WHEN TIMES are rough, Microsoft reaches out for more debt. Whenever times are tough, Microsoft looks for every extra penny it can squeeze out of others. Some hours ago we wrote about Microsoft working harder to end counterfeiting, thereby betraying popular distributors of Microsoft software. Now we find a betrayal of authentic partners too:

Solution providers who've long raved about the convenience of Microsoft's financing program say they're stunned by a new Microsoft mandate that requires them to include a larger amount of Microsoft products in deals.

Microsoft Corp. is tightening the requirements on financing partner sales – a move some partners say will be hard to swallow, especially in the sour economic environment.

The software company is requiring that all deals it finances for its indirect sales partners include a minimum of 35 percent of Microsoft’s software or services. Previously, financed deals only needed to include a single Microsoft product to qualify.

--James Plamondon, Lead Microsoft Evangelist