October 2023 announcements

  • Article

This page provides the announcements for Microsoft Partner Center for October 2023.

New commercial marketplace customer documentation experience

Announcing a brand new experience with scenario-centric content for customers to self-serve and access information about the commercial marketplace.

  • Date: October 30, 2023
  • Workspace: Customers, marketplace
  • Impacted audience: All partners

The new commercial marketplace customer documentation experience includes scenario-based content for customers to access essential information about the marketplace, including:

  • Benefits of transacting through the marketplace
  • Driving custom deals using private offers
  • Maintaining governance and control using a private Azure Marketplace
  • Using Microsoft Cost Management to track marketplace purchases

Customers can also find answers to frequently asked questions and recommendations on topics like governance and control, enterprise procurement, and transacting under a cloud consumption commitment.

Partners can guide customers to this new resource when inquiries about the marketplace arise or when customers seek self-service for discovering, customizing, or purchasing solutions through the marketplace.

Next steps

Monthly update: What's new for Solutions Partner designations, specializations, and other program offerings and 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: October 27, 2023
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: Partners enrolled in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Here's a look at what's coming.

Solutions Partner for Training Services Partner designation update | Performance reports in Partner Center

Microsoft has announced the introduction of a new Solutions Partner for Training Services Partner designation. This new designation will be available based on criteria such as the number of learners trained, certifications purchased, and the quality and capability of training across Microsoft solution areas.

Starting from mid-November 2023, partners who are part of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program will have access to their performance reports for the Solutions Partner for Training Services Partner designation in the Partner Center. This will allow partners to assess their performance against the criteria and start working toward earning the designation, which will be fully available in early 2024.

Note

Full access to this designation and all benefits and badges will be available starting early 2024.

Specializations - Upcoming Year 2 renewals

This is the second year of the annual review of the specialization's requirements. For those that enrolled in the specialization prior to 2023, there are some other aspects to this review that you should be aware of to plan accordingly.

  • Azure specializations: An audit will be required before you can renew your enrollment. These audits will be the same as the ones undergone to originally enroll.

  • Modern Work or Security specializations: You'll be required to submit new customer references for review.

    For more information, review the Partner Center specializations overview.

Reminders

Here's what to know about Solutions Partner designations and benefits for Fiscal Year 2024:

  • Legacy benefits continue to be available to partners who held a legacy competency on September 30, 2022. If your legacy benefits expired after October 2022 and you don't have an active benefit kit through a Solutions Partner designation, you're still eligible to renew your legacy benefits. Visit Partner Center offers to renew your legacy benefits.
  • It's also important to note that the qualification window for Solutions Partner designations has been extended. This change allows for fluctuations in your partner capability score, giving you time to adjust and visibility into your renewal status. Check your qualification statuses in the Partner Center membership workspace.

Next steps

Referral activity history in Partner Center

We’ve added a history panel to the referrals Deal details page.

  • Date: October 25, 2023
  • Workspace: Referrals
  • Impacted audience: Referral admins

We’ve enabled a history of the workflow events and updates to referrals in Partner Center. This is available on the Deal details page near the workflow section via the View history button.

Note

The View history button is only shown for referrals that have activities going forward.

So, the next time you want to know if a seller has accepted an outbound deal, or if you want to know when it was marked as "won," open up the View history panel to see a timeline view of the changes.

Next steps

  • Check out the View history panel within the Deal details page of a referral.

Customer account data quality enhancements

To improve vetting data quality, new validation checks are being introduced in the Customers workspace to ensure correct customer information is being provided.

  • Date: October 25, 2023
  • Workspace: Customers, APIs
  • Impacted audience: Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program participants who are indirect providers or direct bill partners

CSP partners who use this experience will observe these data quality changes in effect beginning December 6, 2023. Manage customers APIs will continue to accept previous contract values through December 5, 2023.

These data quality rules affect new and existing customer accounts created in Partner Center portal and via API.

  • Data quality rules are applied to all new customer accounts upon creation.
  • When a partner updates the customer name or billing profile details, the customer is revetted. Revetting typically takes three days or less. During vetting, new purchases on behalf of the customer are suspended. Purchasing on behalf of your customer can be resumed upon successful verification.

Details

Detailed validation information for customer accounts is available via Microsoft Learn Partner Center documentation (see Next Steps). Some key validation changes follow (This is not a comprehensive list).

  • Customer first, middle, and last name

    • Customer first and last name fields can't only include placeholder terms such as: admin/administrator, test/tester, developer, N/A, or none
    • Length of name fields can't exceed 40 characters

  • Organization or company name

    • Organization name can't exceed 220 characters
    • Domain extensions shouldn't be included in the organization's name

Next steps

Now available: Reactivate an Azure subscription from Partner Center portal and API

Partners have been able to cancel an Azure subscription from either the Partner Center portal or the Partner Center API when a customer subscription is compromised. To help with business continuity, we've released a feature for CSP partners to help you reactivate Azure subscriptions after the customer has successfully addressed the issue.

  • Date: October 25, 2023
  • Workspace: Customers
  • Impacted audience: Direct-bill partners and indirect providers

In November 2022, we announced that Partner Center enabled Global admins with Admin agent roles the ability to Cancel Azure subscriptions from the Partner Center portal.

In December 2022, we announced that partners could use APIs to Cancel an Azure subscription.

This capability enables partners with customer Azure subscriptions to have more control in the event of compromise or abuse. It also enables partners to cancel the Azure subscriptions and the Azure plan directly from the Partner Center, shutting down suspicious activity discovered in their Azure plan subscriptions.

Now, partners can reactivate an Azure subscription using the API after the issue is mitigated and the threat actor is evicted from the compromised tenant. Partners can also reactivate through the Partner Center portal. Once the subscriptions are reactivated, they show up as Active Azure subscriptions.

Next steps

Review the Azure management documentation to find out how to take advantage of this new capability:

Update on changes to Microsoft 365 and Teams licensing in Europe

Changes to Microsoft 365 and Teams licensing in Europe beginning on October 1, 2023.

  • Date: October 20, 2023
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Direct Bill Partners, CSP Indirect Resellers, CSP Indirect Providers, Licensing Solution Provider

UPDATE: Effective October 1, 2023, we're offering a new lineup of Microsoft 365, Office 365, and Microsoft Teams SKUs in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. This lineup provides customers with the option of purchasing Teams separately from Microsoft 365 and Office 365. Existing Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 suites should no longer be sold to net new customers in the EEA or Switzerland. As we work to ensure a smooth transition for customers, some backend processes might be delayed (for example, removal from price lists and catalog). The policy that existing suites shouldn't be sold to net new customers after October 1 remains the same.

Microsoft is making important changes to the licensing and availability of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams in the EEA and Switzerland. We're making these changes in response to feedback from the European Commission (EC). We believe that this new licensing approach takes meaningful steps to address the EC's feedback while limiting disruption for customers and partners.

What's changing?

Starting on October 1, 2023, we'll introduce a new lineup of commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites in the EEA and Switzerland that don't include Teams, and a new standalone Teams offering for Enterprise customers. Existing customers in the EEA and Switzerland who wish to continue using the suites to which they have already subscribed can continue to use, renew, and add seats to their current plans as usual. This new lineup will:

  • Introduce new EEA/Switzerland-specific suites without Teams, which will be named the same as the full suites plus "EEA (no Teams)."

  • Introduce a new EEA-specific standalone Teams SKU for Enterprise: Microsoft Teams EEA

  • End the sale of net-new subscriptions to all existing Enterprise SKUs with Teams (Office 365 E1/E3/E5 and Microsoft 365 E3/E5) in the EEA and Switzerland

  • Continue to offer existing SMB and Frontline suites with Teams (Business Basic/Standard/Premium, Microsoft 365 F1, Microsoft 365 F3, Office 365 F3) alongside the new versions without Teams.

To learn more, see the full breakdown of SKU and price changes.

Consult the FAQ document and partner guidance deck on the Teams in EU partner web site to learn more about the changes. There's a short training video available to help you learn how to talk about this change to your EEA and Swiss customers.

Read the full details in the licensing blog and the public announcement.

Next steps

  • Read the FAQ document and partner guidance deck on the Teams in EU partner web site to understand the changes.

  • Watch the short training video to learn how to talk about this change to customers.

  • Read the full licensing details, and the public announcement.

Questions?

For questions not addressed in the FAQ, or to receive clarification on pricing, offer availability and upgrades, migrations and conversions, create a support request in Partner Center.

New commerce launch and migration timeline for Cloud Solution Provider Government Community Cloud, education, and nonprofit legacy offers

Update on new commerce launch and migration timeline for Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Government Community Cloud, education, and nonprofit legacy offers.

  • Date: October 18, 2023
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: CSP Direct Bill and Indirect Resellers, Indirect Providers

In July, Microsoft announced that CSP legacy Public Sector offers for Government Community Cloud, education and nonprofit would be available in CSP new commerce in November 2023. However, we have received feedback from partners that making system changes at the end of the calendar year would be difficult. As a result, we have adjusted the timeline.

Microsoft will launch CSP public sector offers in the new commerce system starting January 1, 2024. To give partners time to adjust to this change, Microsoft-led migration of public sector offers will begin starting July 1, 2024. We'll share the full launch and migration plan in mid-November 2023.

Next steps

Familiarize yourself with migration resources. Additional information will be shared in mid-November.

Monthly update: Important actions partners need to take to secure the partner ecosystem

Important capabilities and updates to improve your security posture and protect your customers' tenants are now available.

  • Date: October 18, 2023
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: Direct bill partners, indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program and with advisors.

From training opportunities to digital marketing campaigns - here's how we're helping partners improve security capabilities as well as land new customers!

Milestones reminder

  • Transitioning delegated admin privileges (DAP) relationships to granular delegated admin privileges (GDAP) roles: Microsoft has completed the creation of GDAP relationships as part of Microsoft-led DAP to GDAP transition and has begun DAP removal.

    • Learn more about the Microsoft-led transition from DAP to GDAP related to this milestone.

    • Validate the newly created GDAP relationship and create a new GDAP relationship with the necessary Microsoft Entra roles in case you require additional roles to manage customers.

  • Creating new customers: Default GDAP is now available. Partners must explicitly grant granular permissions to security groups in the Default GDAP.

    • DAP is no longer available with reseller relationships. The updated Request Reseller Relationship link will continue to be available in Partner Center UI and the API contract "/v1/customers/relationship requests" property URL will continue to return the invitation URL to be sent to the admin of the customer tenant.

    • The bulk migration tool is available through the end of November 2023. You can continue to create and apply GDAP templates in Microsoft 365 Lighthouse beyond this date, and a consent link will be generated to provide to customers.

Partners should continue:

Available now

DAP to GDAP parity feature update:

Coming soon

  • GDAP auto extend feature: Starting October 30, 2023, partners will be able to auto extend new or existing GDAPs by 6 months.

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 queries answered by subject matter experts.

  • Find guidance and resources in securing the partner and customer ecosystems partner readiness gallery.

  • Review the journey map to navigate the transformational journey for partners to Zero Trust.

October 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 other CSP community resources that provide you with essential program updates.

  • Date: October 10, 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. See a timeline for each launch and links to published materials to help you learn more about that launch.

Check out the downloadable CSP Bimonthly Update newsletter that 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.

Azure savings plan is now available in Partner Center sandbox

We have enabled the ability for Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners to purchase Azure savings plans in the sandbox environment.

  • Date: October 11, 2023
  • Workspace: Customers
  • Impacted audience: Direct bill partners, indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the CSP program

On June 15, 2023, Azure savings plan became available in Partner Center. As of October 11, 2023, CSP partners can purchase savings plans in sandbox for integration testing through the Partner Center portal and APIs. For customers who already have an Azure plan, Azure savings plans are discoverable in the Browse view of the catalog.

Next steps

Now Live: Transactability of Business Central apps to AppSource

Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partners can publish their Dynamics 365 Business Central transactable apps to the Microsoft AppSource marketplace.

  • Date: October 10, 2023
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: ISV partners of Business Central

Business Central partners can now create offers with priced plans in Partner Center and list them on AppSource, enabling customers to purchase licenses through Microsoft's commerce engine. This allows partners to opt out of managing their own purchases and licensing solutions, and lean on Microsoft for app licensing and customer management needs. This capability has been running in public preview since February 2023 and will be generally available from October 9, 2023.

Microsoft partners can grow their business globally through the commercial marketplace. The new release simplifies sales, offers two selling methods (one-to-many via AppSource and one-to-one via private deals), allows migration of current commerce business to save infrastructure costs, and helps attract new customers through AppSource's reach.

Your customers can solve all their business challenges in one place, with one invoice, through one trusted source—the commercial marketplace, which can include the products you sell on AppSource.

Next steps

Questions?

For more information, view the resource listed in the previous section. If you have any questions, submit a support ticket via the Partner Center Support page.

Surface PC Partners can now review assessment-related insights on the Surface insights summary page

  • Date: October 9, 2023
  • Workspace: Insights
  • Impacted audience: Surface PC partners

This new feature in the Surface insights summary page helps you see all individual users across the Partner Global ID who have completed the Surface related assessments. This new widget has two pivots that display details across the new and old lists of assessments. The table lists individual level details, and the chart displays the overall count for each assessment. The data displayed in the table includes data from individuals across the Partner Global ID with their name, email, course completion date and the course name.

Next steps

To learn more about how to use the new feature, see Surface Insights summary

Now live: Earnings workspace in Partner Center

The new Earnings workspace is now available in Partner Center.

  • Date: October 5, 2023
  • Workspace: Earnings
  • Impacted audience: All partners who use Partner Center to view earnings and payouts, such as Incentives Administrators and Incentives Users for the incentive programs and Account Owner/Financial contributors for store and marketplace programs.

The new Earnings workspace is now generally available in Partner Center. It features a fresh look and feel, improved page usability, faster downloads, and a customer-centric view of revenue, usage, earnings, and payment. To learn more, see Earnings overview.

Highlighting the benefits of each page

Earnings page: View and download earnings, payments insights and associated transactional details.

  • Earnings summary: View the top 50 earning customers and the payments, or by program/engagement/levers. Tailor the view by applying filters for a specific solution area, program, or payment. Download views instantly. Search for any customer, not just top 50.
  • Payment summary: Partners can apply time filters and view payments for the chosen period only. Partners can filter by Payment month or Payment ID. Partners can directly click on Payment ID in the Payment summary view to filter the whole page and only show Earning insights for that payment.
  • Marketplace: You can download the Earnings – Marketplace file to get only attributes specific to marketplace. Store users can use the Earnings – Store file to get only attributes specific to store.
  • Page filters: Enhanced to enable better dissection of Microsoft commerce incentives - Solution Area and Partner role.
  • Earnings-Default: Has brand new attributes that will help with better reconciliation.

Revenue page: Understand the eligibility of revenue or usage used to compute Microsoft commerce incentives program.

  • Revenue KPIs/Insights: Distinct eligible and ineligible revenue for incentives. Top 50 customers distinct revenue distribution with ability to look up any customer. Downloadable aggregated summary of the key details that helps partners with revenue reconciliation with ability to search by any customer ID, name, or subscription ID.
  • Usage Insights: Top 50 highest monthly active usage-based customers. Downloadable aggregated summary of the key details that helps partners with usage reconciliation with ability to search by any customer ID, name, or subscription id (where applicable).

Reports page: Central download hub where you can initiate new downloads or save completed downloads.

Note

  • If you used the Payouts workspace, you auto-inherited access to the Earnings workspace without any disruption.
  • Be aware that the previous pages related to Payouts workspace will be accessible for a few weeks as links from the new pages to help partners in the transition.
  • There are no changes to the download schema or API.
  • The workspace and page updates do not imply any earning/payment policy changes.

Until the end of October 2023, certain sections of Partner Center will still carry references to the Payouts workspace in the areas listed below. Note it will not affect how you assign users/manage permissions or affect your activities related to this workspace.

  • Account Settings
  • Action Center
  • Email notifications about your payment

Next steps

Questions?

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

Delayed until November 2023: Enterprise IoT protection included with Microsoft 365 E5

Microsoft Defender for IoT – Enterprise IoT protection will be included with Microsoft 365 E5 subscriptions and available as a per device add-on for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 customers to purchase in Partner Center by November 2023.

  • Date: October 3, 2023
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: Direct bill partners, indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program

On September 1, 2023, Partners were given a price list preview that showed:

  • A new SKU: Microsoft Defender for IoT – EIoT Device License – add-on
  • Information explaining that Microsoft Defender for IoT - Enterprise IoT protection would be included in Microsoft 365 E5 and E5 Security plans for up to 5 eIoT devices per user subscription.

Both items mentioned above were expected to be generally available to customers and partners via Partner Center in October 2023. Due to a slight delay, a decision was made to postpone the launch until November 1, 2023. The Microsoft Defender for IoT – EIoT Device License – add-on SKU currently appears on the Partner Center price list as purchasable, however we ask that you don't purchase this SKU until November 1, 2023.

  • Microsoft Defender for IoT – EIoT Device License - add-on: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 customers can get real-time device discovery, continuous monitoring, and vulnerability management capabilities for eIoT devices licensed per device.

Next steps

  • Disregard/do not purchase the Microsoft Defender for IoT – EIoT Device License – add-on SKU for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 customers until November 1, 2023.
  • Inform customers that Microsoft Defender for IoT – Enterprise IoT protection won't be available in Microsoft 365 E5 and E5 Security SKUs until November 1, 2023.
  • Share with customers interested in purchasing Microsoft 365 E5 and E5 Security SKUs before November 1, 2023, that Microsoft Defender for IoT – Enterprise IoT protection will be backfilled to those SKUs by the end of November should they desire to purchase Microsoft 365 E5 or E5 Security SKUs before November 1, 2023.

The unit price in the reconciliation data now shows the price based on the usage tiers

We're excited to announce that our reconciliation data now includes a new feature that shows the unit price based on the usage tiers. This enhancement provides our customers with a more accurate representation of their costs and allows for better financial planning. Reconciliation data plays a pivotal role in helping you understand your consumption and billing. It's the key to ensure you're charged accurately for the resources you use. One important element within this data is the unit price.

  • Date: October 3, 2023
  • Workspace: Billing
  • Impacted audience: All global partners who have customers with Azure plan subscriptions

The unit price in the reconciliation data shows the price based on the usage tiers. But what exactly are usage tiers, and why do they matter?

Usage tiers are a way of pricing your consumption services based on the amount you consume. They help ensure fairness in billing, while accommodating the varying needs of our diverse customer base.

Here's how it works:

  • Tier structure: Usage tiers are typically structured into multiple levels. The more you consume, the higher the tier you fall into.
  • Pricing variations: Each tier has a different unit price. The unit price can increase or decrease as you move into higher tiers.

Example:

Let's say you're using “Log Analytics - Pay-as-you-go” product. The first tier might cover up to five units at a lower unit price. If your usage exceeds that initial threshold, you enter the second tier with a slightly higher unit price, and so on, for subsequent tiers.

ProductID SKUID SKU title Unit of measure Currency Unit price Pricing tier range min Pricing tier range max
DZH318Z0BQD2 003J Log analytics - Pay-as-you-go - EU West 1 GB USD 0 1 5
DZH318Z0BQD2 003J Log analytics - Pay-as-you-go - EU West 1 GB USD 2.99 6 9223372036854780000
How does it show in the reconciliation data today?

Let's assume you purchased the “Log analytics - Pay-as-you-go - EU West” product for one of your customers. At the end of the billing period, you used 37 units of this product. In your reconciliation file, you see two lines for it.

  • One line shows the usage and cost of the first tier with a price adjustment description of ["15.0% Partner earned credit for services managed", "100.0% Tier 1 Discount"].
  • The other line shows the cost and usage for the second tier with the price adjustment description of ["15.0% Partner earned credit for services managed"].

However, in both lines, the unit price is displayed as the base tier or the first-tier unit price, which is 2.99.

ProductID SKUID AvailabilityID SkuName UnitPrice Quantity Subtotal TaxTotal Total PriceAdjustmentDescription SubscriptionID EffectiveUnitPrice BillableQuantity
DZH318Z0BQD2 003J DZH318Z0B5DK Log analytics - Pay-as-you-go - EU West 2.99 1 0 0 0 ["15.0% Partner earned credit for services managed","100.0% Tier 1 Discount"] 92e68872-582e-4783-d1fc-59e6dc43eab0 0 5
DZH318Z0BQD2 003J DZH318Z0B5DK Log analytics - Pay-as-you-go - EU West 2.99 1 81.33 0 81.33 ["15.0% Partner earned credit for services managed"] 92e68872-582e-4783-d1fc-59e6dc43eab0 2.5415 32
How will it show in the reconciliation data after the change?

However, after the modification, the reconciliation file are more streamlined and will display as follows:

  • The first line shows the unit price as zero based on the tier.
  • The second line shows the unit price as 2.99 based on the tier. The descriptions for the price adjustments are also updated since the tier adjustments are applied to the unit price. Therefore, only the adjustments related to partner earned credit are shown.
ProductID SKUID AvailabilityID SkuName UnitPrice Quantity Subtotal TaxTotal Total PriceAdjustmentDescription SubscriptionID EffectiveUnitPrice BillableQuantity
DZH318Z0BQD2 003J DZH318Z0B5DK Log analytics - Pay-as-you-go - EU West 0 1 0 0 0 ["15.0% Partner earned credit for services managed"] 92e68872-582e-4783-d1fc-59e6dc43eab0 0 5
DZH318Z0BQD2 003J DZH318Z0B5DK Log analytics - Pay-as-you-go - EU West 2.99 1 81.33 0 81.33 ["15.0% Partner earned credit for services managed"] 92e68872-582e-4783-d1fc-59e6dc43eab0 2.5415 32
How do you interpret your reconciliation data?

When you review your reconciliation data, review the unit price based on usage tiers. Two pointers:

  • Tier level: Identify which tier your consumption falls into. The unit price for each tier should be clearly indicated in your reconciliation data.
  • Accurate billing: Ensure that your consumption and the associated unit price align with your expectations. If you have questions or concerns, reach out to our customer support team for clarification.
Known limitation

No limitations are known.

Benefits

With the addition of the unit price based on different usage tiers, you enjoy the following advantages:

  • A complete overview of your expenses and the ability to make well-informed decisions regarding the resource allocation
  • The power to optimize their usage and effectively manage costs
  • Improved accuracy and reliability of the information provided

We're confident that this enhancement will greatly benefit our partners and contribute to your overall satisfaction with our services.

Next steps

This feature is expected to be introduced in the calendar year 2024. Currently, we don't have a set timeline, but once it's confirmed, we'll update you 60 days in advance.

However, for now, prioritize the following activities to ensure a smooth change management process:

  • Make any necessary internal adjustments to your reconciliation process for handling customer invoices.
  • Inform your development and operation teams about the change and ensure they're aware of the necessary adaptations to the process.

We're dedicated to constantly improving our platform and providing our partners with efficient tools and insights. We value your feedback and suggestions to further enhance our services. Don't hesitate to share your thoughts.

View the latest promotions and offers

The latest Global Promo Readiness Guide has now been published.

  • Date: October 2, 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.

New annual revenue requirement for CSP indirect resellers

Starting in April 2024, indirect resellers must have a minimum revenue amount to remain authorized to transact as Cloud Solution Providers.

  • Date: October 02, 2023
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: CSP Indirect Resellers and Indirect Providers

Beginning April 1, 2024, existing Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) indirect resellers must have a minimum of USD1000 in trailing 12 months (TTM) CSP revenue (including Perpetual Software) at the reseller tenant level in each of the CSP regions in which they sell. The revenue requirement must be met annually, on the reseller's tenant onboarding anniversary date, for the reseller to remain authorized to transact as a CSP.

This requirement applies only to CSP indirect reseller tenants that have been authorized for at least one year.

The new requirement is the latest in a series of steps by Microsoft to accelerate revenue growth and upgrade the sales and product expertise, solutions and services delivery, compliance, security protocols, and support skills of CSP partners.

Starting in January 2024, indirect resellers and their indirect provider(s) will be notified 90 days in advance of reseller's onboarding anniversary month if the indirect reseller isn't meeting the revenue requirement, enabling the indirect reseller and their indirect provider(s) to work together to meet the requirement.

Both the indirect reseller and their indirect provider(s) will be sent an enforcement notification during the indirect reseller's onboarding anniversary month informing them that the reseller will be deauthorized from selling with indirect providers if the indirect reseller has less than USD1000 in TTM CSP revenue associated with the reseller's tenant. After deauthorization, the reseller must wait at least one year before reenrolling for indirect reseller status.

Next steps

  • Indirect resellers should connect with their indirect provider(s) to work together on meeting the revenue requirement by April 1, 2024.
  • Learn more about the minimum indirect reseller revenue requirement.
  • Microsoft will provide guidance to resellers on how to confirm their TTM revenue in advance of enforcement.

Questions?

Review the page on revenue requirement for CSP indirect resellers.

Referral Inbound routing rules page has moved

We've moved the Inbound routing rules page into the Referrals workspace from Account settings for easier co-sell configuration.

  • Date: October 2, 2023
  • Workspace: Referrals
  • Impacted audience: Referrals admins

The Routing rules page has now been moved into the Co-sell section of the Referrals workspace to make it easier to access and configure rules for large partner organizations. Routing rules are used to send referrals from Microsoft sellers to different locations within the Partner organization automatically. Until October 30, both pages will be accessible to Partners. Learn more at Create and manage inbound opportunities routing rules - Partner Center.

Introducing Town halls in Microsoft Teams and retiring Microsoft Teams Live Events

Introducing Town halls, a new virtual event experience that will replace Teams Live Events and will be generally available starting October 5, 2023.

  • Date: October 2, 2023
  • Workspace: Customers
  • Impacted audience: Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) and Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) partners

We're excited to announce the introduction of the new Town halls in Microsoft Teams, how they're replacing Teams Live Events, and what this means for commercial customers.

Introducing Town halls in Microsoft Teams

We're introducing Town halls in Microsoft Teams, a new experience to host and deliver large-scale, internal events to create connections across an organization. Town halls will provide a one-to-many format with advanced production capabilities and a structured approach for attendee engagement. With Town halls, customers can host various types of internal and external events including companywide Town halls, all hands, global team meetings, internal broadcasts, fireside chats, and more. Town halls in Microsoft Teams enable customers to extend their reach to scale their message and connect with audiences around the world; create professionally produced, studio-quality events that deliver a more dynamic experience; and structure and manage audience engagement to maximize participation and maintain focus on the event.

Teams Live Events retirement

With the introduction of Town halls, Teams Live Events will be retired for commercial customers on September 30, 2024. This provides your commercial customers with a 12-month window to prepare for the retirement and transition off Teams Live Events. Between now and September 2024, customers can continue to use Teams Live Events with no change in their existing experience. After September 30, 2024, Teams Live Events will no longer be supported, and access will be discontinued. Your customers won't be able to schedule, start, or join any events on Teams Live Events after this date.

Licensing requirements

Anyone with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5/A3/A5 can create Town halls with basic functionality if you have access to Teams. To access advanced functionality within Town halls, meeting organizers must have a Teams Premium license.

EA/EAS
Product family Description SKU
Teams Premium Teams Premium Introductory Pricing Sub Per User WFI-00005
CSP
Offer name Product ID
Teams Premium Introductory Pricing CFQ7TTC0RM8K

Next steps

  • For full details, refer to the public announcement.
  • Also, start sharing the news about Town halls coming to Teams and the plans for retiring Teams Live Events with your customers to prepare them for the transition.

Resources

To learn more about Town halls and what your customers can expect, review these resources:

Questions?

For any questions, contact your Partner Development Manager.