Microsoft 365 Content Services Partner Program – 2020 Applications Open Now

[Chris McNulty]

Microsoft 365 Content Services Partner Program: Accepting applications through August 31, 2020

2020 has been a busy year for the Microsoft 365 Content Services Partner Program. We’ve grown to more than 100 partners this year, including 37 Charter members. Partners in the Microsoft 365 Content Services Partner Program – both SIs and ISVs – are a select group of organizations around the globe who have demonstrated their expertise in delivering solutions that make the transformation of their customers’ content management approach practical and attainable.

This year we’ll look to program partners to help us drive adoption and usage of Microsoft 365, focusing on Project Cortex, and help our customers realize the full value of the knowledge and insights solutions available in Microsoft 365.

As mentioned in today’s Project Cortex announcements at Microsoft Inspire, we’re inviting our partners to join us on this journey.  If your organization delivers solutions that make the transformation of your customers’ content management approach practical and attainable, we encourage you to submit an application to join the Microsoft 365 Content Services Partner Program.

We will be accepting applications for new and renewed membership now through August 31, 2020.

Register today for an office hours call on Tuesday, August 4, at 8am PDT, where we’ll walk you through the program, benefits, requirements, and application process. We look forward to telling you more about the program at that time.

A few things to note for this year’s registration for partners applying for all levels:

• You can select at most 2 workloads that align to your current business for this program
• You can select at most 3 industries that you will target for this program
• You must indicate your organization’s status as a registered Microsoft partner
• If you’re applying for charter and preferred status,
  • You must indicate their managed partner status, Modern Workplace competencies, and deal capacity
  • You must provide two pieces of customer evidence featuring Microsoft 365 Content Services solutions (such as Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams) and published to your own website or a Microsoft site

Program partners can receive the following benefits:

• Access to compete and go-to-market collateral
• Access to technical and business training
• Quarterly updates

Charter and preferred partners can receive additional benefits, like:

• NDA briefings and events, like the Microsoft Content Services Summit and the Content Kitchen
• Distribution and amplification of approved partner/customer case studies
• Use of logos and letters recognizing charter and preferred partner status
• Alignment and referral to the Microsoft field
• Additional marketing opportunities

In return for these additional benefits, charter and preferred partners will commit to having team members complete Project Cortex training; obtaining a Gold competency for Knowledge (when it becomes available); and submitting two pieces of customer evidence during the program year.

Furthermore, Preferred partners must have the capacity to lead or support at least 20 Project Cortex engagements.

More details about the partner program, partner levels, incentives, and requirements are available in the Microsoft 365 Content Services Partner Program overview deck.

For more information on the Microsoft 365 Content Services Partner Program, visit aka.ms/ContentServicesProgram.