Microsoft, Small Business Partners Spar Over Office Licensing

Ligman, Microsoft's senior manager of community engagement for small business in the U.S., earlier this week raised hackles in Microsoft's small business channel community by railing against unnamed partners for steering their customers wrong with regard to licensing for the Office productivity suite.

In a Monday post on Microsoft's Small Business Community weblog, Ligman urged business owners to "Fire any consultant who tries to sell you Office 2003, especially Retail Box", and implied that Microsoft partners who engage in such tactics are not only giving bad advice, but could also be cheating their customers.

"They are not looking to provide you with the best option since they are selling you something that will cost you more in the short-term and the long-term (Maybe they are just trying to get more money out of you without you knowing it)," wrote Ligman.

Microsoft launched Office 2007 for business customers through volume licensing in November of last year and released it to retail and OEM channels in January. However, demand has remained strong for Office 2003, and Microsoft has responded by allowing volume licensing customers to downgrade their copies of Office 2007 to Office 2003.

Several Microsoft partners took issue with Ligman's statements and posted their rebuttals in the comments section of the Small Business Community weblog.

"What percentage of your own employees do you think could explain your licensing terms across product lines? Let's face it, less than 10 percent could even explain licensing for just the Office product line," one partner wrote.

"Telling business owners to fire their consultants is rather irresponsible on your part, especially since it takes a Microsoft Licensing Specialist to even try to explain your myriad methods of licensing and special pricing for select customers," wrote another partner.

Sources told CMP Channel that Ligman has been known to take controversial stances at times in order to get his point across to Microsoft's small business community.

"Ligman's main purpose at Microsoft is to get small business partners to buy Open License. And as the main evangelist for volume licensing, when he sees partners buying box product, that goes directly against his preaching," said one Microsoft Small Business Specialist partner who asked not to be named.

NEXT: Microsoft's Ligman Responds