Office 365
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Open Channel Incentives FAQ
This document provides FAQ on the Open Channel Incentives including:
• 4% Booster* | February 1 – June 30: Partner Incentives Booster for Microsoft Office
365 is a promotion that will pay Resellers, enrolled in the Managed Reseller Incentive
program, an additional sell incentive for selling seats of eligible Office 365 products.
• INCREASED FOR JUNE: Office 365 Growth Incentive* | Increased from 10%-15% to
25% on all Office 365 sales from 4-24 first time Office 365 customers in June! March 1May 31 Office 365 sales via Open to first-time Cloud customers remains at the original
incremental 10%-15% partner subsidy. ** New customer eligibility counts started on
7/1/14. 25% available only for eligible Office 365 new Cloud customer adds 4-24 sales
June 1-30, 2015.
• 25@25* | March 1 – June 30: Earn a pay-for-performance bonus of 25% of the first year
billed revenue on the 25th and above new customer add.
Above offers and incentives are subject to the Terms & Conditions found here.*
4% Booster FAQ
Q: What is the 4% booster?
• The Partner Incentives Booster for Office 365 program will pay partners additional Sell
incentives for selling seats of eligible Office 365 products. Details about these additional
incentives are as follows:
• Open Managed Reseller: 4% incentive paid on sales for ALL Office 365 transactions.
Q: What is the timeframe for this Partner Incentives Booster?
• February 1, 2015 – June 30, 2015. All eligible transactions within this timeframe qualify.
Q: Who is eligible for these incentive boosters?
• All partners enrolled in the US VAR Incentive Program.
Q: What products are covered under the program and is there any flexibility to add more
Cloud services?
• All Office 365 SKUs are included and this includes Power BI (Office 365 RDS). There is no
flexibility to add additional products or services under this program.
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Office 365 Growth Incentive FAQ
How does it work?
Eligible deal via Open
Accelerator Rate
Net-new Office 365 customer deals 4-9
10% (March 1-May 31)
25% (June 1-30)
Net-new Office 365 customer deals 10-24
15% (March 1-May 31)
25% (June1-30)
Offer in market March 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015.
New customer count period July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015. Office 365 customer adds in all
segments are eligible towards customer count.
Only commercial Office 365 offerings are eligible.
Offer available for all partners in an SMB Open Incentive Program.
Only sales to first-time Cloud Services customers eligible.
Maximum payout of $1,000 per deal on new customer deals 4-9, $1,500 per deal on new
customer deals 10-24.
Maximum payout for June 25% offer increase is $3,000 per new Cloud customer 4+ during the
June 1-June 30, 2015 promotion period.
Payout limited to SMB segment only.
Limited to Open Licenses including Open Value.
Not eligible for combination with Office 365 25@25 promotion.
How to Participate?
• No registration or claiming required.
• Microsoft will track eligible sales via MS Sales during the offer period and issue a onetime payment to qualifying partners through the Open rebate program in conjunction
with the Q4 Open rebate program payout schedule.
Open 25@25 Accelerator
Program Structure
Q: What is the Advisor 25@25 Accelerator?
• The 25@25 Accelerator for Microsoft Office 365 enables Partners to earn a pay-for-
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performance bonus of 25% for first year billed revenue on the 25+ Customer Add. Only
commercial Office 365 offerings are eligible.
Q: What is the partner eligibility criteria for this 25@25 Accelerator for Microsoft Office 365?
• The Promotion is available for all Resellers.
• A minimum of $25K billed revenue and 25+ customer adds are required to be eligible.
Q: What is the customer eligibility criteria for this 25@25 Accelerator for
Microsoft Office 365?
• Promotion available for all net-new Customer Adds between March 1 and June 30, 2015.
• For a customer to be counted, each one must be net-new to Office 365 between the
period specified above.
• Customer count period from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.
• Eligibility limited to Reseller Customer Adds only.
Q: What is the promotion timeframe for this 25@25 Accelerator for Microsoft Office 365?
• March 1 to June 30, 2015. All eligible transactions completed within this timeframe
qualify.
Q: Is the timeframe the same for Advisor and Open?
• The Advisor 25@25 Accelerator will be effective February 1 to June 30. The Open 25@25
Accelerator will be effective March 1 to June 30.
Q: How is Customer Addition defined?
• The definition of “Customer Add” is based on the tenant creation date. The tenant is the
host for all the subscriptions on the Microsoft Office 365 platform. The tenant creation
date must fall within the promotion period dates specified above. The Customer Adds
must be sold through Reseller. Reseller Customer Adds cannot be combined with other
licensing programs.
Q: Can I sell to my existing customers and receive the recognition for this promotion?
• No, for existing customers that own Office 365, even if they have SKU changes or
renewals. Such customers will not be eligible for the promotion.
• No, for partners with an Office 365 customer who has previously bought Office 365
through another partner or other channel. Such a Customer Add will not be eligible.
• Yes, for existing customers who do not own any Office 365 nor previously have owned
Office 365 since product launch.
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Q: Do any of my existing Office 365 customers count towards this promotion?
• No, existing customers will not be counted towards this promotion. Only net-new
customers in the period from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015 qualify.
Q: Are there any maximum payouts in the offer?
• Yes, the maximum payout per partner is capped at $50,000 and the maximum earning
per Customer Add is $3,000.
Q: Will this 25@25 Accelerator for Microsoft Office 365 be extended into FY16?
• This promotion is a limited, one-time promotion/program for H2 only and will NOT
continue into FY16.
Operations
Q: How are Customers, Seats, Tenants, Subscriptions, and Agreements defined?
• Please contact your local Distributor or Microsoft representative for more details.
Q: What is the eligible SKU list?
• Please contact your local Distributor or Microsoft representative for more details.
Category
Open
(per month)
SKU
Office 365 Business Essentials
$5.00
$60.00
Office 365 Business
$8.25
$99.00
$12.50
$150.00
Office Business Premium
Office 365 Enterprise E1
$8.00
$96.00
Office 365 Enterprise E3
$20.00
$240.00
Office 365 Enterprise E4
$22.00
$264.00
Office 365 Pro Plus3
$12.00
$144.00
$7.00
$84.00
Project Pro for O365
$25.00
$300.00
Project Online
$33.00
$396.00
Project Online with Project Pro for O365
$58.00
$696.00
Visio Pro for O365
$13.00
$156.00
Exchange Online Plan 1
$4.00
$48.00
Exchange Online Plan 2
$8.00
$96.00
Exchange Online Protection
$1.00
$12.00
SharePoint Online Plan 1
$5.00
$60.00
SharePoint Online Plan 2
$8.00
$96.00
Lync Online Plan 1
$2.00
$24.00
Lync Online Plan 2
$5.50
$66.00
OneDrive for Business with Office Online
$5.00
$60.00
Project Lite
Standalone
Applications
Equivalent
Full Year
Q: What if the Customer Add is a new Office 365 customer for me but I didn’t know they
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owned Office 365 previously through a different partner?
• You will not get credit for this transaction and it will not count towards this promotion.
Q: Can I combine Open Customer Adds and Customer Adds from other licensing programs to
reach the customer threshold?
• No, only Reseller customers are counted to meet the 25+ Customer Add threshold.
Q: Is there a similar program for Advisor?
• Yes, please visit aka.ms/moremoneymadness for details on the Advisor 25@25
Accelerator.
Q: How will my promotion payout value be calculated?
• Your promotion payout value will be calculated using Microsoft Internal sales tools based
on a standard rate card and seats sold of the eligible Customer Add.
Q: What is the rate card?
• This is the list of eligible Office 365 SKUs and the standard price, in US dollars, that the
eligible Customer Adds will be calculated against to reach potential payout amount.
Q: What if there is a discrepancy between my Customer Add’s data and Microsoft’s?
• Microsoft shall have the sole right, at its own discretion, to use Microsoft’s internal sales
tools and methodology to provide results to Partners. Microsoft reserves the right, at
its own discretion, to reject a Customer Addition as valid for Cashback promo purposes.
Please refer to the Terms and Conditions for complete details.
Q: Where can I find the Terms and Conditions?
• You can find Terms and Conditions for this program at the VAR Incentive website.
Payments
Q: When will the promotion period be effective? When will I receive my payment?
• The promotion period is effective from March 1, 2015 or April 1, 2015 (start date to be
confirmed by local sub) to June 30, 2015. Payments will be made after August 1, 2015
pending verification and validation of all the information.
Q: Where can I see if I reached the goal?
• Reporting is available by contacting your Distributor or Microsoft representative.
Q: Do I get paid incentives on future, recurring revenue for the same customer?
• No, payments will be made based on rate card and sold Customer seats based
on first year billed revenue of new Customer Add. Please refer to your Partner
communications and documentation for more details.
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Q: What if my customer returns the Office 365 purchased product?
• Promotion data verification will occur after June 30, 2015. Returns will be adjusted in
the calculation as necessary prior to payment approval and distribution.
Q: Where do I find out more information on this promotion?
• Please contact your local Microsoft representative or your Distributor for more details.
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