Partner Blog | New partner benefits are coming: Plan now to maximize value.
The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program gives partners a strong foundation to build, market, and scale solutions for the next wave of cloud and AI innovation. No matter your size or focus area, the program is designed to enable growth by connecting technology, resources, and support in ways that reflect how partners operate and deliver value to customers. The scale and maturity of our partner ecosystem, paired with a deeply embedded co-sell and services model across both small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprise motions, is a key part of what makes this program unique. Partner benefits packages play a central role in that value. They bring together discounted licenses, Azure credits, and personalized support at a fraction of retail value, enabling partners to innovate faster, reduce costs, and scale customer solutions more efficiently. Each package includes bundled offerings of licenses, one-to-one program and technical consultations, and go-to-market resources that are designed for partners to drive profitability across the full customer lifecycle––not just at the point of sale. At Microsoft Ignite, we announced expanded package offerings designed to deliver even more value for your business. Updates include additional security benefits, a new AI-powered Partner Marketing Center to drive demand, and added Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses, including Microsoft Dragon Copilot. With these enhancements arriving in February, now is a good time to purchase or renew the package that best aligns to your organization’s needs. Continue reading here Be sure to follow the partner benefits board for updates!Congratulations to Nicole Dezen on being named a CRN 2025 Woman of the Year in the Vendor/Distributor category!
The third annual CRN Women of the Year Awards spotlight the incredible achievements of women leaders and rising stars in the IT channel, as well as the companies and allies who support their work. These awards celebrate the exceptional dedication and leadership of women and their advocates who have make significant impacts promoting innovation and equity in the technology industry. We’re proud to share that Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer and Corporate Vice President, Global Channel Partner Sales at Microsoft, has been named a CRN 2025 Woman of the Year in the Vendor/Distributor category. This recognition reflects Nicole’s leadership in advancing one of the world’s largest and most impactful partner ecosystems, empowering more than 500,000 partners to drive AI transformation for customers across every segment and industry. Through the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, Nicole and her team continue to enable partners to scale, innovate, and lead as Frontier Firms in the AI era. Congratulations, Nicole, on this well-deserved honor. We’re proud of the impact you’re driving across the partner ecosystem and the future you’re helping to shape. Read more on CRN: crn.com/women-of-the-yearDrive Microsoft 365 renewals and upgrades ahead of pricing and packaging updates
We recently announced that in 2026, we’re expanding the availability of security and management capabilities to the commercial Microsoft 365 suites. Along with these added features, there will also be a global price update to these suites across all purchasing channels effective July 1, 2026. As a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner, this is a key moment for you to drive renewals and upgrades before July 1, 2026. Learn more about the pricing updates, as well as the promotions, offers, and go-to-market resources you can use to support your customer conversations. Learn more here Join the conversation by following the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners discussion board where both direct bill and indirect resellers collaborate, troubleshoot, and stay informed on the latest developments in the CSP ecosystem.Do your deep customer support capabilities set you apart?
Announced at Microsoft Ignite, the Solutions Partner designation for Support Services publicly recognizes and rewards partners with the capabilities required to deliver a quality support experience to customers. The designation highlights your proven support capabilities and differentiates you in the market. It also unlocks valuable incentives including performance-based cost savings and enhanced support, both of which will be available through the upcoming Microsoft Unified for Partners offer coming later in 2026. Don't miss this opportunity to stand out and further develop your support capabilities. Start the eligibility assessment process today for a chance to earn a 5% discount on your next Microsoft Premier Support for Partners (PSfP) contract renewal. Learn more about the designation nowHow AI-first companies are shaping the next era with Microsoft AI | 5 startups to watch
tartups are turning emerging AI technologies into real-world solutions—and scaling faster than ever. At Microsoft, we’re helping founders harness cloud and AI to tackle global challenges and unlock new opportunities. Imagine a world where every organization, from early-stage startups to global enterprises, harnesses AI to unlock new business models and empower human ambition. That future isn’t years away; it’s here now. This transformation is fueled by platforms that combine scale, security, and advanced AI capabilities. Microsoft Cloud and AI platform is powering a new generation of AI-first companies that are redefining industries and setting new standards for responsible innovation. From seed-stage disruptors to scaling unicorns, these companies are driving many of the most meaningful advances in AI today, compressing innovation cycles from years to months. Explore Microsoft Ignite 2025 The technologies driving the AI revolution Breakthroughs in algorithms, the rise of large language models, and integration with technologies like the Internet of Things and blockchain are redefining what’s possible. Multimodal AI—the integration of text, images, and data—is creating richer, more intuitive experiences by bringing together text, images, and data. These advances are converging to unlock new levels of autonomy and creativity—empowering people and organizations to achieve more than ever before. At the forefront is agentic AI—systems that can reason, plan, and act with human guidance—a capability poised to shape the next era of intelligent organizations. IDC predicts that the number of companies adopting agentic AI will triple in just two years. These breakthroughs aren’t just theoretical; they’re shaping real-world solutions. As multimodal AI, agentic systems, and advanced models converge, Microsoft provides the scale, security, and trust businesses need to innovate boldly. Our platform combines powerful infrastructure, cutting-edge models, and tools like Microsoft Copilot and agents to turn ideas into impact. Startups leading the way With these advances accelerating, startups are seizing the moment—building solutions that redefine industries and inspire what’s next. The five companies featured below exemplify this next wave of innovation—delivering smarter automation, seamless integration, and transformative experiences across industries. These companies aren’t just success stories—they’re blueprints for what’s possible when vision meets technology. Continue reading hereEpisode 002 of the new series of Cloud and Hosting Partner Online Meetings starts in 3 hours
I look forward to you joining the second in our new series of Cloud and Hosting Partner Online Meetings. It's starts at 12:30pm Sydney time today, Tuesday November 18. If you don't have the invitation please quickly let me know. Just an email to me, mailto:email address removed for privacy reasons, and I'll send you the registration details. As you can see the focus is Prepare for Microsoft Ignite and let me warn you ... the "Did You See?" segment is big. There's been plenty of learning and skilling since we last met and I'll do my best to summarize and offer links to records so as to save you time and focus on the most relevant to you and your team. See you online soon. Regards, PhilGet your FY26 FastTrack Recognized Solution Architect nominations in today!
The FastTrack Recognized Solution Architect (FTRSA) program highlights architects who go beyond basic implementation, driving customer success, fostering innovation, and advancing Microsoft’s ecosystem through outstanding technical expertise. Become a part of the community celebrating customer success in Power Platform & Dynamics 365 implementations. Apply here October 27-March 3: https://aka.ms/FTRSANominationGPT‑5.1 in Foundry: A Workhorse for Reasoning, Coding, and Chat
Azure AI Foundry is unveiling OpenAI’s GPT-5.1 series, the next generation of reasoning, analytics, and conversational intelligence. The following models will be rolling out in Foundry today: GPT-5.1: adaptive, more efficient reasoning GPT-5.1-chat: chat with new chain-of-thought for end-users GPT-5.1-codex: optimized for long-running conversations with enhanced tools and agentic workflows GPT-5.1-codex-mini: a compact variant for resource-constrained environments Learn more here!Congratulations to the 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards winners and finalists
Each year, Microsoft partners redefine what’s possible for customers through innovation, collaboration, and trust built with Microsoft Cloud and AI. Partners impact industries across the globe, enabling organizations to modernize operations, unlock new opportunities with AI, and deliver sustainable growth at scale. The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards celebrate that impact. These awards recognize the partners who have set a new standard for excellence by activating Frontier Firm capability, advancing business transformation, creating customer success, and contributing to positive change in their communities. I’m proud to announce the 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards winners and finalists. This year’s awards span eight global categories that reflect the breadth of innovation across our ecosystem: Azure Business Applications Modern Work Security Industry Social Impact Partner Innovation Business Transformation In addition to the global award categories, we’re recognizing partners from over 80 countries and regions as part of the Country and Region Partner of the Year Awards. Together, these honorees represent the strength and diversity of our ecosystem and the collective innovation that drives us forward. This year, we received more than 4,600 nominations from 100 countries and regions, reflecting the continued momentum and growth of our ecosystem. Every submission showcased innovation, technical excellence, and inclusion as partners bring transformative solutions to market. We’ll celebrate these achievements together at Microsoft Ignite, taking place November 18–21, 2025. I look forward to connecting with many of you there as we recognize success, share insights, and continue to accelerate opportunity and innovation together. Register to attend Microsoft Ignite. You can explore the full list of winners and finalists on the Partner of the Year Awards website, along with stories highlighting partner innovation across Azure, Business Applications, Modern Work, and Security. Congratulations to this year’s winners, finalists, and nominees. Your dedication to customer success and your drive to transform business through Microsoft Cloud solutions continue to define what’s possible when we innovate together.OpenAI’s open‑source model: gpt‑oss on Azure AI Foundry and Windows AI Foundry
Open-weight models give customer decision makers control and flexibility - no black boxes, fewer trade-offs, and more options across deployment, compliance, and cost. With OpenAI’s gpt-oss open-weight models on Azure AI Foundry, you can: Fine-tune and distill the models using your own data and deploy with confidence. Mix open and proprietary models to match task-specific needs. Spin up inference endpoints using gpt oss in the cloud with just a few CLI commands. And Foundry Local makes gpt‑oss-20b usable on a high-performance Windows PC – enabling use-cases in offline settings, buildings in a secure network, or running at the edge. Check out more here!
