Microsoft is keen to get its Surface tablets in the hands of business users. This is one of the reasons why it increased the number of Surface sales partners back in July. And in September it launched the Surface Enterprise Initiative allowing Dell and HP to resell the product.
Now following the launch of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book earlier this month, the company is making renewed efforts to crack the business market with new service offerings.
There are now around 5,000 business resellers for Surface across 30 countries. Writing on the Windows blog Cyril Belikoff senior director of Surface marketing says, "Achieving this breadth and reach is important because this allows us to make Surface and Windows 10 available to more customers than ever before. This means that we are better prepared now for the scale of demand we expect. The introduction of new Surface devices alongside the introduction of Windows 10 represents a big moment for us, our customers and our partners. We are ready!"
Today Microsoft is announcing two additions to the Surface Enterprise Initiative. From early next year it will launch a new service and warranty program for Surface customers via commercial resellers. Microsoft Complete for Enterprise will allow companies to pool warranty claims, allow claims for non-bootable devices where data policies mean the hard drive must be removed before return, and offer next-day shipping for fast replacement. It will also set up an on-boarding center where Microsoft will assist IT staff to get set up with warranty and support processes as well as provide online training for employees to get productive as fast as possible.
In addition the company is launching a Business Device Trade-in Program allowing customers to trade their used business laptops, tablets, and phones for credit towards the purchase of new Surface devices. This will be available in the US and Canada and will roll out across major European markets in the coming weeks. More information is available on Microsoft's trade-in page.
For more on Surface in business there's a dedicated micro site.