Telstra reveals Microsoft online services margins

Telstra has revealed the margins that partners selling its hosted Microsoft online services offerings can expect to receive.

The telco's director of business development for T-Suite, Marcus Bartram, told CRN that eligible partners would receive a "12 percent sign-on fee and then six percent per annum" in annuity streams in the following two years.

The fees were calculated on Microsoft's estimated retail price.

Telstra was offering hosted Exchange, SharePoint, Live Meeting and Office Communications for instant messaging and presence through its T-Suite software-as-a-service store.

Customer contracts were for a period of 12 months. Partners that retained customers beyond this period would be rewarded with the six percent annuity streams.

Telstra said it had recruited 115 Microsoft partners to offer Online Services in their product portfolios.

Partners would also be able to add their Microsoft integration skill sets around customer sales, increasing the potential for further revenues.

"We're actively recruiting Microsoft partners into the [T-Suite] program," Bartram said.

Microsoft Australia's communications sector director Kevin Brough believed the margins for selling Microsoft online services would be "very similar" to selling traditional boxed products.

"But now partners are also looking at a recurring revenue stream over time and also the opportunity to get more services income from customers," Brough said.

Telstra's existing partner base had also been engaged by the carrier through a series of roadshows to expand their offerings by selling Microsoft online services.