Posted: March 7th

Author: Microwarehouse

Tags:

Unlocking Success: Partnering with Microsoft One-on-One

As someone who’s spent 20 years in the IT industry and built multiple successful Microsoft practices, I’m excited to share insights from my new role as Senior Business Solutions Manager at MicroWarehouse. Having been on the MSP side for years, I understand your challenges and opportunities when partnering with Microsoft.

The Evolution of Microsoft’s Partner Program

Remember the days of Silver and Gold partnerships? That era has officially ended. Since September 2022, Microsoft has transitioned to a more dynamic model called the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, which is grounded with partner Solution Designations and Specializations.

What’s different about this new approach? Unlike the static Silver/Gold system where partners had little differentiation, the new program allows partners to truly stand out. More importantly, Microsoft’s funding models have become programmatic and structured, with a laser focus on growth with close alignment to Solutions Designations and Specialisations. If you’re growing and enhancing your business, Microsoft is ready to support you with funding.

The Partnership Ladder

The partnership structure now consists of four key levels:

Registered Partner: The entry level where you can transact through CSP
Solution Designation Partner: Access to internal use rights, incentives, Co-op, support hours and pre-sales/marketing benefits. (And soon… AMM funding for SMB!)
Specialised Partner: Enhanced internal use rights, market differentiation, and the greatest access to funding programs.
Azure Expert MSP: The highest tier typically achieved by larger partners

Solution Designations: Your Entry Point to Success

Microsoft now offers six solution designations:

Modern Work
Azure Infrastructure
Data & AI
Digital & App Innovation
Business Applications
Security

For most partners, I strongly recommend starting with Modern Work and Azure Infrastructure. They’re the most accessible entry points, and the Azure Infrastructure designation is particularly valuable as it allows you to earn rebates across all categories. In contrast, the Modern Work designation only enables rebates on Modern Work solutions.

An exciting development: Earlier this year, Microsoft introduced SMB tracks for all three Azure areas, making these designations more accessible for smaller partners. We also expect an SMB track for Security coming soon.

Qualifying for Solution Designations

Each designation requires scoring across five areas:

Performance (net new customer adds to your business)
Intermediate skilling metrics
Advanced skilling metrics
Customer success – deployments
Customer success – usage growth

You need a total score of 70 (out of 100) to qualify, with at least one point in each area.

For Modern Work, you earn points based on net new customers with 10-300 seats (SMB track) or 300+ seats (Enterprise track). On the Azure side, it’s based on customers with $500+ monthly consumption (SMB) or $1000+ (Enterprise).

Regarding certifications, ensure your team has associated their credentials with your Partner Center account. For Modern Work, even fundamental certifications like MS-900 count toward your intermediate certification requirements. (Don’t forget to task your Sales and Marketing teams with the fundamental exams!!)

The Benefits: Why You Should Care

There are three compelling reasons to pursue solution designations:

1. Internal Use Rights

Solution designations come with substantial licensing benefits:

Modern Work: 200 E5 licenses, 5 Copilot licenses, plus Teams Premium, Power Apps Premium, and more
Azure: $6,000 Azure credit, 100 Microsoft 365 E3 seats, plus server licensing, SQL licensing, and more

2. Support, Advisory, and Marketing Benefits

Many partners overlook these valuable resources:

50 hours of technical pre-sales and deployment services
50 incidents of partner cloud support PLUS 20 incidents of on-premises support
Access to the Partner Marketing Center with ready-to-use marketing assets

3. Incentives and Rebates

This is where the financial rewards become significant:

Base incentives: 3.75% for Modern Work, 4% for Azure
Accelerator incentives: 5-7% for premium SKUs
Net new business: 15% for both Modern Work and Azure (20% for Business Applications)

These incentives are stackable, potentially reaching up to 29% depending on your focus. Incentives are paid 60% in cash and 40% in Co-op (which you claim against marketing activities), except for net new business accelerators, which are paid 100% in cash.

Maximizing Your Incentives

Let me illustrate with a simple comparison:

Partner #1: Has a Narrow focus, only on Modern Work with entry level SKUs which gives little opportunity to deliver project work, higher value managed services as well as win on bogger incentives.

Partner #3: Has a laser focus on Business Premium and a clear upsell motion across the base. In addition, they have started an Azure journey with their clients too. They’ve signed up for the MicroWarehouse Mission 65 campaign and are delivering a continues run rate of security projects in line with a Zero Trust Architecture as well as a good number of Azure projects. Arguably our figures here are lower than reality but in this simple example Partner 3 is:

5x Annual Revenue
3x in Monthly Recurring Revenue (excluding additional managed service opportunities)
10x on Microsoft Incentives

Conclusion

The new Microsoft partner model rewards growth, specialization, and a focus on premium services. By understanding the structure and strategically planning your approach to solution designations, you can unlock significant benefits and funding opportunities.

As you navigate this journey, remember that the Microsoft partnership program continues to evolve. The most successful partners will be those who adapt, focus on growth, and leverage the full range of available benefits.

Have questions about optimizing your Microsoft partnership? Feel free to reach out to me directly at Micro Warehouse. I’m here to help you succeed.

Contact Finian Nally to discuss these topics further