The Microsoft Cloud Partner Program is a portfolio of tools, resources, and offerings to help you:

• Meet evolving customer opportunities.
• Innovate for any cloud scenario on an extensible platform.
• Join a community of partners committed to serving customers.
• Deliver successful solutions to industries and markets worldwide.

How does the Program benefit partners?

Our program is for all partners in our ecosystem 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

Moreover, to help customers better understand a partner’s capabilities, we’re offering two qualifying levels:

• The solutions partner level is a designation that’s based on meeting specific requirements across the partner capability score for each solution area.
• Specializations and expert programs will give solutions partners a way to differentiate their organizations and demonstrate deep technical expertise and experience in specific technical scenarios under each solution area.

“At Interlink Cloud Advisors we appreciate what the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program brought to the previous market-leading program, going from 18 competencies down to the core 6 that align with Microsoft’s solution areas.

Additionally, we appreciate how the live capability score keeps us grounded in where we need to accelerate our focus. Interlink has made a large investment in supporting Microsoft Security and acted swiftly to attain the designation when the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program launched. We were excited to see our benefits being retained, and the enhanced benefits being an advanced specialization partner brings us so we can adequately showcase, trial, and sell Microsoft technology. Kudos to a clear and successful launch!”

– Mike Wilson, vice president/CTO, Interlink Cloud Advisors

Learn, assess, and activate

We’re here to help guide you through your transformation journey. Start by knowing what to learn, what to assess, and how to prepare to activate your business with the changes ahead.

Learn more about these steps in the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program Playbook, a resource created to help you navigate the Program and grow within it. To watch a live or on-demand presentation on the Playbook, register here.

Related posts

The new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program is live! – US Partner Community Blog – Microsoft

Join the conversation

Want to join the conversation between Microsoft and other US partners through your journey to the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program? Head over to the US Partner Transformation Forum within the Microsoft Partner Community!

The new program transforms the existing 18 competencies into six Solutions Partner designations that are aligned with the Microsoft Cloud.

This new, single-tier designation model combines today’s silver and gold tiers. As of September 30, 2022, legacy competencies and associated badging are no longer valid. Partners that have competencies by this date will retain their benefits and have time to learn and assess how the Solutions Partner designations fit in to the strategic plan for your business. Partners have until their anniversary date to make decisions.

Learn, assess, and activate

We’re here to help guide you through your transformation journey. Start by knowing what to learn, what to assess, and how to prepare to activate the changes ahead:

Learn more about the requirements and benefits of the Solutions Partner designations.

• • Read the blog Evolving Microsoft Partner Network programs for partner growth and customer success.
  • Read the blog Evolving the Microsoft Partner Network programs.

Assess your current score and track progress towards new designations via the Partner Center dashboard.

Activate your business plan in the new program with the following calls to action:

• • Hold a discussion as a part of your business rhythms to ensure awareness of the change.
  • Confirm your status in the new Partner Center dashboard.
  • Outline steps for how you can be ready for the transition to the new Solutions Partner designations.

Secure your infrastructure and control access

Transition to GDAP

As part of the Zero Trust security model, Microsoft urges partners to take a step-by-step approach to securing their infrastructure and access to their customers’ tenants in order to minimize fraudulent and abusive activities.

To help secure the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) ecosystem, partners are being advised to transition from delegated admin privileges (DAP) to granular delegated admin privileges (GDAP). GDAP is a security feature that allows partners to control more granular and time-bound access to their customers’ workloads.

Cybersecurity continues to be one of the top challenges of our digital age. Partners in the CSP program are responsible for their customers’ consumption of Microsoft Cloud Services. It’s important to be aware of, and take steps to mitigate and remediate, security issues that affect you and your customers. Microsoft has extended the time partners have to make the transition from DAP to GDAP. However, partners in the CSP program are advised to take the necessary steps now:

• Review DAP report and remove DAP relationships that are not required.
• Leverage the bulk migration tool to transition to GDAP.
• Find relevant links and guides in the Operations Readiness gallery.
• For technical documentation, review the introduction to GDAP and API overview.
• Sign up for CSP Security Q&A sessions and check out these GDAP resources to learn more.

Help promote security best practices