Forum Discussion
Gold legacy benefits renewal cost - 3x price increase
We have been a gold partner for a few years, this would be our second legacy benefits renewal on gold, but the price increased by almost three-fold, we always paid 1700$ and the cost is now $4,729.
Our currency in South Africa is R18.61 against the dollar at the moment, and the cost impact on our region is severe.
The cost in our currency used to be R32,000 vs now R88,017.
So far as we can see it is because Microsoft aligned the pricing for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MAICPP) offers to US dollar (USD) levels across regions and the banner in PN stating "Starting December 2023, we will reconcile membership offer prices to current foreign exchange rates for USD. This reconciliation may result in different pricing for your market”.
Can Microsoft consider the impact this has on certain regions?
6 Replies
- Are you sure you're not looking at the Designation status renewal rate? As Designations costs $4.730, while Legacy Competencies remain their old pricings and should still be around the $1.700.
Feels like you're looking at the new Designations and not the Legacy Benefits.- Hi Martin, from what I understand, Microsoft is aligning the Designations pricing with legacy benefits, my post was the recommended next action by Microsoft support, (we logged a ticket), like you, we thought that it was a mistake from our side or on our partner center account. When we click renew on our Gold Legacy benefits, the price we get is $4730: https://imgur.com/jYLUZ91
Wow, that's new news to me! So Microsoft did increase the renewal rates for legacy benefits...
This does seem to be conflicting with documentation that I can find regarding this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/solutions-partner-faq#what-is-the-fee-to-attain-a-solutions-partner-designation----------. "If you choose to retain the legacy benefits [...] you'll pay a fee aligned to your legacy silver or gold competency fee."
I would read this as you pay the original competency fee.
I also can't find any announcement that the fees for legacy competency benefits has increased. So I'll ask some of my partners that are renewing their legacy competency, if they can confirm the same.
You could also have a look at the new Partner Benefits packages available, as an alternative: Microsoft Partner Benefits and Offerings | Compare Offers. They also give some good value if you don't need so many licenses.
LicensingConcierge1Microsoft
Hi Mrjventer
"Starting December 2023, we will reconcile membership offer prices to current foreign exchange rates for USD. This reconciliation may result in different pricing for your market”
I can confirm that the renewal rate did not increase. However, you're correct in that the reconciliation of membership pricing is the result of the rate difference.
As a friendly reminder, this is a partner program wide policy, and Microsoft frequently reconciles for exchange rates across all of our products, including the Partner Program. I can confirm that the policy will not be reconsidered.
If this reply answers your question, please Accept as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly. Otherwise, please let me know if you need further assistance on this topic.
Regards,Microsoft CSP Licensing Concierge
