Our partners and customers are constantly innovating to keep pace with rapid market shifts and technological advancements. As part of this accelerated journey, they often face challenges such as sprawling systems, siloed teams, and technical debt. To address these issues, a unified platform is essential.

With Microsoft’s investment in Azure Arc, we believe Azure is the solution. Azure Arc crosses the boundaries of hybrid, multicloud, edge, and IoT, offering the next level of modularity, integration, and simplicity through the adaptive cloud approach.

The adaptive cloud approach

The adaptive cloud approach unifies siloed teams, distributed sites, and sprawling systems into a single operations, security, application, and data model. This enables organizations to leverage cloud-native and AI technologies across hybrid, multicloud, edge, and IoT environments. By shifting from a reactive posture to proactive evolution, businesses can anticipate and act upon changes in market trends, customer needs, and technological advancements ahead of time, optimizing resource usage and mitigating risks before they manifest.

The momentum we have with Azure Arc is building, with hundreds of partners and thousands of customers in the Americas leveraging it as a profitable path from SPLA. For example, Microsoft partner Rackspace has successfully implemented the adaptive cloud approach, resulting in significant savings of $40 million in total cost of ownership. Read more about the Rackspace success story.

Why now—upcoming SPLA price increase

Microsoft has released price changes for the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) program. As part of the announcement, licensing prices are changing for the following products, effective January 1, 2025.

Get started—explore modernization paths from SPLA with the adaptive cloud

We’re here to help you maximize the value of your investment and continue to be the bridge to secure AI innovation for your customers.

We encourage you to reach out to the Microsoft Datacenter Optimization (DCO) team to explore how the adaptive cloud can benefit your organization. The DCO team is ready to assist you in navigating this transition from SPLA and exploring paths as a Cloud Solution Provider or Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA). Here is a summary of the paths you can consider:

We appreciate your continued partnership and look forward to helping you achieve new heights with the adaptive cloud.

Additional resources

• Tune in to the Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast.
• Learn more about how to innovate on an adaptive cloud.
• Visit Arc Jumpstart to try Azure Arc.
• Read the blog Advancing hybrid cloud to adaptive cloud with Azure.

Join the conversation

Want to explore this and other topics you care about with Microsoft and other US partners? Head over to the Microsoft Americas Partner Community on LinkedIn.

Partner Training Gallery: Bookmark this page to find up-to-date technical and sales enablement events, resources, and playbooks.

See the full view of the Microsoft Partner Skilling Calendar.

Quick links

Regional Skilling Services is now live

The Regional Skilling Service desk is designed to help managed partners close skilling gaps, drive certifications, and support Microsoft priorities. This service offers reactive support, PDM-led partner outreach, key resources, and guidance to enhance partner capabilities in areas like AI, cybersecurity, Microsoft 365, and more.

Email AskSkilling@Microsoft.com to learn more about Microsoft partner skilling offerings, resources, support, and feedback.

Register now for the latest skilling offerings

Microsoft AI Partner Training Day
Join us in person to hear about the latest trends and technology in the era of Al, with guidance from Microsoft executives and industry leaders.

Hear about lessons learned from real-world Al deployments, discuss sales best practices followed by Microsoft teams, get hands-on experience with Microsoft’s Al platform, and learn about go-to-market tools to build and expand your Al practice.

Toronto
Dec 2, 2024
Register now

Sydney
Dec 10, 2024
Register now

Copilot Certification – Generally Available

We are thrilled to announce that the GitHub Copilot certification exam became generally available on October 24th! This is an exciting opportunity for individuals looking to validate their skills with GitHub Copilot.

We believe this certification will play a vital role in helping professionals enhance their expertise and drive success in their projects.

For more information, please visit the certification landing page. You can also find the GitHub Copilot study guide, which includes links to the Microsoft Learning paths to help prepare for the exam.

Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

On-demand content covering sales, pre-sales, and technical skilling with labs.

Request access to Microsoft LevelUp

Request access by emailing Ask GPS Enablement. In the subject line, include “LevelUp Access Request” in the body of your email, and indicate your name, work email address, and organization name.

Video: Introducing Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

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Upcoming events: Copilot (sales, pre-sales, and technical skilling)

Copilot for Microsoft 365, Copilot for Security, Copilot Studio, Microsoft Copilot for Service Workshop

Copilot Sales Champion

This new offering is built to advance sales knowledge and product evangelism across each Microsoft Copilot solution within our partner community. The Copilot for Microsoft 365 Sales Champion program is an on-demand and interactive learning path available on a “first come, first served” basis while seats are available.

Registration link: Copilot Sales Champion
Access Code: XQLW-TDDJ

Copilot Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Build or Buy? Driving customer conversations with Copilot and the Copilot stack

Nov 19-21, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Microsoft 365 & Copilot Sales Bootcamp

Dec 10-12, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Build and extend AI-powered Copilots with Copilot Studio Workshop

Dec 3-5, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Build Governance and Security for Successful AI Bootcamp

Dec 10-12, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Sales Go To Market Bootcamp

Dec 10-13, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Top

Upcoming events: Azure

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is a five-day event that helps prepare you for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications. This is one of the best ways to help your organization meet the skilling criteria needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.

Certification Weeks for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program: Azure & GitHub

Achieving certification demonstrates your commitment to staying ahead of the curve in a fast-paced world. Accelerate your path to certification and mastering the intricacies of DevOps with GitHub, Azure AI, data science, infrastructure, and virtual desktop solutions with Azure & GitHub Certification Week.

Dec 2-6, 2024
IST, BST, PDT

Click here to register

On-demand certification prep content

Modular Training Videos
This content is derived from Microsoft Official Curriculum and presented in a modular format for each certification course.

Register now

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build implementation and deployment capability.

Microsoft Fabric Workshop

Nov 11-13, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Azure VMware Solutions Bootcamp

Nov 12-15, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Build and Modernize AI Apps

Dec 2-5, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Microsoft Fabric Workshop

Dec 3-5, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Migrate to Innovate

Dec 10-12, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Azure OpenAI

Dec 10-13, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Top

Upcoming events: Business Applications

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is a five-day event that helps prepare you for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications. This is one of the best ways to help your organization meet the skilling criteria needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.

On-demand certification prep content

Modular Training Videos
This content is derived from Microsoft’s official curriculum and is presented in a modular format for each certification course.

Click here to register

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build implementation and deployment capability.

Innovate with AI in Automation Workshop

Nov 12-14, 2024
PDT, IST, BST
Click here to register

SAP Integration with Power Platform Workshop

Dec 10-11, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Top

Upcoming events: Modern Work

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is a five-day event that helps prepare you for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications. This is one of the best ways to help your organization meet the skilling criteria needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.

On-demand certification prep content

Modular Training Videos
This content is derived from Microsoft’s official curriculum and is presented in a modular format for each certification course.

Click here to register

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build implementation and deployment capability.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 Deployment & User Enablement Bootcamp

Dec 3-5, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Frontline Worker technical bootcamp

Dec 3-4, 2024
PDT
Click here to register

Converged Communications Sales bootcamp

Dec 2-4, 2024
PDT
Click here to register

Cloud Endpoints Partner Technical bootcamp

Dec 9-11, 2024
PDT
Click here to register

Top

Upcoming events: Security

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is a five-day event that helps prepare you for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications. This is one of the best ways to help your organization meet the skilling criteria needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.

On-demand certification prep content

Modular Training Videos
This content is derived from Microsoft’s official curriculum and is presented in a modular format for each certification course.

Click here to register

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build implementation and deployment capability.

Threat Protection and Incident Response with Microsoft Sentinel 

Nov 12-13, 2024
IST, PDT, BST
Click here to register

Implementing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Workshop

Dec 10-12, 2024
PDT, IST, GMT
Click here to register

Top

Upcoming events: Industry specific skilling

Microsoft AI Envisioning Webinars for Industry

Encourage your partners to join our Microsoft AI Envisioning Webinars for Industry! These sessions are perfect for ISV or SI partners who are new to AI and looking to enhance their business. The webinars will provide valuable insights into AI’s impact on various industries, showcase practical use case examples, and guide partners in identifying business problems that can be solved with AI.

Click here to register: Retail | Manufacturing | Healthcare | Sustainability | Financial Services

Industry Sales Bootcamp

The goal of the industry sales bootcamp is to address the latency that exists between customer/field and partner enablement by developing a programmatic partner sales bootcamp day. The day consists of a 4-hour, interactive session with interactive session with AM and PM sessions available to suit different time zones.

Click here to register

Industry AI Business and Capability Envisioning Event Series

We are excited to announce the continuation and expansion of our virtual Industry AI Business and Capability Envisioning event series, specially designed for ISV and SI partners. This is your chance to dive into the transformative world of AI and discover how it can revolutionize your business and benefit your clients.

AI for Sustainability

Nov 13, 2024
Click here to register

AI for Healthcare

Nov 20, 2024
Click here to register

Top

Upcoming events: SMB Resellers

Azure Infrastructure SMB Sales Champion

This new offering is built to advance sales knowledge and product evangelism across each Microsoft Copilot solution within our partner community. The Copilot for Microsoft 365 Sales Champion program is an on-demand and interactive learning path available on a “first come, first served” basis while seats are available.

Registration link: Azure Infrastructure SMB Sales Champion
Access Code: MIAB-EIIH

High Volume Acceleration Series

Ready to scale and grow your Dynamics 365 practice? Take the next step and join the high-volume acceleration sessions provided by Microsoft and presented in partnership with Neural Impact. During these FREE, live experts facilitated sessions you will learn the best practices Dynamics 365 partners around the world are using to accelerate their Dynamics 365 practice and SMB & SMC customer adds. Sessions provide marketing, sales and delivery acceleration tips and strategies.

Oct 22-Dec 10, 2024
PST, CEST

Click here to register

Top

Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2

The next wave of Copilot innovation is here, bringing together web + work + Pages as a new design system for knowledge work. Read this blog to learn about the exciting new announcements that deliver unmatched value to our customers across Modern Work and Business Applications.

And join us on September 25 for a Special Edition Americas Partner Insider Call on Modern Work and Copilot. Our industry insiders will share the latest product announcements, CSP and getting-started offers, and guidance on how to drive Copilot customer success. Register today.

Partner Audience: #CSP
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate #UnderstandBenefits #ModernWork

Copilot for Microsoft 365 promo

Microsoft recently announced a special promotional offer focused on Copilot for Microsoft 365, available to CSP partners globally.

Microsoft is providing a 15% discount off the Partner Net Price for 10 to 300 seat purchases of Copilot for Microsoft 365, for customers that already have a qualifying subscription during the promotional period.

North America

LATAM

This promotion is valid for eligible customer transactions now through December 31, 2024, on annual subscriptions. Learn more.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #Event #GrowSkills #CrossSolution

October 2 Americas Partner Insider Call

Register now to learn about partner training and certification resources designed to help you build the skills you need today—and the expertise to achieve more tomorrow. Then, go on an expert-led deep dive into Copilot licensing for partners.

See the list of previous sessions, now available to watch on demand.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #SuccessStory #GrowYourBiz #LearnSolutionAreas #Azure #CrossSolution

No Slides Attached podcast—Season 2 kicks off September 25

After an incredible first season of No Slides Attached: AI stories with Microsoft Partners, we’re back with Season 2! Look for Episode 1 tomorrow, when we’ll begin to dive even deeper into the world of AI and industry innovation.

In No Slides Attached, we explore the latest technologies with expert guidance from Microsoft leaders and partners. Season 1 focused on how our Copilots are already transforming businesses—now, we’re building on that momentum, to bring an industry lens.

Real Stories, Real Success. Tune in and subscribe today, wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #DoingBizwMSFT #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution #Azure #Security

Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast—inspiring stories and innovative solutions

In the Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast we explore the latest opportunities to enhance your profitability and prepare for the future with AI. Each episode features an inspiring story from industry peers and innovative solutions for scaling your business profitably. Listen to the latest episode and check for more coming soon!

Subscribe today to listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts:
YouTube* | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | RSS

*With subtitles in French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Microsoft AI Partner Training Day

Join us, in person, to hear about the latest trends and technology in the era of AI, with guidance from Microsoft executives and industry leaders.

Learn more and register for a training event near you. We’ll be at 12 locations worldwide, including 3 locations in the Americas:

Mexico City, Mexico
October 2, 2024
Register now

Sao Paulo, Brazil
October 7, 2024
Register now

Toronto, Canada
December 2, 2024
Register now

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #Event #GrowSkills #CrossSolution

Copilot Partner Prompt-a-Thon

The Copilot Partner Prompt-a-Thon is an online series of actionable, hands-on sessions designed to help Microsoft partners make the most of Copilot.

Learn more and register now for the September 19 session Creating Images with Copilot and Designer.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #Event #GrowSkills #CrossSolution

Microsoft Ignite 2024

In-person, Chicago | November 18–22
Online | November 19–21​

Save the date for Microsoft Ignite, a four-day hybrid event designed for business leaders, partners, and IT professionals to learn about the latest technology and innovations from Microsoft. With demos and firsthand access to new AI solutions and copilots, don’t miss this opportunity to explore the latest tools, receive deep technical training, and get your questions answered by Microsoft experts. Learn more.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #DoingBizwMSFT #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution #Azure #Security

Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast—inspiring stories and innovative solutions

In the Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast we explore the latest opportunities to enhance your profitability and prepare for the future with AI. Each episode features an inspiring story from industry peers and innovative solutions for scaling your business. Listen to the latest episode and check for more coming soon!

Subscribe today to listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts:
YouTube* | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | RSS

*With subtitles in French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Partner Audience: AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #DoingBizwMSFT #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution

Special Edition Americas Partner Insider Call on September 25

Don’t forget to register for this special edition Insider Call on Modern Work and Copilot. Our industry insiders will share the latest product announcements, CSP and getting-started offers, and guidance on how to drive Copilot customer success.

Register here
The event will be held in English, with closed captions in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

See the list of previous sessions, now available to watch on demand.

No Slides Attached podcast—Episode 6 coming September 4

No Slides Attached: AI Stories with Microsoft Partners is an exciting new podcast series featuring meaningful conversations that combine the expertise of Microsoft leaders and inspiring stories from our partners.

Check out the Season 1 schedule and look for the release tomorrow of Episode 6, featuring Microsoft partner GigXR. Meital Winer, a Partner Marketing Lead focused on AI, discusses Microsoft’s framework for building or extending Copilots, as well as the potential for partners. Next, Jared Mermey, CEO of GigXR, describes the Copilot built by his company, a holographic technology designed to train medical professionals, and shares his vision for the healthcare industry in the era of AI.

Real Stories, Real Success. Tune in and subscribe today, wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #ProgramOfferUpdate #UnderstandBenefits #CrossSolution

Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program benefits are evolving

Access the latest Microsoft Cloud and AI innovation with evolved partner benefits. Read this blog by Julie Sanford, Vice President, Partner GTM, Programs & Operations, to learn about the what, why, and when—and why it should matter to you.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #Tech #Deadline #GrowSkills #CrossSolution

Take this Skillsoft survey for a chance to win

How have certifications impacted your career? Earning more? Working smarter (not harder)? Take Skillsoft’s annual IT Skills and Salary survey to share how certifications have impacted your professional trajectory. Complete the survey by September 13 for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

Partner Training Gallery: Bookmark this page to find up-to-date technical and sales enablement events, resources, and playbooks.

Quick Links

Register now for the latest AI and Copilot skilling offerings

Sales & Pre-Sales Skilling

Accelerating AI Solutions Bootcamp
Deepen your understanding of how to support businesses in their transformation with generative AI solutions. Join this Sales Skilling event to build the tools and strategies to successfully sell innovative, intelligent Microsoft AI solutions and accelerate Copilot opportunities.

Aug 27-29, 2024
PDT

Aug 28-30, 2024
IST, BST

Register now

Certification Weeks for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Certification Week for Microsoft Cloud AI Partner Program: SMB Paths for Solutions Partner Designation | Azure, Business Applications, Security

Explore how to master the intricacies of infrastructure; data and AI; threat protection and security response; business intelligence; and application innovation solutions. Join this week-long event for hands-on learning opportunities and technical insights curated specifically for small- and medium-sized businesses on how to meet the requirements of a Solutions Partner designation.

Sept 23-27, 2024
IST, BST, PDT

Register now

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build partner implementation and deployment capability

Build and Modernize AI Apps Workshop

Deepen your understanding of modernizing existing apps and building new intelligent apps. Join this workshop to learn about key AI trends and how you can help your customers in their AI journey to modernize and build AI-powered solutions.

Aug 19-22, 2024
IST

Aug 20-23, 2024
PDT, BST

Register now

Copilot for Microsoft 365 Deployment and User Enablement Bootcamp

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an AI-powered productivity tool that uses large language models (LLMs) to improve everyday productivity. In this course you will learn how Copilot provides real-time intelligent assistance, enabling users to enhance their creativity, productivity, and skills.

Aug 27-29, 2024
PDT, IST, BST

Register now

Migrating your SIEM Solution to Microsoft Sentinel Bootcamp

Deepen your understanding of Microsoft Sentinel and how it can ingest data from on-premises and cloud assets, ensuring coverage over the entire estate. Join the workshop to learn about the reasons for migrating from a legacy SIEM to Microsoft Sentinel and how to plan out the different phases of your migration.

Aug 27-28, 2024
IST

Aug 28-29, 2024
PDT, BST

Register now

Power your AI Transformation with Copilot and the Copilot Stack

As more businesses seek to leverage generative AI solutions, partners have a significant opportunity to support their transformation. Join this upcoming Sales Skilling event for an in-depth walk-through of how you can successfully sell this Microsoft AI solution, facilitating a smoother and more impactful AI transformation journey for your customers.

Sept 3-5, 2024
PDT

Sept 4-6, 2024
IST, BST

Register now

Dynamics 365 FastTrack Partner Architect Bootcamp

Specialized Senior Architects from Dynamics 365 FastTrack Engineering team are conducting three-day intensive Architecture Bootcamps for our top-tier partner architects. These bootcamps are free and in person for systems integrator partners commencing customer implementations governed by the Microsoft Dynamics 365 FastTrack.

Sept 9-11, 2024
Seattle

Register now

Azure Essentials Proactive Resiliency Partner Workshops

These workshops are designed to help you assess and remediate your customers’ critical applications for proactive resilience. This workshop is specifically for technical audiences and available only to Advanced Specialized Partners. We recommend bringing a colleague to attend these sessions so you can learn together.

Sept 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, & 30, 2024
EDT

Register now

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Coming soon: Copilot (sales, pre-sales, and technical skilling)

Copilot for Microsoft 365, Copilot for Security, Copilot Studio, Microsoft Copilot for Service Workshop

Copilot Sales & Pre-Sales Skilling

Better Sell Copilot with M365 Business Case Builder and more

Aug 21, 2024
IST

Aug 22, 2024
PDT, BST

Register now

Monthly Microsoft 365 & Copilot Sales Bootcamps

Aug 28, 2024
PDT

Sept 4, 2024
IST

Register now

Copilot Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

GitHub and GitHub Copilot Workshop

Aug 19-22, 2024
BST

Aug 20-23, 2024
IST, PDT

Register now

Build and Extend AI-Powered Copilots with Copilot Studio

Sept 24-26, 2024
IST

Sept 25-27, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Monthly Microsoft 365 & Copilot Technical Bootcamps

Sept 11-12, 2024
PDT

Sept 18-19, 2024
IST

Register now

Top

Coming soon: Sales and Pre-Sales Skilling

Copilot Partner Bootcamp for Sellers

Sept 24-26, 2024
PDT

Sept 25-27, 2024
IST, BST

Register now

Top

Coming soon: Azure

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is a five-day event that helps prepare you for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications. This is one of the best ways to help your organization meet the skilling criteria needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.

Certification Week for Microsoft Cloud AI Partner Program: SMB Paths for Solutions Partner Designation | Azure, Business Applications, Security

Explore how to master the intricacies of infrastructure; data and AI; threat protection and security response; business intelligence; and application innovation solutions. Join this week-long event for hands-on learning opportunities and technical insights curated specifically for small- and medium-sized businesses on how to meet the requirements of a Solutions Partner designation.

Sept 23-27, 2024
IST, BST, PDT

Register now

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program – Azure

On-demand until September 12

Register now

On-demand certification prep content

Modular Training Videos
This content is derived from Microsoft Official Curriculum and presented in a modular format for each certification course.

Register now

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build implementation and deployment capability.

Azure OpenAI Workshop

Aug 26-29, 2024
IST

Aug 27-30, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Microsoft Fabric Workshop: Modern Data Engineering with Fabric 

Aug 27-29, 2024
IST

Aug 28-30, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Build Governance and Security for Successful AI Bootcamp

Aug 20-22, 2024
IST

Aug 21-23, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Microsoft Fabric Workshops

Track 1: Data Insights with AI in Microsoft Fabric Workshop

Sept 9-10, 2024
IST

Sept 10-11, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Track 2: Real-time Intelligence with Microsoft Fabric Workshop

Sept 11-12, 2024
IST

Sept 12-13, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Azure OpenAI Workshop

Sept 23-26, 2024
IST

Sept 24-27, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

On-demand content covering sales, pre-sales, and technical skilling with labs.

Request access to Microsoft LevelUp

Request access by emailing AskGPSEnablement@microsoft.com. In the subject line, include the words “LevelUp Access Request” in the body of your email, and indicate your name, work email address, and organization name.

Video: Introducing Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

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Coming soon: Business Applications

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is a five-day event that helps prepare you for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications. This is one of the best ways to help your organization meet the skilling criteria needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.

Certification Week for Microsoft Cloud AI Partner Program: SMB Paths for Solutions Partner Designation | Azure, Business Applications, Security

Explore how to master the intricacies of infrastructure; data and AI; threat protection and security response; business intelligence; and application innovation solutions. Join this week-long event for hands-on learning opportunities and technical insights curated specifically for small- and medium-sized businesses on how to meet the requirements of a Solutions Partner designation.

Sept 23-27, 2024
IST, BST, PDT

Register now

On-demand certification prep content

Modular Training Videos
This content is derived from Microsoft’s official curriculum and is presented in a modular format for each certification course.

Register now

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build implementation and deployment capability.

Contact Center Modernization Technical Deep Dives

Aug 13, 20, 27 & Sept 3, 10
PDT

Register now

Build and Extend AI-powered Copilots with Copilot Studio Workshop

Sept 24-26, 2024
IST

Sept 25-27, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

On-demand content covering sales, pre-sales, and technical skilling with labs.

Request access to Microsoft LevelUp

Request access by emailing AskGPSEnablement@microsoft.com. In the subject line, include the words “LevelUp Access Request” in the body of your email, and indicate your name, work email address, and organization name.

Video: Introducing Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

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Coming soon: Modern Work

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is a five-day event that helps prepare you for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications. This is one of the best ways to help your organization meet the skilling criteria needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program – Modern Work

On-demand until August 15

Register now

On-demand certification prep content

Modular Training Videos
This content is derived from Microsoft’s official curriculum and is presented in a modular format for each certification course.

Register now

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build implementation and deployment capability.

Better Sell Copilot with M365 Business Case Builder and More Bootcamp

Aug 21, 2024
IST

Aug 22, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Copilot for Microsoft 365 Deployment and User Enablement Bootcamp

Aug 27-29, 2024
PDT, IST, BST

Register now

Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

On-demand content covering sales, pre-sales, and technical skilling with labs.

Request access to Microsoft LevelUp

Request access by emailing AskGPSEnablement@microsoft.com. In the subject line, include the words “LevelUp Access Request” in the body of your email, and indicate your name, work email address, and the name of your organization.

Video: Introducing Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

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Coming soon: Security

Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Microsoft Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is a five-day event that helps prepare you for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications. This is one of the best ways to help your organization meet the skilling criteria needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.

Certification Week for Microsoft Cloud AI Partner Program: SMB Paths for Solutions Partner Designation | Azure, Business Applications, Security

Explore how to master the intricacies of infrastructure; data and AI; threat protection and security response; business intelligence; and application innovation solutions. Join this week-long event for hands-on learning opportunities and technical insights curated specifically for small- and medium-sized businesses on how to meet the requirements of a Solutions Partner designation.

Sept 23-27, 2024
IST, BST, PDT

Register now

On-demand certification prep content

Modular Training Videos
This content is derived from Microsoft’s official curriculum and is presented in a modular format for each certification course.

Register now

Partner Project Ready Workshops (Level 300+ Technical)

Technical skilling designed to build implementation and deployment capability.

Fortify Your Data Security with Microsoft Purview Workshop

Aug 20-22, 2024
IST

Aug 21-23, 2024
PDT

Register now

Migrating your SIEM Solution to Microsoft Sentinel Bootcamp

Aug 27-28, 2024
IST

Aug 28-29, 2024
PDT, BST

Register now

Data Security and Governance for Copilot for M365 with Microsoft Purview Bootcamp

Sept 10, 2024
IST

Sept 11, 2024
PDT

Register now

Modern Security Operations Partner Bootcamp

Sept 9-10, 2024
PDT

Sept 10-11, 2024
IST, BST

Register now

Deploy and Optimize Microsoft Sentinel Workshop

Sept 4-5, 2024
IST

Sept 5-6, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

A Deep Dive into Implementing Copilot for Security Workshop

Sept 17-19, 2024
IST

Sept 18-20, 2024
BST, PDT

Register now

Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

On-demand content covering sales, pre-sales, and technical skilling with labs.

Request access to Microsoft LevelUp

Request access by emailing AskGPSEnablement@microsoft.com. In the subject line, include the words “LevelUp Access Request” in the body of your email, and indicate your name, work email address, and the name of your organization.

Video: Introducing Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

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Coming soon: SMB Resellers

Certification Week for Microsoft Cloud AI Partner Program: SMB Paths for Solutions Partner Designation | Azure, Business Applications, Security

Explore how to master the intricacies of infrastructure; data and AI; threat protection and security response; business intelligence; and application innovation solutions. Join this week-long event for hands-on learning opportunities and technical insights curated specifically for small- and medium-sized businesses on how to meet the requirements of a Solutions Partner designation.

Sept 23-27, 2024
IST, BST, PDT

Register now

Copilot Sales Champion

This new offering is built to advance sales knowledge and product evangelism across each Microsoft Copilot solution within our partner community. The Copilot for Microsoft 365 Sales Champion program is an on-demand and interactive learning path available on a “first come, first served” basis while seats are available.

Registration link: Copilot Sales Champion
Access Code: MOKC-MCJB

Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

On-demand content covering sales, pre-sales, and technical skilling with labs.

Request access to Microsoft LevelUp

Request access by emailing AskGPSEnablement@microsoft.com. In the subject line, include the words “LevelUp Access Request” in the body of your email, and indicate your name, work email address, and the name of your organization.

Video: Introducing Microsoft LevelUp for Partners

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September 4 Americas Partner Insider Call: Copilot and Co-op

Reserve your spot today for the next Americas Partner Insider Call and gain valuable insights from our expert speakers. Highlights include a Copilot demo for CPEM and guidance on using your Cooperative Marketing Funds (Co-op).

Register here
The event will be held in English, with closed captions in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

If you missed the August 14 call on Microsoft Copilot licensing, this and other previous sessions are available to watch on demand.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #SuccessStory #LearnSolutionAreas #Azure

No Slides Attached podcast—Episode 5 coming August 21

No Slides Attached: AI Stories with Microsoft Partners is an exciting new podcast series featuring meaningful conversations that combine the expertise of Microsoft leaders and inspiring stories from our partners.

Check out the Season 1 schedule and look for the release of Episode 5 tomorrow on Fueling your data with Microsoft Fabric, featuring Microsoft partner Lantern and John Turk, Senior Partner Marketing Manager for Azure. In this episode you’ll learn:

• The importance of understanding your data to understand your business.
• How Copilot capabilities in Fabric allow for democratized insights in organizations.
• The most common challenges for organizations with their data.

Real Stories, Real Success. Tune in and subscribe today, wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Partner Audience: #AllPartners
Relevant to: #AllRoles #DoingBizwMSFT #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution #Azure #Security

Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast—inspiring stories and innovative solutions

In the Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast we explore the latest opportunities to enhance your profitability and prepare for the future with AI. Each episode features an inspiring story from industry peers and innovative solutions for scaling your business profitably. Listen to the latest episode and check for more coming soon!

Subscribe today to listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts:
YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | RSS

Partner Audience: #AllPartners #ISV
Relevant to: #Tech #Developer #Event #GoToMarket #GrowSkills #DoingBizwMSFT #CrossSolution

AI Create | Tech Track

Register today for this innovative virtual event series on September 9–12 designed to help ISV partners navigate the paradigm shift created by AI and accelerate their AI journey with Microsoft. This four-part series will cover:

• Creating AI plugins in Microsoft Copilot Studio. Explore how to use AI Plugins to extend Microsoft Copilot or create custom Copilot extensions.
• Integrating ISV Apps with Microsoft Fabric. Learn how to seamlessly build products and services on top of Microsoft Fabric.
• Designing Your Own Copilot. Learn how to create custom copilots with Azure AI, on your data.
• Unleashing AI Superpowers: Task Automation with Agents​. Build Gen AI solutions and LLM workflows with multi-agent conversation frameworks.

These sessions aim to inspire and empower product, engineering, and technical leaders and practitioners with the knowledge and tools to innovate in the field of AI and technology. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn from industry experts and take your skills to the next level.

The event will be held in English, with closed captions in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

In a world where cyber threats are constantly maturing and evolving, no one provider can do it all. That’s why Bulletproof has partnered with another Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA) member, Senserva, to further develop our Microsoft Managed Extended Detection and Response (MXDR) services with an advanced automation technology called Drift Detector.

As technology evolves, our solutions must be optimized to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers. Through our Drift Detector technology, we’ll reduce the time it takes to detect changes in configuration that might impact our client’s security posture.

Elevating our MXDR solution through automation with Drift Detector

Security technology is no longer something that evolves every few years; it’s evolving in real time. For some customers, this can cause a deviation or, as we call it, a “drift” from the established best practice-based configuration, which can leave a gap and cause a security risk.

With the Drift Detector solution, we can detect deviations from the best practice configuration within minutes.

The Drift Detector solution is available to our Bulletproof 365 Enterprise (B365E) customers. Best practice security configurations are used; however, the customer can make updates and changes to their tenant. If the security configuration is changed after the onboarding, the drift detection technology will provide that visibility. It will periodically scan the tenant for changes and drifts from the previous B365E configurations. Scans don’t have to be manually initiated; the solution will do this automatically. This strengthens the posture and confidence of a customer’s B365E settings and speeds up detection and response time if a drift from the Gold Standard occurs.

Here’s how it works

The control hub for the solution, which will constantly scan for drifts, is an Azure-hosted, .NET web service. There is also a Gold Standard based on best practices for each security solution in the stack; the solution will compare customer settings to this Gold Standard. Deviations will be reported and the Security Operations Center (SOC) team at Bulletproof will immediately triage drifts to proactively fix drift-related security incidents within minutes.

Information about the Gold Standard settings and deviations will be stored within a geo-redundant Azure SQL Server secured with the latest Microsoft Entra ID authentication. The solution will update the database with any drifts detected, which are then cleared at the next scan. This allows the Bulletproof SOC team to act with the latest and most up-to-date information possible. The only scan information from a customer environment that will be stored is that which deviates from the accepted Bulletproof Gold Standard. This solution scans and compares security configurations on Microsoft Sentinel, Intune, Entra, and Defender.

Putting Drift Detector to the test with our Microsoft customers

Bulletproof worked with a municipality that was hit by a serious ransomware attack. After reviewing their security environment and pain points, we knew the best solution for the customer. Bulletproof 365 Enterprise (B365E), the end-to-end enterprise security solution built on Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Sentinel, was key to restoring services quickly for the city.

As a customer of B365E, the municipality was eligible for Drift Detector. They’ve been onboarded to further improve the security posture for the city. If a drift in Gold Standard configurations is automatically detected, Bulletproof will create a ticket that will be managed by the SOC team.

Learn how Bulletproof empowers organizations with enterprise-class security and productivity solutions.

Join the conversation

Want to explore this and other topics you care about with Microsoft and other US partners? Head over to the Microsoft Americas Partner Community on LinkedIn.

87% of customers believe that AI will give them a competitive advantage,¹ but not every customer knows how to get started. Providing viable use cases, sharing best practices, and setting clear desired outcomes help organizations undergo successful AI implementations.

Azure OpenAI Service is a powerful offering that integrates OpenAI’s advanced language models and services into the Microsoft Azure platform. With Azure OpenAI, customers get the security capabilities of Azure while running the same models as OpenAI.

Let’s explore how the testing of various Azure OpenAI use cases led one innovative company to realize increased productivity and cost-savings across the business.

A culture of innovation drives AI initiatives

North Atlantic Industries (NAI) supplies rugged embedded computing solutions and power supplies for the world’s largest and most demanding defense, commercial aerospace, and industrial applications. With over 65 years of experience and a focus on delivering rapid, reliable solutions that meet mission-critical needs, NAI defines every action and investment based on the ability to help its customers “accelerate their time-to-mission.”

A small company of 250 employees, NAI fosters a culture of innovation and exploration of new technologies to help improve processes and drive initiatives around reducing technical debt and maximizing efficiency. This culture sets the stage for employees to test various AI use cases and take a company-wide, iterative approach to AI adoption, resulting in numerous successful implementations that enable intelligent automation of routine tasks to deliver significant time, cost, and efficiency gains.

I am extremely supportive of our teams leveraging emerging technologies to solve previously unsolvable problems. Azure OpenAI is a force multiplier that is accelerating our productivity and letting us compete on a higher playing field.”

– William Forman, President and CEO, NAI

Leading the charge and realizing impact with AI

Staying true to its innovation-driven culture, NAI’s software engineers began looking for ways to incorporate AI to drive efficiency in their daily tasks and, ultimately, for the business. The first use case that became apparent was during a modernization effort to add comments to and clean up a code base of over 100K lines of code, all written in C#. Making the updates manually proved to be an enormous effort, which inspired the idea to implement an AI-driven solution to help automate and accelerate the process. “We wrote a program with Azure OpenAI that takes the source code and writes a comment for every function automatically, and everyone is excited about that because it ensures consistency and helps save programmers a lot of time,” says Lacey Stein, Software Engineer at NAI. “It really got everyone interested in wanting to explore AI more.”

When it came to selecting an AI solution, Tim Campbell, Director of Workplace Technology at NAI, notes several reasons that made Azure OpenAI the obvious choice. “From a cost perspective, the context window and rate limit Microsoft is giving us is beating anything else on the market,” shares Campbell. “We were also already familiar with OpenAI, so realizing the partnership with Microsoft led us right to Azure OpenAI services, which is our bread and butter right now.”

Taking Azure OpenAI company-wide

Following the success that the engineering team was finding with its initial Azure OpenAI use case, interest and involvement in AI initiatives grew across the company. They established a regular “best practice” session with other business groups to share how AI initiatives are performing and discuss ideas for additional use cases that could bring improvements to other departments. “It’s not just IT or engineering who participate in these discussions, we bring everyone together across sales, purchasing, program management, and manufacturing to talk about this AI and how we can use it to our advantage,” says Campbell. “Every corner of the company knows about it.”

These company-wide sessions have led to a growing number of AI use cases that have driven productivity and efficiency gains across the business.

Engineering

To meet customer assurance requirements for embedded software, NAI must perform software testing at many levels of the electronic system integration process. This effort includes writing and executing unit tests covering 500 different product functions on hundreds of hardware modules. Despite bringing in a third-party vendor to help aid in this extensive, manual task, progress was too slow to meet customer schedules. To accelerate the testing process, NAI brought testing back in-house, leveraging Azure OpenAI to detect missing unit test cases and significantly reduce the manual work and time necessary to complete each test. Ultimately, this strategy will save the company thousands of outsourcing hours and millions in costs. The team is seeing additional efficiency gains with Microsoft Copilot. “All of our engineers now have Copilot installed on their IDEs and love it. When AI can scaffold out a bunch of code that would take them a lot of time to do themselves, it is a huge time saver,” remarks Campbell.

Sales

When statements of work (SOWs) and client inquiries are received, program managers have traditionally needed to manually review and respond by locating and referencing past SOWs, which is time-consuming and inefficient. “Now, when we feed a statement of work into OpenAI it can refer to our prior proposal responses and assist our proposal writers. This improves the quality of SOW responses and gives our program managers a head start, saving them about 16 hours of manual work per proposal while improving accuracy and accelerating response times,” notes Campbell. NAI is also expecting to implement AI to streamline the request for proposal (RFP) process in a similar way.

Service

Currently in the proof-of-concept phase is a new AI-driven return merchandise authorization (RMA) system that improves the data infrastructure. With unstructured data, the current system requires service technicians to manually note problems and resolutions and then appropriately categorize the issues for future reference. The new system will leverage OpenAI to use the unstructured data and a set of standardized reason codes to automate RMA categorization and save technicians considerable time and manual effort.

In addition to the millions in cost savings achieved by eliminating outsourced code testing, NAI estimates that Azure OpenAI has delivered 60-70% time and efficiency gain by automating time-consuming, manual processes while dramatically increasing employee productivity.

Figure 1. Azure OpenAI delivers both cost savings and a gain in time and efficiency for customer NAI.

NAI has no plans to slow its exploration and expansion of AI use cases across the business and has several new implementations already in mind. One such initiative is creating an AI-driven Microsoft Teams site that has a complete knowledge base of the company’s products and manuals to answer queries on things like tolerances and tests right within the collaborative foundation of Teams.

The marketing team is similarly looking to incorporate a customer-facing AI bot for the company website that can leverage a deep knowledge base to help answer customer questions, as well as exploring AI-generated content to help the marketing team accelerate customer-facing content creation.

The engineering team is also working toward creating an AI program to automate hardware documentation. Currently, module manual writers must search and gather information across various sources, which is difficult and inefficient. Knowing how AI needs to ingest information has already inspired the team to start creating a central database of information in the hopes of eventually harnessing an AI-driven program to automate the documentation process. “Even if the program isn’t ready yet, just the thought of having AI has already been really helpful to our process,” says Stein.

Learn more about Azure OpenAI

What is Azure OpenAI Service? – Azure AI services | Microsoft Learn

Azure OpenAI Service | Microsoft Azure Blog | Microsoft Azure

Join the conversation

Want to explore this and other topics you care about with Microsoft and other US partners? Head over to the Microsoft Americas Partner Community on LinkedIn.

¹ Expanding AI’s Impact with Organizational Learning, Findings from the 2020 Artificial Intelligence Global Executive Study and Research Project, MIT Sloan Management Review, October 2020.

The retail industry has been through massive changes over the past five or so years, including global supply chain disruptions, shifting priorities for in-person and online shopping, and—no surprise—the integration of cutting-edge technologies like AI. This means BIG CHANGES to the industry! So, what are some of the biggest challenges and opportunities retail is facing? I had a great conversation with retail expert and President of IHL Services, Greg Buzek, to find out.

Omnichannel to unified commerce model

When looking at the state of the industry, we both agreed that one of the major retail trends of 2024 is unified commerce. Right now, many organizations run multichannel operations, meaning customers can access a company both in person and online. This level of access can expand a company’s reach to a wider audience but often leaves data siloed and customer experiences disconnected. Luckily, organizations have the tools to improve this system and shift from multichannel operations to unified commerce.

In essence, this approach connects the silos formed in a multichannel method, providing businesses with a single, overarching view of their operational data and offering a seamless, consistent experience to both employees and customers. Take Lucky Brand as an example, working with Amperity on Microsoft Azure, which utilized this approach to unlock the power of its data. Using Amperity, Lucky Brand uncovered valuable data hidden within 12.7 million records, allowing them to attribute $192 million in lifetime value to 1.5 million previously unknown customers!

The impact of this sort of transition can often be felt across an organization. Simpson Strong-Tie, with the help of Microsoft partner Optimizely, has seen significant benefits from unifying its data for B2B e-commerce. This solution powering sales to big box retailers brought with it a monthly average of $100,000 in sales and an 18% increase in unit sales.

Not only does this approach transform operations end-to-end—from supply chain to fulfillment to the physical storefront—but it also merges the shopping experience for customers across all platforms. It’s why DICK’S Sporting Goods worked with Microsoft to develop a more consistent experience between online shopping and its 850 physical storefronts. Whether a user is ordering from an online shop or checking out in person, unified commerce ensures a consolidated, frictionless transaction. As Greg succinctly put it: “It’s not just e-commerce, it’s just commerce.”

Our partners and customers are turning to unified commerce to empower their employees, delight customers, and prepare for future growth!

Generative AI as part of digital transformation to unified commerce

One of the major technological developments on many retailers’ minds? Generative AI. These solutions can transform retailers from end-to-end, offering everything from increased efficiency to enhanced personalization and operational agility.

When you consider what retailers have been facing the last several years—a pandemic, supply chain delays, and ongoing political unrest across the globe—it’s no surprise that a tool like AI would make it into the toolbox of any organization looking to adapt to whatever 2024 (and beyond) throws at them!

One notable (and previously mentioned) area ripe for AI integration is unified commerce. Since unified commerce is about gathering data in one place for easy access, AI capabilities help exponentially enhance those data sets. You’re basically giving an AI solution access to an “all-you-can-eat” array of data, which provides improved insights across operations.

When considering how to leverage AI, our customers often find it easiest to start with small deployments and thoughtful experimentation, which can go far in the long run. I love Greg’s advice: “When you think through it, you want to start with the best data. You want to start where you can achieve the best bang for your buck.”

As for AI in action, you better BET our partners and customers have been jumping at the chance to harness this phenomenal technology! Recently, Walmart teamed up with Microsoft to integrate generative AI into its search function, helping consumers reduce the time they spend every week managing shopping and general household planning. Meanwhile, the largest pizza company in the world, Dominos, is harnessing solutions like Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to modernize storefronts, empowering employees and customers alike!

As technology rapidly evolves, I’m sure we’ll see even more incredible examples of digital transformation at work in the future.

Making More Possible

Technology is transforming our industry landscape, and customers look to Microsoft and our partners for guidance. I’m proud of the collaboration with our partners to empower clients with AI and cloud solutions to meet their needs across the entire retail process. From boosting efficiency to enhancing user experience, unified commerce really is the retail solution of the future!

Want to learn even more? Explore industry trends and expert insights from some of our influencers, including Brandon Rael, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga, Ron Thurston, Incisiv, Cathy Hotka, and more from the wonderful Greg Buzek! You can also follow Shelley Bransten, Corporate Vice President of Global Industry Solutions at Microsoft, for gems like this post on #MSPartner Domino’s, and listen to Ricardo Belmar’s The Retail Razor Show podcast.

Whether you’re just starting your digital transformation journey or are in the middle of development, we’re here with the support and resources to help you reach your goals:

• Dive into Microsoft retail developments.
• Discover the power of Microsoft Cloud for Retail.
• Find a Microsoft partner.
• Learn how to become a Microsoft partner.