Microsoft teams up with Dell, HP and Accenture for Surface Tablets distribution
Microsoft has teamed up with Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Accenture to sell the company’s Surface Pro tablet to businesses. The Surface Pro 4, like its predecessors, is a tablet-laptop crossbreed, which means it can be “transformed” into any of those main modes depending on the type of work that needs to be done.
The Surface line, launched in June 2014 and May 2015 , clicked to the market well, racking up $888 million in sales. According to the latest Microsoft earnings report from consumer electronics news Twice , it’s a 117 percent gush over the former year. Income for the entire year was 3.6 billion, up 65 percent over 2014 in total.
However, companies are not comfortable in purchasing straight from Microsoft or Amazon, Digital Trends reported. Since not all companies are not agreeable with bulk purchases from Microsoft itself, the company’s partnership with the three firms will allow for all of them to sell Surface Pro. In addition, these partner companies will provide post-sales support and services to the custo
“Our global enterprise customers have asked us to match the Surface Pro 3 and Windows 10 experience with enterprise-grade support and services – and our partnerships like this one with Dell will do just that,” stated Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the video, seen below. Dell heralded its plan to use its sales team for the Surface Pro distribution and its related accessories starting in early October this year, Microsoft announced over its official blog.
Dell will provide sales, servicing, hardware warranties, and replacements in addition to offering corporate-friendly configuration, prosupport with accidental damage service and deployment options. This set-up will make it easier for companies to upgrade large numbers of systems at one time without interrupting work flow.
The main idea with Microsoft's new deals is that it is aiming to cater, on a larger level, to corporate customers, reported Tech Times . No further details were disclosed by HP except with its commitment to sell the Surface tablets to business customers. Large customers told Microsoft, that in order for them to place order in the thousands, the company must look into improving its customer support worldwide acknowledged Brian Hall, Microsoft's general manager of the Surface product line in a press release, reported Bloomberg.
One of Microsoft’s known competitions in the niche is Apple. In August, Apple partnered with Cisco to begin selling its iPad and iPhone to business customers. The company has also partnered with IBM to begin creating apps for business. Microsoft is also set to expand its re-seller program substantially, growing from just 150 retailers to over 4,500 by 2016.
Microsoft & Dell partnership (Credit:YouTube/Microsoft)
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