Microsoft makes more cloudy changes to the channel

New cloud competencies on the way as Microsoft overhauls certification and assessment requirements

Microsoft has made even more moves to turn its partner programme towards the cloud by unveiling new competencies and overhauling certain cloud requirements.

From the start of next month, a new Enterprise Mobility Management competency will become available to partners, taking the number of cloud-focused accreditations to five. Another Windows and Devices competency is also planned for later in the year, it said.

On top of this, the vendor has overhauled the requirements partners need to meet before being awarded one of the five cloudy badges. Cloud certification and assessment requirements are also set for change as part of the latest round of adjustments designed to take the firm and its partners towards the cloud.

Microsoft has been trying hard to move itself and its channel towards the cloud over the past few years. At its Worldwide Partner Conference in Orlando this summer, it said selling cloud is no longer enough, and that ensuring customers actually use the products is key. To that end, it urged its channel to rejig its commission plans towards cloud sales. By its fiscal 2018, Microsoft aims to achieve a $20m (£13m) cloud run rate.

All change

From now on, to achieve Silver and Gold levels for the Cloud Productivity competency, partners must achieve 2,000 and 4,000 "active entitlements" respectively across any Office 365 workload. To achieve the Silver level for the Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions badge, partners must have sold 40 seats and acquired four new customers in the last year, while to achieve Gold, 250 seats must be sold, and 25 new customers acquired over the same period, as part of the changes.

The Cloud Platform accreditation has also changed. Now, to achieve Silver, partners must have racked up $15,000 in Azure Consumption fees in the last year, while for Gold, that rises to $100,000 over the same period. With the Cloud CRM competency, partners must now have assigned 150 seats in the last year to reach Silver, and 450 seats to get to Gold.

The vendor has tweaked the way partners take on assessments and achieve certifications.

"Microsoft is removing the requirement for unique Gold Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) assigned to each competency," the vendor said. "This means that if your organisation employs or contracts with someone who holds multiple certifications, that person's credentials can count towards attaining multiple Gold competencies (instead of only one Gold competency).

"Microsoft is removing the sales and presales assessment requirement for all competencies. Sales and presales training and assessments will continue to be available for you to consume as needed. We are simply removing sales and presales assessment requirements for attaining competencies."

Microsoft said the moves will help its partners cash in on cloud, but admitted not all of them have been enlightened by selling the technology yet.

"It's important to note that these cloud-leading partners still make up the minority of our partner ecosystem and as such are paving the way," the firm said. "Additionally, these partners are winning big and are better positioned for the future than most partners.

"What makes sense is that the leading companies, the companies that were already successful, took on cloud first and are doing quite well with it. These partners are not delivering, in most cases, just pure cloud solutions. Much of the time, it is a mix and hybrid solution.

"We are confident that we are positioned to help our partners make money building, hosting, managing and selling cloud solutions."