HOUSTON, TX--Microsoft has announced Singapore, Australia and New Zealand will be the first countries in the Asia-Pacific region to have access to its hosted Web service suite.
Suresh Kalpathy, Microsoft's regional director of partner strategy, marketing and programs for Asia-Pacific said in a presentation Thursday at Microsoft's 2008 Worldwide Partner Conference, resellers in the three countries will be able to offer clients the software giant's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) by the third quarter of 2009.
The other countries in the region will have to wait till 2010 to get the collection of Web applications hosted on Microsoft's servers, which consists of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications and Office Live Meeting.
While this service will cost companies US$15 per user, per month, Microsoft is also offering a stripped-down version termed the "Deskless Worker Suite" which bundles Exchange Online Deskless Worker and SharePoint Online Deskless Worker for US$3 per user, per month.
Kalpathy said he expects the Web services to present an attractive option for the region's SMBs (small to midsize businesses), which may otherwise view investments in IT hardware a steep barrier.
Quoting IDC statistics, he said the 40 million SMBs in the Asia-Pacific region spent some US$40 billion in 2007--more than what larger enterprises in the region spent in the year, he added.
And these smaller companies present a large market opportunity still, projected by IDC to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13 percent, said Kalpathy.
He noted that partners need not fear the advent of the subscription-based, Microsoft-hosted suite will mean lost opportunities in providing hosting or making a large ticket sale--that resellers would otherwise make on selling on-premise software.
"Customers will still need help and customization of services...you also continue to earn margins on the subscription revenue," he said, referring to the 12 percent commission Microsoft is offering to resellers (with 6 percent each year thereafter).
Kalpathy said Microsoft's business in the region is growing at 22 percent growth per year, which is faster than the company's global average in both enterprise and SMB segments.
Higher investment in partners
Kevin Turner, Microsoft COO, said in his keynote address the company intends to invest US$2.9 billion in its partner ecosystem in FY09.
This is higher than its investment last financial year of US$2.3 billion, he added.
He said this investment will include information and tools for partners within Microsoft's online partner portal: a sales tool called Gear Up, which provides a broad overview of Microsoft's products across various licensing scenarios, and License Live, which enables partners to match license types and support to provide quotes for clients.
Turner also announced the company will be committing US$7 billion to investment in research and development (R&D) for the next year.
Victoria Ho reported from Microsoft's 2008 Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston, Texas.
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