This blog was bylined by Gavriella Schuster in her former role as Microsoft Channel Chief.

As we head into 2021, I hope you feel the same sense of renewed optimism and hope that I do. There’s no denying that the past year has challenged organizations and individuals around the globe, disrupting our businesses, governments, communities, families, and individual lives. While some of these factors will unavoidably carry over to 2021, I am confident things are headed in the right direction, and I see a bright future on the horizon for our partner ecosystem.

Despite last year’s challenges, our partners have continued to step up to the plate, delivering innovative solutions and services to help our customers continually adapt. You’ve supported and guided them on their journey through three phases of this global disruption as outlined by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella—responding to the immediate crisis, implementing plans for recovery, and incorporating fresh innovations and efficiencies to reimagine how customers do business. And together we’re going a step further by helping partner organizations and customers build resiliency, which as Microsoft CVP Ann Johnson wrote in a recent blog, is “fundamental to weathering the changes triggered by digital transformation, the ongoing pandemic, the rapid shift to remote work, and all other influences reshaping the business landscape.”

As we carry this momentum into the new year, I’m confident we’ll reach new heights together—and we are committed to working with you every step of the way. We’ve identified four key priority areas to focus on in the coming year:

Remote work: While the initial exodus to remote work occurred early last year, organizations of all sizes are still evolving in response. This opens a unique opportunity for partners to help customers navigate this ongoing transition, including adopting Microsoft 365 solutions like Microsoft Teams.

Business continuity: The pace of digital transformation has continued to accelerate, putting pressure on companies to modernize their operations and prepare for a wide variety of potential disruptions. Fusing resilience into an organization’s DNA can help it weather the storm and, over time, can even reveal the leaders and laggards for any given industry. With cloud solutions like Microsoft Dynamics 365, you can help customers build resilience into their organization so they’re better prepared for the road ahead.

Security: A key element of maintaining business continuity is the effective management of cybersecurity across the organization. The mass shift to remote work has made this even more critical for every organization worldwide, and nurturing cyber resilience has never been more important for you or your customers.

Cloud migrations: The cloud has become a business imperative, particularly in the past year, as companies have leaned on the added flexibility and benefits cloud computing brings for remote workers. As more customers turn to cloud adoption, we’re continuing to simplify the migration process so they can transition their workloads swiftly and effectively.

In addition to these priority areas, Microsoft continually works to support our partners with the latest tools, data and guidance so you are positioned for success. I hope you’ll take time to review some of the important partner resources available to get 2021 off to a great start:

• A look at the new Cloud Solution Provider Program Guidebook, a step-by-step document intended to help you navigate the program and accelerate your cloud business growth while expanding your revenue opportunities.

• Tips for maximizing co-sell opportunities with the Microsoft commercial marketplace.

• Updates to partner investment and incentives for 2021 that simplify earning opportunities across programs.

• An overview of the recently released Partner Center Insights dashboard, which enables you to access powerful reporting through a unified view of data across your partner network organizational hierarchy.

I’m excited to see what we can accomplish, as we focus our combined efforts over the coming year. We’re committed to the mutual success of the entire network of Microsoft partners, and we’ll continue to share updates and resources to support you in meeting the ever-changing needs of your customers. Thank you for your continued partnership—we look forward to working with you throughout 2021 and beyond.