Elly Yates-Roberts |
This article was originally published in the Spring 2019 issue of The Record. Subscribe for FREE here to get the next issue delivered directly to your inbox.
Office productivity is at the core of every organisation, from small family businesses to multinational corporations. Selling licenses to Microsoft Office has therefore always been very straightforward. However, with the rise of cloud computing, even the market for office suites has changed dramatically. Customers have shifted their expectations as software-as-a-service has made purchasing software and support more flexible. They no longer need to commit to long term license agreements. Accounts are bound to users rather than machines, giving them full accessibility and flexibility in any location. However, customers can still use the environments and platforms with which they are familiar. It’s no wonder then that Microsoft Office 365 (O365) is one of the most popular cloud solutions available.
Putting popularity among end customers aside, there are other practical reasons why a cloud service provider (CSP) would want to offer O365 using the interworks.cloud CSP automation platform.
Customers expect the ability to purchase software without committing to a long-term license and to add Microsoft O365 accounts when necessary. By using the interworks.cloud platform, CSPs can easily provision O365 accounts and add packages as they are needed, including Business, Office Professional Pro and Enterprise E1/E3/E5/K1. This improves the customer experience as it allows for full team flexibility and service provider efficiency.
Greater flexibility enables enterprises to confront complicated billing schemes. Monthly mutations of subscriptions are more manageable when working with fixed licensing, resulting in straightforward billing. But that situation changes drastically when switching to an on-demand model. There is constant overlap between long-term and short-term service purchases and, when combined with dynamic service uptake, billing can become very complicated. CSPs can increase scalability and flexibility by leveraging automated billing from the interworks.cloud platform. Customers will experience great service as all costs are collected into a single, clear invoice.
The Microsoft CSP Program allows enterprises to lean on their partners for support. This can strengthen the bond between a reseller and their clients as they become the one-stop-shop for all their clients’ productivity solution needs. However, not all resellers qualify to Microsoft services as it recently has made requirements stricter. By using a CSP automation platform, resellers can remain the first point of contact for clients, helping them maintain and expand their customer relationship.
Any reseller offering Microsoft O365 and its associated services can profit from leveraging the interworks.cloud platform as it increases service efficiency and scalability while also improving customer relations.