Microsoft offers product specials

Microsoft has joined hands with a number of its hardware partners to compile product offerings with added benefits ranging from training to support opportunities. The product specials provide small/ medium enterprise (SME) customers with the opportunity of purchasing enterprise level products at a reduced price. Customers can purchase the product offerings from Microsoft authorised resellers through Open License until 31 March 2001.

Microsoft`s partners, which include Mustek, Tarsus, Rectron and OTG, among others, are customising and extending these offers to sell appropriate and specific solutions into the markets they service. "The SME market is perceived as a high growth opportunity and it is important for the channel to address their needs. This market is slowly implementing technology solutions to solve their business problems and Microsoft has addressed their needs by making the products` more affordable," says Gail Moffitt, channel programme manager at Microsoft South Africa.

Moffitt says that if customers purchase new Office 2000 licenses now they receive discount up to 50 percent off the normal price. The offer includes a free Microsoft Press Step by Step self-paced training CD for Office 2000 with each Office 2000 license bought. "If you are upgrading from a previous version of Microsoft Office, customers can now purchase the Office 2000 Premium product for the price of the Professional product and save up to 30 percent," she says.

Businesses need a stable and reliable operating system to keep operations working 24 hours a day. An essential requirement for business users is a personal computer they can count on. Windows 2000 Professional includes fundamental improvements to prevent crashes and allow the operating system to repair itself. Microsoft ran comparative reliability tests which showed that the reliability of Windows 2000 Professional was over 50 times that of Windows 98 and 17 times that of Windows NT Workstation 4.0.

"Microsoft has also formulated a product offering with Windows 2000 Professional to ensure that small businesses can also enjoy the benefits of the operating system`s advanced features," concludes Moffitt.

The Windows 2000 Professional offer includes a copy of a Microsoft Press Step by Step self-paced training CD for Windows 2000 Professional with each Windows 2000 license bought. And when purchasing five or more copies, customers automatically get a Microsoft Professional Support contract, entitling the company to five free incidents of support. This offer is limited to business products on a one contract per company basis.