Gold legacy benefits renewal cost - 3x price increase
We have been a gold partner for a few years, this would be our second legacy benefits renewal on gold, but the price increased by almost three-fold, we always paid 1700$ and the cost is now $4,729. Our currency in South Africa is R18.61 against the dollar at the moment, and the cost impact on our region is severe. The cost in our currency used to be R32,000 vs now R88,017. So far as we can see it is because Microsoft aligned the pricing for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MAICPP) offers to US dollar (USD) levels across regions and the banner in PN stating "Starting December 2023, we will reconcile membership offer prices to current foreign exchange rates for USD. This reconciliation may result in different pricing for your market”. Can Microsoft consider the impact this has on certain regions?New updates to developer benefits! February 2026
As part of the February 13 expansion to Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program benefits offerings—including partner benefits packages, ISV Success packages, Solutions Partner designations, and specializations—Microsoft has updated developer benefits included in the partner program, along with how these benefits are accessed. The Visual Studio license included in all benefits offerings is now exclusively Visual Studio Enterprise IDE. This updated license includes many existing benefits such as Dometrain, Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Concierge chat, and more, but some key changes have been made to deliver a more secure, compliant, and higher value experience for partners. The per-user monthly Azure credits have been replaced with Azure bulk credits at the organization level, accessible through the Partner Center benefits dashboard; this pooled model gives partners great flexibility with credit allocation while better aligning with Microsoft Azure development needs and reducing unused credits. Additionally, access to some legacy on-premises software downloads and transferrable product keys will no longer be included in partner program developer benefits to support clearer entitlement boundaries; these entitlements remain available through appropriate licensing channels. It’s important to note that these changes apply only to partner program benefits accessed through the Visual Studio subscription portal and do not affect paid Visual Studio subscriptions or SKUs. These changes were enacted to ensure that partners can better utilize Azure credits across teams, promote compliant use of partner program benefits, and simplify benefits management while preserving access to core developer tools. It may require a change management plan, so we encourage you to develop one. Microsoft remains deeply committed to our partners and to continuing to invest in your success and growth by regularly reviewing and updating benefits to support customer impact and innovation. Please review the Microsoft Learn page for full details on this update and download the benefits guide for a full list of updated benefits.
ECIF Funding Milestone Date Changes
Hi there - We're working on an ECIF funded project and due to approval date being pushed back we were unable to start the project until a few days before the first milestone completion date. Our team was hoping to extend the date of the first milestone but we received feedback that we may lose the funding if the date is extended. Looking at the ECIF process documentation, it seems like if all milestones listed are completed in the same quarter then the changes are documented and approved by Microsoft, then an amendment isn't required. All approved milestone completion dates are in Q3 and if the milestone dates are extended the project will be still be completed in Q3. How do milestone extensions on approved ECIF scopes work within the same quarter (and in general) and will we lose funding if we request an extension?Microsoft 365 EDU A5 usage conditions in benefits
Hello, The benefits for Modern Work & Security Solutions partner designations include Microsoft 365 EDU A5 licences next to E5. What are the licence usage conditions of these education licences please as service partner? I guess they are designed for schools and students. But if that's Microsoft that provides them in the benefits package, how can we use them? As they are not suffixed 'Sandbox', my conclusion is they are production ready. Best regards.Defining the "Trailing Twelve Month" period regarding minimum annual CSP Revenue requirement
Dear community, Hope you are doing great. As part of Microsoft's https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/announcements/2023-october#3 around the annual revenue requirement for CSP Indirect Resellers, we would like your confirmation if our understanding is correct. More specifically, the annual requirements will be based on Indirect Reseller's trailing 12 months (TTM) CSP revenue around the relevant products & SKUs. The question: does the trailing 12 months (TTM) CSP revenue means the revenue generates within the last twelve months? Based on the above, and to shape it into an example, Microsoft will examine the revenue that an Indirect Provider generated from April 1, 2023 to March 30, 2024. Is our understanding correct? Thank you in advance for you prompt reply! Nick
