IT teams are facing multiple challenges right now with costs spiralling across the board and a skills shortage making all but the most routine of tasks difficult
For businesses using Microsoft Online Services, however, there is a quick and easy measure IT teams can implement that will have an immediate impact in both these areas: appointing a Microsoft Partner of Record.
Tackle rising subscription costs
Many businesses use the Microsoft 365 environment due to the scale of services it covers, from software, managing workloads, enabling collaboration, supporting communication and much more. But many businesses are finding themselves struggling to gain control of spiralling subscription costs and ensure an efficient deployment of services. This is where a Microsoft Partner of Record (POR) can help make a quick and tangible difference, offering support and guidance whilst alleviating some of the day to day tasks.
The power of partnerships
A POR is a third-party service provider who you can nominate to act on your behalf in terms of billing and subscription management for your company’s Microsoft 365 account. It costs you nothing to set up and has no impact on the services you receive from Microsoft, but it can help you maximise your investment, reduce the total cost of ownership and make your organisation’s move to the Cloud much smoother.
The benefits of nominating a Partner of Record
The benefits of nominating a Partner of Record go way beyond delegating the hassle of subscription management, contracts and billing. Having a POR gives you access to a treasure trove of Microsoft-specific technical know-how and experience, with dedicated experts on hand to help you maximise the Cloud’s potential. It can also open up further opportunities to grow your business and optimise costs.
Your chosen partner can help you set up, customise, deploy and administer your 365 environment, to ensure you get the best value from your investment from the outset.
A good Microsoft Partner of Record will be able to:
- Help you identify which licensing and purchasing mechanisms provide the best opportunity for increasing your Return On Investment (ROI)
- Help you identify which licenses offer the greatest reduction in your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
- Help you navigate the various deployment options to maximise the Microsoft 365 environment for your organisation
- Support your organisation’s move to the Cloud, while helping you determine the overall impact and associated cost savings of doing so
How a POR can help you save costs
As a certified Microsoft Gold Partner, M247 is ideally placed to act as your organisation’s POR. We’ll help review and potentially reduce escalating subscription costs and help your business get better results and more value from your Microsoft 365 investment.
By nominating M247 as your Partner of Record you can:
- Make immediate savings of 5% through our ability to offer reserved instances
- Delegate ownership of your Microsoft bills, ensuring they get paid in a timely and controlled way, saving time and money for your finance team
- Free up cashflow
- Benefit from our competitive 30-day terms
Want to know more about how a Microsoft Partner of Record can help your business save costs and get better value? Read our FAQs below
Do I have to pay to appoint a POR?
No. Appointing a Partner of Record to your Microsoft 365 subscription costs you absolutely nothing. In fact, teaming up with the right POR can help reduce your overall cost of ownership and make your organisation’s move to the public cloud a much smoother one – saving you further costs, time and resources.
Does having a POR affect my service from Microsoft?
No. Microsoft views the Partner of Record function as one that benefits Microsoft, the Partner and the customer. Keen to ensure all parties are getting the best out of the relationship, serving the customer well remains Microsoft’s primary objective. That’s why to be certified as a Microsoft Partner is a rigorous process as it is designed to ensure that all Partners are fully versed and have deep technical knowledge of the Microsoft platform and all its services. They apply high expected standards to all partners and undergo regular reviews and ongoing training to ensure any Microsoft customer is always getting the best technical support, expertise and guidance.
The benefit for the PORs is that, with each new partnership, they are better able to utilise their resources on researching and developing tools and content for their customers to use and benefit from, at no extra cost. So, it really is a win-win-win.
How do I appoint/nominate a POR?
- Contact M247 to discuss us becoming your partner of record. Once we understand your requirements we will provide you with our unique Microsoft Partner of Record Network ID.
- Go to your Microsoft 365 admin centre and sign in using your Global Administrator credentials.
- Go to Billing > Your Products and select a subscription.
- Under the subscription, select the Partner
- Select Add
This will send a request to Microsoft and your nominated POR, and the rest will be taken care of for you.
What does a POR mean for the user?
Teaming up with a Microsoft-certified Partner of Record unlocks access to a number of other services. For example, nominating M247 as your POR gives you access to our licensing and cost optimisation review services, security posture assessments, digital transformation strategy services and our Microsoft-certified team of experts who can help you optimise your IT environment and maximise the potential of your technology investments. All of this benefits the user by ensuring a seamless, integrated and cohesive experience wherever they are working across the environment.
What else can M247 do as a POR?
Nominating M247 as your POR gives you much more than financial support and efficiencies. We can also:
- Help you unlock the power of the data generated in the Microsoft 365 environment to help you make better business decisions. By analysing usage and harnessing data insights, we can help you determine what your business is using and where there are opportunities for optimising further costs.
- Provide dedicated Account Management support who will be on hand to advise and support you along the way and help you create short-, medium- and long-term strategies for the Cloud.
Start by giving us a call to find out more.
