Solutions for service providers
Give your business an edge over the competition with smart technology solutions that help differentiate, diversify and scale your service offerings.
Cloud Partner Program
The Microsoft Partner Network is comprised of more than 400,000 global organizations and these partners are essential to delivering innovative products and services to customers around the world. Effective October 2022, Microsoft is changing the name of its partner program from “Microsoft Partner Network” to the “Microsoft Cloud Partner Program.”
Evolve for partner growth and customer success.
As things continue to change and evolve, we are committed to investing in and delivering what partners need to innovate, grow their businesses and deliver on the promise of digital transformation for customers across organizations and industries.
To continue enabling partners — and by extension their customers — for success, Microsoft is focused on three major commitment areas:
Strengthen Our Digital Capability
We are providing well-defined guidelines and resources for partners across our digital experiences to navigate building solutions more effortlessly, going-to-market, and selling with Microsoft.
Deepen Partner Technical Abilities
We’re supporting partners on their readiness journeys by helping them gain advanced specializations and deep technical training across solution areas including business applications, Azure and security, compliance and identity. We’ve specifically committed to a 250% year-over-year (YOY) increase in spending in this area.
Streamlining Engagement Between Partners
We are sharing more opportunities and enhancing the commercial marketplace as well as Partner Center, making it easier for partners to engage with us and drive profitability. In July 2021, for example, we lowered our marketplace transaction fee from 20% to 3% . Through these reductions, partners can invest even more deeply in their own growth plans.
Microsoft Cloud Partner Program Solution Areas
The Cloud Partner Program is for all partners in the Microsoft ecosystem, whether they build and sell services, software solutions or devices, and is focused on proficiency in six solution areas aligned with the Microsoft Cloud:
Data & AI (Azure)
Infrastructure (Azure)
Digital & App Innovation (Azure)
Business Applications
Modern Work
Security
Microsoft Solutions partner designations
With Microsoft's Cloud Partner Program they offer six Solutions partner designations. Each partner designations allows partners to align themselves with a specific solution area thus setting themselves apart from other partners based on their technical capabilities, their dedication to skilling and training, and their proven ability to successfully deliver solutions to their clients in specific solution areas of the Microsoft Cloud.
When a partner attains a Solution Partner designation, they set themselves and their organization apart by validating their skillset. The six available solution partner designations are :
- Solutions partner for Business Applications
- Solutions partner for Data and AI (Azure)
- Solutions partner for Digital and App Innovation (Azure)
- Solutions partner for Infrastructure (Azure)
- Solutions partner for Security
- Solutions partner for Modern Work
Benefits of MS Solutions partner designations
To support you as you grow your business, the Solutions partner program has an improved benefits bundle that is aligned to the six Solutions partner designations. If you opted for new benefits during your renewal or fresh purchase of Solutions partner membership, you're eligible to receive the new benefits package associated with that designation.
The Solutions partner benefits packages include:
- Product benefits
- Internal use rights (IURs)
- Cloud licenses
- Azure credits
- Go-to-market services
- Customer-facing badges
- Technical pre-sales and deployment services
- Technical support
- Eligibility to earn incentives
Want to check your progress on becoming a qualified Solutions Partner?
Microsoft offers a tool that allows you to do just that. Check it out here.
Important Dates
Date |
Update |
September 30, 2022 |
The last date to renew a legacy competency. |
October 3, 2022 |
|
From October 3, 2022 to the partner's next anniversary date |
|
On the partner's first anniversary date after October 3, 2022 |
|
Important Updates
As of September 22, 2022
Two important changes have been made to the MCPP designation requirements for Business Apps and Data & AI (Azure):
Solutions Partner designation for Business Applications
- Microsoft has adjusted the requirement for this Solutions Partner designation by replacing “Other” and “Larger” market classifications with “Enterprise” and “SMB” market classifications. The change in requirements has been made to provide greater opportunity for SMB partners to qualify for this Solutions Partner designation.
- Check out the learning documents for the updated details as well as the blog.
Solutions Partner designation for Data & AI (Azure)
- Microsoft has adjusted the skilling requirements for the Solutions Partner designation for Data & AI (Azure) designation by merging the Advanced Certification requirements into the Intermediate Certification requirements thus making them a single category.
- Points that were previously earned in the Advanced Certification subcategory will be added to the points earned in the Intermediate Certification category and reflected on the dashboard on Partner Center.
- For the updated details, check out the learning documents.