Listen to customers or set your own path?
We do not build or manufacture or produce products per se. No, we resell, we add-value, we source, whatever you call it, we don't manufacture or create. That's not part of who we are at AWPC/L2TC. No we rely on others for that. The conversation for us is from the sidelines, we fit in to both sides of the argument when it comes to pricing products and the pricing model. Customers look to us to get better prices, vendors look to us to…well, get better prices. But depending on your POV that's 2 separate things. So when the debate comes up about pricing, We work hard to remain neutral. Customers grimace at the cost of software. Vendors want more for their Intellectual Property, and we want to put them together. That's why this:
http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2008/01/01/6933535.aspx
looks so promising. I have found Microsoft better at listening than ever before. This is a good example of that. Some customers, especially smaller ones, just starting out need the option of Subscription model pricing. That's why they like Google Apps, that's why they like Hotmail or Yahoo Mail when they get started. It's cheap and easy. What they really want is the full features of Microsoft Products and the control over them in their own environment, but they want flexability in pricing and availability.
Please, Please, Please do not start whining that it's too complex or that this is another example of Microsoft making licensing more complex. It is an example of them offering options to as many possible people as they can. An enterprise may want full enterprise site licensing, while a 2 person Advertising agency may want Office and Windows on a subscription. What's good for one is not necessarily good for the other. As time goes by and we in IT/Professional services learn more and can articulate that to vendors, the better they are going to be at delivering options that meet what our clients want and more importantly need. I'll see you on one of those Live Meetings, YES?