Category: Microsoft news

The Microsoft Partner Network is comprised of more than 400,000 global organizations and these partners are essential to how Microsoft delivers innovative products and services to customers around the world. This deep relationship between Microsoft and our partners spans more than 30 years, and in that time frame our partners have provided unique solutions across numerous industries, helping countless customers succeed in an ever-changing world. They especially have played a pivotal role in helping businesses adapt amidst the pandemic. As things continue to change and evolve, we are committed to investing in and delivering what partners need to innovate, grow their businesses and deliver on the promise of digital transformation for customers across organizations and industries.

To continue enabling partners — and by extension their customers — for success, we are focused on three major commitment areas:

• Strengthening our digital capability. We are providing well-defined guidelines and resources for partners across our digital experiences to navigate building solutions more effortlessly, going-to-market, and selling with Microsoft. By aligning partner experiences across the commercial marketplace, Partner Center, and the Microsoft Partner Network, we’re making it easier for everyone to engage and collaborate.
• Deepening partner technical capabilities. Equipping partners to better meet customer needs by investing in and accelerating our joint capability. We’re supporting partners on their readiness journeys by helping them gain advanced specializations and deep technical training across solution areas including business applications, Azure and security, compliance and identity. We’ve specifically committed to a 250% year-over-year (YOY) increase in spending in this area.
• Streamlining engagement between Microsoft and our partners. We are sharing more opportunities and enhancing the commercial marketplace as well as Partner Center, making it easier for partners to engage with us and drive profitability. In July 2021, for example, we lowered our marketplace transaction fee from 20% to 3% . Through these reductions, partners can invest even more deeply in their own growth plans.

The next step

Today, as a part of our investment in the cloud as a strategic lever for innovation and growth, and as a reflection of our continued commitment to partners, we are announcing that effective October 2022, we are changing the name of our partner program from “Microsoft Partner Network” to the “Microsoft Cloud Partner Program.”

This announcement is about more than a name; this change better reflects the enormous and ongoing transition of business operations to the cloud, and how Microsoft intends to support partners in the future. It aligns our partners’ go-to-market motions with the way customers buy today.

The Microsoft Cloud Partner Program is for all partners in our ecosystem, whether they build and sell services, software solutions or devices, and is focused on proficiency in six solution areas aligned with the Microsoft Cloud:

• Data & AI (Azure)
• Infrastructure (Azure)
• Digital & App Innovation (Azure)
• Business Applications
• Modern Work
• Security

We’re also evolving the way we categorize partner capability and measure success. To help customers better understand a partner’s capabilities, we’re offering two qualifying levels:

• The solutions partner level is a designation that is based on meeting specific requirements across what we call the partner capability score (see below) for each solution area.
• Specializations and expert programs will give solutions partners a way to differentiate their organizations and demonstrate deep technical expertise and experience in specific technical scenarios under each solution area.

These two designations clearly and immediately validate a partner’s capability to meet specific and evolving customer requirements and give customers an easier way to identify partners with technical capabilities, knowledge and a history of delivering innovative solutions in specific areas. They also provide a road map for helping build partner capability and guiding the way we invest in partners.

Investment in partner growth and success requires a robust, objective measurement of progress against a partner’s chosen solution areas. As noted above, to quantify that progress, we’ve developed the partner capability score, a holistic framework for measuring partner performance, skilling and customer success. The partner capability score evaluates a partner based on their certifications, added customers, successful deployments and overall growth.

To attain a solutions partner designation, partners will need to earn a partner capability score of at least 70 points (out of an available 100 points) across the four measurement areas. Starting today, all partners can access their dashboard in the Partner Center to see their progress toward a solutions partner designation.

Time to transition

We know change can take time, so we’re approaching the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program launch with considerable support for our partners, as well as ample time for them to adjust. The full timeline of changes can be found at this link.

Beyond gaining access to the previously mentioned dashboard, there are no immediate changes for partners. And prior to October 2022, there will be no impact to partners’ business or program status — including anniversary dates — and no reduction in benefits.

In fact, we are investing more in our benefits program to ensure that every partner has a chance to participate in the opportunity to grow and accelerate. We’re updating benefits to ensure that:

• Partners will be able to renew the benefits they’re currently using, while also taking advantage of new benefits packages customized to meet their unique needs based on their business focus.
• Partners will continue to receive internal use rights licenses (IURs), including on-premises licenses, cloud service subscriptions and Azure credits, although IURs will be now called “Product Benefits.”
• No partner’s incentive eligibility will change in the 2023 investments and incentives program year, which runs from October 2022 to September 2023.

During this time, we’ll also continue to recognize partner commitment and growth with programmatic incentives as part of our Microsoft Commercial Incentives program.

Accelerating partner growth

Customer needs are constantly evolving, which is why we are announcing this evolution now and preparing for the changes it will bring.

We’re excited to take this next step in the evolution of our ecosystem — putting customer value at the center of our continued partner investment. Visit the Microsoft partner website for more details about the announcement and what our partners and customers can expect.

Tags: Microsoft Cloud Partner Program, partners

When the final gavel came down on the 2022 Washington legislative session, lawmakers had made significant progress on issues vital to Washington’s future, taking the steps to satisfy our state’s immediate needs due to the pandemic while also dedicating efforts to long-term and foundational actions critical for Washington’s ongoing health and resilience. Lawmakers made significant investments in transportation, housing and education, but beyond the absolute size of those investments, they tackled these problems in new and innovative ways.

As the session began, Microsoft detailed its priorities for the 2022 legislative session. Two months later, we would like to highlight some of the significant actions taken on a number of these priorities, and how legislators’ actions represent an innovative, future-oriented perspective.

The commitment to make significant, additional investments in the state’s transportation infrastructure is a prime example. Included in the 16-year, nearly $17 billion transportation package was important funding to move forward with development of high-speed rail in the Cascadia region. There is $4 million to support continued planning for the system, including key issues like financing, governance and public engagement. There is also another $150 million to provide the state’s match to compete for federal funding intended to advance high-speed ground transportation projects such as Cascadia. This project will be a game-changer for generations to come, and Microsoft continues to be a strong proponent of the high-speed rail opportunity. We thank Senator Marko Liias for his leadership in championing the project in the legislature and Governor Inslee for his long-term support.

These investments will help move the high-speed rail concept forward from planning to a project development phase. The ability to reduce travel times between Vancouver, BC, Seattle and Portland will enable increased collaboration and innovation, expand job prospects, support access to more affordable housing, provide a climate-friendlier transportation alternative, and position the Pacific Northwest to assume a more prominent position in the global economy.

Transportation infrastructure has always been critical for economic growth and quality of life, and the rest of the package provides substantial funding to address safety, maintenance, and repair of our existing facilities, as well as important projects around the state. It reflects a lower-emissions vision of our transportation system, with significant new funding for transit services, ferries, busses, and bicycle and pedestrian trails. In 2021, Microsoft supported the Climate Commitment Act, which established a cap on carbon emissions and a revenue source for clean transportation. The resulting transportation plan utilizes those funds and, in so doing, realizes that vision for the first time and helps ensure that we can make progress with our sustainability and transportation goals through this meaningful approach.

Taken together, these crucial building blocks will pay many dividends: enabling workers to reach their jobs more easily; facilitating movement of materials and products around the region and across the state; and reducing congestion and the excess emissions it creates. Thank you to Transportation Committee Chairs Representative Jake Fey and Senator Marko Liias for their terrific leadership in assembling this groundbreaking package.

Just as transportation funding provided a major win for the people of Washington, we can also point to the legislature’s significant investments in addressing the state’s ongoing housing affordability and homelessness crises. Lawmakers took advantage of a healthy state budget and a strong revenue forecast to take bold action and set us on a course toward a future in which more people in our community have a stable place to call home.

The legislature committed more than $500 million in the capital budget to help reduce homelessness and provide affordable housing, including investments to rapidly acquire housing and shelter facilities, expand the state’s Housing Trust Fund, create crisis stabilization facilities and integrate housing and support services. Additionally, more than $200 million was appropriated in the supplemental operating budget for the remainder of this biennium to fund additional outreach and services to those experiencing chronic homelessness. This combination of facilities and services is critically important, as it enhances the prospects for successfully helping those experiencing chronic homelessness.

While the state is providing new resources, local initiatives are also underway to help solve the problem. Microsoft joined other business, government and community leaders in recognizing that a full return to a healthier economy and community can’t be achieved while so many of our neighbors are unhoused. As a part of the House Washington coalition, we urged lawmakers to prioritize affordable housing during the legislative session.

Microsoft also joined the Ballmer Group, Amazon, Starbucks and other local public, private and philanthropic partners to provide $10 million in seed funding for a new regional initiative called Partnership for Zero. This initiative will support the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in its efforts to dramatically reduce unsheltered homelessness in Seattle and King County. Innovative partnerships like this show our region’s ability to unite around shared goals. By continuing to work together, we can make housing more affordable and accessible for everyone, including those currently living in unsheltered or unsafe conditions.

These partnerships are all steps in the company’s ongoing commitment to finding workable affordable housing solutions, a commitment that includes Microsoft’s $750M Affordable Housing Initiative. The Initiative has already allocated $583 million towards the preservation and creation of approximately 9,200 housing units in the Puget Sound region.

The legislature also made investments in education to create greater opportunities for students and jobseekers. Thanks to the leadership of House College and Workforce Development Committee Chair Representative Vandana Slatter, the legislature made college more affordable and accessible by providing bridge grants to eligible Washington College Grant recipients to cover expenses beyond tuition and fees, such as transportation and books. They revised provisions of the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship to make it an option for more students, and provided state matching funds for these scholarships and the program’s Rural Jobs Initiative. Finally, the legislature increased capacity for high-demand degrees in fields like cybersecurity and computer science for students throughout the state. Taken together, all these moves help more Washington students acquire the skills they need for rewarding careers with Washington employers.

The 2022 legislative session was pivotal in Washington state’s ongoing effort to create a more accessible, equitable and prosperous region for everyone who lives here. Microsoft will continue working with our elected leaders and other stakeholders on these and other pressing needs, like the creation of a workable data privacy statute that provides strong protections to consumers while not stifling innovation by local employers.

Washington is poised for a bright future, but we must continue working together to ensure that all Washingtonians benefit from the prosperity that our state achieves. We look forward to remaining an active contributor in that process.

Tags: affordable housing, Affordable Housing Initiative, Cascadia Corridor, education, Puget Sound region, sustainability, transportation, Washington state

Five years ago, today – March 14, 2017 – marked an exciting milestone for our customers, partners, and employees with the general availability of Microsoft Teams. We started with a unique point-of-view learning from Microsoft’s experience building communication and collaboration tools and from customer feedback on our products and those across the industry. Brian MacDonald and a small, passionate team started with an internal hackathon project and created a new application building on cloud services across Microsoft. As the project evolved to where groups could use it all day long for their work, the team iterated quickly based on feedback – first from inside Microsoft and then with customers and partners in 2016. Every hour around the world data and insights from customers of all sizes flowed into the product development team – all using channels, meetings, and documents in Teams of course – to help us drive to make the product better. And still does to this day. Teams transformed how we work to help you transform how you work.

Even in the first few months after release, it was clear the unique combination of async and sync collaboration in a single product was resonating. Over twenty million people used Microsoft Teams daily in the first two years, which was unprecedented for business software at the time. I was excited about Brian’s vision and partnered with him and the Teams leaders closely during this intense start-up phase. We worked to blend communications and content collaboration more seamlessly than ever before. We exposed an application model for partners to build workflows and solutions where users were spending time to simplify business processes. We embraced the community who had come with us to the cloud in Microsoft 365 as Teams became the hero application connecting the Microsoft Cloud. When Brian announced his retirement in January 2020, I was flattered to take on leadership for Microsoft Teams and evolve the communications and content management capabilities in Teams + SharePoint together into an even better platform for work. The Teams leadership has scaled well, and Brian continues to be a source of numerous great product ideas.

In March 2020, we all faced the crisis of a global pandemic. Across Microsoft, we were humbled by the challenges and uncertainty. We moved as fast – scaling to millions of cores from Azure to support the Teams services, adding dozens of features to improve our meetings experiences, and iterating with numerous stakeholders on our guidance for remote work. In the first three months after COVID-19, the Teams product team met with over 900 customers to hear their experiences and feedback. The team worked tirelessly on security, reliability, scalability, performance, and functionality. It has been a privilege in an unexpected time for the world to deliver a solution that would help schools, hospitals, governments, businesses, and more continue their mission at a vital time. The work customers did to support their colleagues and organizations and our product team did to support them inspires me to be curious, learn, and make the experience even better every day. During this time, Microsoft Teams grew 10X and we recently announced we have reached 270 million monthly active users. Consistent with Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and organization on the planet, we recently introduced tailored versions of Microsoft Teams for personal use with Windows 11 and for very small businesses with Teams Essentials. Thank you for the bet you made on us during this critical period. We don’t take it for granted. I am incredibly excited about the pipeline we have for Microsoft Teams – from simplicity and performance improvements to new ways to work across organizations with Teams Connect to innovative new experience built on Teams like Microsoft Viva and Microsoft Mesh and much more. Stay tuned. The best is yet to come.

Together mode

I want to close with a special thank you and call-to-action to our community – spanning customers, partners, and MVPs. You have inspired us to do our best work. Your feedback shapes our priorities – from meeting layouts to platform features to admin controls and more – in every part and every level of the Microsoft Teams organization. So today, as we celebrate the 5th anniversary of the general availability of Microsoft Teams, we want to pause and say, “Thank you!”. You have bet your productivity, organizations, and careers on us – and we’re humbled by this. Together, as I’ve said many times before, you network and learn from each other as we strive to make Microsoft 365 the best community in technology. Thank you for betting on us and your continued feedback and support of each other.

Learn more about how Microsoft Teams transformed our employee experience via this Inside Track post from Keshav Puttaswamy and Claire Sisson from Microsoft Digital.

Twitter: @Microsoft365, @MicrosoftTeams, and @MSFTAdoption.