Microsoft spreads designation jubilation with Cloud Partner Programme rejuvination

Vendor trails new SMB support designation and two others amid six-month update on new partner programme

Microsoft today trailed three new partner designations - including one aimed at SMB support providers - as it gave a one-year update on its Cloud Partner Programme.

The software giant first unveiled its Cloud Partner Programme at its State of the Partner Ecosystem briefing 12 months ago.

The all-encompassing programme - which replaces the ageing Microsoft Partner Network - went live in October 2022.

Six months on, Microsoft's message at its 2023 Partner Ecosystem briefing today was that it had acted on partner feedback garnered since launch.

The Microsoft Cloud Partner Programme was designed to simplify life for partners by shelving the 18 Silver and 18 Gold competencies under MPN in favour of six new Solutions designations across Azure, Modern Work, Security and Business Applications. It was also aimed at helping its partners better differentiate themselves.

Inevitably for a relaunch of such magnitude, feedback was mixed, however.

Designation jubilation

On the briefing call, Julie Sanford, VP, GTM programmes and experiences at Microsoft, revealed that three new designations (or 'homes' as she referred to them) are under development and will launch in Microsoft's fiscal 2024.

"The first is a new home for partners who focus on the support needs of our small and mid-sized customers," she said.

"I see this as a huge growth area for our partners," Sanford added, citing Gartner figures projecting that guided support will have a 24 per cent CAGR through to 2025.

The two other incoming designations will be for learning partners and ISVs, she added.

When it comes to the wider Cloud Partner Programme, Microsoft has "received significant feedback from across our ecosystem which has resulted in programme changes to better serve our partners", Sanford said.

Based on partner feedback, the Solutions Partner designation for Business Applications was updated to include paths for enterprise and SMB, she illustrated.

Chief partner officer Nicole Dezen (pictured above) used the briefing to lay out the partner opportunity around AI following Microsoft's announcement yesterday that GPT-4 is available in preview in Azure OpenAI Service, meanwhile.

"This brings the latest generation of large language modules to our Azure partners and customers. This means that partners can streamline processes, save time and improve overall efficiency so that they can focus on important day-to-day operations," she said.