Microsoft: Playing to win
crn.com | at | by Mike
Microsoft is not about to take IBM's midmarket onslaught lying down. While most of the marketing around the upcoming Windows 2003 Server has centered on enterprise enhancements, Microsoft is lining up hundreds of "referenceable" midmarket success stories, and financing a good percentage of them. "They want to expedite upgrades [to Windows Server 2003] and show it to be the platform for the midmarket," said one solution provider familiar with the plan.
In the first Microsoft Rapid Deployment Program to be offered to the midmarket, partners were asked to find accounts needing upgrades from NetWare, Windows NT 4 or 2000, Microsoft confirmed. The customer, partner and Microsoft split implementation costs equally. The partner must agree to bill the customer at $100 per hour for the entire project, and the customer pays for all software. Rapid Deployment Programs have been used in enterprise accounts since the Windows 2000 launch.