NCE - Partners having the door shut in front of them, the door locked and the key thrown away!

[richardcooke]

Does anyone else feel that @Microsoft no longer care about their partners?

I'm trying to open a dialogue with @Microsoft about specific scenarios whereby partners are left out of the cold if god forbid their customers either go bust or die, which specifically happened to me!

We are left carrying the subscription costs, @Microsoft says to contact your provider the providers say its a closed door and @Microsoft won't listen to them about issues like this.

I even contacted via social media DM and was told to credit check my customers before entering into an annual pay monthly commitment. I reminded them that a customer could have a 100% credit score rating one month and be out of business the next, especially if the owner dies!

Furthermore, if the customer signs up directly with @Microsoft and orders 100 licences, @Microsoft doesn't credit check them, they take a valid credit card number and process the payment.

If that customer goes bust @Microsoft closes the account and that's the end of it!

Partners have to suffer by paying the rest of the subscription or it forces the partner to go bust themselves, which is an appealing and immoral way to do business!

We can't move the licences to other customers, and unlike Azure reserved instances, we can't just pay for 3 months subscription to cancel the subscription.

I've reached out to @Microsoft via the partner help and support and asked to discuss this via a phone call with someone higher up the food chain than first-line support, however, they insist on hiding behind emails, which again is a disgusting practice, especially to partners who have supported @Microsoft  for decades!

I have numerous renewals and I'm considering switching my customers to another platform as much as I'm loath to do so.

Are there any other partners who feel this way?

[gavinnixon]

I fully agree with everything you've said @richardcooke. As @sbeckett has said, Microsoft doesn't care and it's part of their strategy now to reduce the number of smaller partners, spend less on IUR for partners, and give out less incentives to smaller partners.

I personally think it's very short sighted by Microsoft as they will want us partners to push something in the future, and we won't. Due to NCE, I've heard lots of partners starting a strategy themselves to start moving away from Microsoft and deal with other software vendors. Is this really what Microsoft want? They clearly have enough business flowing through the larger partners that they don't care.

What really bugs the hell out of me is when they stand up at each event and tell us all that SMB is very important to them and that us partners are very important to them. What kind of partnership allows the partner (i.e. us) to carry the risk for a business so that if the owner dies and therefore the business closes, that we then take on the debt? This is absoloutely absurd!!! There is no other word for it!

[lawtonma]

Having explained the liability piece to customers (i.e. that we cannot even sell the licenses to another customer if they go bust) - they also find it equally as ridiculous commercially.

Honestly, unless you are Bytes, Insight, Softcat or one of the big Disti's like Ingram or Westcoast then you have no voice. Even they struggle. Sad reality. 

[richardcooke]

I honestly think @Microsoft is breaking UK law with this and because they are unchallenged they will continue to do so.

What they are doing is morally and ethically wrong on so many levels!

[sbeckett]

They possibly are, but it will take a court case for it to be decided. No small partner is going to go up against Microsoft on their own, so Microsoft probably think they'll get away with it. I don't know they will cos I know of some partners who are bloody-minded enough to gang up in a class action and take it on. Certainly if one of our bigger clients goes down, it will be worth it for me to go to court as it would finish my business off, or at least make it unprofitable (and very depressing to be working just to pay MS for something no one is using)

Simon

[gavinnixon]

It really is sad times for the Microsoft community that we're even having to discuss this.

[sbeckett]

Even sadder there's no one from the MS UK management team to read it.

[JASA1976]

From what I've seen the UK Partner Zone is monitored from the team in Germany. We seem to be treated like the poor relation.

If you watch the forum you see post at least weekly from other parts of Europe with events, updates and offers, but nothing from the UK team.

[v-jillarmour]

@oliviatobin can you help here? Thank you! 

[lawtonma]

Brexit? 🙄

[sbeckett]

I'm not so sure, it's been on the downhill track for some time though I'm sure Brexit hasn't helped. I don't think there are fewer partners due to Brexit as presumably most of us work in the domestic market (which is why this new $ centric pricing is such an anathema). I suppose maybe there are fewer staff physically at TVP than there used to be, but that fluctuates according to the latest programmes anyway, they seem to be on a 4 year cycle. Many here will remember the mass layoffs and reorganisation as a result of One Commercial Partner in 2015. Then more changes in 2019, leading to NCE, and now the partner changes in 2023. Maybe they're working their way round to improving things in 2024, then 2025 and 2026 it will be working better, before 2027 when they change it again! 🤣

[lawtonma]

Since One Commercial partner , the strategy has been to push more partners towards distribution, which means less resource required in Microsoft. Hence why they have whittled the MPL down every few years to just the very large partners/LSP's (as was). So the CSP revolution has come full circle and is now, once again, dominated by a few, rather than the innovative Small and Midsize partner that have driven transformation in the customer base................

But that is just my opinion, safe in the knowledge that noone in Microsoft cares

[gavinnixon]

I agree @richardcooke, I've said the same several times!

[sbeckett]

Sadly I think Microsoft are not at all bothered about this. Any client we would be that worried about we would just get them to put a credit card on their tenant. Microsoft still get their money so they don't care. 

I think where they'll come unstuck is when they want to promote something new and want to mobilise their partner network (as they have for the last 10 years with Office 365). The partner network now sees through them, I was as naive as the rest and sold all our clients on the benefits, stability and value of Office 365, then Microsoft 365. But I no longer upsell anything in office and I'm not alone. So when Microsoft comes knocking with something new, theyll be the ones getting the door slammed in their faces. Are they bothered? Probably not. Should they be? When even their gold partners are unhappy, they absolutely should be.

[lawtonma]

I have to agree - see the postings here Re: Local Currency Pricing Update Webinar - Microsoft Partner Community