Resellers unhappy with Microsoft's product strategy

By Rajitha Saleem

NEW DELHI: Microsoft seems to have resorted to a unique strategy of killing

its own product to push the newest one in the consumer market. The company has

reportedly stopped shipping supplies of software packages such as the Windows NT

Server platform, Client Server, MS Exchange Server versions 7 & 5.5 and SQL

Server version 7.

The move has put the Delhi IT market in a quandary, with dealers now being

forced to buy the newer versions, rather than the older ones. Further more, the

SQL Server 2000 and Exchange Server 2000 versions do not function on the Windows

NT platform, thus making it necessary for end users to upgrade their platform to

Windows 2000.

This would force the end users as well as the dealers to go in for the more

expensive Windows 2000 version. For example, the SQL Server version 5- to

10-user license is priced at Rs 50,000, while the SQL Server 2000, 5-user

license costs Rs 65,000.

"Microsoft is trying to kill its own product and attempting to

monopolize the market," said Softmart Solutions CEO Alok Gupta, who is also

the leading software reseller in Delhi. Leading Edge Technologies director

Vikram Gupta also agreed that the market was presently facing problems regarding

the non-availability of NT Servers and the high cost of the latest versions.

According to Trifin Technologies Ltd. director Nitin Dang, there is a large

segment of the consumer market that still demands NT Server versions.

But, this is not the first time that Microsoft has adopted this strategy. The

company has always been disinvesting in older versions to push the new versions

in the market, he said. However, he added that there would be no legal hassle

regarding the upgradation of NT platforms to newer versions, as they possessed

the necessary license.

But the new strategy adopted by Microsoft has left the end user with very

little choice, but to upgrade the new version of the system and to buy the new

software, Dang added. But this has not deterred some dealers and distributors,

who choose to comply with the strategy of Microsoft rather than give up

franchise for the product.

Tech Specific India Ltd. deputy manager (Sales and Channels) Anil Sethi says

he has no complaints over Microsoft's strategy. According to Sethi, the

transition to the new version has been smooth and it is the retailers who were

facing problems regarding the non-availability of the older versions of the

package.

According to FutureSoft Technologies Ltd. Director (Operations) Vipul Dutta,

there is nothing abnormal about the new policy adopted by Microsoft. He said

that solution providers like Futuresoft have the license to procure the older

versions and provide the new solutions to its users.