Microsoft announces several new updates to its partner program

Microsoft’s partners influence more than 95% of Microsoft’s commercial business revenue. During the State of the Partner Ecosystem digital briefing today, Microsoft announced several new updates to its partner program that will allow partners to co-innovate and develop next-generation Microsoft-based solutions. You can read about the partner program updates below:

• Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program: The Cloud Solution Provider program helps partners move beyond just reselling licenses to become partners who are more involved in their customers’ businesses. We are investing in the program to help partners embrace the benefits of digital transformation including migration of open licensing into CSP, perpetual software licensing in CSP and providing a CSP Program Guidebook for partners.
• The commercial marketplace: By publishing solutions and services in Microsoft’s commercial marketplace, partners can reach nearly 4 million active users in AppSource and the Azure Marketplace, across 140-plus geographies. We are making co-selling with Microsoft easier by simplifying offer publishing in the commercial marketplace.
• Co-sell: We are increasing our focus on co-selling within the small- and mid-sized business segment (SMB). This includes making targeted marketing investments in top SMB customers, supporting and growing our ecosystem of ISV partners who serve SMBs and streamlining the way we help partners develop their practices.
• New commerce experience: The new Microsoft commerce experience will create a consistent and simplified purchase experience, giving customers greater flexibility in how and where they buy Microsoft and partner solutions. The new commerce platform will let partners reach more customers and help influence their digital transformation strategies while reducing licensing complexity and costs so their own businesses can be more sustainable.
• Partner Center: Partner Center is a centralized place for partners to manage their relationships with Microsoft, customers and other partners. After a multi-year effort to build a unified partner experience, Microsoft reaches its final milestone this spring with nearly all channel capabilities delivered and globally available inside Partner Center. The unified access to processes and programs include co-sell, CSP, solution publishing in the commercial marketplace, referrals, and Microsoft Partner Network benefits, such as certifications and incentives. Using the Insights dashboard, organizations have access to powerful reporting with a unified view of data across
  different partner programs, licensing models and products.

Source: Microsoft