Understanding solution areas and solution plays

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We've introduced two new fields in the co-sell opportunity creation experience, both for IP co-sell and Services co-sell opportunities: Solution area and Solution play. Microsoft seller-initiated opportunities also have the Solution area and solution play fields filled in to help partners in opportunity sizing and qualification whenever they're present.

For the newly introduced flow for Services co-sell partners, these fields are mandatory to create a co-sell opportunity. For IP co-sell partners, these fields are optional.

Identify the appropriate solution area and solution play for a given opportunity to help the appropriate Microsoft Sales team engage with the opportunity and deliver a successful customer outcome. You can also use the same fields to better qualify opportunities for inbound deals from Microsoft.

Solution areas

Microsoft solution areas are your greatest opportunity to scale to meet customer needs and the best way for customers to identify your capabilities. There are six solution areas:

  • Business Applications
  • Data and AI
  • Digital and App Innovation
  • Infrastructure
  • Modern Workplace and Surface
  • Security

To learn more about solution areas, see Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program by solution areas.

Solution plays

We've also created more granular solution plays for each solution area, which each have associated sales techniques and go-to-market (GTM) motions to ensure customer success. Go-to-market solution plays group Microsoft technologies into customer-centric solutions to help focus your sales efforts on key personas and business outcomes. Use these frameworks to drive impactful digital transformation and focus discussions around what matters most to your customers.

To learn more about the available solution plays for each solution area, see the FY24 Solution areas playbook.

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