Tech Data throws weight behind Microsoft CSP scheme

Distributor says its Cloud Solution Store now supports monthly billing around cloud

Tech Data's European cloud boss has hailed the arrival of Microsoft's Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) programme as a first-of-its-kind opportunity for resellers.

Tech Data recently added full support for the CSP scheme through its Cloud Solutions Store, which it claims will enable its reseller partners to offer, provision, manage and support Microsoft cloud products and services such as Office 365 and, in the near future, Azure, EMS and InTune.

Reza Honarmand, vice president of software and cloud at Tech Data Europe, told CRN the distributor has invested heavily in StreamOne - the billing engine that powers its Cloud Solutions Store - recently to support monthly billing around cloud.

The store, which is part of Tech Data's dedicated cloud business, TDCloud, is designed to provide resellers and MSPs with the ability to administer and control the entire cloud delivery process in an "app-store-like environment".

It is currently available in the UK, Canada and France and will be rolled out across Europe over the coming weeks.

"So far, most cloud transactions have either been direct or through a licensing model," Honarmand said. "For the first time, we are getting a major product which is on a monthly transaction that is fully automated and integrated to Microsoft. That's quite a big deal."

"In the classic perpetual licensing model, the reseller may do one transaction every six years but with monthly billing that rises to 72 over the same period, which is a huge increase. [We have introduced] the automation that will help our resellers cope with the massive amount of admin that will hit them, and put them in control. It means they still own the customer, still own the transaction and can add their services to it."