...how best to mange their Microsoft estate, and on how to adapt their IT strategy to fit with Microsoft's technology roadmap. The ESC is not supposed to sell Microsoft products as such. Rather, he or she encourages the deployment and best use of already-purchased products.
Is all this a threat or a help to IT consulting and systems integration companies? We think it's the latter. It strikes us as essentially partner friendly, and reflects the classic model for a software company's IT services arm. Microsoft isn't trying to take market share; rather, it's promoting its product and — as a by-product — generating demand for services from its partners.
The Lighthouse engagements aim to showcase new Microsoft technology and build reference sites that can be used by Microsoft and its partners alike — surely good news for Microsoft's partners. The MTSS engagements aim to raise customer satisfaction levels and to encourage Microsoft product deployment — ditto. As Microsoft Services UK chief Andy Watson said: 'We have no desire to go into a client and build a big services asset'. So the ESCs are not meant to be Accenture-style revenue generators!
True, ESCs effectively do IT consulting. Should IT consultants be worried? Not really, because this consulting is fairly narrow in scope, and ESCs are supposed to pass consulting and SI leads to Microsoft partners.
The SKU philosophy is interesting. By turning services into standardised components, Microsoft is trying to find the Holy Grail of IT services — repeatability. Dell is also attempting to create a component-based model for IT services. So, two mass-market product companies seem to be leading the way in industrialising IT services. Or are we being unfair to the global services players here? Either way, this could be the face of the future.
Douglas is a core member of the Ovum EuroView team, and was responsible for launching EuroView Daily, the Ovum information and advisory service. He also acts as an industry analyst, covering IT services companies — including Accenture, Capgemini and TietoEnator — for EuroView and for Holway@Ovum
