Welcome to the new Partner Skilling Discussion board!
The Microsoft Skilling Community is your hub to stay informed on skilling opportunities, ask questions, and connect with peers across the Microsoft partner ecosystem. Follow the board for updates, get clarity on certifications and role‑based skilling paths, and use shared guidance to accelerate your readiness. We’d love to meet you — say hello and let us know in the comments where you’re joining from!Earn the badge built for Frontier AI leaders
The next wave of AI transformation needs more than ambition. Customers need partners with the skills and proven capabilities to deliver real outcomes. The Frontier Transformation Engineer badge recognizes partners building the capabilities to design, implement, and deliver Microsoft Frontier AI solutions. Earn the badge to demonstrate validated skills, strengthen customer confidence, and differentiate your practice in a rapidly evolving AI market. With the Frontier Transformation Engineer journey, your team can: Validate Frontier AI engineering capabilities. Strengthen credibility in customer conversations. Build readiness for AI transformation engagements. Bring greater credibility to customer conversations. Differentiate your practice with demonstrated expertise. Qualify for a flagship Frontier Partner specialization recognition. The journey combines certifications, hands-on training, and project readiness to help your team build the capabilities needed to lead Frontier AI transformation. Don’t just prepare for the future of AI. Build the expertise to deliver it. Earn the Frontier Transformation Engineer badgeBuild a more effective co-sell motion with the new Co-sell Execution Engine skilling series
Turn co-sell into a more consistent growth engine for your business with a new series of skilling videos. The new five-part Co-sell Execution Engine video series, now available on the Microsoft Partner Skilling Hub, gives you practical guidance from Microsoft co-sell leaders and experienced partners. Across five on-demand sessions, Microsoft co-sell leaders and experienced partners share proven frameworks, data-driven strategies, and real-world insights so you can: Strengthen collaboration with Microsoft sellers. Improve deal velocity. Increase win rates. Scale co-sell across your business. Choose the sessions most relevant to your business needs or complete the full series to learn how successful partners turn co-sell from a one-time activity into a scalable growth engine. View the series today.We are excited to announce a new AI-led experience for MyGoals!
Get a personalized MyGoals learning plan instantly. Building the right skills starts with the right learning plan for you—and now, you can tailor your learning journey with the new AI-powered Skilling Hub experience. Just choose your role, the topics that matter most to your business, and your preferred learning formats—then instantly get a tailored learning plan aligned to your goals. As your priorities evolve, you can revisit and refine your learning plan anytime. Plus, stay tuned for upcoming AI-powered guides to strengthen your Microsoft partnership, expand co-sell opportunities, and accelerate your Microsoft Marketplace journey. For new users, register and start building a new learning path today. For returning users, use your previous login credentials for MyGoals on LevelUp. Note: LevelUp MyGoals is a subset of Skilling Hub learning and soon be completely integrated into Skilling Hub. Get startedPartner Blog | Partner Center Technical Corner: August 2026 edition
Welcome to the August edition of Partner Center Technical Corner. This month’s updates are designed to empower you to identify growth opportunities, manage customer and subscription scenarios with more predictability, strengthen customer confidence through specialized capabilities, and gain greater visibility across Partner Center. Several of these updates put AI directly into the workflows your teams use every day. From sales recommendations to designation progress guidance, Partner Center is making it easier to move from insight to action. For a look at what is coming next, review the Partner Center Technical Roadmap and resources at the end of this post. Turn insights into growth AI-powered growth recommendations Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners now have AI-powered sales recommendations and business insights designed to identify potential growth opportunities, prioritize customer engagement, increase adoption, and grow revenue across your customer portfolio. The first wave of recommendations focuses on upsell, seat expansion, Copilot monetization through free-to-paid conversions, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat activation, Enterprise Agreement (EA) to CSP migrations, and targeted promotions. Recommendations are available through the Partner Center agent and the Customer Overview page, and each includes business context so you can evaluate the next best action. Browse promotion details directly in Partner Center You can now browse and download active promotions inside the Pricing workspace. The Benefits page includes a sortable table with product, SKU, discount, term, billing cycle, and eligibility details. Selecting a row opens a full details panel, making it faster to identify upsell and renewal opportunities and confirm whether a promotion applies before placing an order. Continue reading here Be sure to follow our CSP discussion board to connect with subject matter experts and other CSP partners!Accelerate your sales with Deal Ready Demo Accelerators
Accelerate customer conversations with Deal Ready Demo Accelerators—prebuilt, reusable solution scenarios you can use to move faster from discovery to close. Deal Ready Demo Accelerators combine Microsoft reference architectures, guided sales narratives, and cost transparency into a seamless experience that requires no engineering effort or live tenant setup—designed to reduce technical complexity, build customer confidence, and shorten sales cycles. Use these ready-to-run demos to deliver consistent, architecture-backed demos across solution areas, from AI Business Solutions—including AI business process and AI workforce—to Cloud & AI Platforms and Security. Explore the Deal Ready Demo Accelerators and get started today. Available on demand for eligible Microsoft partner types. Please refer to the official terms and conditions for usage guidelines.This is the moment to shape what’s next for your hosting business
For hosting partners, today’s market shifts are more than a challenge—they’re an opportunity to modernize with intention and grow into what’s next. Customers are looking for partners who can deliver continuity today and a credible modernization path for tomorrow. By acting early, you put yourself in a stronger position to preserve what works, modernize at a sustainable pace, and expand into higher‑value services—without disrupting existing relationships. Here’s a clear path forward: Start with clarity. Check out the one‑pager, “Turn hosting market disruption into a growth opportunity,” to align your organization on why now is the time to shift from traditional hosting to a services-led model. Plan with confidence. The e‑book, Navigating the Next Era of Hosting, breaks down the Microsoft Adaptive Cloud strategy: how to run workloads where they make sense, manage them as a single environment, and grow into differentiated services. Transform with support. Go from planning to action with the Microsoft Datacenter Optimization (DCO) site, which includes ongoing transition guidance, tools, FAQs, the Hybrid Cloud Partners podcast, and more. Get started with the one-pager.Extended service terms enforcement is now in effect
As of May 4, 2026, we've aligned renewal and end-of-term options to create a more consistent and predictable experience. Customers and partners now have clear choices at expiration: renew to a new term, cancel at end of term, or temporarily extend service through a paid extended service term (EST). As a reminder: Subscriptions that meet all three of the following criteria will automatically transition to EST at expiration: Purchased or renewed on or after April 1, 2025 Expires on or after May 4, 2026 Auto-renew is set to off If EST is not a desired end-of-term option, partners can select “cancel” or “renew” before the subscription’s end date. Selecting “cancel” as an end-of-term option means the subscription ends on its expiration date, and the customer will lose access to the service. Partners should prioritize renewal discussions with customers in advance of a subscription's end date and discuss the best option for their business needs before the end of their service to avoid unexpected billing. Learn more about EST, available resources, and how to export a list of EST subscriptions.Partner Blog | What's new for Microsoft partners: July 2026 edition
Your voice continues to shape how the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program evolves. This month’s update brings together the announcements, investments, and resources partners need now, so you can prioritize where to focus, what to skill, and which motions to scale as AI becomes central to more customer workloads. These updates reflect partner opportunity across the Microsoft ecosystem, grounded in partner feedback, and aligned to how customers are evolving their cloud and AI strategies. Spotlight Join us this month for MCAPS Start for Partners Join us for MCAPS Start for Partners, on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, starting at 7:00 AM Pacific Time. This digital event is designed to give partners a fast start to FY27; the event will share guidance on Microsoft priorities, innovation, investments, and go-to-market motions. Hear from Microsoft leaders and partner voices on where Microsoft is investing, what is changing, and how to activate AI-led growth opportunities. Whether your organization serves small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), enterprise customers, or both, your teams can use the event to align early, reduce rework, and move faster into the year ahead. Don’t miss the Microsoft Partner FY27 GTM Kickoff Event Join us on July 28, 2026, to learn about the go-to-market (GTM) priorities and initiatives planned for FY27 across Microsoft AI Business Solutions, Microsoft Commercial Cloud and AI, and Microsoft Security. Sign up for a double-click on priorities shared at MCAPS Start for Partners and kickstart your GTM plans and tactics for the new fiscal year. Continue reading blog here
