellers who buy from distribution.

The vendor has created a six-strong dedicated telesales team, which will engage directly with its top 500 second-tier partners.

Simon Aldous, partner group manager UK SMS&P at Microsoft, said the unit, which is based out of Microsoft's Reading head office, had already received positive feedback from partners since its formation in January.

“We have not gone out and spoken to this group of resellers before but we need to give more support to our breadth channel,” he said.

“We are talking to them about their Microsoft requirements, which allows us to gain first-hand feedback to tailor what we provide to the channel.”

Aldous stressed the new team would feed information into Microsoft’s distributors so that they would also gain from the process.