Microsoft delays LAR deal registration until March

Launch date for new tools pushed back for second time

Microsoft has been forced to delay the launch of deal registration for its volume licensing partners for a second time, ChannelWeb has learnt.

The new tools were initially set to launch in October as part of a wider overhaul to the Microsoft large account reseller (LAR) programme.

Microsoft had already postponed the launch date until December amid concerns that its deal registration tools were not ready for use by volume partners.

LARs were told late last week that it will now not go live until the beginning of March 2012, a decision based on the concerns they had expressed over the tools' readiness.

Edward Hyde, LAR channel director at Microsoft, confirmed in a statement: "We have concluded that for the deal-registration element of our LAR Channel Incentives, starting in March is preferable to doing so in December.

"We continue to seek, and act upon, input from our LAR partners. It is important for us to accommodate their business volumes and cycles, and we wish to ensure the best experience on a worldwide basis."

Stuart Fenton, EMEA and APAC president of Microsoft LAR Insight Enterprises, said: "This is a very sensible decision taken by the corporate team in Redmond in order to ensure the systems they will use to manage opportunities and pipelines can scale sufficiently."

Zak Virdi, managing director UK, Ireland and Nordics at LAR SoftwareONE, agreed that Microsoft was right to be prudent given the scale of the changes.

"This will ensure things are working well prior to release and that expectations are delivered," he said.