Day 2 of Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Toronto saw Microsoft announce a number of new features and services. The company says the conference is hugely important for strengthening ties with partners. Indeed, Microsoft adds that it makes 90% of its revenues through partner customers.
Throughout Day 2 of the Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft talked about making personal computing more common in enterprise. Also on the agenda was a number of cloud announcements, such as how businesses will boost productivity, and the best ways for partners to work with Microsoft.
Personal Computing
Microsoft calls the growth of Windows 10 “unprecedented” with over 350 million devices now running the platform. Today the company announced Windows 10 Enterprise E3 for the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP). This is essentially a subscription service that provides business with access to enterprise-grade security. Enterprises can pay for secure management solutions for $7 a seat per month through the Cloud Solution Provider.
Redmond says this makes it easier for partners to sell cloud solutions. Windows 10, Office 365, Microsoft Azure and CRM subscriptions are all available through CSP.
Also announced today, Surface as a Service brings the Surface line of hardware will be sold similarly to Windows 10 and Officer 365 to enterprise customers. Devices are available to Microsoft resellers and customers through a managed service, expanding the hardware reach for Surface products.
Microsoft also boosted its Surface Multi-National Purchasing Program in addition to Surface as a Service. The company has given enterprise customer more accessories and hardware to sell, including Surface devices. Insight, SHI, Zones, and CDW are on the Multi-National Purchasing Program.
Azure
The Azure cloud platform continues to grow, Microsoft says. About 120,000 new Azure subscribers come to the service each month. Continuing the momentum, the company says Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 will launch at Microsoft Ignite this September.
Azure SQL Data Warehouse has been made generally available. Users can provision a data warehouse in under five minutes through Power BI and Excel. This brings money saving and improved workload management to on-premises and cloud systems, Microsoft says on its blog.
“It also has auditing and threat detection built in, which use machine learning to understand workload patterns and serve as an advanced alarm system against potential breaches.”
Productivity
Office 365 is already the leading software suite in the cloud space, but Microsoft wants more growth. As a result, the company was selling Office 365 during Day 2 of the Worldwide Partner Conference. Part of the big sell was discussing Facebook’s use of Office 365 as its productivity choice for 13,000 employees. Facebook CIO Tim Campos spoke about the flexibility and security that Office 365 offers a compelling reason why it is popular.
Collaboration
Later in the year, Microsoft will launch a new licensing model called Secure Productive Enterprise (SPE) for cloud customers. The service will make it easier for customers to access advanced security and productivity features:
“Secure Productive Enterprise (SPE), a next-generation enterprise solution that brings together the best of Office 365, Windows 10 Enterprise and Enterprise Mobility Suite with advanced E5 SKUs. SPE will make it easier for customers to take advantage of enhanced productivity and security, while offering them additional licensing flexibility between their on-premises and cloud technologies.”
