Microsoft August update: Important changes to legacy silver/gold benefits

Posted: August 23rd

Author: Microwarehouse

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In their August update, Microsoft made an announcement around important upcoming Microsoft Partner changes as follows:

Discontinuation of Legacy Silver/Gold Partner competencies and their associated benefits on 22nd January 2025:

Legacy Silver/Gold Partner competencies and their associated benefits will discontinue on 22nd January 2025. Partners need to move to a Solutions Partner Designation pack at their next renewal. Failure to do so will result in needing to purchase licensing for internal use rights (IURs) or Partner Success Benefits packages.

Impact of non-compliance:

Legacy Benefits: partners with legacy Silver/Gold benefits should be aware that legacy benefits will no longer be renewable after 22nd January 2025. Partners must transition to a Solution Designation Pack at the next renewal. Full details at this link: August 2024 announcements – Partner Center announcements
Microsoft Rebates: Partners lacking a current legacy Silver/Gold competency or Solutions Partner Designation face the risk of losing rebates from Microsoft, with significant financial impact. Partners who have fulfilled the qualification criteria for a Solutions Partner Designation should enroll for that Designation to ensure continuity of your Microsoft rebates and benefits.
Internal Use Rights: Failure to transition to a Solution Designation Pack will lead to significant financial impacts, including the necessity to purchase licensing for internal use rights (IURs) or Partner Success Benefits packs for any required licensing. • Cloud Support Benefit changes: Partners without a legacy competency or a Solution Designation will see the unlimited cloud support benefits reduced to 50 instances per year, marking a notable change in support provisions.
Discontinuation of Microsoft Action Packs and Learning Packs: As part of this transition, Microsoft will no longer sell the Microsoft Action Pack, Learning Pack and Legacy Silver/Gold Benefits on 22nd January 2025. Partners with existing benefits can renew them until January 21, 2025, and keep them until they expire 12 months later. To continue receiving benefits, partners are encouraged to purchase new Partner Success Benefits packages or attain Solutions Partner Designation. Full details at this link: Manage membership with Microsoft in Partner Center.

FAQ

What are the changes coming on January 22, 2025?

Starting January 22, 2025, Microsoft will no longer offer Action Pack, Learning Action Pack, or legacy silver/gold benefits. The last day to purchase/renew these offerings is January 21, 2025. Once purchased, the benefits will be available for one year since your purchase without any impact.

Partners with an active legacy silver/gold status as of January 21, 2025, will be eligible for applicable MCI incentives for the rest of the FY25 Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) incentive term, running until September 30, 2025 without any interruption.

Additionally on January 22, 2025, Microsoft will introduce over 20 new product licenses, including Microsoft Copilot, Defender for Endpoint, and GitHub, to many existing benefits. Some of these benefits will be added to existing purchases automatically and some will be applicable for new purchases/renewals post-launch. For more details, refer to the benefits guide.

Please familiarise yourselves with the above impending changes and refer to the official Microsoft documentation in the links provided for full details.

For more information or assistance, call 01 616 0400 or email [email protected]

Best regards,

The MicroWarehouse Team