O365: differences between direct purchase and via a partner
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@thanksajdotcom said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
You also can often get better pricing via partners.
Pricing is always the same, it can't change.
That's not really true. From reseller it's the same. Microsoft does give discounts direct though. This is one of the reason I have always bought direct for the special pricing.
Resellers often have similar but different promotions. It varies where the best price lies, but in general, a good reseller will beat the direct price nine times out of ten.
Partner's don't offer the same programs that microsoft does direct. I don't think they are even allowed to do the government contract pricing. All of that gets negotiated between the state government and Microsoft so everyone else can get the pricing.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Pricing is always the same, it can't change.
I've been quoted a different price by my reseller to the price listed on Microsoft's website. Not a lot different, but different.
I know some bigger resellers such as CDW can get better pricing. However they own you when you do that. I do know of a few MSP's that you get the licensing through them, but we have also had to fight to switch over 6 accounts like that this year so that they could get the support they needed.
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@Minion-Queen said:
@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Pricing is always the same, it can't change.
I've been quoted a different price by my reseller to the price listed on Microsoft's website. Not a lot different, but different.
I know some bigger resellers such as CDW can get better pricing. However they own you when you do that. I do know of a few MSP's that you get the licensing through them, but we have also had to fight to switch over 6 accounts like that this year so that they could get the support they needed.
In that case maybe they actually become resellers and are completely separate from the partner situation.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
It also depends on what it is. Certain types of items are cheaper some places direct and other items, or services, are cheaper through resellers.
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
True, reseller and partner are not the same. I wasn't using the term correctly (although most partners also resell). Partners often can give better pricing, or at least more for the money you spend, whereas resellers often charge the same or a little more. That being said, things like printers especially can often be found cheaper at a retailer or VAR than direct, but it varies from week to week.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
It also depends on what it is. Certain types of items are cheaper some places direct and other items, or services, are cheaper through resellers.
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
True, reseller and partner are not the same. I wasn't using the term correctly (although most partners also resell). Partners often can give better pricing, or at least more for the money you spend, whereas resellers often charge the same or a little more. That being said, things like printers especially can often be found cheaper at a retailer or VAR than direct, but it varies from week to week.
That's confusing to discuss printer resellers in a thread about O365 partners.
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@scottalanmiller said:
That's confusing to discuss printer resellers in a thread about O365 partners.
Really software and hardware are way different in purchasing.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
It also depends on what it is. Certain types of items are cheaper some places direct and other items, or services, are cheaper through resellers.
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
True, reseller and partner are not the same. I wasn't using the term correctly (although most partners also resell). Partners often can give better pricing, or at least more for the money you spend, whereas resellers often charge the same or a little more. That being said, things like printers especially can often be found cheaper at a retailer or VAR than direct, but it varies from week to week.
That's confusing to discuss printer resellers in a thread about O365 partners.
Well we were talking for awhile in generalities about direct vs partner vs reseller. If you speak on O365, then I can't comment on that as @Minion-Queen handled all the billing. But in general, direct is usually the most expensive way to go.
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@scottalanmiller said:
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
I'm not sure what you're talking about? I'm talking about purchasing O365 through a reseller under an Open License agreement. I will be billed by the reseller, not by Microsoft. O365 has been available to purchase like this for quite a while. There is no scam here.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
I'm not sure what you're talking about? I'm talking about purchasing O365 through a reseller under an Open License agreement. I will be billed by the reseller, not by Microsoft. O365 has been available to purchase like this for quite a while. There is no scam here.
Why would you purchase through the Open License Agreement? Does that have a benefit that purchasing via the standard method doesn't?
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@coliver said:
Why would you purchase through the Open License Agreement? Does that have a benefit that purchasing via the standard method doesn't?
That's what I want to know and why I started the thread. That was my question!
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
I'm not sure what you're talking about? I'm talking about purchasing O365 through a reseller under an Open License agreement. I will be billed by the reseller, not by Microsoft. O365 has been available to purchase like this for quite a while. There is no scam here.
Yep I've seen it that way before too. Though in that case you are basically buying direct. They won't be your partner generally in the case of an open license and you will go to Microsoft for support.
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@coliver said:
@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
I'm not sure what you're talking about? I'm talking about purchasing O365 through a reseller under an Open License agreement. I will be billed by the reseller, not by Microsoft. O365 has been available to purchase like this for quite a while. There is no scam here.
Why would you purchase through the Open License Agreement? Does that have a benefit that purchasing via the standard method doesn't?
Volume Pricing mainly.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
I'm not sure what you're talking about? I'm talking about purchasing O365 through a reseller under an Open License agreement. I will be billed by the reseller, not by Microsoft. O365 has been available to purchase like this for quite a while. There is no scam here.
Yep I've seen it that way before too. Though in that case you are basically buying direct. They won't be your partner generally in the case of an open license and you will go to Microsoft for support.
This is what I discovered in my research. The nice thing about going with a partner is that you generally get support through them, even though all billing is done by Microsoft. Full disclosure, we don't have an O365 partner.
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Pricing is pretty much the same.
So I guess I will need to add them as a partner via the O365 portal. The fact that they are my reseller doesn't automatically make them my partner?
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
I'm not sure what you're talking about? I'm talking about purchasing O365 through a reseller under an Open License agreement. I will be billed by the reseller, not by Microsoft. O365 has been available to purchase like this for quite a while. There is no scam here.
So this is a reseller, not a partner like the title? I'm not aware of that model. The partner model does not work this way. The partner model is the money is still direct to MS, the partner only serves to add value, Premier partners get you free upgrades MS support and there are no downsides compared to direct.
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@coliver said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What are you talking about? There is no reseller here. O365 Partners are partners, not resellers. The final purchase is always through MS and the price is always the same. Always, no exceptions. Microsoft does not alter the price based on who is your registered partner or if you don't have one. I'm not sure where you are getting these ideas but none of this fits the reality of the MS O365 model.
I'm not sure what you're talking about? I'm talking about purchasing O365 through a reseller under an Open License agreement. I will be billed by the reseller, not by Microsoft. O365 has been available to purchase like this for quite a while. There is no scam here.
Yep I've seen it that way before too. Though in that case you are basically buying direct. They won't be your partner generally in the case of an open license and you will go to Microsoft for support.
This is what I discovered in my research. The nice thing about going with a partner is that you generally get support through them, even though all billing is done by Microsoft. Full disclosure, we don't have an O365 partner.
For partner, yes. But it sounds like he's not looking at partners, only volume licenses via resellers, which are different than partners.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Pricing is pretty much the same.
So I guess I will need to add them as a partner via the O365 portal. The fact that they are my reseller doesn't automatically make them my partner?
They may not be part of the MS partner program, just the Open Licensing reseller.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Pricing is pretty much the same.
So I guess I will need to add them as a partner via the O365 portal. The fact that they are my reseller doesn't automatically make them my partner?
Not with an open license. You need to add them as the partner but they don't get anything from it with a open license and may not provide support. Advisor fees aren't paid unless you renew the office 365 later with them on your record. With an Open license they take a cut off the top. You'd need to check with them to see if they do support.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Pricing is pretty much the same.
So I guess I will need to add them as a partner via the O365 portal. The fact that they are my reseller doesn't automatically make them my partner?
We are a partner, the official partner reps for SW community and the North East US, but we are not resellers. Having worked in a partner model as a premier partner pretty much since the beginning - I've not see the reseller model and it is not an option to us (nor would we want that) so I'm not sure. If you use a reseller I'm not sure you can have a partner. Or maybe it is automatic.
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@scottalanmiller said:
If you use a reseller I'm not sure you can have a partner. Or maybe it is automatic.
These are things I need to establish. Until this thread, I hadn't appreciated the difference between reseller and partner. I just call everyone a supplier.
