It’s that time of the week again, where we catch you up on the latest happenings in the world of unified comms.
This week saw a UK reseller launch a suit against Microsoft claiming the vendor is abusing its power in the licensing space. Elsewhere, the future of work was a strong topic of discussion this week as LogMeIn and Forrester revealed that employers are still wary of a remote workforce and Cisco execs looked back on a year of change for the company and customers at its annual Cisco Live event.
Microsoft Teams Updates for April
We’ve rounded up all the latest enhancements to Teams this month. The tech giant remains busy as ever with updates for its flagship comms platform, with the latest innovations including “meetings recaps” which provides a transcription, recording and attached files. It also rolled out voice-enabled channels, which allows the connecting of a call queue to channels in Teams as well as additional managemetn and security features.
UK Reseller Files £370m Suit Against Microsoft
Software reseller ValueLicensing is taking Microsoft to court accusing it of stifling the supply of pre-owned licenses through clauses in customer contracts since “at least” 2016.
The reseller – which specialises in the resale of second-hand licences – claims that these clauses give customers a discount on other Microsoft products and services, in exchange for not selling on their redundant licences. ValueLicensing’s business model relies on it being able to buy these licences to sell on.
It also claims that non-disclosure agreements have “eliminated most preowned licences from the market”.
ValueLicencing is arguing that it has lost an estimated gross profit of £270m since 2016 because of the tech vendor’s conduct.
Cisco Channel Chief on the Importance of Partners
At this year’s virtual Cisco Live event, global channel boss, Oliver Tuszik, highlighted the importance of partners in the relationship between the vendor and its customers. He also told partners that they need to review their competitive edge and find out where exactly they can add value to their customers to ensure long-term loyalty.
“For the partners watching today, you have to work to stay agile and relevant,” he stated.
