Earn the Digital Sovereignty specialization and stand out in a growing market
Customers are raising digital sovereignty requirements earlier in the sales cycle as they navigate AI adoption, evolving regulations, cybersecurity risks, and operational resilience concerns. Microsoft partners who can confidently address these challenges can position themselves to serve as trusted advisors and capture emerging opportunities. The Digital Sovereignty specialization validates your capabilities delivering secure, compliant, and locally governed cloud solutions using Microsoft Sovereign Cloud. Demonstrate your expertise to customers seeking guidance on data control, governance, sovereign AI, cloud resilience, and regulatory requirements. As demand for sovereignty expertise grows across regulated and public sector industries, now is the time to differentiate your practice and showcase your proven capabilities. Learn how digital sovereignty is reshaping customer priorities in the blog and explore the requirements, benefits, and business opportunities associated with earning the Digital Sovereignty specialization.
New audit requirement for Security specializations starts July 2026
Security specializations signal verified, high-caliber capability to customers and Microsoft field teams—and that signal holds up better when the bar is credible. To support that standard, starting July 2026, an independent audit will replace the Customer References requirement for four Security specializations: Cloud Security, Data Security, Identity & Access Management, and Threat Protection. Whether you’re enrolling for the first time or renewing, you’ll need to meet this audit requirement to earn or maintain your credential. Moving to an audit model for these specializations raises the bar, aligns Security with Azure specializations, and gives you a stronger, harder-to-copy advantage in competitive deals and co-sell conversations. When the change goes live, existing partners will be given a six-month extension to their anniversary date to allow time to prepare for the audit. What to do now Review the updated requirements so you know what the audit entails Check your specialization status and renewal date to understand when this applies Start preparing your documentation and evidence now—don’t wait for your renewal window Prepare early to stay in good standing, avoid disruption, and keep your business moving.Stand out as an authority on cloud sovereignty with the Digital Sovereignty specialization
The Digital Sovereignty specialization is designed to drive meaningful business outcomes. It differentiates your organization as a sovereign cloud leader, building trust with customers in compliance-heavy regions. It also opens access to high-value projects in regulated industries such as government, defense, banking, and healthcare. The Digital Sovereignty specialization supports business growth by highlighting value-added services capabilities with higher margins in digital sovereignty. Finally, it signals proven delivery capability on sensitive cloud deployments, fostering strong client relationships. To enroll, meet the five specialization prerequisite requirements across Security, Azure, and Modern Work. Once eligible, respond to Microsoft outreach and schedule a third-party audit, demonstrating recent sovereign cloud projects. Then, maintain the specialization by continuing to meet prerequisites annually and passing the audit every two years. Don't miss this opportunity to tap into incredible business value and access exciting opportunities based on the capabilities and knowledge you already have.Updates to Data Security specialization (formerly Information Protection and Governance)
As of 8/26/2025, the Information Protection and Governance specialization is now updated to the Data Security specialization in response to partner feedback and evolving market conditions. In addition to a new name, the specialization also features updated skilling and performance requirements.
Stand out in the marketplace with a Microsoft Copilot specialization
The Microsoft Copilot specialization demonstrates your experience and capabilities with Copilot, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, Copilot Studio, and agents. Partners with this specialization can help their customers: Explore AI Advisory Services for Microsoft Copilot. Adopt Copilot. Deliver data security and deployment. Enable extensibility with agentic focus. To earn this specialization, you must first attain one of three Solutions Partner designations: Business Applications, Modern Work, and/or Security. If your organization has already attained one or more of these designations, please review the Microsoft Copilot specialization criteria—which include performance metrics, skilling requirements, and customer references—and begin to work toward meeting them. You can check whether you currently meet the requirements by viewing your Partner Center dashboard. The requirements include: Performance requirements 1,000 monthly active users (MAU) growth of M365 Copilot in the trailing 12 months (TTM) (Claiming partner of record (CPOR), Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Tier 1, CSP Tier 2) AND 5 net customer growth for Copilot in TTM (CPOR, CSP Tier 1, CSP Tier 2) Skilling requirements 5 people with MS-102: Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert AND 5 people with, cumulatively: SC-401: Implement information protection in Microsoft 365 OR APL-4002: Prepare security and compliance to support Copilot AND 5 people with APL-7008: Create custom agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio Customer references Provide three customer references, which must include at least one example of transforming business processes with agent implementation. Learn more
