Are you ready? The Microsoft Cloud Partner Program officially launches on October 3, bringing fresh benefits for partners and a renewed focus on the cloud.

ICYMI: At Microsoft, we are evolving the Microsoft Partner Network into the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program to help all partners build your capabilities, meet customers’ digital transformation needs, unlock new customers, and scale to new markets.

This transformation involves a realignment of legacy competencies to new solution partner designations and specializations, which will help customers easily identify partners with the technical capabilities and experiences they need. These designations also come with updated benefits packages for partners that include product benefits (including internal use licenses), go-to-market services, customer-facing badging, technical presales and deployment services, technical support, and more.

We want to work with our APAC partners to ensure that you understand this evolution as well as what you need to attain desired solutions partner designations – Business Applications, Data &AI (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), Modern Work, and Security.

Transitioning to the New Microsoft Cloud Partner Program Solutions Partner Designations

We’re simplifying our partner programs with solutions partner designations, anchored on the Microsoft Cloud in six solution areas aligned to how Microsoft goes to market. As solutions partner for:

• Data & AI (Azure): You manage customers’ data across multiple systems to build analytics and AI solutions.

• Infrastructure (Azure): You help customers migrate key infrastructure workloads to Azure.

• Digital & App Innovation (Azure): You help customers build, run, and manage applications across multiple clouds, on-premises, and at the edge.

• Business Applications: You provide consultation, deployment, or ongoing management services for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.

• Modern Work: You specialize in using Microsoft 365 solutions and services to help customers work, learn, organize, connect, and create. Activities

• Security: You protect customers from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks – whether in a remote, hybrid, or cloud environment.

See our infographic to plan your transition to the new designations.

Understanding the Partner Capability Score

The Partner Contribution Indicator (PCI) currently used for Azure-related competencies is becoming the partner capability score, which measures performance, skilling, and customer success aligned with each solution area. To attain a solutions partner designation, partners need to earn a minimum of 70 out of the possible 100 points, with points in each sub-category:

• Performance: Measured by net customer adds.

• Skilling: Demonstrates your dedication to skilling and training with intermediate and advanced certifications.

• Customer Success: Measured by usage growth and the number of solution deployments.

Global and MPN partner admins can view the new dashboard in Partner Center to see how your organization is progressing toward a solutions partner designation. Existing partners who meet these requirements on October 3 will automatically attain the associated Azure Solutions partner designation and receive customer-facing badging. Then, at your next anniversary date, you’ll pay the fee and have the option to choose whether to move to the updated solutions partner designation benefits or retain your legacy competency benefits.

Differentiating with Specializations

After you attain a solutions partner designation, you can further differentiate your deep technical expertise and experience with specializations (currently called “advanced specializations”). To streamline and simplify partner programs and identification, partners who have earned a specialization in a particular topic will now be referred to as “partners with a specialization” or “specialists.”

After you earn a specialization or expert designation, you will have access to benefits that include a customer-facing badge to display on your business profile in the Microsoft AppSource partner gallery, prioritization ranking in the commercial marketplace, evaluation for active cooperative selling opportunities with Microsoft field sellers, and more. We’re also introducing new, incremental product benefits to further accelerate your business. Incremental benefits for specialization and expert programs are available only with solutions partner benefits and cannot be added to existing competency benefits.

To learn more about solutions partner benefits, please visit the benefits guide on the Microsoft partner website.

Important Dates to Know

As you begin working on attaining your solutions partner designations, there are a few key dates to be aware of:

• September 30, 2022: The last date to renew a competency. From October 3, current competencies will no longer be valid; however, the benefits associated with these competencies will continue until your next renewal date.

• October 3, 2022: Solutions partner designations are available to attain. If you meet the requirements, you will attain solutions partner designation immediately and receive the customer-facing badging. We will continue to make benefits available to you to help you earn solutions partner designations. Competencies and associated badging will no longer be valid, but partners that obtained a competency by September 30, 2022, will continue to receive the benefits related to that competency until their next renewal date.

• On a partner’s first renewal date after October 3, 2022: Partners who attain a solutions partner designation can choose to move to the updated solutions partner benefits or retain their legacy benefits and pay the corresponding fee. Partners who don’t meet the requirements for a solutions partner designation but who renewed a competency by September 30, 2022, will have the option to continue to pay the fee to retain their legacy benefits.

As we advance to the full changeover to the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program, we will continue to provide you with information and resources to drive business growth via partner channels.

Resources:

• Evolving the Microsoft Partner Network: https://vimeo.com/688601796

• Understanding the Partner Capability Score: https://vimeo.com/688603381

• Learning about solutions partner benefits on the benefits guide

• Inspire 2022: Grow Your Business with the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program