Microsoft's authorised distributors set for status talks
Distributors enter second round of talks
Microsoft’s authorised distributors have entered into the second round of talks with the vendor in an attempt to retain their status.
Last month, CRN revealed that Microsoft had started drawing up a short list of distributors that it wished to personally present future business development plans, or Request for Proposals (RFPs) to (CRN, 17 July).
Microsoft revealed it has since cut the list of 16 potential and authorised distributors down to 11 for the presentation stage.
Steve Haddock, partner group manager at Microsoft, said that the final 11 distributors were in the process of presenting their RFPs to Microsoft, after which further cuts could be made.
“We still have two presentations left to go,” he said. “I do get the sense that there will be change. There were 16 distributors originally, but five potentials didn’t make it onto the short list. This process has taken too long and I want to have everything finalised by mid-September.”
Roger Mather, managing director of authorised Microsoft distributor Actebis, said: “There are two key questions Microsoft wants to know. First, what Actebis currently brings to Microsoft; and second, how we can help Microsoft’s revenue grow.”
A distributor who wished to remain anonymous told CRN: “The presentation was a challenging process. It caused us to question our value-add to customers and to Microsoft.”
The vendor also recently removed Basilica’s Large Account Reseller (LAR) status, following a series of reseller assessments. However, Haddock said Microsoft had not removed the LAR status from any other VARs.
Rob Jones, marketing manager at CMS Computers, told CRN: “Obviously some of the guys who haven’t been performing are going to get dropped.”