Partner Program Updates and Vision – Announcements from Directions 

During the day two keynote at Directions, Monique Hayward, Sr. Dir., Business Applications Ecosystem Mktg, took the stage to provide an update to partner programs.  

“Our partners empower organizations around the world to achieve more, and Microsoft is excited to offer pathways for your opportunity, growth, and innovation.” – Monique 

Small and medium-sized businesses are the fastest growing segment in business applications, showcasing the power and reach of Dynamics 365 Business Central. Right now there are more than 300 SMB apps on AppSource and partners have the opportunity to tap into a total addressable market of $82 billion.  

Microsoft’s Vision for the Partner Program

Be the industry’s preeminent partner ecosystem for business applications. 

• Attract and onboard the right partners 
• Promote partner growth and success 
• Drive customer acquisition, retention, and success 

• Become a scaled Partner Marketing Center of Excellence 

Microsoft Cloud Partner Program

There is a place in the cloud partner program for all Microsoft partners and ISVs. Microsoft continued to invest in the partner program to provide a place for partners to thrive and be successful. They are dedicated to making changes and updates based on partner feedback.  

Services partners and system integrator program updates: 

SMB track and specialization 

• Quality into one of two tracks with different thresholds: Enterprise or SMB 

Rate card change for CE 

Threshold adjustments for program 

• Net customer adds in SMB  
  • Reduced from 20 to 5 gross adds 
  • Revenue of $500 now $250 

Coming soon – Developer certification for Business Central   

Monique recommends partners are proactive with solution partner designations 

• Attend breakout sessions to learn about programs available 
• Assess your readiness and attain your designation
  • Aka.ms/solutionspartnerdashboard 
• Further differentiate your capabilities with an SMB specialization –
  • Aka.ms/bizzappsspecializations 

Microsoft Learn Career Connected

Microsoft Learn Career Connected program connects employers to people, tools, and resources that ensures partners are hiring the right talent with the right resources.  

At Directions, Microsoft announced a Business Central talent offering for North American partners. This program will work to  recruit and train Business Central consultants and help you attract top talent to your businesses.  

• Microsoft and partners will identify new talent for placement in BC VARs and ISVs 
• Recruits will be provided full Dynamics learning journey which includes product training, certification, and more 
• Added benefits, such as company visibility at the MLCC team, co-branded marketing materials, mentoring, and reduced entry prices at Directions are available
  • Aka.ms/careerconnected    

Continue to follow Stratos Cloud on LinkedIn for continuous updates from the 2023 Directions conference.