Susanne Dansey’s Blog

There have been a few discussions in the Community of late regarding the Office Ready PC Programme (double ‘mm’ ‘e’ because I’m talking mainly about the UK initiative!) and so I thought I would run a few facts and ideas past you so you can use them (if you like or else just read through this and say ‘yep, I knew that’).

What is the Microsoft Office Ready Programme?

Simply put, the idea is to pre-install the Office 2007 software onto all PCs sold to small businesses. This software needs to be unlocked via a license key which can be sold with the PC. If the key is not provided initially then the pre-installed software acts as a 60-day trial version to allow the user to experience the user interface and features. They can then purcahse the license key at some point in the future to unlock the trial and continue to use the software.

The System Builder:

The first thing the system builder needs to do is to acquire from distribution (such as Westcoast) a gold master disc for the Office Ready software image. This is called the OEM Pre-installation Kit or OPK. These are available to all System Builders and Resellers, however you can only acquire a limited number of copies, required for manufacturing your PCs and pre-installing the Office Ready software. The OPK is not for re-sale and is clearly marked as such. The software provided is not a simple installation disc but a set of tools to allow a System Builder to create a pre-installation image. There are easy to follow instructions provided with the OPK and support is available from the OEM System Engineers in creating the initial image. This can then be used to put the Office Ready image onto all PCs built for the small business market.

Once pre-installed onto the PC this software will act as a 60 day trial of Office 2007 Professional, allowing the end user to try a full function version of all the components of the Office 2007 professional suite. The trial starts from the date the end customer activates the trial by launching the software and activating online. There is clear messaging throughout the process that indicates it is a trial. (Note: there is no media to ship to the end user with each system, the software is pre-installed only.)

To unlock this software and make it permanently available, all your customer has to do is enter a license key. The license key is purchased from the system builder or reseller who can acquire it from an Authorised Microsoft OEM Distributor (like me!). Physically, the license that you would get is a key only - there is no media provided at this stage - thus it has been called the Medialess License Key or MLK.

MLKs are available for either Office Basic, Small Business Edition, or Professional.

The key entered will determine which of the various component products are unlocked. For example, if a key for Office Basic is purchased and entered, then only Word, Excel, and Outlook will be unlocked - the other components of Office Professional will continue to operate for the remainder of the trial period. It is possible for the customer to purchase additional components later.

Towards the end of the trial period there will be further messaging to the end user that their trial is about to expire. If they do not enter a valid License Key then the products simply lock out when loaded. The user can still access all their files on the hard disc and can copy them to use on a machine with the relevant applications.

When a customer does purchase the Media License key, they simply follow the on-screen instructions and enter the key. There is no software to install, making this a very quick and easy process.

Should the customer require it, then it is possible to order a back up disc which can be used to re-install the relevant version. As part of the ordering process, they will have to demonstrate (via an invoice) that they have purchased the license key within 90 days of buying an Office Ready PC. The backup media is purchased directly from Microsoft, the web address to do this is in the MLK packaging. There is a small charge (approx. £10) for shipping and handling. Alternatvely, if the end user is running Windows Vista Business or Ultimate, then they can use the inbuilt backup technology.

Your opportunity?

If you have sold an Office Ready PC without a key, then you should be calling them regularly before the 90-day deadline to encourage the sale of the license. To do this, you need to know what the 2007 Microsoft Office System can do for you as a business, and that means using the applications and understanding the opportunities. How can you sell what you don’t know?!?

Here are some facts about our SMB technology landscape:

The PC market is expected to grow over 10% year on year with the two biggest market opportunities in the Small Business and Consumer division.

Looking at the small business segment, 45% of PCs in this market are bought without Microsoft Office and yet within two weeks of purchase, half of them are installed with Office - and they’re paying for FPP! In addition, many non-IT proficient small businesses and consumers associate Windows with the features of Office and assume that it will come as part of their new PC. It is important that even your customers understand exactly what ‘Office Ready’ stands for because a mis-sold machine is going to cause more problems after the sale!

Fact: The attach rate on consumer PC is very low, each 1% increase in attach represents approximately £1m of profit for the channel.

There is a strong demand for technology in UK, with 2.85m new PCs being shipped out in FY08. What’s more, an estimated 1.5m unlicensed PCs are waiting there for you to legitimise them!

Areas of the 2007 Microsoft Office System that you can highlight with your customers:

• The Ribbon
• The new formatting features in Excel
• Real time previews of formatting changes and pictures in Word
• Smart Art
• Improved task integration and the new To Do bar in Outlook
• Complete contact and lead tracking for marketing campaign creation and management
• Enhanced graphics, photo, fax and scan capabilities
• Edit photos, quickly view thumbnails and label images for quick retrieval
• The ability to save documents, presentations, and reports as PDF or XPS to preserve formatting and ensure compatibility with commercial printers

Q: What if you can’t sell Office 2007 and Office 2003 suits your cilent just fine?

A: Then you should be selling training them on the features of 2003. I bet they are only using around 20% of the features. Imagine what the other 80% of functions and combining that with other products such as SharePoint could do for your profit and their business!