Forum Discussion
Microsoft Solutions Partner designation in Azure - concerns
I am not happy with the Microsoft Partner program at all. It seems the program bears little resemblance to business reality. The explanation to my legitimate question about points fluctuation was that’s how the program is designed. My concern about huge fluctuation in monthly partner points has never been addressed by Microsoft Partner Support. We lost 32 points in one month after steady growth it makes no sense!
I had a session with one of our Microsoft account managers to discuss these concerns and their response was also that this is how the program is designed and exemptions are unlikely at this point. They also indicated that the bar may be set to high for some partners and that following the Microsoft Partner Inspire event, the bar may come down or be altered to be more fair. If things don't change then we will likely need to plan when we associate our clients within our agreements to ensure we meet the requirements when it is time for us to renew our benefits. Another option is that we purchase the designation once eligible and then enable the benefits when we need them at a later date. All of which requires more time and effort to manage.
DanMo1 That does sound like a typical manager non-response. Of course that's how the program is developed by design, that goes without saying, and I could have told you that. Sounds like he's fresh out of manager school. That's just a fancy way of saying "it is what it is", right? And that's exactly what we're complaining about. So that answer is a classic non-answer and of zero value. And I'm not after an exemption, just suggesting some fairness and changes in how quickly you update the scores: like don't sit on it and not update the score for a month after we've worked our asses off and sold YOUR product and made MS more revenue. It's not right and it's not fair. Again, it comes across as a big "f u" to your partners and as if you don't want us to push your products. Unfortunately, with the monopoly on the market that MS has, we just have to live with it, i suppose. Kinda like not being able to choose your power company. It's just sad that MS doesn't seem to appreciate or value their "partners" at times.
Also, the issue on the complexity and inability to run a simple reports that explain the points allocation and from which clients: what about that answer? And why isn't your support staff capable of explaining the spreadsheets? Again, i opened a case for this and the MS rep was completely stumped and couldn't explain it. He also confirmed that many of his tickets and calls are with other partners complaining of the same thing, so i know it's not just me whining. If you're own staff can't figure it out, how can we? And please don't take this back to your manager. Sounds like he's asleep and into the politically correct answers...don't need that, a waste of all of our time. I need someone that can have a real conversation.
Thank you, Dan. I appreciate the response and I know i'm venting, it's obviously not your fault, but it is hugely frustrating. It's one of those things that if we ever see a legitimate OS in our lifetime that can really compete with MS, i can guarantee you that tons of folks are going to bail out on MS. Trust me, i hate to see that as I have MS stock, but "it is what it is". 😉 Tell your manager we apologize for removing him from break time lol Just really burned out on word salad, give me something useful.
