Microsoft Office 365 Open: Cloud Partner Program Evolves?

Office 365 Open, the Microsoft (MSFT) cloud partner program that allows resellers to manage end-customer billing, may soon undergo an expansion. Details could emerge at Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 (WPC13), Talkin’ Cloud has heard.

The chatter goes something like this: Office 365 Open is promising but too limiting. Right now, the SKU is limited to customer engagements with up to 250 seats. For cloud integrators that serve midsize and large enterprises, Office 365 Open isn’t a fit. In stark contrast, Google Apps for Business has no such partner program limitations.

In recent weeks, several Microsoft sources told Talkin’ Cloud that the company has been looking at the situation and analyzing if our how to expand Office 365 Open to meet a broader range of partners’ end-customer needs. The sources stopped short of guaranteeing that Open was set to change at WPC13.

But they also noted that Open is “a work in progress and the safe bet is changes — good changes — are coming for partners.”

For the latest Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 news, visit www.thevarguy.com/microsoftwpc.