More resellers than ever in the channel can now sell the Microsoft Surface for Business portfolio – and many are already taking advantage of being able to sell this best-selling range of products to their customers.
Microsoft Surface has recently expanded channel access to allow all resellers in the UK to purchase the full Surface for Business portfolio of devices and accessories (excluding Protection Plans) from authorised distributors Ingram Micro, TD SYNNEX and Westcoast. This means resellers are no longer required to become a Surface Authorised Partner to sell Surface devices and accessories to customers.
“We’ve made it a lot easier for all our resellers be able to purchase Surface for business devices and accessories,” says Clare Faulconer, SMB and Education Go To Market lead at Microsoft. “They can purchase them through our authorised distributors.
“We have done this to bring a new breadth of resellers to sell Surface and removes a barrier to entry so they can sell Surface to customers. It means we can recruit and onboard new authorised partners and it
helps expand that partner network for Microsoft Surface.
“It also enables us to reach many more customers, especially in that small business space. But for resellers, it means they can get the value of the full Microsoft stack solution through our three authorised distributors. That’s why we’re excited to do this.”
Many USPs
Surface devices have been designed to adapt in versatile ways to how teams work, learn and create. Flexibility comes in a variety of form factors, putting high-powered productivity at users’ fingertips—no matter where work happens. World-class security is built in; from chip to cloud, Surface devices are held to the same standard as all Microsoft software and services and work seamlessly with the Microsoft security stack.
Business processes like deployment, management and scale are optimised for the software experience organisations rely on every day using Microsoft 365.
“Surface devices, along with the whole stack of Microsoft products and the ecosystem, deliver value to our customers and they adapt in different ways,” adds Clare. “They are thoughtfully designed. The teams that make Surface devices are dedicated to the design, to crafting different experiences and adapting them to the different ways that customers can work.
“They’re also versatile and adaptable. Surface comes in a range of different form factors to fit different customers. You’ve got 5G connected devices for customers that like on the go tablet devices, versus traditional clamshell laptops, or even pen enabled creative canvases so customers can choose which devices work for them.
“Productivity is another USP: it brings the best of the hardware and the software from Microsoft together, so multitasking becomes even more powerful, and the productivity comes with that for our customers whether they’re taking notes, doing video experience or a multitude of other different uses.”
Security is also a selling point for Surface – which is increasingly important for all businesses, Clare adds. “We have industry leading security in Surface devices, which is combined with Microsoft 365 with layers of different security built in.”
Tips for resellers
While Surface for Businesses has many selling points, there are other aspects that resellers should highlight when talking to customers about it, Clare adds.
“We also focus a lot on total cost of ownership, which shows how customers can save money over the course of three years when buying a Surface against a comparable other device,” she says. “This comes down to productivity, employee experience and direct savings. If you’re buying a Surface device the value you get includes faster boot times, reduction in deployment times, savings on consolidating devices and you also get residual value at the end of its initial life with the customer.”
Another important consideration for customers is sustainability – and this is something that resellers can highlight with Surface too. “Sustainability comes into a lot of conversations, and we can provide sustainability calculators to resellers to be able to talk to customers and show them what the carbon footprint is and what it means for their business in terms of what they’re purchasing,” says Clare. “This is something that we really focus on.”
Market reaction
Since Microsoft went live with its channel expansion programme at the beginning of the year, there has been an enthusiastic response from resellers to it, according to Clare.
“We’ve seen lots of resellers already opening up and selling devices, so we’re gaining momentum and we’re where we want to be right now,” she says.
“People that understand the value of Surface, love Surface and it’s going from strength to strength. Obviously, the market has been tough, we’re not going to pretend it hasn’t been, but Surface in that premium space does hold its own.”
Simple entry
Through this channel expansion model, Microsoft is now working with resellers that the company has never worked with before, Clare adds. “It really has opened up a new channel for us,” she says. “We work closely with our three distributors to get this out to those resellers and make sure they understand how they can sell Surface and what the value of selling Surface is to large and small business customers.
“By doing this, we’ve essentially removed every barrier to entry. Now, to access Surface it is as simple as getting in touch with one of the distributors and they can give them the right resources.”
To learn more and start purchasing Surface, reach out to your distributor team at Ingram Micro, TD SYNNEX or Westcoast. There will also be a range of offers coming up for resellers to offer to customers in March.
