Westcon-Comstor joins Microsoft REO to boost partners’ sales

Westcon-Comstor announced participation in Microsoft’s Resale Enable Offers (REO) program, enabling approved channel partners to create and manage private offers on Microsoft Marketplace while Microsoft invoices customers and collects payments.

Under REO, software vendors can authorize channel partners to set up private marketplace listings on their behalf, with Microsoft handling customer billing and payment collection.

Westcon-Comstor said it will layer partner training, technical marketplace expertise, tools to drive incremental revenue, and support for renewals and the full customer lifecycle on top of the REO framework.

The distributor expects those services to help partners access cloud commit budgets, shorten deal cycles and increase customer spend while maintaining control of customer relationships.

Westcon-Comstor is already supporting partners in onboarding marketplace offers from vendors including Palo Alto Networks and Infoblox and is in discussions with several other vendors about future collaboration through Microsoft REO.

Research firm Omdia projects cloud marketplace software sales will grow from $30 billion in 2024 to $163 billion in 2030, and estimates partners will drive most marketplace spend by next year.

“Hyperscaler marketplaces are redefining how enterprise software is bought and sold, but success for channel partners and vendors depends on turning activity into repeatable business,” Peter Woest, Westcon-Comstor’s cloud marketplace partnership director, said.

Darren Sharpe, Microsoft’s marketplace channel lead, commented that the REO program aims to help partners build a platform-first marketplace practice supported by an ecosystem of partners and distributors.