Microsoft ESD
CSPs and MSPs

How you can maximize benefits from software selling opportunities with Microsoft Electronic Software Distribution (ESD)

2 Mins read

Due to the rapid technological advancements, and thanks to the pandemic, organizations are now rethinking their approach to business strategy in the ‘New Normal’. They are quickly moving towards digital products and services to stay relevant in the increasingly online world. Today, driving innovation is critical for customer satisfaction, but at the same time, you need to help them with services that are ‘better, cheaper and faster’.

Within this context, to create a stronger relationship between creators and consumers of the services, organizations are inching towards digital engagement channels and replacing outdated technologies with online services and automated deliveries.

Microsoft ESD – an introduction

Microsoft, being at the forefront of digital transformation, has been offering Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) model for a number of years. This enables Microsoft distributors to deliver Microsoft software electronically to the end-customers, within a matter of minutes.

A customer who wished to buy a Microsoft product like Office, Project, Windows or Visio, would go to a store and buy a product copy off the shelf. He/she would use the CD packaged with the product to install the software. There are huge logistics issues and inventory management issues with this kind of purchasing approach. But with ESD, customers can directly download the same product over the internet and then safekeep the purchases digitally that can be used in the future.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Benefits of Microsoft ESD for the customers

  • Near instant, secure distribution of the software product electronically from Microsoft
  • No shipping costs associated with orders
  • Software can be activated instantly after purchase
  • Easier renewal management
  • No physical stock/inventory required to be maintained

RackNap’s integration with Microsoft ESD

In order to incorporate ESD into your business, you don’t have to start from scratch to develop the system or create a marketplace; you may use an existing trusted Microsoft solution. RackNap does the job for you.

RackNap can provide you with a pre-configured, fully integrated ESD platform that can manage all your business offerings easily and provide you with new revenue opportunities with ESD.

With RackNap, you get an intuitive marketplace, which your customers can use to order Microsoft ESD products easily. The service distribution is taken care of with automation. The billing and invoicing is transparent and helps save your and your customer’s time and cost, with in-built simplicity.

You can use RackNap to offer Microsoft offerings under the CSP program in addition to ESD using one centralized platform.

Benefits of RackNap Microsoft ESD Integration for the Microsoft partners

  • Safe and quick distribution of product keys
  • Can order and deliver product keys to the customer anytime and from anywhere
  • Higher profit margins as compared to boxed products
  • No need to maintain inventory, pre-order products as new versions are available immediately
  • Monitor and analyse all your sales statistics at one place
  • Increase your revenue by upselling and cross selling other software and hardware products with ESD, seamlessly
  • Save time, money and gain more profits with automated billing, provisioning and ordering
  • Get peace of mind with a Microsoft-preferred solution like RackNap

Products that can be sold with Microsoft ESD

  • Microsoft Office 365 Home
  • Microsoft Office 365 Personal
  • Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Home
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Professional
  • Microsoft Project Standard 2019 for Windows
  • Microsoft Visio Professional 2019 for Windows
  • Microsoft Visio Standard 2019 for Windows
  • Microsoft Office Home and Business 2019 for Windows
  • Microsoft Office Professional 2019 for Windows

To see how you can use RackNap ESD integration to your advantage, book a demo today. You can also reach out to us at touch@racknap.com for any query or to learn more about the platform.

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About author
Sabarinathan, SVP of RackNap heads product and technical delivery functions. He has over 18 years of experience in the IT industry with specialization in cloud services delivery. He believes that to be successful, cloud service providers need – right business strategy, right automation platform along with skilled manpower.
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