Partner Success

Learn how value-added partners (VAPs) and value-added resellers (VARs) have profited from offering Windows solutions, services, and products.

Microsoft list two whitepapers on this subject. One is titled "Concentrating on Windows Platform Leads to Financial Health for VAPs and VARs" and the other "Worldwide Assessment of Server Operating System Deployment and Preference Share Among Value Added Providers" . This is a very vague topic and the value of the reports is rather low on average. The first focus on different businesses, whether the primary market is Windows or not, divided into three levels. Light, if less than 75% of the revenue is from windows, moderate between 75% and 95% and strong above 95%.

Based on these VAP/VAR segments, study findings indicate that those with a strong windows focus are healthier in terms of "Net profit and profit growth", "Revenue growth and average revenue per employee" and "Employee efficiency and workforce stability". "Based on the data, the Strong windows focus VAP/VARs also service twice as many clients with small, profitable engagements.

Now, I don't want to brag too much about my statistical skills, but I wouldn't sign this report with my name. For one thing, can't the last sentence correlate with the finding? If a company is profitable, it is more likely to pay its bills, hence a company servicing it has less losses. There are also too many other circumstances that might influence the "results" of this report, that havent't been included in the research. Long story short, omitted variables in the analysis result in biased results.

The the second report concludes: "While earlier waves of this study indicate there were significant shifts among VAPs in server OS deployment and preference share between 2001 and 2002, the most recent wave indicates that the market has leveled off between 2002 and 2003 - with Unix, Linux and Windows remaining relatively unchanged. And, as indicated by VAPs deployment share forecast for 2004 (see Figure 4), they do not anticipate any significant gains or losses for Linux, UNIX, NetWare, or Windows over the next year. In addition, because server OS deployment share and preference share among VAPs are very similar (see Figures 7 and 3), this also supports the conclusion that VAPs do not expect any significant shifts."

Conclusion

If you want to use windows, feel free to do so. However, make sure that you've analysed the data yourself. No matter which system you decide to use, remember that knowledge is the key success factor. Don't believe in the Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) Microsoft is trying to spread, but look deeper into the issue before making your final decisions.

Interoperability will only become more important as computers become an even stronger means of communication. Consider this whether using GNU/Linux or Windows. Interoperability, as the name implies, is a two-player game of which common standards and recommendations play an important role.

Use whatever best fits your needs.

About the author

My name is Kristian Fiskerstrand, and I'm currently studying at the Norwegian School of Management where I'm attending my second year of my Bachelor in Business, on my way for a Masters of Science in Economics with a specialty in Finance.

Computers, being one of my many passions has resulted in myself creating amongst others the websites kfwebs.net , secure-my-email.com , secure-my-internet.com and scanners-on-linux.com and mapyourfamily.name.