MSP Transfers 1500 Office 365 Seats from Microsoft to SherWeb

SherWeb attracts Advisors with higher commissions for Office 365

Michael Sirota, Director of Sales and Service at Rational Business Solutions Inc., knows a good deal when he sees one. As a Partner of Record (POR) with Microsoft’s Advisor program, he’s seen his share of billing changes and fluctuating commissions. So, when he saw an opportunity to earn more money with SherWeb, Michael jumped at the chance. The result? Over 1500 Office 365 seats were transferred to SherWeb and Rational’s commission flew up to 12% for some clients.

Rational, a Managed Service Provider (MSP) in Thornhill, Ontario, was early to adopt Office 365. The company had many clients using the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS), the precursor to Office 365.

Michael said the decision to move to SherWeb was easy, considering Microsoft’s recent decision to cut POR margins under its Advisor program. Last October, Microsoft announced it was decreasing margins from 23% to 15% in the first year and from 4% to 3% in the second year.

"It’s a no-brainer, “said Michael. “SherWeb gives much better commissions."

By switching to SherWeb, Rational will now earn a 15% commission in Year 1 and a 5% recurring commission for the life of the client’s subscription. SherWeb also matched Microsoft’s price for Office 365 clients who made the transfer.

Clients Felt Reassured

The 1500-seat transfer to SherWeb’s Office 365 program took about two months and involved about 25 clients. Technically, this transfer was a change in license structure for Office 365. Rational announced the move to its clients through a mass email and while some clients were curious, Michael said the reaction was fairly positive.

"They wanted to know things like, ‘How does this affect me?’ They were concerned, but once we clarified that it was just a billing move, they were reassured. The whole thing was pretty simple."

Michael said the hardest part was getting the clients’ credit card information so his company could transfer it to SherWeb’s billing department. He said some clients also wanted to delay the transfer until their annual subscriptions to Office 365 expired.

SherWeb Lays the Ground Work

SherWeb did all the grunt work for this 1500-seat transfer using its new Office 365 Import Tool. SherWeb automatically compiled all the client information, such as prowp-content, services, plans and contract renewal dates and entered it into their system. The Import Tool verifies all client renewal dates and provisions the client’s equivalent Office 365 subscriptions. This import process is free for Microsoft Advisors who transfer their Office 365 clients to SherWeb under the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.

Michael also pointed out that SherWeb’s migration team has been readily available to transfer all his new clients from their old platforms to Office 365, a fact he describes as a real plus for his business.

"SherWeb has many techs to do the transfer, so our team didn’t have to do it. The migration team at SherWeb has been outstanding. They’ve been really very good to work with."

Many MSPs are leery about joining a partner program because they fear they’ll lose their greatest asset: their strong relationships with their clients. According to Michael, this just isn’t true. He said joining forces with SherWeb has been a positive experience. He hasn’t lost touch with his customers and he’s making more money in the process.

"All our clients are very happy and we’re earning more money.
That’s a good situation to be in."