Microsoft partners to push midmarket sales
InfoWorld | at | by Mike
Expanding its push into midsize companies, Microsoft has given one of its distributors that is focused on that market exclusive rights to resell special versions of some of its server software products. Distributor Avnet Hall-Mark, a unit of Avnet, is the only company in Microsoft's OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) distributor channel authorized to sell OEM versions of Application Center 2000, BizTalk Server 2002, SQL Server 2000 and the Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA), Microsoft said.
The OEM versions come with tools that system builders use to install the products, and they must be sold installed on a server. The OEM versions offer certain "cost advantages" to the distributor and its VAR (value added reseller) partners compared to other versions of the products, an Avnet official said, although he declined to elaborate.