August 2023 announcements
This page provides the announcements for Microsoft Partner Center for August 2023.
Microsoft Teams Rooms Licensing Enforcement starting October 1, 2023
In 30 days, Microsoft Teams Rooms Licensing Policy will enforce mandatory Teams Rooms licenses starting October 1, 2023.
- Date: August 30, 2023
- Workspace: Customers and Partners
- Impacted audience: Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) and Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) partners
As of October 1, 2023, Teams Rooms devices, including those using Personal Mode, and the Teams application on Surface Hub and Teams Panels, will be blocked from signing in without a valid Teams Rooms license. To prevent imminent service disruption, work with your customers to provision and activate either a Teams Rooms Pro ($40) or Teams Rooms Basic ($0 / max 25 devices), Teams Rooms Premium, Teams Rooms Standard license, or Teams Rooms Shared Device License (panels only) before the deadline.
For Teams Panels, customers need to provision a Teams Shared Device license for accounts where a Teams Panel is deployed to a space where there's no Teams Room or Surface Hub in the room. The policy also includes devices enrolled in the Pro Management portal. A Teams Rooms Pro or Teams Rooms Premium license will be required to take advantage of the AI-powered cross-platform device management capabilities of the Pro Management portal.
Next steps
Your customers have 30 days to act! Work with your customers NOW to avoid service disruption on October 1, 2023 when this change takes effect.
Resources
As a friendly reminder, to help you communicate this policy enforcement and provide guidance for how your customers can review their current licensing, we have prepared several resources and tools that can be shared directly with your customers:
- BLOG: aka.ms/MTRLicenseNoticeBlog
- SCRIPT: How to audit your Microsoft Teams Rooms License: aka.ms/MTRLicenseNoticeLearn
- VIDEO: How to audit your Microsoft Teams Rooms licenses: aka.ms/MTRLicenseNoticeVideo
- FAQ: aka.ms/MTRLicenseNotice-EFAQ
Contact
For any questions, contact TRLCQ@microsoft.com
Enhancements to customer matching in new deal creation flow
When creating a new deal, we now show more Microsoft accounts as suggestions for account matching to speed up the responses by Microsoft Sellers.
- Date: August 28, 2023
- Workspace: Referrals
- Impacted audience: Referral admins
Customer account matching while creating new co-sell opportunities has a few enhancements:
- We now additionally match accounts with Microsoft account IDs.
- We now prompt users with suggested accounts more explicitly in the user interface.
Partners are encouraged to choose Microsoft recommended accounts to avoid the delays associated with an internal account matching process. Also, the process of assigning referrals to Microsoft Sellers will be faster if an account selected in the system is used.
Next steps
To learn more, see Manage co-sell opportunities
Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing transition now available for NCE
Through December 31, 2023, we're offering the exclusive possibility to transition from the $2.50 Audio Conferencing offer to the $0.00 Audio Conferencing offer.
- Date: August 29, 2023
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: All CSP partners
In 2022, we introduced two Audio Conferencing SKUs via the new commerce experience (NCE):
- Audio Conferencing with Zone A countries and regions dial out minutes. Product ID: CFQ7TTC0LHSL priced at $2.50
- Audio Conferencing with US & CA dial out minutes. Product ID: CFQ7TTC0JXCZ priced at $0.00
For a limited time, we offered a 12-month discount on the Audio Conferencing SKU with Zone A country/region dial out minutes. This might have caused confusion.
We're now offering the exclusive possibility to transition from the $2.50 Audio Conferencing offer to the $0.00 Audio Conferencing offer. This transition path will be available from August 23, 2023, to December 31, 2023, only.
Next steps
- If your customer has been using the Audio Conferencing SKU (Product ID: CFQ7TTC0LHSL) with the expiring/expired promotional price, work with them to determine which Audio Conferencing SKU best meets their needs based on the countries or regions they need to dial out to.
- For misaligned subscriptions, move your customers to the $0 add-on SKU (Product ID: CFQ7TTC0JXCZ), using the transition path mentioned here.
Questions?
- For issues or other concerns with this process, partners can file a support request on a case-by-case basis. The timeline to submit a support request for this matter will be open until December 31, 2023.
- Review more resources:
New report shows capability-based co-selling insights on services co-selling
We introduced a new feature in the Co-sell insights page that helps Microsoft Partners analyze their services co-selling performance and track the lifecycle of services co-sell deals.
- Date: August 28, 2023
- Workspace: Insights
- Impacted audience: Services Partners who have Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program designations such as Azure Expert MSP, Specializations or Solutions Partner designations.
Now, on the Co-sell page in the Referral Insights workspace, you can see a new report that shows services co-selling related insights for co-sell eligible Services partners who are either:
- Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program designations, such as Azure Expert MSP or
- Are endorsed by the business teams to provide Deployment services.
The report now displays metrics for IP co-sell and Services co-sell referrals in different tabs. To see both types of referrals together, select the All tab.
In addition, we introduced a new Capabilities widget that is dedicated to displaying services co-sell deals with two pivots: Partner role and Partner program.
Next steps
To learn more, see Get Co-sell insights.
Introducing Earnings workspace in Partner Center
The Payouts workspace will be replaced by a new Earnings workspace in September 2023. The new workspace features a new look and feel with improved page usability and faster downloads, and a customer-centric view of revenue, usage, earnings and payments.
- Date: August 23, 2023
- Workspace: Earnings
- Impacted audience: All partners who use Partner Center to view earnings and payouts, such as Incentive Admin and Incentive Users
Partners will be able to make informed decisions by identifying opportunities and risks across their customers to increase earnings and get actionable customer recommendations for proactive customer lifecycle management.
The Payouts workspace will be replaced with a new Earnings workspace, starting with the incentive earnings and payments reconciliation experience. If you currently use the Payouts workspace, you'll inherit access to the Earnings workspace without any disruption.
This change includes the following benefits:
- Fresh look and feel, improved page usability, and faster downloads
- Customer-centric earnings and revenue insights on the user interface
- Ability to search by customer name
- Ability to instantly download user interface views
Note
- This change is taking place in Partner Center user interface only. There will be no change to incentive program or policies from this launch. Please refer to the incentives program guide to stay up to date on any incentive program changes.
- There are no changes to the Payouts application programming interface and export schemas.
- This change is applicable to all incentive programs (including campaigns) paid out of Partner Center.
Next steps
- Review this information and share it as appropriate within your organization.
- To learn more about this release, sign up to the upcoming CSP Technical Training on September 13, 2023, where subject matter experts can provide an overview and updates of this release.
- Register for upcoming partner community calls.
- More details will be provided mid-September.
Republish of deprecated (DEPR) products on legacy license-based price list (AUD, CAD, CHF) and price list preview (NZD)
There's a republished price list (AUD, CAD, CHF) and price list preview (NZD) for legacy license-based products.
- Date: August 17, 2023
- Workspace: Pricing
- Impacted audience: Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), direct-bill partners and indirect providers who use legacy license-based pricing in AUD, CAD, CHF, and NZD
As you might already know, the deprecated (DEPR) products represent legacy blocked offers. These are no longer available for new purchase, but existing customer subscriptions aren't affected (that is, renewals are still working). Microsoft Partners can't purchase these.
The price list that was published on August 1, 2023, for the Australian dollars (AUD), Canadian dollars (CAD), and Swiss francs (CHF) currencies has the September 1, 2023, DEPR product pricing. To remedy this, we're promptly republishing the price list today with the correct prices.
The price list preview that was published on August 1 for New Zealand dollars (NZD) for DEPR products doesn't have the new September 1 pricing. We're republishing the price list preview today with the correct prices.
Next steps
- If impacted, download the new price list or price list preview.
A Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program Guide update is coming
The guide to the Online Services and Software Channel Authorization (CSP Program Guide) will be updated, effective October 12, 2023.
- Date: August 17, 2023
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: Direct bill partners, indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the CSP program
The CSP Program Guide contains the terms and conditions governing commercial marketplace offers between Microsoft and partners in the CSP program.
In the updated CSP Program Guide, the following regions move into the United States regions and market list:
- American Samoa (from the list of Australia regions and markets)
- Guam (from the list of Australia regions and markets)
- Northern Mariana Islands (from the list of New Zealand regions and markets)
The transacting currency for these regions will also be changed to USD.
The updated CSP Program Guide will go into effect automatically on October 12, 2023, without any other action required from partners. Partners should review the updated CSP Program Guide to ensure they're operating in compliance with the CSP program.
Next steps
- For more information, read the article on Cloud Solution Provider program regional markets and currencies where you can sell CSP offers.
- Review the CSP Program Guide.
Questions?
If you have any questions, submit a support ticket via the Partner Center Support page.
Monthly update: Reminder of actions partners need to take with GDAP to secure the partner ecosystem
Important capabilities and updates to improve your security posture and protect your customers' tenants are now available.
- Date: August 15, 2023
- Workspace: Account settings
- Impacted audience: Direct bill partners, indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program and with advisors
Granular Delegated Admin Privileges (GDAP) milestones reminder
Transitioning Delegated Admin Privileges (DAP) relationships to GDAP roles: Microsoft has begun transitioning DAP relationships to GDAP roles.
Partners get nine roles as part of the Microsoft-led transition. The roles are granted for a 1-year duration.
Read the frequently asked questions related to this milestone.
Creating new customers: As of September 25, 2023, Microsoft will no longer grant DAP for new customer creation. Instead, Microsoft will grant default GDAP with specific roles.
The bulk migration tool is available through the end of November 2023.
Partners should continue:
Requesting GDAP if admin access is required for a customer tenant.
Disabling DAP if admin access isn't required. The person with the admin agent role within the partner organization should review the DAP monitoring report and disable DAP relationships immediately.
Available now
DAP to GDAP parity features update: Exchange Admin Center has made the following features available with GDAP, with updated documentation:
- Exchange transport rules
- Public folders
- Quarantine emails
Device management now requires GDAP relationships. To ensure a seamless experience, Microsoft recommends the Directory Reader as the least privileged role for this action. Review how to upload devices to a new batch, update devices with a policy, and upload devices to an existing batch for more details.
Coming soon
GDAP auto extend feature. In October 2023, Microsoft will launch the capability to extend existing GDAP relationships by 6 months. More details will be shared in September.
Migrating from Microsoft Entra ID to Microsoft Graph API. Azure AD Graph will be retired shortly. There will be no further investment in Azure AD Graph. Azure AD Graph application programming interfaces have no service-level agreement or maintenance commitment beyond security-related fixes. Investments in new features and functionalities will only be made in Microsoft Graph. All Partners must take action to move to MS Graph. To learn more, see our latest announcement.
Exchange Online automation change. The Legacy Exchange Online Public Client ID (app ID a0c73c16-a7e3-4564-9a95-2bdf47383716) will be retired shortly. Any code that incorporates either the legacy public client or the Partner Center PowerShell module will no longer function. Going forward partners and customers should use Exchange PowerShell to manage Exchange activities. To learn more, see the Exchange Online PowerShell module.
Next steps
Strengthen your security posture and navigate the evolving threat landscape with Microsoft cybersecurity tools and resources.
Sign up for dedicated CSP Security Q&A sessions to have your questions answered by subject matter experts.
Find guidance and resources in securing the partner and customer ecosystems in partner readiness gallery.
Review the journey map to navigate the transformational journey for partners to Zero Trust.
Monthly Update: What's new for Solutions Partner designations, Specializations, and other program benefits
Important capabilities, offers and updates have been introduced to improve the way partners can further differentiate their deep technical expertise across a set of priority scenarios with high customer demand.
- Date: August 15, 2023
- Workspace: Membership
- Impacted audience: Partners enrolled in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program
New Training Services Partner designation
In September 2023, we're announcing the launch of our new Training Services Partner designation, formerly known as the Learning Partner Program. Partners enrolled in the AI Cloud Partner Program will be able to access the Training Services partner performance reports in Partner Center. The full availability of this program, along with access to program benefits, is scheduled for early 2024.
New Partner Support Services designation
On July 18, 2023, Microsoft provided an update regarding plans to launch a Partner Support Services designation, which builds on the solution area designations and further recognizes a partner's breadth and excellence of support capabilities. The designation is expected to launch in the latter half of 2024.
In the meantime, we are opening a limited public preview for partners to get an early look at the designation and get on the fast track to qualifying when the program is fully available. Learn more about the criteria for joining the public preview and nominate yourself with this simple form.
Reminders
Last month we launched three new specializations to the Business Applications, Digital and App Innovation, and Data and AI solution areas. Learn about these three new options on the Partner blog.
We renamed a specialization currently in market. Modernization of Web Applications with Microsoft Azure is now Migrate Enterprise Applications to Microsoft Azure effective July 11, 2023. Partners who have earned this specialization can download the new badge called Migrate Enterprise Applications to Microsoft Azure by signing up in Partner Center.
Legacy benefits are still available to partners who held a legacy competency on September 30, 2022. If your legacy benefits expired since October 2022 and you do not have an active benefit kit through a Solutions Partner designation, check Partner Center offers to see if you are eligible to renew your legacy benefits.
Next steps
Discover how Solutions Partner designations help showcase your organization.
Find information on the requirements for specialization.
Review the journey map to navigate the transformational journey dedicated to Solution Partner designations, Specialization and expert offerings.
Learn more about the criteria for joining the support services designation public preview and nominate yourself with this simple form.
Manage Azure Spending for new commerce only on the Azure Spending (NCE) page
We'd like to inform our partners that effective August 15, 2023, the Azure Plan tab will retire from the Azure spending page to manage Azure budgets. Partners will be able to manage Azure budgets for new commerce or Azure plan in the new Azure spending (NCE) page. However, partners have the ability to continue managing legacy Azure budgets for customers on the Azure spending page.
- Date: August 14, 2023
- Workspace: Billing
- Impacted audience: Global partners who have customers with Azure plan subscriptions.
This change is part of our ongoing effort to improve the user experience and provide a more streamlined process for managing Azure budgets. The new Azure Spending (NCE) page offers a more intuitive interface and more features to help partners better manage their Azure budgets.
We encourage our partners to familiarize themselves with the new Azure spending (NCE) page and take advantage of enhanced functionality and improved user experience.
To access the new Azure Spending page, sign into Partner Center and go to the Azure spending (NCE) task menu on the left-hand side. To learn more, see Set an Azure spending budget for customers - Partner Center.
Thank you for your continued partnership with us.
Benefits
Azure spending (NCE) offers the following advantages:
- It loads nearly four times faster than the current page.
- It enables you to effortlessly set or update different budget amounts for multiple customers simultaneously.
Known Limitation
N/A.
Next Steps
We'll be retiring the "Azure Plan" tab from the "Azure spending" page used for managing Azure budgets. Visit the "Azure Spending" page to find the timeline of retirement. To take advantage of the new and improved experience:
- Sign in to Partner Center and navigate to the Billing workspace.
- Select the "Azure spending (NCE)" from the task menu on the left-hand side.
- From this menu, you can view, set, edit, or remove budgets for your customers with Azure plan subscriptions.
New UI for Billing overview with improved performance coming to new commerce experience (NCE)
We're excited to announce the release of our new Billing Overview (beta) UI page!
- Date: August 14, 2023
- Workspace: Billing
- Impacted audience: All global CSP partners
One of the key features of the new Billing Overview (beta) page is its improved performance. We've worked tirelessly to ensure that the page operates quickly and efficiently, providing all necessary artifacts and insights to our partners. With this new UI, we're confident that partners will be able to better manage their invoice and reconciliation needs.
We're excited to offer this new experience to our partners and look forward to receiving feedback as we continue to improve and enhance this experience in the coming months.
To access the new Billing Overview (beta) page, you can sign in to Partner Center and go to the Billing Overview (beta) task menu on the left-hand side.
This new page only supports the new commerce experience.
Known limitations
N/A
Next steps
The new page will be available from August 24, 2023. Take advantage of the new and improved experience.
To gain access to the new page, follow these steps:
- Sign in to Partner Center and select Billing.
- Select Billing Overview (Beta) from the task menu on the left-hand side.
- Once you're on this page, you efficiently can view and download all your new commerce related invoices and reconciliation artifacts.
Align reconciliation file column names with API JSON attributes
Staying organized is critical when dealing with large datasets. We're planning to update the column names in a reconciliation file to match the JSON property or attribute names in the equivalent API.
- Date: August 14, 2023
- Workspace: Billing
- Impacted audience: All partners
We're updating the columns in the Billing Reconciliation file to match the attribute names of the equivalent API. This change should improve efficiency, faster data delivery, and ensure that the data within the reconciliation file can be linked to the API properly without any discrepancies.
This change makes troubleshooting easier, and helps keep the structure of the file organized. It also helps prevent issues with data accuracy or clarity.
We can expedite file delivery by using the same API V2 with an asynchronous approach and compressing the file to reduce the payload. We understand that this change might require some adjustments, but the changes are limited:
- For most columns, the first letter of the column name will be changed from uppercase to lowercase.
- For a few columns, column names are completely changed. For example, the column "PartnerEarnedCreditPercentage" in the daily rated usage file is renamed to "rateOfPartnerEarnedCredit," and its value changes from 15 to 0.15.
Details:
Column names that are changed from uppercase to lowercase, while the values remain the same
Reconciliation file: Invoice Reconciliation and Estimates
| Column Name | Expected Column Name |
|---|---|
| PartnerId | partnerId |
| CustomerId | customerId |
| CustomerName | customerName |
| CustomerDomainName | customerDomainName |
| CustomerCountry | customerCountry |
| InvoiceNumber | invoiceNumber |
| MpnId | mpnId |
| ResellerMpnId | resellerMpnId |
| OrderId | orderId |
| OrderDate | orderDate |
| ProductId | productId |
| SkuId | skuId |
| AvailabilityId | availabilityId |
| SkuName | skuName |
| ProductName | productName |
| ChargeType | chargeType |
| UnitPrice | unitPrice |
| Quantity | quantity |
| Subtotal | subtotal |
| TaxTotal | taxTotal |
| Currency | currency |
| PriceAdjustmentDescription | priceAdjustmentDescription |
| PublisherName | publisherName |
| PublisherId | publisherId |
| SubscriptionDescription | subscriptionDescription |
| SubscriptionId | subscriptionId |
| ChargeStartDate | chargeStartDate |
| ChargeEndDate | chargeEndDate |
| TermAndBillingCycle | termAndBillingCycle |
| EffectiveUnitPrice | effectiveUnitPrice |
| UnitType | unitType |
| AlternateId | alternateId |
| BillableQuantity | billableQuantity |
| BillingFrequency | billingFrequency |
| PricingCurrency | pricingCurrency |
| PCToBCExchangeRate | pcToBCExchangeRate |
| PCToBCExchangeRateDate | pcToBCExchangeRateDate |
| MeterDescription | meterDescription |
| ReservationOrderId | reservationOrderId |
| CreditReasonCode | creditReasonCode |
| SubscriptionStartDate | subscriptionStartDate |
| SubscriptionEndDate | subscriptionEndDate |
| ReferenceId | referenceId |
| ProductQualifiers | productQualifiers |
| PromotionId | promotionId |
Reconciliation file: Daily Rated Usage Reconciliation Billed and Unbilled
| Column Name | Expected Column Name |
|---|---|
| PartnerId | partnerId |
| PartnerName | partnerName |
| CustomerId | customerId |
| CustomerName | customerName |
| CustomerDomainName | customerDomainName |
| CustomerCountry | customerCountry |
| MpnId | mpnId |
| InvoiceNumber | invoiceNumber |
| ProductId | productId |
| SkuId | skuId |
| AvailabilityId | availabilityId |
| SkuName | skuName |
| ProductName | productName |
| PublisherName | publisherName |
| PublisherId | publisherId |
| SubscriptionDescription | subscriptionDescription |
| SubscriptionId | subscriptionId |
| ChargeStartDate | chargeStartDate |
| ChargeEndDate | chargeEndDate |
| UsageDate | usageDate |
| MeterType | meterType |
| MeterCategory | meterCategory |
| MeterId | meterId |
| MeterSubCategory | meterSubCategory |
| MeterName | meterName |
| MeterRegion | meterRegion |
| ResourceLocation | resourceLocation |
| ConsumedService | consumedService |
| ResourceGroup | resourceGroup |
| ResourceURI | resourceUri |
| ChargeType | chargeType |
| UnitPrice | unitPrice |
| Quantity | quantity |
| UnitType | unitType |
| BillingPreTaxTotal | billingPreTaxTotal |
| BillingCurrency | billingCurrency |
| PricingPreTaxTotal | pricingPreTaxTotal |
| PricingCurrency | pricingCurrency |
| ServiceInfo1 | serviceInfo1 |
| ServiceInfo2 | serviceInfo2 |
| Tags | tags |
| AdditionalInfo | additionalInfo |
| EffectiveUnitPrice | effectiveUnitPrice |
| PCToBCExchangeRate | pcToBCExchangeRate |
| PCToBCExchangeRateDate | pcToBCExchangeRateDate |
| EntitlementId | entitlementId |
| EntitlementDescription | entitlementDescription |
| CreditType | creditType |
| BenefitOrderId | benefitOrderId |
| BenefitId | benefitId |
| BenefitType | benefitType |
Column names that are changed to a different name, but the values remain the same
Reconciliation file: Invoice Reconciliation and Estimates
| Column Name | Expected Column Name |
|---|---|
| Total | totalForCustomer |
Reconciliation file: Daily Rated Usage Reconciliation Billed and Unbilled
| Column Name | Expected Column Name |
|---|---|
| Tier2MpnId | resellerMpnId |
| Unit | unitOfMeasure |
Column names that are changed to new names and new values
| Column Name | Value | Expected Column Name | Expected Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| PartnerEarnedCreditPercentage | 15 | rateOfPartnerEarnedCredit | 0.15 |
| CreditPercentage | 100 | rateOfCredit | 1.00 |
Reconciliation file: Daily Rated Usage Reconciliation Billed and Unbilled
API attribute changes
API attributes remain unchanged. There's no need to make any adjustments to the way you process our API responses.
Known limitations
N/A
Next steps
To ensure a smooth transition to the new column names:
- Notify users of this change
- Request that developers within your organization update the internal code to ingest and process reconciliation data using the CSV file.
We don't currently have a specific date for this change. When we do announce a date, we'll provide ample time to implement the change. We'd love to hear from you about any concerns you might have.
We appreciate your continued partnership and apologize for any inconvenience.
The Get Custom Term End Dates API is now available for partners
A new API is now generally available to Microsoft Partners.
- Date: August 11, 2023
- Workspace: Customers
- Impacted audience: Direct bill partners and indirect providers transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program
Partners can use a new API to view allowed custom term end dates for NCE license-based subscriptions they're purchasing for their customers. The API response enables partners to identify subscription end dates that align with the end of the calendar month or that co-term with existing customer subscriptions. To learn more about the API, see Get Custom Term End Dates API.
Next steps
- Share this information with appropriate stakeholders in your organization.
Questions?
To learn more, see Align subscription end dates.
Additional End of Sales products that weren't included in the Price List Preview
See the following list for items that are scheduled to become End of Sales as of September 1, 2023.
- Date: August 11, 2023
- Workspace: Pricing
- Impacted audience: Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), direct-bill partners and indirect providers who use new commerce experience license-based pricing in all markets.
We wanted to inform you about a change regarding our product lineup. Due to a publication issue, certain products that are scheduled to become End of Sales as of September 1, 2023 aren't included in the Price List Preview as initially planned.
We apologize for any inconvenience this change might cause, but we want to assure you that we're committed to providing you with the best possible experience. While we won't be republishing a new Price List Preview, we kindly ask that you take note of the following products listed, as they'll be removed from the price list on September 1, 2023.
| Product ID | SKU ID | Product SKU Display Name | EOS Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CFQ7TTC0LH3J | 1 | Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Profiles Add-on | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0LH3J | 2 | Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Standalone | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0LH3J | 3 | Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Attach | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0LH3J | F | Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Accounts Add-on | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0LH3N | 1 | Dynamics 365 for Marketing | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0LHWQ | 1 | Dynamics 365 for Marketing Addnl Contacts Tier 5 | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0HX6F | 3 | Dynamics 365 Marketing Interactions Add on pack: Tier 2 (1 Month Paid Monthly) | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0HX6F | 3 | Dynamics 365 Marketing Interactions Add on pack: Tier 2 (1 Year Paid Monthly/Annually) | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0HX6F | 2 | Dynamics 365 Marketing Interactions Add on pack: Tier 3 (1 Month Paid Monthly) | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0HX6F | 2 | Dynamics 365 Marketing Interactions Add on pack: Tier 3 (1 Year Paid Monthly/Annually) | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0HX6F | 5 | Dynamics 365 Marketing Interactions Add on pack: Tier 4 (1 Month Paid Monthly) | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0HX6F | 5 | Dynamics 365 Marketing Interactions Add on pack: Tier 4 (1 Year Paid Monthly/Annually) | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0HX6F | 4 | Dynamics 365 Marketing Interactions Add on pack: Tier 5 (1 Month Paid Monthly) | 9/1/2023 |
| CFQ7TTC0HX6F | 4 | Dynamics 365 Marketing Interactions Add on pack: Tier 5 (1 Year Paid Monthly/Annually) | 9/1/2023 |
Next steps
Review the list of products and take the necessary actions to ensure that this change doesn't affect your customers.
Attributes added to default Transaction history template
On August 7, 2023, we added the ability to see more reconciliation details in the default transaction history template.
- Date: August 9, 2023
- Workspace: Payouts
- Impacted audience: Incentive user, Incentive admin, and Account owner for Marketplace
New attributes are visible on the right side of the default Transaction history template. These attributes show transaction history going back to October 1, 2021. These attributes show more reconciliation details. The newly introduced attributes and their definitions are listed in the following table. You can also access these new details through the Partner Center API.
| Attribute Name | Description | Applicability |
|---|---|---|
| solutionArea | High level product categorization, for example, Azure, ModernWork and Security. | For Microsoft Commerce Incentives only. Available from October 2021. |
| partnerRole | Categorization of the kind of engagement. Examples include build intent, transact, deploy and use. | For Microsoft Commerce Incentives only. Available from October 2021. |
| partnerAssociation | Type of relationship partner has to a customer, for example, reseller, PAL.Contributor. In the event a partner is a PAL.Owner or PAL.Contributor this attribute shows PAL.Contributor. | For all incentive, store and marketplace programs. Available from October 2021. |
| earningParticipantId earningParticipantIdType earningParticipantName |
Partner identity in the transact relationship | For all incentive, store and marketplace programs. Useful when multiple transacting partner IDs are mapped into a single enrollment ID. Available from October 2021. |
| quantityType | Indicates the type of quantity. For example, MAU (monthly active users), Seats | For all incentive programs only. Available from October 2021. |
| quantityAlt | Alternate quantity value | Optionally available for incentive programs. For example, Modern Work usage. Available only from October 2023. |
| quantityAltType | Alternate quantity unit, for example, PAU (Paid available units) | Optionally available for incentive programs, for example, for Modern Work usage. Available only from October 2023. |
| compensableUnits | Compensable Units are calculated by subtracting the Prior HWM (High Water Mark) at the start of the month by Tenant/workload from the paid seats at the end of the month by Tenant/workload. For example, Compensable units by tenant and workload= Paid seats – Prior HWM. | Applicable for Microsoft Commerce Incentives – Modern Workplace Usage and Online Advisor. Available only from October 2023. |
August Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) monthly updates and community reminder
Monthly views are now published including the updated partner launch calendars, the CSP Bimonthly Update newsletter, along with additional CSP community resources that provide you with essential program updates.
- Date: August 9, 2023
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: CSP direct bill partners and indirect providers
Always available—launch content on demand
For a consolidated view of all recent and active launches in a single place, visit the partner launch calendars collection. You'll find a timeline for each launch and links to published materials to help you learn more about that launch.
The downloadable CSP Bimonthly Update newsletter, which aggregates recent CSP announcements, updates, events, and reminders in an easy-to-read document.
Partner Journey Maps provide detailed navigation along the journey of Microsoft's highest priority transformations.
Need licensing readiness? The monthly CSP spotlight webinars cover the latest CSP licensing information available for all partners.
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.
Register here to join upcoming calls.
Next steps
Review the Partner Launch Calendar, monthly newsletter, and register for upcoming Community Q&A calls.
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.
Questions on any other CSP topic? Visit the Partner Center support page.
Get customer insights for co-sell opportunities
Customer insights now available in the Deal details page for Co-sell opportunities within the Referrals workspace.
- Date: August 09, 2023
- Workspace: Referrals
- Impacted audience: Referral admins
The Referrals workspace in Partner Center now shows rich customer insights for Co-sell opportunities. From the workspace, select the Deal details tab > Insights.
The Insights panel shows you interesting insights such as Events attended, Interactions with Microsoft and Product usage. These insights can help you have better conversations during co-selling and improve your understanding of your customers. Try it out today, and share your feedback with us by selecting the Smiley icon on the top right corner of Partner Center.
Next steps
To learn more, see Insights co-sell opportunities.
Partner Center will display in a light or dark theme based on your browser settings
On August 21, 2023, Partner Center will use your local browser's settings to determine whether to display in a light or dark theme.
- Date: August 8, 2023
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: All Partner Center users
In Partner Center, Dark Mode will no longer be an option in the Settings menu. Partner Center will use your browser settings to determine whether to display pages in a light or dark theme. Dark themes are often easier on the eyes in low-light environments.
Next steps
Here's how to change the theme between light and dark modes in different browsers:
Changes to Incentives workspace – Overview and Program pages
Effective July 31, 2023, all program pages except Accelerated growth incentives and Online services usage – Microsoft 365 have been deprecated.
- Date: August 1, 2023
- Workspace: Incentives
- Impacted audience: Incentive users and Incentive admin
Program page updates
As communicated through banner, program pages have been deprecated for all incentive programs, with exception of Accelerated growth incentives and Online services usage – Microsoft 365. Programs navigation under the Incentives workspace has also been removed. Accelerated growth incentives and Online services usage – Microsoft 365 program pages can now be accessed only through the Incentives | Overview page by selecting the respective programs hyperlinks within the page.
- Partners who are used to selecting View claims on the respective program pages can directly navigate to the co-op management page in the Incentives workspace to see all past claims and create new claims. Effective August 11, 2023, partners can get the program specific co-op/claim views by selecting the program name hyperlink on all claims listed on the main page.
- Partners who are used to selecting View plans on the respective program pages can directly navigate to the plan management page in the Incentives workspace to view past plans and create and edit plans.
Overview page updates
As communicated through banner, the Incentives | Overview page has been modified.
- To remove earning and payment totals on the top, visit the Transaction history and Payment pages in the Payouts workspace.
- All program page links on the page redirect you to the Transaction history page with a program filter, except Accelerated growth incentives and Online services usage – Microsoft 365.
Next steps
Partners should sign in to Partner Center and visit the Incentives workspace to view the latest updates.
View the latest promotions and offers
The latest Global Promo Readiness Guide has now been published.
- Date: August 1, 2023
- Workspace: Pricing
- Impacted audience: Partners transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider program
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?
If you have questions, go to CSP Support.
Feedback
Coming soon: Throughout 2024 we will be phasing out GitHub Issues as the feedback mechanism for content and replacing it with a new feedback system. For more information see: https://aka.ms/ContentUserFeedback.
Submit and view feedback for