Ingram Micro's cloud referral program has hit the New Zealand, Australian Hong Kong and Singapore markets, enabling resellers to earn additional commissions on Office 365 subscriptions via a new referral website.

The program enables partners to use a web banner or eCommerce URL linking to Ingram Micro Cloud's referral store on their own site, with end-customers then able to purchase cloud products like Office 365. For every end-customer sale, the referring partner earns commission, which can be tracked and managed via a portal which includes end-client details and transactional reporting.

Ingram Micro will handle the direct customer billing, provisioning and post-sales support in a move the distributor says frees up resellers' time to focus on identifying and securing more sales opportunities.

Nimesh Dave, Ingram Micro Global Cloud executive vice president, says the offering is designed for partners looking for quick and seamless entry into the cloud services market, recurring revenue streams or a way to establish a Microsoft cloud practice without financial investment.

“The Ingram Micro Cloud Referral Program delivers the expertise, resources and tools to convert existing website traffic into cloud sales,” Dave says.

David Smith, Microsoft vice president of worldwide SMB, says the Ingram Micro Cloud Referral Program will help more businesses quickly and easily move to the cloud, while at the same time continuing to build on the success of Microsoft's Cloud Solution Provider program.

Microsoft dumped its Office 365 Advisor partner incentives last October, and Ingram Micro says the new offering enables current Advisor partners to continue earning commissions on existing Microsoft Office 365 Advisor subscriptions, while also having the opportunity to sell net-new Office 365 subscriptions through Ingram Micro ‘with the same level of commitment they had via the Office 365 Advisor Program'.