How can Stone help your school manage Microsoft products and services as a Cloud Solution Provider?

Stone recommends Windows 10.

Research shows that personalised learning can maximise student success and help prepare students for tomorrow’s fastest-growing jobs. To enable personalized learning at scale, teachers need both the tools and the time to put students at the centre of their own learning.

With easy-to-manage technology from Microsoft Education and affordable Windows 10 devices, school IT can deploy devices and apps that support collaboration and individualized learning for all students, free up as much as 30% of teachers’ time, and keep data safe with built-in security and privacy features that address the most rigorous security and privacy demands of our customers. Microsoft Education helps deliver personalised learning for every student with devices built for the classroom and beyond with affordable notebooks and 2-in-1 laptops with touch and Windows Ink.

Stone are a proud Tier 1 CSP, meaning we are able to handle Windows 10 device licenses and lifecycles on the behalf of our customers, helping them save time, money, and hassle. This reduces the burden on IT staff and helps ensures your school are getting the best deal on their cloud infrastructure.

Complimenting this, Cloud solutions have played a key role in enabling educational establishments to respond to the pandemic and facilitate continuity, with many having rapidly scaled up their cloud capabilities, or deployed completely new services, in particular to support hybrid learning.
Covid-19 has also highlighted the complexities of licensing, cost and lifecycle management associated with cloud infrastructure. But it needn’t be so complicated.

The Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) programme

The Microsoft CSP programme is built to enable Microsoft partners to work directly with customers and simplify the management of cloud products and services, such as Office 365, Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365 and PowerBI.

Stone are a Tier 1 CSP, meaning we are able to handle licenses and lifecycles on the behalf of our customers, to help save them time, money, and hassle. This reduces the burden on IT staff and helps ensure businesses are getting the best deal on their cloud infrastructure.

The benefits of choosing a CSP

• 1. Simplicity and flexibility

As a CSP, we can create one simple package for all your cloud products and services, where you only pay for what you use. For instance, if you suddenly need to scale up your usage temporarily for a particular project or busy period, then reduce it back down a month or so later, you can. You’re never charged for what you don’t need – and there’s no commitment; you can enter or leave the subscription at any time

• 2. Monthly billing with no upfront payments

Procuring your cloud infrastructure through a CSP means you receive one consolidated monthly bill based on your consumption across your services. Plus, there are no upfront licensing costs, unlike the Open License of Enterprise Agreement routes.

• 3. Local, dedicated support

If you choose Stone as your CSP partner, you benefit from a dedicated point of contact for all your questions and support requirements, including technical issues or subscription queries. We don’t outsource our support to random helpdesks, our support staff are Stone employees, based locally in the UK. In more complex cases, we can easily also escalate your support needs to Microsoft.

• 4. Access to licensing experts for a hassle-free experience

Licensing can be a minefield that’s time consuming to navigate. As your dedicated CSP, we take on the admin burden. We can look after licenses and subscriptions, so you don’t have to. Utilising our skills and expertise, we also work to ensure you get the best deal and maximum value from your services.

• 5. Competitive pricing

Choosing a Tier 1 CSP like Stone gives you access to more competitive pricing compared to traditional and direct procurement agreements, whilst not having to worry about your cloud solution lifecycles.

• 6. Saves time and money

As a CSP, we can not only save you hassle by managing your cloud services package, we can help you reduce your costs. By providing you with a breakdown of what you’re using and at what price, you can optimise your infrastructure, and stop spending on services you don’t necessarily need.
If you would like advice on how to get the most out of cloud technologies, or for more information on how we can support you and save you money as a Microsoft CSP, contact us today.

Discover our latest affordable Windows 10 powered Stonebook devices here!