A CISO's Guide to Securing AI - Securing AI for Federal, DIB, and DoW Entities
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping federal missions, defense operations, and critical infrastructure. From intelligence analysis to logistics and cyber defense, AI’s transformative power is undeniable. Yet, with great power comes great responsibility and risk.
Legal-entities and sub-units in Microsoft Partner Center terms
Hi, I represent several partners with Microsoft, and we are fast growing. In our enterprise, we do as several others, we move around locations, merge them, and restructure to improve efficiency and quality. Recently Microsoft also notified us to update and improve several of our MPN/CSP identifiers with updated information, which resulted in this post about missing features and hidden Microsoft data not available in Partner Center. Starting out as a partner, you add your company in Partner Center, creating your PGA and first PLA account. Your PGA now refers to your legal entity, and your PLA is now a sub-unit under your PGA. So far so good (for a CSP business, you have your PGA be the MPN id and your PLA the CSP id). As time goes by, your business grows and you start buying other MS partner companies. In comes account merge in partner center to the rescue. This will merge your MPN (not CSP, I know, atleast not in terms of your GDAP or customer relationships, but everything else), so that all your competencies, reports and information is updated accordingly. The company you have bought and merged now still has their CSP business, but reporting under your PGA. Both their original PGA and PLA accounts are now PLA under you PGA. So far this seems to be good, but now you are missing out on some data hidden internally in Microsoft, that is nowhere to be seen, and impossible to update: this original merged PGA still refers to the original legal-entity, and the PLA is still NOT connected to your PGA, but the original PGA, which is now a PLA under your PGA. So, something like, Your PGA --> The merged PGA (which is now a PLA) --> The merged PLA. Confused yet? Now, this merged company should at some point in time become something else, maybe a department or separate location of your company. Or maybe you even move that as a department or location below some other company you have in your enterprise portfolio. Now comes the headache of updating your CSP - PLA identifiers with correct legal information. There is currently nowhere you can read what PLA id-s are considered as legal entities, and nowhere your PLA says which legal entity they are connected to. Even filing this with MS partner support is a no-go, this information is hidden so far behind support/MCAIPP/CSP/direct/indirect/vetting/engineering/developers and god knows what, that it is currently not possible to update any of it. Not even getting to read the structure of the identifiers is possible. I hope Microsoft can understand this is a big compliance issue over time. How many tax forms or payout accounts do you need? How many are using the same legal info for the same tax forms? Regardless of being a direct or indirect partner, who should really receive the bill? Who ends up as the owner of the different agreements? (I know this usually works out one way or another, but how many hours could have been saved on partner support if this was not a headache?) We need to be able to see where each identifier is connected in terms of sub-units and legal-entities. Whether by self-service or MS partner support, we need to be able to provide updates on this structure. We need to be able to change any PLA between being a legal entity or a sub-unit, and telling which legal-entity owns the sub-unit or parent legal-entity. Different partners have different setups, we have an enterprise setup where one company fully owns all the others and plan to fully merge them within a single legal entity, but still owned by the enterprise. Others have separate companies working together sharing Microsoft competencies and benefits under one umbrella. Having a way to let Microsoft know about structural changes and having this information visible and correct in partner center is crucial when working as a partner over time. Bonus tip: Most countries, even Norway has officially available records on all companies registered, on official website or by official APIs - by looking up any company registration id, you can have the 100% accurate information for all legal entities, and all sub-units, we even give you the company registration id inside partner center for your benefit.
Unable to update the primary contact email address during verification process
Registered my corporation on Microsoft Partner Center (MPC) about 2 weeks ago as the owner. Uploaded the incorporation document at that time. Then, it asked to upload the domain receipt to demonstrate the corporation owns the domain. Did that immediately. Now, the vetting status is still "Rejected". Also, when I check the "Legal Info" panel, my role is just "Developer" now, and there is no more "Owner" role for my account. Maybe because of this, I cannot see notification or expand "Contact info" for my corporation on MPC. I opened a support ticket and got an email saying the primary contact should not be general email like "email address removed for privacy reasons" and need to update it. But with the "Developer" role, I cannot even expand "Contact info" panel and won't be able to update it by myself now. This experience made me very frustrated with MPC. So I replied the support email, and who knows if they will actually reply or care.
Access restricted
I was banned from the system without any justification. I spent six months struggling to get approval without ever using the service once. Now I face another six months trying to get my ban lifted, and they're telling me that if I pay $16,500 annually for support services, they'll help me. This system is absolutely ridiculous. When I was banned, I received no notification, no message, no email, nothing. I only got a response after submitting four support tickets. Now I suppose I'll need to submit another 50 tickets just to try to get my ban reversed. Microsoft is truly a terrible company
Employment Verification Rejected - No more attempts
Hello, I am trying to get my account verified but after several failed attempts, now I do not have a possibility to resubmit the documents. I read few resources here and now I known what kind of document I need to submit, but there's no possibility. I contacted support maybe 6-7 times and their responses are always the same: We've reviewed your appeal for verification. Based on the information you have provided to date, we have determined that your organization does not currently meet the requirements to pass verification. We have closed your application. If you decide to reapply, please review the information at https://aka.ms/CSPVerification and http://aka.ms/PartnerVerification to ensure you meet the latest requirements. I don't know what to do now, tried to open new account with same company name but it didn't go through. I need somebody to help me how to reapply, or at least resubmit the documents. Support seems to be useless at this point because they reply with the same email all the time. Please advise! Thank you in advance!Ongoing Partner Verification Issues – I Need Help and Direction
At the end of 2024, I joined forces with a few close colleagues to create a global training company based in the U.S., with the goal of becoming a Microsoft partner focused on bridging the growing global skills gap in tech. As a Brazilian, I took every necessary step to legally establish the company in the United States — from business formation and IRS registration (EIN) to securing a D-U-N-S Number and setting up the domain and operations. Everything was done by the book, with transparency and diligence. On April 11, the company’s EIN was officially issued. I believed the hardest part was over. But what I wasn’t prepared for was the complexity and opacity of the Microsoft Partner verification process. Since May, I’ve been trying to verify the business and my personal identity to officially join the Microsoft Partner Network. I've submitted every required document multiple times — company formation papers, domain ownership proof, D-U-N-S details, IRS registration, and even identity verification via Microsoft Authenticator. To date, I’ve opened six different support tickets. I also reached out to a community manager who helps partners here but unfortunately, nothing has moved forward. The latest ticket was closed with the same response I’ve received multiple times: "We've reviewed your request for verification. Based on the information you have provided to date, we have determined that your organization does not currently meet the requirements to pass verification. We have closed your application. If you decide to reapply, please review the information at http://aka.ms/PartnerVerification..." This message is always the same, vague, generic, and without any actionable feedback on what exactly is missing. To make matters worse, we had to cancel our launch event scheduled for early July, which was to feature several MVPs, MCTs, and other community leaders. Without partner verification, we can’t operate or deliver what we’ve been building for months. What hurts the most is that the company I’ve admired and championed for years, as an MCT and community member — is now the one unintentionally preventing us from moving forward. I’m sharing this here with the hope that someone from the community or Microsoft can help guide or escalate the situation. We’ve done everything by the book, and just want the opportunity to contribute and to help others grow through training and empowerment. Any help or direction would mean a lot. Thank you for your attention Pacifico, Marcelo - Microsoft Certified Trainer & Owner NextGen Skills LLC
Partner account issue unable to bypass employment verification stage
HI, I have problem with my partner account because I edited some details on my partner center account and now verification process has emerged again and I am stuck at employment verification stage and if I uploaded the required documents nothing will happen and they will ask again for same documents it looks like loop any help would be appreciated ThanksHistory of Microsoft Cloud Offerings leading to the US Sovereign Cloud - July 2025 Update
Microsoft has evolved our cloud service offerings to include the US Sovereign Cloud with Azure Government, Microsoft 365 Government (GCC High) and DoD. This article puts the history in perspective of how we ended up with multiple clouds, as opposed to one instance with many data enclaves.CSP Account Verified & Authorized yet Indirect Reseller Status: SUSPENDED
Hello Partner Community Please assist any way you can... JillArmourMicrosoft is this in your wheelhouse? We are an CSP partner that is struggling to have our indirect reseller account suspension lifted even though our partner account is now fully verified and authorised. Our account was originally suspended due to a business registration vs shop location mismatch that was not resolved within a 30 day termination notification time limit. We corrected the address problem AFTER the account was suspended and although our account is now verified and authorised, the Indirect Reseller account suspension has not been automatically lifted and we are unable to contact a human representative to have it manually moved back to the Active state. We have submitted several Partner Support tickets but they do not provide actual support at all and automated responses from these tickets return a disclaimer stating the following with no further correspondence and the ticket automatically closed. Hello, Thank you for contacting Microsoft Partner support about the notice of suspension and termination proceedings. In the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement, both Microsoft and our partners reserve the right to walk away from the partner relationship by providing 30 days' notice to the other. Neither party is required to offer an explanation for the decision to terminate the partner agreement. As Microsoft is exercising its rights under this section 4.b of the Microsoft AI Cloud Program Agreement, we are unable to share an explanation or further details. Kind Regards, *Random Name* (He/Him) Support Engineer Partner Support Delivery - Program Customer Support My Working Hours: M-F 11:30 AM to 08:30 PM AEDT This lack of support is excruciatingly frustrating and terribly aggravating given that we are now subject to an indefinite period of considerable income loss with no recourse. Note that along with the suspension, emails have been sent to our customers notifying them that we are no longer qualified to act as their licensing provider which has been distressing for both our sales team and the customers. Our distributor is doing the best they can to help but they are unable to provide any real assistance and from what I hear, are unable to get any sensible advice from their Microsoft reps. Upon speaking with several other indirect resellers and distributors alike, it is my understanding that many partners are suffering the same or similar denial of service and I question whether this practice is even legal under Australian law regardless of any contractual fine print and disclaimers after the fact. This denial of support is a huge failure of Microsoft's policy makers and extremely poor business practice in general. If Microsoft wish to declare utter contempt for the small businesses that have supported them for several decades then those businesses might consider alternative platforms for their customers going forward. To conclude, I welcome any support or feedback from the community to help resolve this particular problem and help others with the same issue. Kind Regards, One very Frustrated Reseller.
