All You Need To Know About Updated Microsoft Partner Program and IURs
Microsoft strives to invest more in the Partner Program. Hence, to build on its 30-year relationship with partners, Microsoft is evolving to help partners in growing business and meet customers’ changing needs.
Recently, Microsoft changed the name of its Partner Program from Microsoft Partner Network to Microsoft Cloud Partner Program. The change will be effective from October 2022. In his blog, Rodney Clark, the Corporate Vice President, Channel Sales, and Channel Chief, explained that the name change reflects the ongoing transition of business operations to the cloud. The new shift will enable the partners to support their customers better during the transition. Clark says they will invest in partner programs to help partners drive profits and exceed customer expectations.
This is the first time Microsoft has made changes to its partner program in a decade and a half.
How Will It Impact The IUR Eligibility And Benefits For Partners?
Microsoft rewarded its partners with free licenses to Microsoft products and services for internal usage. The aim was to help the partners build a profitable business by significantly reducing their investments in tools and systems. It was called the Internal Use Rights (IUR) license. Microsoft rewarded its partner’s IUR grants depending on their competency, sales expertise, and customer testimonials.
Microsoft has now changed the name of IUR to Product Benefits. Clark said that the partners could continue to leverage the benefits of IUR, such as on-premise licenses, cloud service subscriptions, and Azure credits. They can renew the benefits they are currently using and new benefits packages that can be customized to meet their unique business needs.
The incentive eligibility will also continue till September 2023. However, there’s a change in the definition of Partner.
New Requirements to Become a Microsoft Partner
Microsoft had a tiered partner program that required the partner to meet specific prerequisites. However, the small organizations that lacked the infrastructure and processes faced a tough time meeting those requirements.
Microsoft has now changed its eligibility criteria to make it more inclusive for all sizes of organizations to join the program. They have categorized the partnership capabilities into two levels:
Solutions Partner:
The partner must achieve the Partner Capability Score (PCS) to be recognized as a Solutions Partner. The partners will be scored based on technical certifications, customer adds, growth in usage and the number of solutions deployed. The partner will have to score over 70 out of 100 across four measurement areas to be recognized as a solution partner.Specialization and expert programs
The partners will get an opportunity to differentiate themselves as experts with deep technical knowledge and experience in solution areas such as Data & AI, infrastructure, Digital, and App Innovation, Business Applications, Modern Work, and Security.
The two new categories will enable the customers to understand the partners’ capabilities and choose accordingly.
What Partners Must Know About New Commerce Experience
Apart from the partnership program and capabilities changes, Microsoft has also launched New Commerce Experience (NCE) to reduce the complexity of licensing. The NCE works on a ‘per seat’ model for Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Windows 365 in the Cloud Solution Provider program. It will now be the only way to onboard new business. By July 1, partners will have to move all the renewal subscriptions to NCE. Partners will get access to a dashboard through which they can manage licensing, log auto-renewals, and assign seats. This will reduce the headache involved in managing licenses and create more sustainable revenue for them.
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