As the number of consumers and businesses opting to buy online continues to grow, Microsoft has launched a new set of strategies to help its customers respond to the changing climate.Having launched the Microsoft Partner Network (designed to help Microsoft reseller partners communicate with each other and cooperate on sales) and Microsoft Pinpoint (which also links partners with customers), the firm is readying itself for the shift in online buying to become more pronounced.
"Irrespective of whether it's software or not, generally things are going more online," said Clare Barclay, director of partner programmes and strategies at Microsoft UK.
"If you think about the way you buy things you'll see it's just the way things are going. One of the things that is changing and evolving quite rapidly since the internet became more prolific is that customers are looking to consume software in quite a different way.
Our traditional software, whether that's packaged or licensed software, is currently growing somewhere between six and twelve per cent, yet the appetite for customers to buy online services – software through a subscription – is growing more rapidly than that.
At the moment Gartner is predicting that by 2011 about 25 per cent of new business software will be delivered as a service. So for our channel and for Microsoft we have to make sure we can respond to that and make sure we can deliver software in new ways."
However the firm denies that it would ever remove boxed products from its business model entirely.
"The way Microsoft sees it is that there will always be a mix," continued Barclay. "Customers will continue to have a blend, and the offerings we're putting out is about providing that choice."
Advertisement
Related Stories
- Microsoft gets heavy on educational pricing Feb 13th 2012 at 5:54AM
- Windows 8 'consumer preview' at the end of February Feb 9th 2012 at 7:36AM
- Microsoft gets stingy with Technet Feb 6th 2012 at 7:11AM
- Microsoft UK pricing could rise Feb 3rd 2012 at 12:06PM
- Microsoft Windows Phone 8 details emerge Feb 3rd 2012 at 6:49AM
- Windows 8 wireless networking improvements Jan 23rd 2012 at 5:38AM
- Microsoft's Windows revenue down Jan 20th 2012 at 5:53AM
- Microsoft promotes 'crapware'-free PCs as a selling point Jan 11th 2012 at 7:59AM
- CES 2012: Microsoft delivers final CES keynote Jan 10th 2012 at 6:33AM
- Microsoft explains 'refresh and reset' options of Windows 8 Jan 5th 2012 at 12:45AM
Follow Follow this article if you would like to receive notifications of updates.
Add a new comment
You need to be logged in to post comments. If you do not have an account then please register.
Comments
0 comments
There are no comments yet, be the first to add one!