Microsoft/Best Buy: Tarnished Gold?
Let that sink in.
The Minneapolis-based retail chain now carries the same Gold certification smaller value-added resellers have built businesses around. Many are not happy about that.
“This is just further devaluation of the Gold program. When does Wal-Mart get its Gold?” asked one East Coast Gold Certified Partner.
Microsoft stresses that Best Buy approached it about the certification and got no preferential treatment. “They did everything everyone else needs to do in terms of getting MCSEs and customer references,” said Cindy Bates, Microsoft’s U.S. general manager for small business.
She said that since many small businesses (including home-based businesses) buy their PCs at retail, Microsoft needs to ensure a qualified supply of service there.
“We want to make sure customers can find solutions and get the service they need from a variety of partners,” Bates said.
According to AMI Research, there are 6.2 million small businesses in the United States with 100 or fewer employees. If home-based businesses are added to the mix, that number soars to 14 million.
In a May 18 press release, Best Buy said 300 of its Best Buy for Business and Geek Squad personnel were certified and ready to represent Microsoft, with 900 slated to get there by year’s end.
Their initial focus will be on Microsoft Small Business Server, Bates said. But the goal is to expand their knowledge across the stack to include the upcoming Vista operating system, Office Small Business or Professional editions, and Microsoft Business Solutions Point of Sale, CRM, Great Plains and Small Business Accounting wares, she said.
Glen Coffield, president of Cheap Guys Computers, an Orlando, Fla., system builder with six retail stores, said his main concern is whether Best Buy gets better pricing. “I could care less, because there is no money or margin in Microsoft software anyway. As long as Best Buy is not getting special deals I don’t care,” he said.
In addition, Microsoft must ensure Best Buy doesn’t violate its licensing pacts by selling the discounted Microsoft Office Student and Teacher edition to unqualified buyers instead of the pricier—and legal—full Office, he added.
Said one Boston-area Gold partner: “My question is does Best Buy have to field the same number of certified people per location, the same number of customer references per location that I do?"
Bates couldn’t clear that up. Asked specifically about that requirement, she said: “I don’t want to get into specifics, but we’re aiming for critical mass [of trained personnel].”
Best Buy did not return calls for comment.
Jason Harrison, president of Harrison Technology Consulting, a small-business VAR in Nashville, N.C., shrugged off the news for several reasons. First, he is miles away from the nearest Best Buy location. Second, he suspects there might be subcontracting possibilities for small-business VARs. And third, he is not impressed by the Geek Squad. Best Buy acquired that business to support home computer and electronics implementations and expects to leverage it now for small businesses.
Thus far, the Geek Squad has been “a real weak play,” he said. “They don’t hire the right people; they’re kids out of college who maybe can put in a wireless access point but the model isn’t set up deal with people’s real challenges in small business.”
Still, solution providers irked at the Best Buy deal had better fasten their seat belts. Microsoft has left the door open for similar certifications with other retailers.
STEVEN BURKE contributed to this story.