Outsourcery takes aim at Office 365 with new email offering

Cloud specialist claims its new SMB-focused product could see resellers earn double the margin Microsoft offers

Cloud specialist Outsourcery has launched a new email product which it claims can give resellers double the margin they can expect from rival Microsoft's Office 365.

The firm unveiled its new offering, which it claims has been specifically tailored to the needs of its SMB VARs based on their feedback.

The Cloud Mail service will enable resellers to win more business due to its more flexible pricing, according to the company, which added that higher-margin earnings will allow them to pass on the savings to customers.

The firm's product and marketing director James Griffin compared the product to Office 365, but said margin from the rival product was "particularly low".

"Partners told us they wanted a good price with good margin, and they were not prepared to compromise on the ability to own customer relationships [and billing]," he added.

"The natural comparison is with Office 365 where until recently, [resellers] were not able to own the billing. Now they can, but the margin is particularly low. But [with Cloud Mail] they can make upwards of 20 per cent margin."

At Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference last summer, the vendor told its VARs it would open up its Office 365 product to its Open licensing programme, which it eventually did in March this year.

Outsourcery's chief executive Piers Linney said price, quality and margin are all important factors for VARs, adding that its margin figure is double that offered by Microsoft on Office 365.

As part of the offering the firm is unbundling Outlook from its product, meaning customers who already own the licence will not have to pay for it again.