June 2022 announcements

  • Article

This page provides the announcements for Microsoft Partner Center for June 2022.

Upcoming training session for the Microsoft cloud partner program and Q&A

Date: June 30, 2022

Summary

This training will focus on the upcoming changes to our partner programs and give you time to ask questions through Teams chat.

Workspace

Membership

Impacted audience

Cloud Solution Provider direct and indirect partners worldwide

Details

We're evolving Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) programs and are committed to our partnership and helping you grow your business. This includes simplifying our partner programs and aligning how we go to market, validating partner capabilities to deliver successful customer outcomes, and investing in your growth and profitability.

Session duration: 60 minutes

Agenda:

  • Overview
  • Resources
  • Q&A

Pre-session work:

Review the following materials before the session:

Month Region Date and time
July Americas and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) July 27, 2022 at 8:00 AM Pacific Time (UTC-7) and July 27, 2022 at 4:00 PM Dublin Time (UTC+1)
July Asia Pacific Operations Center (APOC) and Americas July 27, 2022 at 6:00 PM Pacific Time (UTC-7) and July 27, 2022 at 9:00 AM Singapore Time (UTC+8)
September Americas and EMEA September 1, 2022 at 8:00 AM Pacific Time (UTC-7) and September 1, 2022 at 4:00 PM Dublin Time (UTC+1)
September APOC and Americas September 1, 2022 at 6:00 PM Pacific Time (UTC-7) and September 1, 2022 at 9:00 AM Singapore Time (UTC+8)

Next steps

Register for your preferred session by selecting the appropriate link.

Questions?

For further questions about these offers, check your relevant Yammer communities.

Important actions partners need to take to secure the partner ecosystem

Date: June 30, 2022

Summary

Important

Dates in this announcement were updated in the July 18, 2022 announcement.

Partners need to take these important steps to help secure the partner ecosystem.

Workspace

Account settings

Impacted audience

Direct bill partners and indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program and with advisors

Details

On June 1, 2022, Granular Delegated Admin Privileges (GDAP) became available to all partners in Partner Center. GDAP is a more secure model for administering customer tenants and adheres to the Microsoft zero trust principle of least-privileged access. It allows the partner to request and the customer to approve specific Azure Active Directory (AD) roles, allowing the partner to perform admin activities on behalf of the customer.

Starting July 25, Microsoft will provide a tool that allows partners with existing delegated admin privileges (DAP) relationships to create a GDAP relationship with Azure AD roles—without customer consent. This tool will only be available until October 31, 2022, after which customers will need to resume approving all GDAP relationship requests. More information on the tool will be available on July 11.

Note

If a partner doesn't have a DAP relationship with their customer, they'll need to request GDAP and obtain customer approval.

Around the end of Q1 of Microsoft's fiscal year 2023, Microsoft will stop creating new DAP connections when a new partner/customer relationship is created and will begin removing DAP relationships that haven't been used for 90 days. Later, Microsoft will transition active DAP relationships to GDAP with a limited number of Azure AD roles.

We'd like to remind you that if you don't perform admin activities for your customer, DAP should be disabled. Review your DAP report and remove relationships that are no longer required.

To help partners track the changes being introduced, we've created a milestone view that summarizes what is changing, the steps partners need to take, and the impact if no action is taken.

Next steps

Licensing updates for Teams Phone with Calling Plan

Date: June 29, 2022

Summary

This communication is about the Microsoft Business Voice license retirement and Teams Phone with Calling Plan SKU update.

Workspace

Customers

Impacted audience

CSP Partners

Details

In January 2022, we announced plans to consolidate Microsoft 365 Business Voice and Teams Calling Essentials bundles into a new offering named Teams Phone with Calling Plan. Teams Phone with Calling Plan is now available for purchase anywhere Microsoft Teams Calling Plans are available.

Customers can still use Microsoft Business Voice through the duration of their agreement but can't renew at the expiration of their license term. Existing Business Voice customers at the time of renewal are recommended to buy Teams Phone with Calling Plan. For Business Voice without Calling Plan customers, the recommended license is Teams Phone Standard.

We're aware of the following issues and are working to address them:

  1. Teams Phone with Calling Plan lack of margin
  2. Teams Phone with Calling Plan rebranded early in error
  3. Business Voice "Do not use" tag added to existing Business Voice customers
  4. Existing Business Voice customers unable to renew

Details:

1. Teams Phone with Calling Plan lack of margin:

We have taken steps to address this through three new SKU offers that are available to transact as of today. These new offers will be on the July 1 price list.

  • Teams Phone with Calling Plan (Country zone 1 – US and Puerto Rico) including phone system and 3,000 domestic calling minutes, priced at USD15 per user per month. Transact this SKU if end users are based in the US or Puerto Rico.
  • Teams Phone with Calling plan (Country zone 1 – United Kingdom and Canada) including phone system and 3,000 domestic calling minutes, priced at USD15 per user per month. Transact this SKU if end users are based in the UK or Canada.
  • Teams Phone with Calling plan (Country zone 2) including phone system and 1,200 domestic calling minutes, priced at USD20 per user per month. Transact this SKU if end users are based in any other country or region where Microsoft Calling Plans are available.

2. Teams Phone with Calling Plan rebranded early in error:

Teams Phone with Calling Plan was rebranded to add "Country Zone 1 - US/PR," "Country Zone 1 UK/Canada," and "Country Zone 2" early in error, but these new offers are now available to transact.

3. Business Voice "Do not use" tag added to existing Business Voice customers:

In preparation for the retirement of Business Voice and the launch of the three new SKUs, an intended internal rebrand of Business Voice to include "Do not use" has been performed.

Existing Business Voice customers can continue to use their subscription per usual until the end of their agreement, at which point they're recommended to move to Teams Phone with Calling Plan.

The "Do not use" tag will be removed in our next update on the July 7.

4. Existing Business Voice customers unable to renew:

A business decision has been made to re-enable autorenew for existing Business Voice customers from July 7 to September 28. From September 28, any existing Business Voice customers wishing to renew their subscription will need to transition to Teams Phone with Calling Plan.

Next steps

Use this information to help provide clarity for your customers.

It's important to note that existing Business Voice customers won't be automatically transitioned to the new licensing model. Transition guidance is provided in Move from Business Voice to Teams Phone licenses for customers who need to change their Business Voice licenses to the new licensing model.

Not taking any steps to transition from Business Voice at the time of expiry of your customers' Business Voice subscription can result in loss of service.

Change to July 11 blocking of legacy CSP renewals

Date: June 27, 2022

Summary

Microsoft has extended indefinitely the previously announced July 11 end of auto-renewals of legacy CSP subscriptions.

Workspace

Customers

Impacted audience

Cloud Solution Provider program partners: direct-bill partners, indirect providers, and resellers through their indirect providers

Details

Microsoft has seen an acceleration of partners migrating legacy Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) subscriptions to the new commerce platform in recent weeks. We appreciate the efforts of partners that have contributed to this acceleration, and all CSP partners are encouraged to complete migrations from legacy to new commerce as soon as possible.

Previously, we communicated that legacy commercial seat-based subscriptions would no longer be auto-renewed on the legacy platform starting July 11. Though our goal is still for partners to migrate legacy subscriptions to new commerce before end of term, we have made a business decision to continue supporting the legacy auto-renewal functionality beyond July 11.

What isn't changing

  • The blocking of new orders of legacy CSP subscriptions that was implemented on March 10, 2022.

See the legacy CSP renewals Frequently Asked Questions in the partner readiness collection (partner sign-in required) for more details.

Resources

Next steps

Introducing the new Teams Rooms SMB partner playbook

Date: June 27, 2022

Summary

We've created the new Teams Rooms Small and Medium Business (SMB) partner playbook to help you build a profitable practice in the SMB segment with Microsoft Teams Rooms.

Workspace

General

Impacted audience

Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners

Details

For partners serving small and medium businesses, the work-from-anywhere world creates new opportunities to provide value-added managed services to a hybrid workplace. With Microsoft Teams Rooms, you can grow your business with services such as infrastructure assessment, device deployment, user training, change management, ongoing management of the complete meeting environment, onsite support, and more.

The new playbook includes step-by-step guidance and resources across all phases of the partner journey, including understanding the opportunity, developing sales and technical skills, activating sales and marketing plans, and deploying and managing the solution.

Next steps

Learn more by viewing the Teams Rooms SMB partner playbook.

Enhancements to scheduled change feature now available for Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) new commerce seat-based subscriptions

Summary

Microsoft has launched an enhancement for the scheduled change feature for Partner Center for new commerce commercial seat-based offers in the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.

Workspace

General

Impacted audience

Partners transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider program

Details

The scheduled change feature allows partners to specify changes to be applied at the end of a subscription's term. Microsoft has updated the scheduled change feature for CSP commercial new commerce seat-based subscriptions in Partner Center. This update enables eligible promotions to be applied to scheduled changes.

Effective immediately, when a scheduled change is made, if an eligible promotion is available, it will be applied to the subscription when the scheduled changes are applied. The eligible promotion will be visible for partners in the scheduled changes UI. Some scheduled changes may not result in a promotion being applied. Partners can evaluate the "Current:" and "Change to:" properties in the scheduled changes user interface to verify their changes do or don't have a resulting promotion. Partners using the Partner Center APIs will see promotion IDs returned in a schedule change if a promotion is eligible base on the scheduled changes.

Automatic application of eligible promotions to scheduled changes is available now for any new scheduled changes a partner sets on a subscription. Scheduled changes previously saved won't include promotions unless the partner removes and recreates the scheduled change.

Next steps

To learn more about these changes, review the following resources.

Questions?

For additional partner assets, also visit the new commerce experience for CSP seat-based offers collection.

Backward compatibility of including marketplace offers on OnlineServices targetView within GetProducts API to end on July 7

Summary

GetProducts (by country or by customer) APIs have been updated. The backward compatibility of including marketplace offers on OnlineServices targetView will end on July 7, 2022.

Impacted audience

Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners who use the GetProducts API with the OnlineServices targetView to fetch commercial marketplace offers.

Details

The OnlineServices targetView within the GetProducts (by country or by customer) APIs currently include licensed-based services, commercial marketplace offers, and new commerce licensed-based services.

From June 3, 2022, a new MarketplaceSaas targetView is available to fetch marketplace offers. There will be a buffer period from June 3 to July 7 in which OnlineServices will continue to return marketplace offers while you migrate to the new targetView. However, after the buffer period, the marketplace offers will only return in the new MarketplaceSaas targetView.

This change will improve the performance of OnlineServices and make it easier for you to distinguish marketplace offers. For full documentation on this API, visit Get a list of products (by country).

Next steps

If you currently use GetProducts to fetch marketplace offers, you'll have between June 3 and July 7 to update your call to use the MarketplaceSaas targetView query parameter.

Share this communication with the relevant stakeholders within your organization.

Questions

If you have any questions, visit the Partner Center support page.

View the latest promotions and offers

Summary

The latest Global Promo Readiness Guide has now been published.

Workspace

Pricing

Impacted audience

Partners transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider program

Details

The latest Global Promo Readiness Guide, a consolidated view of all current and upcoming promotions, is now available on the Operations Readiness resource gallery. See active and upcoming promotions and offers at the Global Promo Readiness Guide collection.

Next steps

Review the latest monthly Promo Guide in the Operations Readiness resource gallery. Share this information with the appropriate contacts in your organization, and let us know if the guide is helpful by responding to the Was this page helpful? question at the bottom of the page.

Questions?

For questions about these offers, check your relevant Yammer communities.

Reminder: Upcoming change to CSP new commerce subscription cancellation policy

Date: June 10, 2022

Summary

We'd like to remind you that from July 11, 2022, you'll have seven days (168 hours) after order placement to cancel new purchases or renewals of CSP new commerce subscriptions.

Workspace

Customers

Impacted audience

Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) direct-bill partners and indirect providers, and indirect resellers through their indirect providers

Details

To implement consistency in the cancellation policy for CSP subscriptions across product types, Microsoft will change the cancellation window duration for new purchases or renewals of software subscriptions (which currently include Windows Server, SQL Server, and Azure SQL Edge) in CSP new commerce, effective July 11, 2022.

As of that date, with any new purchase or renewal of a software subscription in CSP new commerce, a partner will have 168 hours (seven days) from the subscription order or renewal date to cancel the subscription, regardless of the term, instead of the previous 30-day window. The partner will receive a prorated refund when canceling within the first 168 hours of the term (proration calculated daily). After that 168-hour period, cancellation isn't available, and no refund will be provided.

The perpetual software cancellation policy isn't affected by this change.

Information about this upcoming change to the cancellation window will be included in the following documents by June 1, 2022:

Next steps

Partners should plan to implement this change within their provisioning and billing systems and marketing content, and communicate the revised cancellation window to customers when transacting software subscriptions in CSP.

Solution Workspace no longer available from September 1, 2022

Date: June 8, 2022

Summary

From September 1, Solution Workspace will no longer be available. Partners who have a solution in progress need to complete it before then.

Workspace

Customers

Impacted audience

Partners using Solution Workspace

Details

Our programs are evolving to meet changing partner needs, and we're changing how we share resources and guidance.

From September 1, 2022, Solution Workspace will no longer be available. Partners who have a solution in progress and want to use Solution Workspace to guide them through completing their solutions need to complete their solutions by August 31, 2022. Partners who need to access Marketplace Rewards benefits formerly accessed through Solution Workspace should now go to Marketplace Rewards Toolbox. 

While the Solution Workspace site won't be available after August 31, popular partner resources linked there will still be available on September 1. Download or bookmark these resources now for future reference.

Build stage

Differentiate your organization

  • Highlight your capabilities and deep technical expertise to show customers that you've got what they're looking for. Explore other Microsoft partner programs and associated benefits, and choose what's right for you.

  • Build, sell, and thrive on the Microsoft Cloud with the Independent Software Vendor ISV Success Program. Join the new ISV Success Program preview and get access to free benefits designed to help you build and publish your apps faster, accelerate innovation, and reach more customers.

Review marketplace benefits

Learn the benefits of participating in the commercial marketplace, including capabilities to help you grow your business.

Publishing guide by offer type 

Learn how to choose the offer type for your solution, app, or service offer, and its alignment to Microsoft products and services.

Commercial marketplace support 

Microsoft provides support for a wide variety of products and services. Find the right support team to ensure an appropriate and timely response.

Go-to market (GTM) stage

Connect with a cloud specialist
Get marketing content on demand

Get fresh, relevant content to customize and share on your social, email, website, or blog with Digital Marketing Content OnDemand. Access and share comprehensive digital campaigns that include curated marketing materials and sales resources in a prescriptive format. It's your own personal digital marketing assistant that delivers fresh, relevant content for you to customize and share. When you're ready, sign up at no cost to Microsoft partners.

Learn about the GTM program

Explore how you can accelerate time to market, generate demand, and expand your business. From digital marketing and personalized consultation to guidance and customizable marketing assets, these resources will help you along your marketing journey.

Overview of GTM sales plays

Learn how you can accelerate your lead generation and cloud customer acquisition at scale with GTM sales plays.

Optimize your Partner Center profile

Find helpful tips for building a successful business profile in Partner Center.

Sell stage

Get sales training

Find sales training and learning paths focused on the products and solution areas that your team needs to master.

Grow your referral knowledge

Watch this series of instructional videos to learn how to manage leads, register a co-sell deal, and access help in Partner Center.

Propel your solution with co-sell

Check out the co-sell playbook to identify the Microsoft levers to driving customer acquisition for your organization.

Next steps

Review your solution in Solution Workspace, and if needed, complete your solution and publish to the commercial marketplace by August 31, 2022. Review the resources, and download or bookmark them for future reference.

Questions?

Contact Support if you have questions or need more information.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint in the Microsoft 365 Defender portal

Date: June 9, 2022

Summary

This announcement refers to completing the transition of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to the Microsoft 365 Defender portal.

Workspace

Customers

Impacted audience

Partners accessing their customers' Microsoft Defender for Endpoint tenants with delegated admin privileges (DAP) accounts

Details

In June 2021, we announced the general availability of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 capabilities within the Microsoft 365 Defender portal. Security teams can now manage all endpoint, email and collaboration, cross-product investigation, configuration, and remediation activities within a single unified XDR portal. These solutions deliver world-class SecOps capabilities that empower security teams to respond to threats rapidly and effectively.

In November 2021, we initiated the transition of the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to the Microsoft 365 Defender portal. More than 95 percent of customers have completed the transition to the Microsoft 365 Defender portal, and for this group no further action is required.

For customers whose partners access their portal with DAP, we're beginning the transition now.

We'll redirect all endpoint traffic to Microsoft 365 Defender in June 2022. To access Microsoft Defender for Endpoint data and features with a DAP account, you'll need to use a dedicated URL. We'll share details about the dedicated URL before we initiate the transition.

Note

Access to the primary Microsoft 365 Defender portal isn't supported for DAP accounts. In the dedicated URL, only Microsoft Defender for Endpoint data and features are supported. If you're planning to provide service for additional Microsoft Defender products, you'll need to transition to granular delegated admin privileges (GDAP). Learn more about GDAP.

Next steps

Once this change is applied to your customers' tenants, access to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint data and capabilities will be available exclusively from the Microsoft 365 Defender portal dedicated URL for DAP. GDAP is already supported in the main Microsoft 365 Defender portal.

If you're accessing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint with a local tenant account, the change will be applied automatically for you, and you can already move to access Microsoft Defender for Endpoint data from the main Microsoft 365 Defender portal. If you're a partner who is accessing your customer's tenant with a DAP account, you'll need to access using the dedicated URL until you've completed the migration to GDAP. To prepare for the change and to help ensure a smooth transition, we've created a guide to the changes that you can expect at Microsoft Defender for Endpoint in Microsoft 365 Defender.

Questions?

If you have questions, submit a support ticket via the Partner Center Support page.

June Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) community update and reminders

Date: June 8, 2022

Summary

The CSP monthly update newsletter is now available, along with more CSP community resources that provide you with essential program updates.

Workspace

General

Impacted audience

CSP direct-bill partners and indirect providers

Details

This month's resources cover the following topics:

Launches

Clinics

CSP Community Q&A reminder

The monthly CSP community Q&A session provides you with an opportunity to learn more and ask questions about changes affecting the program. This month's call will focus on the topics listed in the previous section and more.

Register here to join the call.

Always available—Launch content on demand

Within the monthly CSP community collection, you can find:

For a consolidated view of all recent and active launches in a single place, visit the partner launch calendar. You'll find a timeline for each launch and links to published materials to help you learn more about that launch.

Need licensing readiness? The monthly CSP spotlight webinars cover the latest CSP licensing information available for all partners.

Next steps

Review the community resources and register for the Community Call Q&A.

Questions?

The monthly CSP community Q&A call is the best place to bring questions about operational change in the CSP program. You can submit a question up to 48 hours before the call. All launch-related questions will be answered in the call and/or in the Q&A document published after the call.

Questions on any other CSP topic? Visit the Partner Center support page.

Leads for Office plugins are now available in Partner Center

Date: June 8, 2022

Summary

Partners with Office plugins can now receive leads directly in Partner center—no need to configure a lead destination or a CRM endpoint.

Impacted audience

Partners with Office plugins

Workspace

Referrals

Details

Partner center now has leads from your Office offers that are published into AppSource or the Office store.

Marketplace leads are generated when customers search the commercial marketplace, land on your offer, and select a relevant call-to action-button, such as Free trial or Get it now.

To see customers who have tried your offer or want to connect with you, go to the Referrals workspace and then to the Leads section and select Marketplace leads.

Note

If you have published an Office plugin in the Office store, you must be enrolled in the MPN program to receive leads in Partner center. Talk to Support or your Microsoft Partner representative today to learn how to join the Microsoft Partner Network.

Next steps

Check out leads in Partner center here and start engaging with your customers right away!

Microsoft Commerce Incentives (MCI) communication

Date: June 7, 2022

Summary

On July 1, 2022, we're releasing new and updated MCI Build Intent workshops for Modern Work and Security.

Workspace

Incentives

Impacted audience

Partners enrolled in MCI

Details

For partner growth and customer success, we continue to evolve workshops with new content and earning opportunities. On June 1, we released a preliminary version of the Fiscal year 2023 (FY23) Commercial Partner Incentives guide (downloads to your default download folder), including FY23 workshops and rates.

Here's what you need to know about FY23 updates:

New workshops and name changes

Aligned with FY23 solution plays and customer needs, we're releasing new and updated workshops for Modern Work and Security on July 1. You'll find an overview of FY23 workshops and name changes.

Modern Work Build Intent Workshops
  • Enable Frontline
  • Endpoint Management
  • Hybrid meetings -> Hybrid meetings and rooms
  • Microsoft Viva
  • Microsoft Viva Insights
  • Modernize communications
  • Next Gen endpoints -> Next Gen Windows
  • Teams apps and solutions -> Collaborative apps
  • Transition to cloud -> Microsoft 365 Digital Workforce
Security Build Intent Workshops
  • Discover sensitive data -> Protect and govern sensitive data
  • Executive Order 14028
  • Hybrid cloud security -> Secure multicloud environments
  • Manage and investigate risk -> Mitigate compliance and privacy risks
  • Securing identities -> Secure identities and access
  • Threat protection -> Defend against threats with SIEM Plus XDR

Microsoft Sentinel workshop: Last day to claim customers is June 30

After June 30, 2022, new customer additions won't be accepted for the Microsoft Sentinel workshop. Existing claims can be submitted until September 15, 2022 and will be paid FY22 rates. Microsoft Sentinel workshop content will be integrated into the new Defend Against Threats with SIEM Plus XDR workshop (previously known as Threat Protection workshop) starting July 1, 2022.

Defend Against Threats with SIEM Plus XDR: Increased rates for FY23

Previously known as the Threat Protection workshop, increased rates will be applicable to all claims on or after July 1, 2022.

  • Market A rate: USD6,500 (up from USD5,000 in FY22)
  • Market B rate: USD4,500 (up from USD3,500 in FY22)

New material for this workshop will be available from July 1, 2022.

Updated workshop delivery material

We regularly review and update our workshop content to reflect feedback from customers, partners, and product and service updates. FY22 workshop content will be available to partners until June 30. After July 1, partners will have access to new workshop content. Partners are responsible for ensuring that they use updated workshop content.

Resources

Support

To request support, create a request and include the following details:

  • Problem summary: Enter a brief explanation of the issue.
  • Workspace: Incentives
  • Problem type: Enter "Engagements" to filter and select the most relevant subtopic.

Next steps

Share this information with the appropriate people in your organization.

Auto-approvals for Microsoft commercial marketplace deal registrations now available in Partner Center

Date: June 3, 2022

Summary

Effective June 1, 2022, commercial marketplace-registered Azure IP co-sell deals up to and including USD1M annual contract value (ACV) will be auto-approved.

Workspace

Referrals

Impacted audience

Co-selling partners, referral admins, alliance managers, partner sellers, and individuals from partner organizations who create referrals and register deals in Partner Center

Details

Microsoft commercial marketplace-registered Azure IP co-sell deals up to and including USD1M ACV per year will be auto-approved* to enable faster deal registration approvals. Additionally, regardless of the size of the deal, partners aren't required to join deal audit calls for marketplace-registered wins, saving time and operational burden.

As a part of this enhanced deal registration process, partners are now required to provide the same information during the marketplace transaction deal registration as provided for nonmarketplace deals. For more information about the fields to be entered in the form, see the Azure IP co-sell deal registration document. The same auto-approval program rules and policies will apply to marketplace deal registrations as to nonmarketplace ones.

Note

Auto-approved registrations can still be selected for further review by the Microsoft deal validation team.

*Pay-as-you-go transactions will still require validated marketplace spend uplift prior to approval.

Next steps

  • Share this communication with the appropriate stakeholders in your organization.
  • This communication is for awareness only. The features and capabilities described in the previous section will be applied automatically.
  • For more information about these updates, see Register your deals.

Questions?

If you have any questions, submit a support ticket via the Partner Center Support page.

Upcoming retirement of NCE for CSP seat-based offers operating guide

Date: June 3, 2022

Summary

Effective July 1, 2022, the operating guide for the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) new commerce experience (NCE) for seat-based offers will be retired.

Workspace

General

Impacted audience

CSP direct bill partners and indirect providers, and indirect resellers through their indirect providers

Details

Effective July 1, 2022, the operating guide for the CSP new commerce experience for seat-based offers will be retired. The CSP new commerce experience handbook and the technical documentation will continue to be available as resources for partners.

The CSP new commerce experience handbook serves as a learning tool in helping partners adapt to the CSP seat-based offers in new commerce release. It instructs partners on the provisioning, billing, and subscription management processes involved in selling these offers in the new commerce experience.

You can also find the technical content in the operating guide. Use the technical and API content for new commerce experience for CSP seat-based offers to help you optimize your time locating technical documentation that's relevant to you and your organization.

If you've bookmarked the operating guide page, starting on July 1, 2022, you'll be redirected to the technical and API content for the new commerce experience for CSP seat-based offers document.

Next steps

Familiarize yourself with the technical and API content for the new commerce experience for CSP seat-based offers document to prepare for the operating guide's retirement.

View this month's product launches and offers

Date: June 1, 2022

Summary

The June product launch calendar is now published.

Impacted audience

All partners transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program

Workspace

Pricing

Details

The June 2022 product launch calendar is now available in the Operations readiness resource gallery. View the upcoming product launches and offers here.

Next steps

Review the product launch calendar, and share the information with the appropriate stakeholders in your organization.

Questions?

For any further questions about these offers, check your relevant Yammer communities.

IP co-sell deal registration deadline

Date: June 1, 2022

Summary

The ability to register deals will be blocked in Partner Center from June 16 until June 30, 2022. Partners must register deals on or before June 15, 2022.

Workspace

Referrals

Impacted audience

Co-selling partners registering Azure IP co-sell deals, referral admins, alliance managers, partner sellers, and individuals from partner organizations who create referrals in Partner Center

Details

Deals must be registered by partners on or before Wednesday June 15, 2022 (5∶00 PM Pacific time), and any deals after this cut-off date will roll over to FY23 (July 2022).

The ability to register a deal will be blocked in Partner Center from June 16 until June 30, 2022. Partner Center will display a banner explaining this restriction, and the Register deal button will appear dimmed during this period.

Registration functionality will resume starting July 1, 2022.

Note

Deal registrations that still require manual processing, such as marketplace deals, deal reviews, and deal revalidations, must be completed in the month registered for them to count in the same month. Otherwise, the deals will roll over to the following month.

Next steps

  • Share this communication with the appropriate stakeholders in your organization.
  • Register deals on or before June 15, 2022.
  • Find further information on deal registration in Register your deals.

Questions?

If you have any questions, submit a support ticket via the Partner Center Support page.

Improved customer account matching process now live in Partner Center

Date: June 1, 2022

Summary

Enhancements to the customer account matching process, with clarity on picking customer accounts during referral submission, are now live in Partner Center.

Workspace

Referrals

Impacted audience

Co-selling partners, referral admins, alliance managers, partner sellers, and individuals from partner organizations who create referrals in Partner Center

Details

As previously communicated, Microsoft is improving the customer account section and matching process during inbound referral creation in Partner Center.

These new features will provide a streamlined way for partners to select customer accounts during referral creation, with clearly defined managed or unmanaged account status and implications of picking an account from different categories. They'll further contribute to a faster account matching process, reduced expiry rate of referrals, and lower deal registration rejections.

What's new in Partner Center?

There will be a phased approach to the launch of the customer account selection and matching improvements.

Phase 1 (available now)

The Microsoft account list is exposed in Partner Center in addition to the current experience of the Data Universal Numbers System (DUNS) and manual entry. Partners will now see three different tabs in Partner Center when they search for customer accounts during the inbound referral creation process:

  • Microsoft Managed
    • Microsoft Managed is the list of accounts that match the search criteria and are managed by Microsoft.
    • Deals that are associated with Microsoft managed accounts are eligible for Azure IP co-sell deal registration if they meet other deal registration criteria.
  • Microsoft Unmanaged
    • Microsoft Unmanaged is the list of accounts that match the search criteria but aren't managed by Microsoft.
    • Deals that are associated with Microsoft unmanaged accounts are not eligible for Azure IP co-sell deal registration.
  • Other
    • Other is the list of accounts from the DUNS list.
    • Deals that are associated with Other accounts will go through the Microsoft account list matching process. This process might take longer, and deal registration will be applicable if the account is matched to a managed account and other criteria are met.
Additional information
  • Tooltips are provided for each tab, featuring clearly defined insights to help partners understand the implications of picking accounts from the tabs.
  • Each tab will display a maximum of top 50 results.
  • A manual entry option will also continue to be available in the user interface (UI), but partners can't enter details manually without first searching for the account.

Note

Entering manually or selecting customer accounts from the Other tab could result in delays and potential rejection of the IP co-sell deal registration if the accounts are wrongly matched by the backend system.

Next steps

  • Review the information in the previous section to understand the new process and the implications of selecting customer accounts from each of the categories.
  • Share this communication with the relevant people in your organization.
  • This communication is for awareness only. The features and capabilities described in the previous section will be applied automatically.
  • For more information on these updates, review the article Manage co-sell opportunities.

Questions?

If you have any questions, submit a support ticket via the Partner Center Support page.