7 Questions to Ask When Purchasing from a CSP Indirect Provider

By now, you have probably weighed all of the pros and cons of direct vs. indirect cloud solution providers  (CSP). If you are leaning towards purchasing from a CSP Indirect provider, you are likely finding that plenty of questions have started to bubble to the surface.

Are you wondering what the top benefits of CSP Indirect are, when and how you will be billed, what type of resources will be available to you, and more? It can be a bit challenging at times to find those answers, but we have got you covered. Keep reading for the seven questions to ask when purchasing from a CSP Indirect provider.

CSP Indirect can offer many benefits to your organization. One of the biggest advantages is the speed at which you can get started and the rate at which you scale. At nearly zero cost of entry, you are provided the systems, tools, and support needed to hit the ground running and start monetizing your cloud business.

As an added benefit, SoftwareONE has the depth of licensing knowledge and experience in building a profitable reselling practice. You aren’t left to finding answers in forums and reading FAQs. With a simple call or email to your local partner team, we assure that your client is properly licensed and optimized.

We have seen early stage start-ups to mature direct resellers choose the CSP Indirect model to build their cloud business. Here at SoftwareONE, we have backed our CSP Indirect offering with over 30 years of Microsoft experience. This way, we can pass our knowledge onto you while still being able to get you to the market quicker than if you had decided to build a direct business.

So, while it is not to say you should head into a CSP Indirect partnership with little to no knowledge of the subject, there are no revenue requirements or commitments needed to get started as a reseller.

As a reseller, you will gain access to sell Microsoft Office 365, Azure and Dynamics CRM. The full library of SKUs and price books will be made available to you through the ONEClub Marketplace. You get to control the pricing to the end user and the add-on services you wish to offer.

Getting started can be done in three easy steps:

1. Join Microsoft Partner Network (MPN).
2. Enroll as a CSP Indirect Reseller and accept the Microsoft Partner Agreement on Partner Center.
3. Complete the ONEClub application.

You are in complete control of your end users. Via a portal, you are empowered to manage your client orders, invoices, licenses, subscriptions, and reporting. SoftwareONE provides its partners with the ONEClub marketplace which enables it’s resellers with all the above features and more. Resellers also can graphically view their customer cloud utilization by month or resource. In addition, they can set budget notifications if their client is exceeding their usage targets and prevent surprise invoices at the end of the month.

As a reseller, you will be invoiced by your Indirect provider. You control the invoicing to your end users. You can expect to only pay for what is being used, which makes CSP Indirect an excellent choice in terms of cost effectiveness.

Another benefit to consider with CSP Indirect is the amount, availability and quality of technical support a reseller receives. The provider does not provide end user support but rather empowers the reseller to maintain this relationship. Through ONEClub Cloud Support, partners receive 24x7 access to support and ramps with additional instances as they add end users.

A good CSP Indirect provider helps their partners build their business and remains in lock-step with their resellers. Resellers have different requirements and the provider should offer a flexible partnership that allows the reseller to scale at their own pace. SoftwareONE has been one of Microsoft’s longest standing direct partners with over 30 years of experience. We are now taking the lessons and best practices learned to our partners to help them also build a successful cloud business. The transfer of knowledge and access to the tools, systems, and support provide ONEClub partners the advantage they need to get their cloud business off the ground.