Brad Anderson Channels Steve Ballmer in Latest EMS Deal

In an almost "as seen on TV" style, Brad Anderson, Corporate VP at Microsoft, is inviting customers to use Microsoft Intune, Azure RMS, and Azure Active Directory Premium and throwing in a special deal to boot. Brad relates this deal to the old Ginsu Knives commercial (which is a favorite memory of mine). I prefer to compare it to a Schticky commercial for more comedic effect. But, the deal is actually pretty spectacular, even if Brad is channeling Steve Ballmer in some small way.

If you decide to start using (read: purchase) Microsoft Intune, Azure RMS, and Azure Active Directory Premium, Microsoft will throw in professional services to help you deploy quickly.

Here's the specifics of the deal. Per Brad…

For customers that purchase more than 1,000 EMS seats, you’ll get $10,000 worth of professional services to help deploy one of the services, and number doubles to $20,000 if you decide to deploy 2 or more of the services.   If your organization is under 1,000 seats there are also funding options available.

The offer is good through December 31, 2014 and is initiated by contacting your local Microsoft Account team.

Microsoft is pushing its mobility services in a big way. On October 8, the company announced the removal of "Windows" as part of the Intune name, and in the most recent EndPoint Zone episode, Brad helped clarify Microsoft's stance on on-premises System Center Configuration Manager versus Microsoft Intune. Satya Nadella's vision of a Mobile First/Cloud First world can only truly be realized if the mobile piece moves forward. Brad, of course, is the VP in charge of Microsoft's mobility strategy so this latest deal, though a bit unorthodox, shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Read through Brad's plea: We Really, REALLY Want You to Use the Services You Purchase

...and, then comment on how well he might have done to emulate a historic, fan favorite: