Partner news articles

Updates to Teamwork Deployment specialization: View new name and requirements

JillArmourMicrosoft — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 23:34:35 GMT

Starting April 29, 2026, Microsoft is renaming the Teamwork Deployment specialization as the Secure AI Productivity specialization to reflect the increased focus on the secure foundations required for successful AI adoption. Additionally, the performance, skilling, and Solutions Partner designation requirements will be updated to better align with foundational workloads from Microsoft 365 E3 and the realities of modern AI adoption.

These updates expand the workloads included in the specialization and refresh requirements to reflect the skills partners need to deploy, secure, and scale AI‑powered collaboration. Additionally, partners will be required to hold both the Modern Work designation and the Security designation to earn the Secure AI Productivity specialization.

Partners currently enrolled in the specialization will need to meet these updated requirements at their next renewal if it occurs after April 29, 2026.

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Partner Blog | Frontier Transformation starts here: Save the date for MCAPS Start for Partners

JillArmourMicrosoft — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 23:15:00 GMT

Customers are moving toward Frontier Transformation, and they are looking to Microsoft partners to turn AI from isolated experimentation into a repeatable operating capability embedded into how work gets done. Value does not scale automatically, but complexity does. Partners who win in FY27 will be the ones who can operationalize AI with intelligence grounded in real work and trust built in from day one, including security, governance, and responsible AI.

MCAPS Start for Partners is built to give you early clarity on what Microsoft will prioritize in FY27 so you can translate strategy into execution. It is the annual moment to align with Microsoft priorities at the start of the fiscal year so that you begin on the same page around investments and go-to-market motions that will shape customer conversations throughout the year.

Save the date to join us virtually on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, to align on what is changing, what is net-new, and where Microsoft will focus. You will hear directly from Microsoft leaders and leave with practical next steps you can activate with your teams in the first weeks of FY27 across co-sell engagement, Microsoft Marketplace motions, incentives, and skilling.

Registration opens in May. Download the calendar invite now to save the date for the event.

The shift partners are observing: Frontier Transformation moves from pilots to operating capability

Across industries, customers are pushing for outcomes, not pilots. They want solutions that can be operationalized, governed, and scaled across business units. Expectations are also rising around security, compliance, and responsible AI as AI moves closer to core business processes.

For partners, this is a clear signal. Differentiation increasingly comes from repeatable delivery models, strong governance, and responsible AI practices built into your approach from day one. Customers want confidence that AI is not just deployed but is also managed, secured, and monitored in ways that stand up to real-world use.

Starting FY27 aligned to Microsoft priorities can sharpen your focus, guide where you invest, and accelerate your ability to engage customers with a clear execution model.

Continue reading here

April update: What’s New in Azure for Partners

JillArmourMicrosoft — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 22:42:03 GMT

This month’s Azure newsletter highlights the latest Fabric innovations unveiled at FabCon, introduces the Azure SRE Agent for proactive operations, and showcases new Azure Database for PostgreSQL capabilities that support enterprise migrations. It also includes updated incentives—such as Azure Accelerate and Microsoft Defender for Cloud investments—along with key skilling opportunities like Microsoft Build and Fabric Sales Accelerate to support pipeline development, modernize customer environments, and deliver AI‑ready solutions.

Navigate to

News and Announcements, Incentives and Offers, Skilling and Events, Go-To-Market, Partner success stories

News and Announcements

Explore new innovations from FabCon and SQLCon Atlanta. Building on the market position of Microsoft Fabric, the latest event unveiled a bevy of new product capabilities, including simplified migration pathways, new features in Fabric IQ, data and operations agents, and the just-announced Database Hub. Check out the keynote to catch up on the latest and share our blog to start customer conversations.

Drive database cost savings for customers with savings plans for databases. These plans can deliver up to 35% savings across customers’ database estates, with flexibility that follows the database estate as it grows, scales, and modernizes. Learn how to leverage these plans for your customers and utilize our refreshed database narrative to support your conversations.

Azure SRE Agent is now generally available, offering AI‑powered incident detection and remediation with extensible automation via custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations. Read the Apps on Azure blog to learn how Azure SRE Agent can improve uptime and reduce operational toil.

Standardized pricing for Extended Security Updates is now available. The new pricing model impacts SQL Server and Windows products including Windows 10 Enterprise 2016 LTSB and Windows Server, offering customers consistent pricing across clouds and purchasing channels. Read the blog for more details, and connect with SQL Server and Azure SQL experts in the SQL Partner Community.

Confidently migrate from legacy databases with Azure Database for PostgreSQL, a managed, open-source platform with enterprise‑grade performance and reliability. New innovations—including the Oracle‑to‑PostgreSQL AI migration tool—empower customers to achieve the speed, scale, and resilience required for mission‑critical workloads, while lowering cost and complexity. Learn more.

The new, digital Microsoft Commercial Partner Incentives Guide delivers clear navigation, direct paths to engagement, and fast access to the most up-to-date guidance—all in one place. Now you can search incentives by category, quickly confirm eligibility, and act swiftly on opportunities with live links that connect you to the next action. Explore the digital incentives guide experience and share your feedback as we continue to evolve it.

Azure Migrate now consolidates the migration planning process into a single workflow. With Azure Migrate Collector, you can scan your estate offline, then enrich the inventory with tags, organize workloads into applications, and generate an executive-ready report that summarizes modernization and lift-and-shift recommendations, security posture, and cost insights for your next stakeholder meeting. Read the blog to learn more about using Azure Migrate.

Microsoft launched new Cloud Adoption Framework guidance for data. Help your customers prepare for an AI-first future by getting their data estates organized for success and ensuring you are providing services that align with Microsoft best practices. Dive into the guidance here.

Incentives and Offers

Build, validate, and publish AI solutions on Azure with our Build & Publish offer, featuring updated criteria and increased flexibility. Infuse AI into solutions, advance analytics capabilities, and accelerate readiness for Microsoft Marketplace publication. For more information, review the SDC Partner Incentive Deck.

Tap into secure migration partner investments for Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Access helpful resources on the new Cloud Security Envisioning Workshop. Act now—after June 30, 2026, you will need the Cloud Security specialization to access this workshop. For more information on Defender for Cloud incentives for partners, join the Azure Migrate and Modernize Partner Forum to access the recent Secure Migrations webinar and additional content (accessible in the Forum Teams site).

Drive growth and eliminate legacy virtualization cost constraints. Third-party virtualization licensing changes are reshaping the hosting landscape—and partners who act now can transform faster and reduce long‑term risk. Microsoft Datacenter Optimization (DCO) provides a clear, strategic path forward, empowering partners to transition from a Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) licensing model to a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) operation and deliver modernization across Azure Native, Azure Local, and Azure Arc. Tune in to the Microsoft Hybrid Cloud partners podcast to learn more and explore additional tools and support on the Microsoft Datacenter Optimization page.

Deploy tools and access rewards to accelerate customer migrations and modernizations. Microsoft is committed to partner growth, and we offer numerous tools and rewards to support your migration and modernization efforts. Nominate your project for Azure Accelerate, a unified offering within the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program that supports faster deal closure and predictable payouts for your implementations. Plan cloud migrations with AI assistance from Dr Migrate, available within Azure Accelerate. Plus, access no-cost deployment assistance for more than 30 Azure services with Cloud Accelerate Factory. In addition to these offerings, Solutions Partners* with certified software designations** can earn up to $175,000 for qualifying Customer Migrate & Modernize engagements. Check out the streamlined incentives guide for more information.

Skilling and Events

Dive deep on real code, systems, and workflows at Microsoft Build. Register today for the June 2–3, 2026, event. Join live in San Francisco or tune in remotely to learn from the teams building and scaling AI, connect with the developer community, and gain strategies to ship smarter AI.

Develop expertise in Azure Database for PostgreSQL. Design secure, scalable architectures, perform seamless migrations from multiple platforms, and build AI-powered applications using vector search and GraphRAG. Labs provide practical experience for modernization, high availability, and intelligent innovation. Register for our June 16-18 Project Ready workshop.

Explore AI-powered migration and modernization at the Microsoft Azure Summit: Migrate and Modernize with Agentic AI event. Back by popular demand, this event will take place on April 23, 2026. Encourage your customers in the Americas region to attend to discover how new, AI-assisted migration and modernization tools, features, and capabilities can equip them to modernize quickly and efficiently. Register today. You can also catch up on the Partner Preview held ahead of the Migrate and Modernize Summit, featuring early insights, key announcements, and guidance to prepare you for customer conversations.

Ready to start building your team’s Fabric capabilities after FabCon + SQLCon? Take advantage of these technical trainings to equip your team with hands-on learning opportunities across key Fabric offerings: Fabric Databases and Data Factory (May 12-14) and Fabric Data Agents and Fabric IQ (June 9-11). Microsoft will also be hosting a Microsoft Fabric Sales Accelerate skilling event on May 27 (Americas) and May 28 (Asia and EMEA) to empower you to win data platform conversations.

Access the Fabric Center of Excellence Accelerator. Join a high-impact, four-day, virtual training designed to speed your DP-600 and DP-700 certifications, deepen your practical knowledge, and create immediate, customer-ready capability. This training will be offered across multiple time zones with cohorts in April, May, and June. To get more information and participate, email fabricpartnersteam@microsoft.com with your organization name, selected certification track (DP-600 or DP-700), estimated number of participants, and target timeframe.

Build your team’s capabilities at Fabric workshops. At Fabric FAST, you can learn from Microsoft experts how to build, price, and launch revenue-ready Microsoft Fabric offers for customers. This virtual experience runs throughout April and is available in English and Spanish. In addition, we are offering a Spanish-language Microsoft Fabric skilling series, hosted virtually May 5–6. Japanese speakers can join us in-person in Tokyo for a workshop, hosted jointly with AMD, on both technical and sales readiness, May 15 and May 19.

Go-To-Market

Accelerate growth with Microsoft Azure GTM assets. Turn adoption and cloud investments into tangible impact for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). With a robust collection of go-to-market (GTM) assets on the SMB market opportunity for Microsoft Azure, you can quickly build pipeline, grow your SMB customer base, and expand existing workloads—while leading secure cloud transformations at scale. By activating these assets, you can strengthen your cloud practice, expand Azure consumption, and deliver smarter, AI-powered outcomes that deepen customer relationships. Explore available campaigns in Partner Marketing Center Pro (for eligible partners) or in Partner Marketing Center.

Bring the connected Azure story to life with AI + Data. AI + Data Go Big is Microsoft’s unified, end‑to‑end GTM motion to win the AI and Data Platform by empowering customers to unlock AI value through an AI‑ready data foundation. Support customers with AI transformation—especially where data readiness is a blocker—while benefiting from Microsoft’s most comprehensive offers to accelerate wins. Available partner assets include the to-partner value proposition, multiple through‑partner pitch collections (Foundry, Fabric, and Database), and the Azure Frontier Offer for eligible opportunities. Additional One Azure and Data pitch decks will be published here.

Become a Fabric Featured Partner. If you are a partner with the Analytics on Azure specialization, take the opportunity to learn more and become a Fabric Featured Partner to stand out as customers modernize their data estates.

Access the latest product pitch decks for data platform conversations with customers. Whether you’re looking for the latest content from FabCon + SQLCon or refreshed assets on data governance capabilities in Microsoft Purview, you can find what you need on our Cloud & AI Platform page.

Partner success stories

System performance at Apollo Hospitals improves significantly after migrating to Azure. Apollo Hospitals needed a more scalable, flexible way to manage digital care delivery across its network of more than 74 hospitals. It shifted from a fragmented on-premises setup to Microsoft Azure, replaced its backend with Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and streamlined delivery via Azure DevOps. This modernized hospital systems and improved scalability, visibility, and security, improving system uptime to 99.95%. Deployment timelines dropped by 40%, and teams now work with greater speed, resilience, and readiness to support future innovation.

Microsoft Fabric helps customers improve data accuracy by bringing data into a single source of truth. Learn how partners are helping Microsoft customers unify data for real-time insights, improve data accuracy, accelerate innovation, and drive intelligent transformation all through the power of Microsoft Fabric.

Follow the tag Azure news to stay updated on monthly news.

To stay updated on the latest Azure news, connect with Microsoft Azure engineers and marketers, and expand your partner-to-partner network, select Follow in the Azure Partners discussion board.

* “Solutions Partner” refers to a company that is a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program and may offer software, services, and/or solutions to customers. Reference to “Solutions Partner” in any content, materials, resources, web properties, etc. and any associated designation should be not interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, a commitment or any other type of representation or warranty on the part of Microsoft. All decisions pertaining and related to your business needs including but not limited to strategies, solutions, partner selection, implementation, etc., rests solely with your business.

** A certification is (1) specific to the solution’s interoperability with Microsoft products and (2) based on self-attestation by the solution owner.  Solutions are only certified as of the date the solution is reviewed. Solution functionality and capability are controlled by the solution owner and may be subject to change. The inclusion of a solution in Marketplace and any such designations should not be interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, a commitment or any other type of representation or warranty on the part of Microsoft. All decisions pertaining and related to your business needs including but not limited to strategies, solutions, partner selection, implementation, etc., rests solely with your business.

GitHub Copilot is moving to usage-based billing

Akshay_Kakar — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:00:01 GMT

Instead of counting premium requests, every Copilot plan will include a monthly allotment of GitHub AI Credits, with the option for paid plans to purchase additional usage. Usage will be calculated based on token consumption, including input, output, and cached tokens, using the listed API rates for each model.

This change aligns Copilot pricing with actual usage and is an important step toward a sustainable, reliable Copilot business and experience for all users.

Learn more here and access partner resources here.

Partner Blog | Strengthen partner operations with platform updates

JillArmourMicrosoft — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:15:00 GMT

Customers expect a seamless experience when they buy, renew, and manage cloud services through you. For Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners, that experience depends on the operational readiness behind the scenes: secure access, resilient APIs, accurate billing and reconciliation, and subscription lifecycle flows that set the right expectations.

This quarterly operational briefing is designed to give your technical teams a clear, actionable view of the latest platform, security, and API updates so you can protect revenue continuity, reduce operational friction, and stay ahead of enforcement milestones. It also highlights where platform readiness can unlock new growth opportunities, especially for partners investing in advanced workloads and specializations.

The updates below fall into two categories: changes already in effect that you should validate now, and high-impact milestones arriving soon that require immediate engineering and operations attention. Where deadlines are fixed, assume urgency. Small gaps can turn into avoidable disruption when enforcement begins.

Continue reading here

Partner Blog | Veeam

JillArmourMicrosoft — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Higher education institutions are under increasing pressure to safeguard the growing volumes of data required to support their teaching, learning, and research. As hybrid learning environments become more complex and cloud adoption accelerates, IT teams need a unified approach to protect data across both on‑premises systems and virtual infrastructure.

Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Veeam is a long-standing Microsoft partner that delivers data protection and recovery solutions to help organizations protect data across hybrid environments. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Azure, Veeam delivers solutions through the Microsoft Marketplace and holds a certified software designation, with recognition as a 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year finalist for ISV Innovation. The company’s Microsoft‑aligned solutions support customers as they modernize infrastructure, strengthen cybersecurity postures, and prepare for future growth.

That focus is why Batterjee Medical College (BMC)—a rapidly expanding private medical college in Saudi Arabia—partnered with Veeam to strengthen their data resilience strategy and ensure continuity as their operations, hybrid learning environment, and regional footprint continue to grow.

Building a scalable data protection approach

BMC has been undergoing significant change, working to elevate their teaching, clinical practice, and research through digital initiatives. The institution is also expanding their geographic footprint by scaling hybrid learning opportunities in the region and opening a new campus in Dubai, making BMC the first Saudi education provider to operate internationally. These initiatives placed growing pressure on the organization’s digital infrastructure, with data volumes increasing at an estimated 20% a year.

As BMC extended the use of cloud services while continuing to rely on their on‑premises infrastructure, the limitations of their existing solutions became more pronounced. The IT team needed consistent protection across workloads and a future‑ready, hybrid approach that could scale without compromising service availability.

“Our previous tools supported earlier phases of growth, but with expansion, we needed a unified and scalable solution,” said Nabil Alsanbi, IT Operations Director at BMC. “We were looking for more scalability and granular control of data backup and recovery. We targeted a single data resilience solution for our entire hybrid environment, which would put us in the best position to support the growing business.”

Continue reading here

Explore curated Microsoft Partner Skilling Journeys

JillArmourMicrosoft — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:45:00 GMT

Partners like you understand that skilling isn't optional—it's foundational for success in an AI-first market. Keeping up with evolving technologies and capabilities will better position you with the skills needed to succeed in an ever-changing market.

Explore Microsoft Partner Skilling Journeys (PDJs), curated presales, sales, and tech skilling experiences designed to enhance your knowledge aligned with partner strategic wins. Curated journeys include:

Microsoft Security Copilot

Drive Business Transformation with Microsoft Copilot 365

Innovate with Azure AI Platform

Drive Windows in the Cloud with Windows 365 Cloud Endpoints

Modern Security Operations

Data Security for AI

Migrate to Azure

Drive Business Collaboration and Teamwork with Microsoft Teams

Accelerate Data Analytics Journey with Microsoft Fabric

Cloud Security

These journeys are tailored to your interests, needs, and role within your organization. Select the link relevant to the journey you're interested in, register today on the Skilling Hub, then answer a few questions, and you'll receive tech and sales-ready skilling experiences customized to your interests and goals.

New eligible workloads for the Solutions Partner designation for Business Applications

JillArmourMicrosoft — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:15:00 GMT

The pathway to attaining and renewing the Solutions Partner designation for Business Applications has been widened thanks to the addition of two new eligible workloads: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center and Copilot Studio. Contact Center has been added across both performance and customer success metrics, while Copilot Studio has been added to performance.

A Business Applications designation demonstrates your capabilities delivering solutions on Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, so if you don't already hold this designation, we encourage you to pursue it now.

Partners approaching their renewal window can start preparing for renewal today. Visit the Business Applications dashboard in Partner Center to view how this addition has affected your progress toward attaining or renewing the designation.

Go to the Business Applications dashboard to learn more.

SAVE THE DATE! MCAPS for Partners is July 22, 2026!

JillArmourMicrosoft — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 23:26:53 GMT

MCAPS Start for Partners is around the corner.

Join us on July 22 for this year’s MCAPS Start for Partners, where you’ll access actionable support for key initiatives from Frontier Transformation to co-sell execution. Keynotes and breakout sessions will focus on where demand is headed and reveal insights into Microsoft priority and investment areas—so that attendees can prepare to align their organizations accordingly.

Stay tuned for registration details and prepare to start FY27 aligned and ready to execute.

Earn certifications and accelerate deal velocity at the Sales Certification Week event

JillArmourMicrosoft — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:16:30 GMT

Join a no-cost, three-day virtual Sales Certification Week event designed to help partner sellers build practical AI fluency, activate real-world use cases, and validate AI readiness by earning Microsoft credentials—without taking extended time away from selling.

Sales Certification Week is part one of a two-part skilling initiative called Skills2Win and will be followed by Microsoft Presales Cloud Week. Skills2Win empowers partners to earn the latest business certifications while strengthening presales expertise to accelerate customer value.

This new, no-cost event runs in a half-day virtual format with multiple session options. Space is limited—register today on the Microsoft Partner Skilling Hub, or find the language that fits your needs from the schedule below:

May 5–7 (EMEA: German)

May 12–14 (Americas: Spanish)

May 13–15 (Asia: Chinese, Japanese, Korean)

May 18–20 (EMEA: French)

May 19–21 (Americas: Portuguese)

Partner Blog | April skilling update: Preparing for what’s next

JillArmourMicrosoft — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:45:00 GMT

Move your customers from AI interest to execution by tapping into skilling opportunities designed to strengthen delivery readiness and sharpen sales execution. This month's skilling focus is about going beyond AI pilots to deliver real outcomes, securely and across teams.

In May and June, Microsoft is delivering high-impact, in-person learning opportunities that can scale readiness across your broader team through role-based learning journeys, equipping you to drive AI-powered solutions and exceed customer expectations.

The in-person skilling difference

In-person skilling creates a different kind of readiness. You get face-to-face time with experts, hands-on practice, and peer-to-peer pattern sharing that is hard to replicate through self-paced content alone. The result is faster capability build, clearer delivery expectations, and better alignment between technical teams and sellers.

For many partners, the winning approach is a blend:

In-person learning to build depth, practice real scenarios, and tighten delivery quality in Agentic AI in Copilot Studio, app modernization, sovereign cloud conversations, and AI-powered analytics in Microsoft Fabric.
On-demand skilling to scale knowledge across your broader team and reinforce learning over time across topics like Microsoft Fabric IQ, agentic AI, Microsoft Defender XDR, and Microsoft Agent 365.

Continue reading here

Turn upcoming Microsoft 365 pricing and packaging updates into renewal wins

JillArmourMicrosoft — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:50:49 GMT

Microsoft 365 pricing and packaging updates take effect July 1, 2026, with expanded security and management capabilities coming this year. Now is the perfect time to accelerate renewals, upsell to Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, and lock in pricing for Copilot Business bundles.

Get details

Discover new ways to innovate—read the State of the Partner Ecosystem blog

JillArmourMicrosoft — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 19:23:59 GMT

The AI industry has rapidly moved from experimentation to production, and Microsoft partners play a critical role in helping organizations deploy AI responsibly and at scale. Today’s customers expect secure, governed, outcome-driven solutions from their providers. To support the partner ecosystem, Microsoft invests in offerings like incentives, skilling, and go-to-market resources, so partners can continue to innovate and grow. Microsoft also tracks emerging AI trends and insights—synthesizing them to keep you informed and pointing you toward program offerings you can use to capture market opportunity.

Explore the State of the Partner Ecosystem blog to learn about the latest AI developments and the investments Microsoft makes to empower partners to lead the way in Frontier Transformation.

Visit the blog

Partner Case Study | DEFEND

JillArmourMicrosoft — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Modern cloud adoption can empower organizations to deliver services efficiently, safeguard sensitive information, and withstand an increasingly complex threat landscape. Yet for public‑sector agencies, where budgets are tightly controlled and compliance obligations are high, embracing the cloud can be challenging. Maintaining security, transparency, and cost efficiency is a delicate balance: the need to move forward with modernization while proving every investment is justified and resilient.

DEFEND, a New Zealand–based cybersecurity services provider, has the experience and expertise to support organizations navigating this sort of complexity. The company’s philosophy centers on partnering with clients to maximize their security investments securely, effectively, and with measurable returns.

A long‑time Microsoft partner and a 2025 Microsoft Security Partner of the Year, DEFEND has been a Solutions Partner for Security since the designation launched in the program, and they were the first organization globally to earn all four Security advanced specializations. In addition to differentiating DEFEND in the market, these distinctions reflect years of technical alignment, joint workshops, and close collaboration with Microsoft engineering and partner teams.

That foundation positioned DEFEND to support New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment (MfE), a central government agency working across environmental policy, national programs, and collaboration with regional and indigenous partners.

Trimming tech overgrowth to strengthen and streamline security

MfE sought a secure and sustainable way to modernize their cloud environment to more efficiently manage high volumes of data and wide-ranging operations. The organization operates in a landscape where information integrity and public trust carry significant weight, making resilience, transparency, and control essential components of their modernization strategy.

At the same time, MfE wanted to reduce their operational overhead. With every dollar spent being rigorously scrutinized, they needed a way to pursue improvements without increasing cost or complexity. Their existing technology stack included multiple security tools and vendors, which contributed to an unnecessary operational burden and was becoming financially unsustainable.

Because MfE is one of DEFEND’s longest‑standing customers, the stage was already set for deep, meaningful collaboration. The teams made a strategic decision to consolidate MfE’s security posture using Microsoft as a single vendor.

“Rather than having a little bit of Microsoft here and a little bit of another vendor over there, they wanted to consolidate and leverage the Microsoft stack,” said Jono Green, Lead Microsoft Strategist at DEFEND. “Because Microsoft’s adopted Zero Trust themselves, we recognized the Microsoft capabilities aligned really well with what they wanted to do.”

MfE’s existing investments in Microsoft 365 provided a strong foundation to implement that Zero Trust security—a principle that safeguards data, apps, and employees by requiring verification for each access request. DEFEND worked with MfE to outline a path to streamline their ecosystem, eliminate fragmentation, and strengthen resilience—all while remaining within budgetary constraints.

Continue reading here

Coming soon: the 2026 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards

JillArmourMicrosoft — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:00:00 GMT

It's almost that time of year again: the Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards are quickly approaching. These awards recognize the exceptional work partners deliver across solution areas, industries, and regions. And they celebrate the many ways our partners are driving Frontier Transformation––turning AI ambition into high-impact business outcomes for customers. Winning an award is a meaningful achievement that highlights the transformative influence partners like you have on customers around the world.

Nominations open on June 1 and close on July 7. The winners will be announced on November 11, just in time to celebrate Microsoft Ignite 2026.

Learn more about the awards at the link, start preparing your organization’s submissions, and be on the lookout for more details coming in mid-May.

Learn more about the Partner of the Year Awards

Act now: Unlock cloud security growth to drive stronger customer outcomes

JillArmourMicrosoft — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 22:28:12 GMT

When it comes to accelerating migration and modernization, security is no longer an add‑on for customers—it’s a baseline expectation. By embedding security earlier, you can deliver a built-in security approach, making it possible to drive more seamless adoption and stronger customer outcomes from day one.

Microsoft is offering two initiatives to empower you to lead with security.

Complete the Cloud Security Envisioning Workshop before June 30 to sharpen your approach and engage customers earlier in their cloud journey. After June 30, access requirements for the workshop may change, so review the latest specialization guidance before planning your next actions.

Attain the Cloud Security specialization to unlock continued access to the workshop and strengthen your ability to lead secure cloud transformations. Get started by reviewing the Cloud Security specialization requirements, then assess your progress in Partner Center and collaborate with your Partner Development Manager to accelerate readiness and streamline the process. For additional guidance, go to Partner Concierge or join the Azure Migrate and Modernize Partner Forum.

Drive stronger outcomes, starting at the foundation of every cloud engagement: security. Get started by acting now:

Learn about the Cloud Security Envisioning Workshop.

Explore and attain the Cloud Security specialization.

Turn upcoming virtualization licensing changes into a growth opportunity

JillArmourMicrosoft — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:34:16 GMT

Seize the market shift driven by recent virtualization licensing changes by accelerating the move from Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA)-based licensing to a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) model. Although these changes won't take full effect until 2027, planning now gives you more time to evaluate the right transition path, protect customer relationships, and build stronger long-term business relationships. By removing legacy cost constraints, you can drive growth across Azure-native, hybrid, and AI-ready solutions. The Microsoft Datacenter Optimization (DCO) initiative empowers you to move beyond legacy SPLA-based operations and build a stronger business so you can protect margins, modernize customer environments, and grow new revenue.

Learn more by checking out the Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Partners Podcast (or watching below) and visiting the DCO page.

Ep 39 | How Microsoft Partners Win More Deals Through Collaboration, AI Strategy, and Trust

Eddie_Bader — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:20:58 GMT

There’s a quiet shift happening in the Microsoft partner ecosystem—and it’s not just about AI. It’s about how partners work together.

For years, many partners have tried to build “full-service” capabilities spanning sales, delivery, data, AI, and industry expertise, but as technology becomes more complex and customer expectations rise, that model is starting to break down. The partners who are winning today are doing something different. They focus on building the right partnerships and executing together, not trying to do everything.

That shift came to life in a recent episode of IAMCP Profiles in Partnership , where Anthony Carrano and Rudy Rodriguez sat down with Denny Ghim of Sandler Partners and Promod Antony of Logic Intelligence. Their story isn’t theoretical; it’s a real example of how partner-to-partner collaboration turns conversations into revenue and relationships into long-term growth.

Listen to the full episode: How Microsoft Partners Win with P2P Collaboration, AI, and Data Strategy .

A Simple Dynamic That Changes Everything
At first glance, their partnership looks straightforward.

Denny operates at the front of the market. He builds relationships, uncovers opportunities, and deeply understands customer needs. Promod leads with technical depth, data, AI, and business applications, turning those opportunities into real, working solutions, but what makes this dynamic powerful isn’t just the division of labor. It’s the alignment. There’s no competition between them. No overlap to navigate. No confusion about ownership. Instead, there’s clarity:

One partner finds the problem. The other partner solves it.

In a market where many partners struggle to balance sales and delivery, this kind of alignment becomes a force multiplier. It allows each side to operate at a higher level while presenting a unified front to the customer. And that unity is often what closes the deal.

Where Most Partnerships Fail and Why This One Didn’t

What’s striking about their story is how it started. Not with a formal agreement. Not through a strategic initiative, but in a breakout room during an IAMCP session. Like most networking interactions, it could have ended there. A quick introduction, a few exchanged ideas, and then nothing.

But it didn’t.

They followed up immediately. Continued the conversation outside the meeting. Took a rough idea and treated it like a real opportunity. Within a short period of time, they had moved from discussion to execution.

That’s the difference.

Partnerships don’t fail because of a lack of opportunity.

They fail because of a lack of follow-through. In this case, momentum turned a casual interaction into a real project—and eventually into multiple opportunities in the pipeline.

From Data Chaos to Real Business Impact

The partnership quickly found its first proving ground: a nonprofit organization struggling with data. Like many organizations, they weren’t lacking tools; they were lacking clarity. Data was being collected manually. Systems were disconnected. Reporting took time. Decisions were delayed. The organization wasn’t just inefficient—it was operating without visibility.

This is where the partnership model became tangible.

Instead of leading with technology, they led with the problem. From there, the solution took shape:

A move to Azure.
A unified data environment.
Automated processes.
Real-time reporting.

The outcome wasn’t just better infrastructure. It was better decision-making. Leaders could see what was happening in real time. They could respond faster and allocate resources more effectively. And for a nonprofit navigating funding pressures and operational complexity, that shift had real consequences.

Microsoft partners: Customers rarely care about the platform. They care about what it enables.

The AI Conversation Everyone Is Getting Wrong

It’s impossible to have a conversation in today’s Microsoft ecosystem without talking about AI. But what stood out in this discussion was not the excitement around AI—it was the caution.

There’s a growing tendency among organizations to treat AI like a switch. Something you can turn on by purchasing the right tool.

But that’s not how it works.

Underneath every successful AI initiative is something far less glamorous: data discipline.
Clean data. Unified data. Governed data. Without it, AI doesn’t accelerate outcomes—it amplifies confusion. What Denny and Promod are seeing in the market reflects this disconnect. Companies are stacking tools, increasing spend, and expecting transformation, only to realize they’ve built complexity instead of capability.

The opportunity for Microsoft partners is significant.

Not by selling more AI but by guiding customers through the steps that make AI meaningful. Helping them slow down just enough to build the right foundation before scaling forward. Because in the end, AI is not the starting point. It’s the multiplier.

Why Human Relationships Are Becoming More Valuable, Not Less

As automation increases, there’s a natural assumption that human interaction becomes less important.

The opposite is happening.

One of the most compelling ideas from the conversation is the balance between what Denny calls AI and “real intelligence” (RI), the human side of business. The ability to read a situation, understand nuance, build trust, and navigate complexity. AI can generate insights. It can automate tasks. It can even simulate conversation. But it cannot replace trust. And trust is what drives enterprise decisions, long-term partnerships, and repeat business. This is especially true in the Microsoft partner ecosystem, where deals often involve multiple stakeholders, layered solutions, and ongoing engagement. The partners who will stand out are not the ones who adopt AI the fastest. They're the ones combining AI efficiency with human connection.

The Invisible Advantage: Trust Between Partners

One of the reasons this partnership works so well is something customers don’t always see, but they feel immediately.

Trust.

There’s transparency in how they work. Clarity in roles. Alignment in expectations. Even though how revenue is shared is defined upfront. That eliminates friction. And when there’s no friction internally, the external experience improves dramatically. Conversations are smoother. Proposals are clearer. Delivery is more consistent.

Customers pick up on that.

They may not articulate it directly, but they recognize when two partners are truly operating as one team, and that confidence often becomes the deciding factor.

Growth Comes from Partnership—Not Expansion

There’s a tendency among growing firms to expand capabilities internally: hire more people, add more services, cover more ground; but this story suggests a different path.

Instead of expanding outward, they built depth through partnership. Rather than trying to become everything to everyone, they focused on becoming exceptional at what they do and then connected with others who complement that strength.

The result isn’t just efficiency….

- It’s leverage.

- More opportunities.

- Better solutions.

- Stronger positioning.

- And ultimately, more growth.

A Different Way to Think About the Future

Looking ahead, the trajectory is clear. AI will continue to evolve. Automation will increase. New tools will emerge. The Microsoft ecosystem will become even more dynamic, but the underlying principle won’t change. The partners who succeed will not be the ones with the most capabilities. They will be the ones with the strongest relationships, with customers, with partners, and within the ecosystem itself, because in a world where technology is increasingly accessible…the real differentiator is how well you work with others.

Final Thought

If there’s one core takeaway from this conversation, it’s this: Growth in the Microsoft ecosystem is driven by focus and partnerships. Doing the right things, with the right partners, at the right time turns conversations into action and action into results.

To learn more about IAMCP and the benefits of membership, visit the website at www.IAMCP.org.

Partner Blog | What's new for Microsoft partners: April 2026 edition

JillArmourMicrosoft — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:30:00 GMT

Your voice continues to shape how the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program evolves. This update brings together the announcements, investments, and resources that matter most to partners right now, so you can prioritize where to focus, what to skill, and which motions to scale as AI becomes central to every workload.

What follows highlights areas of partner opportunity, grounded in feedback from across the ecosystem and aligned to how customers are evolving their cloud and AI strategies.

Spotlight

Leading Frontier Firm transformation with Microsoft 365 E7: The partner opportunity

On March 9, 2026, we introduced Microsoft 365 E7 and announced general availability of Microsoft 365 E7 and Microsoft Agent 365 on May 1, 2026.

For partners, the Microsoft Frontier Suite represents a services-led opportunity across the customer lifecycle, from AI advisory and solution design to agent deployment, governance, and ongoing optimization. Anchored in AI execution, security, and operational rigor, it supports repeatable monetization and positions partners to guide customers through Frontier Transformation with confidence.

Continue reading highlights here

Partner Case Study | Infosys

JillArmourMicrosoft — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Managing student and teacher data at scale is a high-stakes challenge. Modernizing a Student Information System (SIS) that tracks daily attendance, enrollment, academic records, scheduling, and other student data requires deep technical expertise, a structured approach to cloud migration, and a strong foundation in security and governance.

Infosys, a Microsoft partner for over 25 years, has long been a leader in these secure modernizations and cloud transformations. Infosys holds Solutions Partner designations spanning Data and AI, Digital and App Innovation, Infrastructure, Modern Work, and Security. As a leading adopter of GitHub Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot, Infosys has delivered enterprise-scale transformations.

Leveraging Infosys Cobalt, a proprietary set of solutions for cloud transformation, and Infosys Topaz, an AI-first suite of offerings, Infosys has been able to support multiple large enterprises in their AI-first, cloud-first transformation journeys. With deep expertise across Microsoft Azure, GitHub Copilot, and Microsoft 365, Infosys has built a reputation for delivering scalable, secure, and cost-effective solutions.

This experience and collaborative history are part of what made Infosys a 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year for Azure – Secure Migration and Modernization. It’s also what made the company so successful when they were tapped to stabilize, modernize, and migrate the SIS for one of the largest districts in the country to Azure—creating one of the largest SIS cloud deployments for any US school district in the process.

Stabilizing and scaling a strained system

Each morning, teachers and students generate a massive amount of data for Infosys’s client, with 30,000 teachers taking attendance for more than half a million students. The district’s legacy SIS was creating intense traffic spikes and exposing the limits of their infrastructure.

“There were 1,400-plus schools, 500,000 students,” said Sambit Mohanty, AVP Education Practice at Infosys. “You can imagine the traffic between 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM.”

Originally built on a legacy Microsoft .NET framework and deployed on premises, the SIS was designed to support a vast and complex student population. But the system was not easy to scale, and it had begun to show its age, with disruptive performance issues that made it difficult for teachers to submit attendance and that caused delays when administrators tried to access student records. During school openings each semester—one of the most critical periods for any district—the instability of the SIS could present major issues.

“The school opening is the biggest event for a school district,” Mohanty explained. “Everything has to be fine. You should have proper enrollment, grades should be moved to the next level, students should be scheduled, and teachers should be able to take attendance.”

In addition to the suboptimal performance, the SIS was also costly and inefficient. To manage the start-of-the-year chaos, the district assembled war rooms with more than 50 experts across IT, network, and security teams trying to juggle and fix issues in real time. But they needed a partner who could support efforts to stabilize the system and modernize it for long-term scalability and security.

Continue reading here

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