ATTENTION DP-500 WILL BE RETIRING APRIL 30TH, 2024!!
DP-500 for ILT will be retiring on April 30th, 2024 Find out how certification and exam retirements make way for new opportunities. Microsoft Fabric—the all-in-one analytics solution that covers everything from data movement to data science—has enabled the role of enterprise data analyst to evolve into that of analytics engineer. As a result, effective April 30, 2024, we’ll retire the Microsoft Certified: Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate certification and Exam DP-500: Designing and Implementing Enterprise-Scale Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Power BI. Enterprise data analysts can now earn the Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate certification by taking DP-600 and also passing Exam DP-600. Please see the blog posted on MS Learn for further information regarding this found here: Microsoft Credentials roundup: In-demand news for in-demand skills - Microsoft Community Hub Thank you!ATTENTION: Known issue with trials on M365 Tenants
Due to recent changes, some trials require a Learner to use a credit card when adding a trial onto their provided M365 tenant. Learners are currently unable to complete labs using the specific trial tenant, unless they provide a credit card. The courses that are currently affected, are listed below. MS-700T00: Managing Microsoft Teams MS-721T00: Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer PL-400T00: Microsoft Power Platform Developer PL-500T00: Microsoft Power Automate RPA Developer We are closely monitoring these changes and will update you as we learn more. Thank youMCT New and Renewing MCTs - Update July 26
Updated July 26, 2025 As we step into FY26 on July 1st, 2025, I want to share some important updates regarding the MCT Program—especially for those planning to renew. New Fees Coming October 2025, no exact date and the cost will be shared at a later date. Starting July 1st, 2025, we will introduce: A renewal fee (ecommerce tool will be available in October 2025 for everyone to renew) A new MCT enrollment fee (ecommerce tool will be available in October 2025 for new MCTs) Our systems are currently being updated to support this change, with the new tool expected to launch in October 2025. More to come on costs. Pricing will be region supported. Session Requirement for Renewal Effective January 1st, 2026, MCTs will be required to complete six (6) sessions or six (6) days of training per calendar year to qualify for renewal. For clarity on what qualifies as a session, please refer to the attached PDF: Mandatory Use of MTM We will be enforcing stricter requirements for using Metrics That Matter (MTM) to log sessions with your Training Services Partner (TSP). Please coordinate with your TSPs to ensure MTM is being used correctly. What to Expect Next More details on program costs will be shared closer to the tool’s release. All MCTs that were MCTs before manual enrollment have been extended through January 1st, 2026, with full benefits. You’ll see this extension reflected in your profile in your MCT Trainer History NOT active certification. All current MCTs will be able to renew when the tool is available in October 2025 and the requirement to renew will be to have an active certification and have taught one class since your last renewal and pay the renewal fee (costs to come later). We will be checking that you have taught the one class using MTM. New MCTs will need ISC certificate, one role-based active certification and pay the MCT new enrollment fee. New MCT Enrollment Process | Microsoft Learn 🙏 Thank you for your continued support and patience as we enhance our systems. Here’s to a successful and impactful FY26!NEW: MS-203 Retirement Update
The new retirement date for MS-203: Microsoft 365 Messaging will now be December 29th, 2023. We understand that the initial retirement date did not support future scheduled deliveries of this course, and we always strive to provide course retirements in a timely manner to allow for appropriate planning. Please continue to reach out with any questions you may have. Thank you!NEW: AI Course coming your way!!
1-Day ILT Course Delivery (There is currently no exam/cert for this ILT Course) AI Labs will require an OpenAI Service approved Azure subscription. We strongly recommend labs be performed and demonstrated by Trainers only. Trainers must submit their Azure subscription for OpenAI Service governance approval. Trainers will only need to request/gain approval once, for all future use. Request form can be found here: https://aka.ms/RequestAzureOpenAI Learners can apply for OpenAI Service approval with their own Azure subscription and perform lab steps on their own, once they are approved. Further details on the restricted access policy can be found here: https://aka.ms/AzureOpenAI_Support __________________________________________________________________________________ Additional information: Azure OpenAI requires registration and approval of your Azure subscription. As part of Microsoft's commitment to responsible AI, we are designing and releasing Azure OpenAI Service, with the intention of protecting the rights of individuals and society, as well as fostering transparent human-computer interaction. For this reason, we currently limit the access and use of Azure OpenAI, which is why registration and governance approval is required. We are strongly recommending that AI-050 labs be performed and demonstrated by only the Trainer during class. Approval can take several days to complete. As demand for AI services increases, we worry that Learners will have a degraded experience if they can’t be approved in time for the class. If you intend to deliver this course, please have your Trainers register for OpenAI services through this link https://aka.ms/RequestAzureOpenAI well in advance of the scheduled delivery time. The labs steps are available on GitHub and if Learners want to get approved for the OpenAI services they are able to and use the lab steps for self-study.NEW! Azure Infrastructure and Data & AI 1-Day ILT offerings!
The following courses below are all 1-Day ILT offerings! These courses have no cert/exams associated, as they are designed to add additional learning and labs for current ILT course offerings, to better support your Learners, and ILT deliveries. These courses will officially launch on 1/15/24. DP-605T00: Develop dynamic reports with Microsoft Power BI DP-3011: Implementing a Data Analytics Solution with Azure Databricks DP-3012: Implementing a Data Analytics Solution with Azure Synapse Analytics DP-3014: Implementing a Machine Learning solution with Azure Databricks AZ-1005: Configuring Azure Virtual Desktop for the Enterprise The course pages are all live. This can be utilized to better support course information to share to potential Learners. We want to get out our new ILT-courses, to better support preparation for future deliveries. Please let me know if you have any other questions!Immediate Discontinuation of Azure Passes
Important breaking news that has immediate impacts to TSPs delivering courses that currently use an Azure Pass. Effective immediately, Microsoft is discontinuing the use of Azure passes and recalling any Azure Passes in use by students and trainers. Why is Microsoft removing the Azure Pass option? As a part of the commitment to provide the best possible learner experience, Microsoft was in the process of moving away from using Azure passes to provide cloud access to course labs. The lab experience via the Lab Hosters (LH) removes friction for learners (i.e. activation and support considerations) and provides a more uniform training experience for our learners regardless of their location. Recently, Microsoft has experienced a significant increase in potential fraud and unintended use of Azure services, resulting in the immediate discontinuation of Azure Passes. Which courses are impacted by the discontinuation of the Azure Pass? The following course will not have labs available until end of January: SC-200T00: Microsoft Security Operations Analyst Lab Hosters are working quickly to convert the following courses to non-Azure Pass. Please consult directly with your Lab Hoster to find out the status of what they have available. AZ-2001: Implement Security Through a Pipeline Using Azure DevOps AZ-2008: DevOps Foundations: The Core Principles and Practices AZ-400T00: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps solutions SC-300T00: Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator All localized versions of labs for these courses are offline. An ETA on when they will be available will be provided at a later date. Please consult with your Authorized Lab Hosters to see if your delivery will be impacted as a result of not having Azure passes. Additional information can be found in the attached FAQ. DanUpdate on Labs Security Impacts (5/7)
Updated with additional information on 5/7 Hello TSPs, As outlined in today’s blog post by Charlie Bell (Executive Vice President, Microsoft Security), Microsoft continues to make security a top priority internally as well as with our partners and customers. Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of this focus continues to impact labs within our training ecosystem. We are keenly aware how these tenant issues are impacting your training business, from reducing the richness of the overall training experience all the way to potentially cancelled classes. We have updated the previously shared FAQ (attached) to provide additional details and answer your questions. While we’ve reached a resolution in some courses (see below), the larger question regarding when tenant access will be broadly available is still an unknown. As meaningful updates become available, we will share them here on our Training Services Partner Community (Forum). Today’s update (8 courses): SC-300: tenants are now being made available to the Authorized Lab Hosters (ALHs). We are working on creating stockpiles to support the quantity of classes PL-300 & DP-605: ALHs are now offering these labs via their own Azure subscriptions, and not the M365 tenants PL-100, PL-900, PL-7001, PL-7002, PL-7003: Skillable has created an M365 tenant solution which is now available to TSPs Our team is working hard behind the scenes to reinstate tenants or create workarounds for all impacted courses. If you have further questions, please post them via this thread. Thank you for your partnership, DanCopilot Licenses and Evolution of Benefits Packages
Hi all, If you haven't already heard the news, Microsoft is making updates to the product licensing in benefits packages: partner.microsoft.com/en-US/blog/article/innovate-with-partner-benefits. This includes Copilot for Modern Work and Biz Apps benefits. What is changing? Beginning January 22, 2025, we are adding over 20 in-demand product licenses to our benefits packages. This includes game-changing Microsoft Copilot products, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Microsoft GitHub. These product licenses will be accessible in select partner benefits packages and Training Services Partner Solution Area designations. For information on changes by benefits package type, see our benefits transition walking deck. Additionally, the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program benefits guide has been updated to include the upcoming license availability (starting on page 45). As part of this benefit transition, we are also announcing that Microsoft will no longer sell Microsoft Action Pack, Microsoft Learning Action Pack, or legacy silver / gold benefits starting January 22, 2025. We will continue to offer the three new benefit packages that were released in January 2024: Partner Launch Benefits, Partner Success Core Benefits, and Partner Success Expanded Benefits. These are optional benefits packages and not required to participate in the Training Services Partner (TSP) ecosystem. Timeline January 21, 2025: partners will be able to purchase or renew Action Pack or legacy silver / gold benefits through this date. All existing legacy benefits purchased on or before this date will be valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. January 22, 2025: new product licenses will be added to qualifying benefits packages. Existing Action Pack and legacy silver / gold benefits packages will not receive the new licenses. Next Steps Having a benefits package as a TSP is optional, but recommended. Aside from product licensing, partners receive Azure credit greater than the cost of the package. Additionally, Solutions Area partners have access to elevated badging and the customer-facing partner directory (coming soon). Partners may opt to participate in the TSP ecosystem with no benefits package. Partners looking to receive benefits who have an Action Pack or legacy silver / gold renewal date on or before January 21, 2025, have the ability to: renew legacy benefits for one more 12-month period and / or transition to Partner Launch, Partner Success Core, or Partner Success Expanded benefits, available now and / or meet Solution Area badging requirements in one or more Microsoft Solution Areas (note: TSPs can simultaneously have all 3 options above) Partners looking to receive benefits who have an Action Pack or legacy silver / gold renewal data after January 21, 2025, have the ability to: transition to Partner Launch, Partner Success Core, or Partner Success Expanded benefits, available now and / or meet Solution Area badging requirements in one or more Microsoft Solution Areas Resources Familiarize yourself with the transition walking deck and updated benefits guide Review the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program FAQ Compare offerings across the Partner Launch, Partner Success Core, and Partner Success Expanded benefit packages Join the TSP Community Calls for additional information as it becomes available (August 28 th call invites are attached) Ask questions of other TSPs and Microsoft program managers via the Training Services Partner Forum We will continue to provide updates through our regular communication channels as we work towards January 2025 and beyond. As always, if you have any questions please reach out. Thanks for your support. Dan
