Insight upbeat over Microsoft fee shake-up
EMEA boss Stuart Fenton looks to evolve reseller's Microsoft relationship
Insight Enterprises insists Microsoft's upcoming LAR fee shake-up could have a positive long-term impact on its business.
The US-based firm rebuked its "largest software partner" in its fourth-quarter results statement last week, claiming upcoming changes to the vendor in question's incentive programmes could wipe $5m to $10m (£3m to £6m) off its gross profits next year.
However, Insight added that it is implementing action plans to mitigate the affect and EMEA president Stuart Fenton (pictured) confirmed plans are already underway.
Talking to ChannelWeb, Fenton said: "Those numbers [mentioned in the Q4 report] are correct, but we are very encouraged that, long-term, the changes will be positive for our business."
A new fee structure for LARs will be introduced in September featuring drastically reduced rewards on global accounts as Microsoft pushes its partners deeper into the mid-market. The programme will be finalised in July, but partners understand that only minor refinements will now be made.
"Now that we have worked through a lot of the detail, the programme is appropriate to everyone's goals," said Fenton. "There are a number of activities we need to undertake with Microsoft relating to targeting mid-market clients. We are building significant service capabilities across Europe to partner with Microsoft to land complex solutions [such as Hyper V] in our client base."
Insight's EMEA Q4 revenues rose four per cent year on year to $366.2m, an 11 per cent growth in constant currencies. Software sales contributed 70 per cent of that total, growing six per cent, with services up 53 per cent and hardware sales declining one per cent.
Fenton said Insight would begin selling hardware, networking and supplies in several core European markets outside the UK later this year.