ICYMI : Behind the Build with RSA: Identity Resilience in the Age of AI
Behind the Build is an ongoing series spotlighting standout Microsoft partner collaborations. Each edition dives into the technical and strategic decisions that shape real-world integrations—highlighting engineering excellence, innovation, and the shared customer value created through partnership. RSA and Microsoft share a long, multiyear partnership shaped not by a single product or integration, but by shared customers grappling with some of today’s most complex security challenges, from cloud migration and identity sprawl to AI-driven threats. In this Behind the Build blog, we feature Dave Taku, RSA’s Vice President of Product Management and User Experience, to dive deeper into how that collaboration works at a technical level, how RSA and Microsoft engineers partner to solve real customer problems, and how recent work spanning Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Sentinel, and AI-driven security capabilities is shaping what comes next. Meet Dave Taku Dave Taku has spent nearly 25 years in cybersecurity, working across domains such as telecommunications and network security. But most of that time has been focused squarely on identity in areas like authentication, access management, governance and lifecycle, in particular. He’s been with RSA for two decades. continue reading here Be sure to click "follow" in the right side of the banner to get notifications of new publications from the Microsoft App Assure blog!ICYMI | How Microsoft is empowering Frontier Transformation with Intelligence + Trust
At Microsoft Ignite in November, we introduced Frontier Transformation — a holistic reimagining of business aligning AI with human ambition to help organizations achieve their highest aspirations and growth potential. While AI Transformation centered on efficiency and productivity, Frontier Transformation challenges us to do more for humanity by democratizing intelligence to unlock creativity and innovation for organizations and people around the world. Across industries, our customers are leading the way to becoming Frontier; sharing three common traits anchored in a foundation of Intelligence + Trust. AI in the flow of human ambition, putting Copilots and agents directly in the tools people use; and ubiquitous innovation, empowering the maker in every role. These capabilities are served through Microsoft’s new intelligence layer: Work IQ, which understands how people work; Fabric IQ, which provides a trusted semantic layer for reasoning over an organization’s data; and Foundry IQ, the world’s leading AI app server powering safe, scalable agent experiences. Together, these capabilities put the “I” back in AI by grounding Copilots and agents in an organization’s own data, logic and workflows to fully understand operations and drive decisions that matter most. The third trait is observability at every layer of the stack; ensuring trust, safety and reliable outcomes. As the control plane to observe, govern and secure all AI artifacts, Agent 365 provides a unified view of every AI agent running in an organization’s environment — whether built on Microsoft’s platforms or others. Continue reading herePartner 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!
