Below are answers to the above questions that may help partners with Azure sponsorship. You can also find more information in the Azure sponsorship FAQ: https://aka.ms/AzureSponsorshipFAQ.
- Once a test drive has been created and added to a solution in Microsoft AppSource or Azure Marketplace, and the customer has decided they want to do the test drive with the partner, the Azure sponsorship may then be requested to cover any consumption while the customer is using the test drive. So if $5k is requested and approved, the first $5k of Azure consumption will be covered by the sponsorship.
- If a partner is hosting a solution for a PoC/deployment, they can use the Azure sponsorship to cover any Azure consumption during the PoC/deployment. If a partner wants $5k for an Azure sponsorship for a customer, they may request the sponsorship to be on their tenant. Since sponsorships are only available for EA and PAYG accounts at the time, if a partner assigns the sponsorship to an Account ID and the Azure consumption goes over the $5k, the EA would be billed for any overage. If the sponsorship is added to a PAYG account, a credit card must be submitted in case there are any overages beyond the sponsorship amount.
- For the development of a new solution that will be added to Azure Marketplace, a partner may request a sponsorship amount for this activity.