Microsoft Grounds Partners with Delta Direct Surface Deal

Microsoft (MSFT) dealt a direct blow to the VAR community this week, closing a direct deal with Delta Airlines for thousands of Surface 2 tablets. By skirting channel partners, Microsoft is reinforcing the notion that it is not interested in playing ball with the rest of the channel community when it comes to its tablets.

Although Microsoft and Delta announced the deal several months ago, the PC giant only last week admitted it would be bypassing channel partners, when it confirmed to Channelnomics that the deal would be direct. According to the original announcement, Delta will purchase Surface 2 RT tablets running Windows 8.1 for 11,000 of its pilots, allowing them to replace bulky paper manuals with Microsoft’s latest offering. Delta said the deal will allow them to reduce weight and cut down on fuel costs.

“We set out to make Surface the most productive tablet, so we couldn’t be more excited to help Delta pilots be more productive and help the environment,” said Brian Hall, Surface general manager at Microsoft, when the announcement was made in September 2013, according to Channelnomics. “This announcement demonstrates Delta’s absolute commitment to bringing the best in technology innovation into their flight operations.”

Microsoft’s mass deal with Delta is one of the largest commercial Surface sales to date, which undoubtedly is a thorn in the side of the VAR community now that they have been excluded again.

So why won’t Microsoft bring channel partners into the fold when it comes to Surface sales? The company has been on rocky ground with resellers ever since the tablet was unveiled at the Worldwide Partner Conference in 2012, when the company avoided answering questions about distribution plans. The company introduced retail partners into the fold several months later in part because of poor sales after launch. Microsoft’s global chief Phil Sorgen noted the company is working on a channel strategy but is proceeding with caution.

With global tablet sales increasing and more and more businesses utilizing mobile devices for their workforce, the channel community continues to be left in the cold when it comes to making a profit on Surface. As the channel community steams due to several other Microsoft partner cutbacks, one can only wonder if the company is losing sight of the partners that helped to build it.