Microsoft Australia has further sharpened its strategy for Office 365, revealing that from next year, all resellers will be able to sell all product codes.
CRN revealed last month that Microsoft was watering down Telstra's exclusive hold over the SaaS platform, but at the time was still intending to leave certain SKUs within the exclusive hold of the telco.
Microsoft's broader channel would be able to resell Office 365 Pro Plus, the new M plan, E1 and E3 plans from the enterprise SKUs, academic SKUs and only the Exchange Online 1 plan from the standalone SKUs.
Telstra would retain exclusive rights to selling other standalone SKUs – including SharePoint Online – and all kiosk plans, or the fully featured E4.
Isabel Boniface, Office 365 product manager for SMEs at Microsoft Australia, told CRN that the vendor has discontinued E2 to standardise on E1 targeted at Enterprise customers.
"The M SKU is a new SKU with completely unique features targeted at the 25-250 seats base."
The Exchange Online 2 plan, which added archiving and legal hold, was also a Telstra-only option.
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But Microsoft has this week revealed to CRN that every SKU will be moving to the Open licence in Australia – a decision passed down by Redmond head office.
"All the standalone SKUs are now going to be available to the customers via the Open Licence type. Literally halfway through our roadshow we got wind of it. I have just drafted the announcement. It is very exciting," said Boniface.
She said there would be no Telstra-only SKUs. "You will see more and more announcements where we will bring more and more SKUs into the Open licence. It's also a case of prioritisation – we are bringing [the SKUs] on one by one. Sooner or later we will have complete parity across all channels."
The current exception – kiosk licences – is also likely to be revoked. There has not been a big uptake globally of kiosk SKUs in the SME space but Boniface was writing a business case for the release of kiosk SKUs in Australia, she said.
Microsoft's Aussie channel partners said the changes would create a level playing field.
Paradyne principal consultant Loryan Strant said: "As of early next year, Australia will fall into line with the rest of the world when it comes to selling Office 365.
"In a nutshell, in 2014 it will be a level playing field."
Many have claimed the Telstra deal was a strange anomaly – and perhaps a misstep by Microsoft – but Strant pointed out: "While Australia is unique in that we are the only country in the world with an exclusive syndication partner, we are not the only one with a syndication partner."
Robin Marchant, national marketing manager for Brennan IT, said: "It is going to be a good thing when it happens. It is widely spoken about and [will allow resellers to] replicate success that has been had across the UK and US. It will especially be good for the smaller end of town."
But Marchant added that there was still "no definitive date", beyond sometime in 2014.
Get closer to customers
Ben Shapiro, director of sales & marketing of SharePoint specialist OBS, told CRN that the changes would allow resellers to better engage with end users.
"My prediction is off the back of this, the partner community will be able to grow stronger managed services businesses. You can't look at new services until you have a direct relationship.
"It was a little unusual, that original go-to-market with Telstra, and I think this shows Microsoft is serious about giving their core channel partners a more direct relationship with customers around cloud, rather that everything that is not [enterprise agreements] going through Telstra."
He echoed Brennan IT's Marchant, saying there was still a lack of clarity around dates.
Shapiro said there was logic behind the initial tie-up with Telstra. "From a licensing and procurement perspective, it made sense to go with Telstra. It let Microsoft get to market in an efficient manner. But as things moved forward and the platform is more capable, you want the partners to deliver more customised solutions."
He added that OBS continues to do work with Telstra.
A Telstra spokesperson told CRN: "The new partner sales models do not have an immediate impact on Telstra, who remains the exclusive reseller of Office 365 to Australian small businesses, outside volume licensing or academic licensing arrangements. The new models are due to roll out in Australia in the first half of next year.
"Telstra partners will continue to drive value from their Office 365 business, with flexible monthly subscription models, technical support for all products, access to Telstra's customer offers – including the Office 365 Small Business offer – and the opportunity to offer a broader range of cloud services, including applications from T-Suite and cloud Infrastructure products."
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