Frustration Among Microsoft Channel Partners Escalates Over Looming Changes
A Microsoft exec says “change is hard,” but partners don’t believe the company is hearing their concerns.
April 29, 2022
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Tyler Bryson, Microsoft corporate VP of global partner solutions, U.S., underscored at this month’s Channel Partners Conference & Expo that the company has created the new program to enable growth for the company and its partners.
“There’s so much more to do together,” he said. “Left to right, we have six $10 billion businesses now that our partners can designate themselves as ready for market. And that’s what we want to do, is open up those routes to market for you.”
The six solution areas Bryson referred to are Azure data and AI; Azure infrastructure; Azure digital and app innovation; business applications; modern work; and security.
Particularly at issue though is the fact that Microsoft will determine partners’ designations based on new partner capability scores (PCS). The company scores gold partners seeking the same status in the new program separately in each of the six solution areas. Partners must achieve at least 70 points out of 100 in each solution area.
When Microsoft announced the new program last month, many partners said they hadn’t yet digested the short-term ramifications. Also, Microsoft is yet to articulate how it will help partners through this transition, said Peter Fidler, CEO of New York-based WCA Technologies.
“How do we do this in this short period of time and continue to be able to take care of our existing clients?” asked Fidler, who is also president of the New York City chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP).
Fidler invited Channel Futures to its most recent monthly meeting, which IAMCP held online this month. During the meeting, Channel Futures presented a segment of the panel session focused on Bryson’s discussion of the program changes.
After viewing a replay of the session where Bryson explained the changes, Fidler said: “They’re basically ripping the Band-Aid off and saying, ‘This is what we’re doing; change is hard.’ But I’m not seeing much in the way of help. And I think there needs to be help, or some incentives or something to help the partner base either monetarily or something because there are going to be opportunity costs as well as hard costs.”
Patti Cataldi, business development manager at B&R Business Solutions, a Colts Neck, New Jersey-based MSP, shared similar concerns during the meeting. Currently, B&R is a gold and silver partner in five of the six new solution designations. But under the new program, B&R only scored above 70 in one under the new PCS. WCA and other attendees shared similar results. The key issue facing Microsoft channel partners is a new requirement that requires more people with technical certifications.
“The skilling is the portion that’s going to hurt us. And all of the people that would need to take the skilling are actually doing work,” Cataldi said.
The ability to meet the requirements will force many partners to hire more skilled people. Making it more difficult is the current tight labor market, Fidler added.
“And it’s not only that we are going to have to hire more people, but we’re going to have to hire people at higher wages,” he said.
Microsoft’s new requirements also don’t take into consideration people’s roles in small businesses and organizations, said Jesse Stork, an account manager at CDML Computer Services, an MSP and MSSP based in Fresh Meadows, New York.
“I’m on the sales side and the account management side, yet I’m expected to get 70 and above on a lot of this, which means I’m going to have to devote time and energy to a skill set that I’m not applying,” Stork said. “Their expectations just seem a bit unrealistic.”
Craig Zimmerman, COO of Big Cloud Consultants in Asheville, North Carolina, floated the idea of perhaps forgoing the certifications.
“I’m thinking, maybe it doesn’t pay to struggle to get what Microsoft is now calling their ‘new partner experience’ or whatever, and just keep doing the licensing, keep taking their money, and keep doing the other service side of our business,” he said.
Questioned about the issues raised by the New York City IAMCP members, Bryson responded through a Microsoft spokesperson on Friday: “Microsoft will be sharing additional details soon about its approach to incentives for the new fiscal year, which begins in July. In the meantime, you can find more information on this page – there are several materials under the “Additional Resources” section towards the end which give a good overview of the program changes.”
During the Channel Partners Conference & Expo session, he maintained that partners can benefit by adding adjacent cloud services. For example, Bryson said that Microsoft recently performed an analysis of some if its largest Azure MSPs. Very few offered security to their managed service offerings, he said.
“We looked at most of those providers, and most of them didn’t have a published security offering,” Bryson said. “They just didn’t think about the left-to-right view. And that’s what we’re trying to do, is converge. Customers need a complete solution [to] go one step further.”
B&R’s Cataldi said some partners may not have the security services that their clients need.
“Why is Microsoft dictating that the partner needs to add on a security offering?” she asked. “I definitely feel like they’re trying to force us into like a certain box. They want you to differentiate, but then they want you to do what they want you to do. The messaging is a little conflicting, because how can you be specialized and then fall in their pillars?”
Cataldi emphasized that if a customer has certain security requirements that a partner can’t deliver, they use the IAMCP to refer others who have the specializations they need.
Several of the partners lamented that Microsoft appears indifferent to their concerns, particularly those of some of the smaller providers. Some asked if Microsoft is seeking to reduce its partner count.
“Microsoft has heard us very clearly and they’re not listening, or they are listening, and they just don’t care,” Zimmerman said. “Because I don’t think we could have made it any clearer as to how people felt, it’s all over the internet, it’s in the blogs, they’ve been pointed to it, the IAMCP has told them, I just don’t think they care.”
Several of the partners lamented that Microsoft appears indifferent to their concerns, particularly those of some of the smaller providers. Some asked if Microsoft is seeking to reduce its partner count.
“Microsoft has heard us very clearly and they’re not listening, or they are listening, and they just don’t care,” Zimmerman said. “Because I don’t think we could have made it any clearer as to how people felt, it’s all over the internet, it’s in the blogs, they’ve been pointed to it, the IAMCP has told them, I just don’t think they care.”
Many Microsoft channel partners are worried about the company’s plan to overhaul its partner program with more stringent requirements. Partners say the revamped program, announced last month, has unrealistic conditions to achieve the same recognition they now hold.
Microsoft partners are still digesting the implications of the company’s plan to retire the Microsoft Partner Program (MPN). In its place is the new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program. Partners believe meeting the requirements of the new program will be difficult – if not impossible – without a hefty investment.
Notably alarming to partners is the significant increase in certifications that Microsoft requires for the same recognition they currently receive. Many have also lamented that Microsoft is yet to share details on what incentives and enablement the company will provide. Adding to partners’ angst is the Oct. 1 date Microsoft has established for the new program to take effect. Because that’s less than six months from now, partners say they have little time for them to prepare.
Tyler Bryson, Microsoft’s corporate VP for U.S. global partner solutions, said the pushback didn’t surprise him. Speaking to a ballroom of partners during a keynote session at this month’s Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, Bryson said: “We know change is hard.” He went on to emphasize: “This is not the removal of benefits for anyone. This is about starting, in October, a means for our partners to really start to differentiate themselves in our six course solution areas.”
Our slideshow above features Microsoft channel partners who are frustrated by the changes coming to the program.
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