Sign up for Microsoft Partner Incentives performance measurement reports
As part of a larger push to empower you to deliver exceptional business outcomes, we've introduced incentives performance measurement reports, available through email. Delivered during the first week of every month, these reports include presales and post-sales partner performance measurements and earning cap status so you can get essential insights into your engagements across hero investments. These hero investments include Azure Accelerate, AI Workforce: Microsoft 365 Copilot + Power Accelerate, Al Business Process, and Security Activities. Here’s what to expect: Performance requirements pausing policy: Starting on November 15, 2025,* partners who are not meeting performance requirements will be paused from nominating new claims. This applies only to new nominations; in-progress projects will not be affected. Further, partners who have reached their earning cap and have nominations paused will be notified when they are eligible to nominate projects again. Reactivation of nominations: Paused partners will be reviewed each Tuesday by Microsoft to determine if they meet performance thresholds. Those who meet thresholds will be notified by email within two business days after their review and reactivated within seven business days after their review. Earning cap reviews: Partners who are approaching their earning cap and are meeting performance benchmarks will be considered for an earning cap increase based on budget availability and quality of claims. Claim quality can be affected by factors such as accuracy of your activity reporting, number of duplicate claims, and how your investments are leveraged. Increased cap value: If you’re approved for an earning cap increase, you can expect up to 50% above the engagement’s initial cap. Earning cap extension approval is not guaranteed. Earning cap pausing: Partners who have reached their earning cap and did not receive a notification of an increased cap based on review will be paused from submitting new claims and will be notified. This pause applies only to new nominations; in-progress projects will remain unaffected. No partner action is required, and Microsoft will proactively review and communicate decisions about earning caps. Review the updated policy for partner performance measurements and earning caps (available November 1, 2025). Sign up now for monthly reports so you can fuel transformation with expertise and funding and drive faster time to value for your projects. Sign up for monthly reports today! *Starting December 1, 2025, Security Activities will issue monthly partner performance reports, and beginning January 1, 2026, partners not meeting requirements will be paused from nominating new claims.Azure Kubernetes Service Automatic: Fast and frictionless Kubernetes for all
AKS Automatic simplifies Kubernetes by offering a fully managed, opinionated experience that abstracts away from infrastructure complexity, while keeping the full power of Kubernetes at your fingertips. Learn how production-ready clusters and automated infrastructure operations can accelerate your time to delivery and simplify operations for you! Check out the announcement blog here!Join the Movement at Azure Dev Summit!
Azure Dev Summit is a chance for you to join a community of developers, architects, and tech leaders building with Azure, .NET, and Microsoft AI. This isn’t just another conference. It is a Microsoft-sponsored celebration of innovation, learning, and connection — and we’re bringing some of the most inspiring voices in tech to the stage. Find out more about the speakers at Azure Dev Summit and make sure to register! https://azuredevsummit.com/Partner Blog | Azure updates for partners: October 2025
AI is reshaping industries—and fast. Partners like you are at the center of this transformation, helping customers modernize, innovate, and scale with confidence. To help you stay ahead, we’re launching the Azure Partner Update, a recurring update designed to keep you up to date with the latest developments and accelerate your business. Expect curated insights, bold perspectives, and the latest tools to help you lead with cloud solutions and AI and build what’s next. Spotlight One of this month’s top updates is the reimagined Microsoft Marketplace, now a trusted central source for cloud solutions, AI apps and agents for customers, and a scale engine for partners. Marketplace continues to evolve as an extension of the Microsoft Cloud, connecting your innovations directly to customers where they work. The new AI Apps and Agents category empowers customers to discover AI solutions that integrate seamlessly with Microsoft products, creating new paths for partners to reach buyers and scale impact. We also announced several technical updates designed to make cloud deployments faster and more flexible: Broadcom’s VMware licensing changes now enable Azure VMware Solution (AVS) customers to bring their own VMware Cloud Foundations license, giving them more control and potential cost savings. Azure AI Foundry continues to advance, and now features GPT-5-Codex, gpt-realtime, and new browser automation tools that make it easier to build and deploy intelligent applications. AKS Automatic has reached general availability, simplifying Kubernetes management and reducing time to production. Oracle Database@Azure now spans 23 regions, expanding global reach and resilience for your customers. New integrations across data sources, CI/CD capabilities, and agent automation within Fabric were introduced at FabCon. Continue reading hereEpisode 001 of the new Series in Cloud & Hosting Partner Online Meetings starts in four hours
Hi, yes, after 17 years and 166 episodes of the Cloud & Hosting Partner Online Meeting we have a reset, a restart, a rewire, a new chapter. As many of you know I took redundancy from Microsoft about 2 months ago and nothing can hold me back from wanting to help the Microsoft Partner Community. "I'm back" 😎. In just four hours from now we start with Episode 001 of the new series and here is the agenda It's not too late to register. Just click https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/4a9991d2-4d76-4c73-b02a-ec3d010d6305@3f10d240-96cd-405f-8075-e66a8c526be5. See you online soon. Regards, PhilHelp customers boost productivity with Microsoft 365 Copilot—15% savings through Dec. 31
We’ve extended our promo offer of 15% off partner net on Microsoft 365 Copilot for 10–2,400 seats for eligible new customers through December 31, 2025, with annual commitment required and monthly billing available. Use the Microsoft partner offer kit to package licenses, services, and training—and accelerate AI adoption while capitalizing on excitement around GPT-5 coming to Copilot. Make the most of this promo—package your “Getting Started” offer and move now. Discount: 15% off partner net price. Window: October 1–December 31, 2025. Eligibility: New customers with qualifying Microsoft 365 prerequisite licenses; 10–2,400 seats per subscription. Seat additions: Seats can be added any time during the annual term (up to 2,400) at promo price if the initial purchase was within the promo window. Term and billing: Annual commitment; monthly billing option available (+5% vs. annual upfront). Renewal: After the one-year term, pricing reverts to standard rates. Reduce/cancel window: Changes and cancellations are allowed within 168 hours of purchase or renewal (prorated refund where applicable); no reductions below 10-seat minimum allowed after that window. Verification: Eligibility and promo application is visible in Partner Center at checkout and reflected in the Get promotions API and Global Promo Readiness Guide. Co-terming: Supported when the underlying Microsoft 365 licenses were purchased from you; aligns Copilot end date with an existing Microsoft 365 subscription. Nonprofit/EDU/GCC: Nonprofits are eligible for 15% discount via CSP nonprofit SKU (no minimum, no seat cap). Partner next action: Pair this pricing with a fixed-fee “Getting Started” services bundle (planning, setup, success metrics, and initial licenses) to lock in 12 months of value and momentum. Learn how to go to market with this promoPartner Blog | Partner Center Technical Corner: September 2025 edition
Welcome to the September edition of Partner Center Technical Corner. This month, we’re highlighting new investments in partner enablement, essential security enhancements, and a recap of recent releases. As always, you’ll find the latest roadmap and key Partner Center resources at the end of this post. Advancing partner success: SMB growth and AI transformation Empowering SMB growth through Azure and Security designations: The introduction of dedicated small and medium-sized business (SMB) paths for Solutions Partner designations in Azure and Security marks a pivotal shift for smaller partners. Instead of being measured against enterprise-scale benchmarks, partners now have access to thresholds and scoring models that reflect the realities of SMB operations. Progress is visible in the Insights Workspace, and expanded incentives, like Azure Migrate & Modernize and Azure Innovate, are now directly tied to designation attainment. For partners, this means that innovation and customer impact are recognized at every scale, and the path to growth is clearer than ever. For more information, visit: Solutions Partner for Security Solutions Partner for Azure SMB paths to Solutions Partner designations Continue reading article hereUpdated CSP authorization requirements take effect October 1
Beginning October 1, 2025, the updated Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) authorization eligibility requirements will be enforced. Please note that specific enforcement dates might vary based on current status—new applicant or existing. Distributors should: Use the reseller performance report to identify at-risk resellers, then work with them to meet the new requirements. Find your organization on the distributor search site and validate that the link to your website is correct. By staying authorized, CSP partners can continue to drive upsells and renewals with our suite of go-to-market resources while ensuring that we maintain a highly capable and compliant partner ecosystem. Learn more about the authorization requirements and available resources for CSP partners and download the partner FAQ for more information. Review the requirementsPartner Blog | Evolving our productivity offerings to resolve European competition concerns about Teams
At Microsoft, we believe that collaboration tools are essential to modern productivity. Microsoft Teams has become a cornerstone of how organizations connect, communicate, and get work done. At the same time, we recognize the importance of customer choice and interoperability in a dynamic and competitive digital landscape, as well as our responsibility to work productively with regulators on issues of global or regional concern. In keeping with these values and responsibilities, Microsoft recently finalized an agreement with the European Commission (Microsoft’s “Commitments”) in which we will expand interoperability and data portability resources and make additional changes to licensing and pricing for Microsoft 365, Office 365, and Microsoft Teams. These changes are designed to enhance flexibility, support open ecosystems, and give customers more options to meet their unique needs. Commitments to interoperability and data portability Partners are the trusted advisors who deliver business outcomes for customers and are key to creating business value across the customer journey with their services and solutions, driving real impact. We continue to enable third-party solutions to integrate with our productivity apps. Microsoft’s Commitments formalize and advance our dedication to Microsoft 365 interoperability. Microsoft will maintain our add-in model, allowing communication and collaboration solution providers to access Microsoft 365 and Teams in the same ways as other software development companies that provide add-ins to Microsoft 365 and Teams. Microsoft will maintain the AppSource marketplace as a distribution channel for these add-ins. In addition, to better serve our shared customers, Microsoft will continue to enable other solution providers to embed Microsoft’s Office Web Applications directly within their own solutions through the Microsoft Document Collaboration Partner Program (MDCPP). Continue reading hereBroadcom VMware Licensing Changes: What Azure VMware Solution Partners Need to Know
Broadcom announced a change to their VMware licensing policies that will impact Microsoft partners and Azure VMware Solution customers. These changes require customers to bring their own portable VCF subscriptions when using any hyperscaler platform. This will mean customers must purchase VCF subscriptions directly from Broadcom, or the Broadcom partner Ecosystem, to use with hyperscaler cloud services. While this announcement limits how customers will be able to purchase new VCF licenses it does not impact AVS service availability. Azure VMware Solution (AVS) already supports Broadcom’s model with the AVS VCF BYOL option which enables customers to use AVS with their own VCF subscriptions, and Azure will continue being the best cloud for customers to run their VMWare environments. AVS VCF BYOL option is priced lower than AVS with VCF subscriptions included. This is a licensing change only – there is no product change to the Azure VMware Solution cloud service. Microsoft will continue to offer AVS as a fully managed VCF private cloud service in Azure, providing Microsoft-managed infrastructure and VMware host management including patching and upgrades. This frees up IT staff to focus on more high value tasks including workload modernization and new AI projects. Recommended Actions If you have an existing AVS customer, reach out to them immediately and share the update. Automated updates will be sent by Microsoft to AVS customers on 9/9/2025. Prioritize customers with RIs that expire before January 15, 2026. Suggest extending their AVS RI term with VCF licensing included by exchanging their current RI. They must make this change by October 15, 2025. If the customer asks to move to Azure Native IaaS or PaaS, Dr. Migrate Benchmark TCO can assess, and Azure Migrate can help with their migration needs. For strategic opportunities >$500K please work with the field for additional guidance. How is AVS changing to comply with Broadcom’s policy? Microsoft will discontinue selling AVS with VCF subscriptions included after October 15, 2025. After October 15, 2025, customers purchasing new nodes of AVS will need to provide a VCF subscription purchased from Broadcom. Existing AVS RI customers purchased before October 16, 2025: Customers can continue to operate these AVS nodes without any licensing or product changes through the end of their RI term. For existing AVS VCF BYOL SKU customers, there are no changes. Starting October 16, 2025, any new VMware Firewall deployed will require the VMware Firewall add-on purchased from Broadcom. Purchasing new AVS nodes: Customers can continue to add AVS nodes with VCF included to their existing AVS SDDC, last day of sale is October 15, 2025. New nodes purchased starting October 16, 2025, will require the customer to provide Microsoft with a portable VCF subscription license key. AVS PayGo customers with VCF included: AVS PayGo customers can continue to operate existing AVS nodes without any licensing changes until October 31, 2026. Customers will then be required to provide a VCF license key before November 1, 2026, to continue using AVS. Customers may want to switch from PayGo to Reserved Instances by October 15, 2025. This allows the customer to lock in AVS with VCF included for multiple years and provides RI saving of 30-50% off the PayGo rates. New PayGo nodes starting on October 16, 2025, must use the AVS VCF BYOL SKUs and provide a VCF subscription license key. If Customers want to Trade in RIs Customers that want to trade in their existing AVS RIs can leverage the Microsoft self-service exchange process. They can exchange their RI for a new longer-term AVS with VCF included RI on or before October 15, 2025. Reservation products are interchangeable; customers can also exchange AVS reservations for other types of compute reservations including Azure Dedicated Host, Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Virtual Desktop, SQL Database services, and more. Resources AVS VCF BYOL Pricing: AVS pricing page on Azure.com (coming mid Sept) Azure RI Self-Service Exchanges AVS Docs page for How to use AVS VCF BYOL Broadcom’s Announcement Blog and Microsoft’s Response Blog Important Dates September 9, 2025: Automated emails to be sent to all AVS Customers October 15, 2025: Last day to buy AVS with VCF included October 16, 2025: New AVS Customers and expanding SDDCs will need to use AVS VCF BYOL SKUs and bring their portable VCF subscriptions to AVS. October 31, 2026: End of AVS PayGo with VCF included, customers will convert to AVS VCF BYOL PayGo SKUs and be required to bring a portable VCF subscription and license key to AVS.
