Microsoft AI Cloud Partners Get New Designations, Benefits, More
Julie Sanford and Nicole Dezen offer a State of the Partner Ecosystem update as AI demand soars.
![Microsoft AI cloud program enhancements Microsoft AI cloud program enhancements](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/bltb43ef2156d04dcbd/6537c31e0f70c63c395048f7/8-AI-Cloud.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
JLStock/Shutterstock
Microsoft Azure AI has seen a nearly 250% increase in the number of generative-AI related partner transactions over the past eight months, Dezen said.
That brings to more than 13,000 the number of partners working with Microsoft Azure AI, serving more than 53,000 customers with just generative AI, she noted. And the Microsoft AI Transformation Partner Playbook now has more than 35,000 downloads.
![Microsoft's Nicole Dezen Microsoft's Nicole Dezen](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt4dc33db2e85cbe4d/65241a843cec84131c049fe0/Dezen-Nicole_Microsoft.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Microsoft's Nicole Dezen
All in all, the momentum, for Microsoft, means that it’s time to up the ante.
In a “year of exponential innovation and growth for partners, … we are continuing to find new ways to support this growth curve,” Dezen said.
What does that look like? The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program soon will feature the following updates:
More AI training, boot camps, events.
New benefits packages with product enhancements including Microsoft 365 developer, increased Azure credits, and Visual Studio enterprise.
New designations for partners.
Dezen said the rapid innovation around AI is leading to more demand for partner expertise in pre-sales and technical roles. As such, Microsoft will host a variety of Azure AI-focused workshops, boot camps and training sessions.
Microsoft is even going old-school, offering on-the-ground training in six cities through June.
“There was a huge request around more in-person skilling,” Sanford said.
Those events will take place in India, California, Germany, Japan and Brazil — though the first, in India, already happened with 1,500 attendees.
Most Microsoft AI partners probably already know this, but the company in January debuted three new benefits packages, Dezen said in her State of the Partner Ecosystem update.
The packages — Partner Launch Benefits, Partner Success Core Benefits and Partner Success Expanded Benefits — all target partners at different stages of growth. Microsoft said they’re available for purchase at a “significant” discount.
Partners can expect assistance with crafting AI solutions, taking them to market and making them stand out. Beyond that, partners can pursue different designations and specializations to further differentiate themselves, Dezen said.
Before we get into the new ways partners can specialize with Microsoft Azure AI, check out some more numbers:
Microsoft has seen 58% growth since July 2023 in partner designations for Azure Data and AI solutions.
Microsoft has seen 172% growth in partner specializations for the Build and Modernize AI apps with Azure, AI and machine learning designations.
To keep things rolling, Microsoft Azure AI created the Solutions Partner track with certified software designations. Sanford, for her part, is most excited about these debuts. Regardless of a partner’s business model, she told Channel Futures, these designations provide “the opportunity for partners to expand their current business models more and more.”
Of course, partners must be part of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. From there, they choose either the solution areas pathway or the industry AI pathway (or, if opting for industry AI, both).
The former requires meeting criteria around readiness, technical know-how and customer success in areas including Azure, business apps, modern work and security. The latter means meeting all of the above requirements as well as industry-specific challenges in domains including health care, retail, financial services, manufacturing and sustainability.
Microsoft said that more than 75 partners so far have taken part in the public preview of the new designation.
There are more new opportunities, too.
For example, the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program now features new designations for partners who provide training services. These will be available to qualified participants as of April 10. Recipients will get badges that distinguish their services from those of their peers. That way, customers may more easily find the right partners, Microsoft said.
But perhaps most importantly for managed services providers is the enhanced focus on small and medium business designations.
Solutions partners who specialize in across Azure Data, AI, digital and app innovation, infrastructure and security, and who serve SMBs, are getting dedicated paths in Azure and Security.
"That's a huge one that we heard loud and clear from our ecosystems,” Sanford told Channel Futures.
The Azure and Security SMB paths will augment the ones already available for business applications modern work. Like the existing designations, these will give partners more access to products, sales and technical support, and advisory benefits, Microsoft said.
The company will issue more details soon.
And, if you’re a solutions partner for support services, listen up.
Soon, Microsoft said, you’ll get exclusive new benefits. Those will include paid support agreement pricing and access to curated materials to help resolve incidents.
Microsoft will provide more insight later this year.
These AI updates surely will not be the last from the Microsoft channel partner program.
“We are committed to building AI capabilities across the Microsoft cloud,” Dezen said. “Our partners enable us to scale and deliver those technologies to every organization and every person on the planet. We anticipated some remarkable innovation in this area, and in just over a year we have been amazed by the results and impact partners are achieving around the world.”
Along the way, Microsoft will continue “infusing AI across every layer of its tech stack, creating new ways to power organizations and industries, and unlocking new opportunities to deliver transformational value to customers,” she added.
Partners, then, are “key to making all this a reality,” she said.
For Sanford, that starts with making sure Microsoft Azure AI partners are using the technology in their own environments. That, she said, is “our No. 1 best-practice guidance.”
Partners who do that find that they then can “really … articulate the value to their customers because they're using it internally,” she added.
That activity sets the stage for success, according to Sanford.
“We believe there's never been a better time for partners to be part of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner program and we're just thrilled with the momentum we're seeing in the marketplace,” she said.
These AI updates surely will not be the last from the Microsoft channel partner program.
“We are committed to building AI capabilities across the Microsoft cloud,” Dezen said. “Our partners enable us to scale and deliver those technologies to every organization and every person on the planet. We anticipated some remarkable innovation in this area, and in just over a year we have been amazed by the results and impact partners are achieving around the world.”
Along the way, Microsoft will continue “infusing AI across every layer of its tech stack, creating new ways to power organizations and industries, and unlocking new opportunities to deliver transformational value to customers,” she added.
Partners, then, are “key to making all this a reality,” she said.
For Sanford, that starts with making sure Microsoft Azure AI partners are using the technology in their own environments. That, she said, is “our No. 1 best-practice guidance.”
Partners who do that find that they then can “really … articulate the value to their customers because they're using it internally,” she added.
That activity sets the stage for success, according to Sanford.
“We believe there's never been a better time for partners to be part of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner program and we're just thrilled with the momentum we're seeing in the marketplace,” she said.
Microsoft AI Cloud partners are about to get some advances and see some changes.
On Wednesday, the software giant debuted several new designations and upcoming opportunities as part of its annual State of the Partner Ecosystem update.
“We want to make sure that the partner program is agile enough to meet the needs of both our customers and the market,” Julie Sanford, vice president of partner go to market programs and operations at Microsoft, told Channel Futures. “We need to make sure the program is being agile enough to deliver benefits, skilling and offerings to our partner ecosystem so they can capitalize on all of that opportunity.”
![Microsoft's Julie Sanford Microsoft's Julie Sanford](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt0367765448408c69/65aeea051f7ae1040ac7e7d9/Sanford_Julie_Microsoft_2024.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Microsoft's Julie Sanford
We take a deep dive in the slideshow above, but first, the news around Microsoft AI Cloud partner program advancements comes as Microsoft has launched a division around consumer − not channel − AI. Mustafa Suleyman, the cofounder of Google’s DeepMind group, has joined Microsoft as CEO of a new organization called Microsoft AI. The unit will focus on consumer opportunities for Copilot, Bing, Edge and more.
To be sure, AI is, as Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer and corporate vice president of global partner solutions, put it, “a defining technology of our time. Over the past year we’ve begun to see how it can unlock profound possibilities for individuals, organizations and society — and it’s clear that we have only scratched the surface.”
Dezen is attributed as the author of the March 20 State of the Partner Ecosystem 2024 blog.
Indeed, the onslaught of AI, particularly generative AI, has challenged partners, including managed service providers. And right now, across the board, partners are struggling most with understanding AI’s use cases — by industry, enterprise size and by role.
“So, we’re continuing to increase the amount of scenario-based material,” Sanford said.
Above we outline how much Microsoft AI Cloud demand has grown; how partners may hone their AI skills in fresh ways; what’s in store for partners who offer services and/or target SMBs; and more.
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like