Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft has provided a peek behind the proverbial curtain on its partner focus for its 2022 fiscal year, with consistency featuring heavily.
In a blog post, the tech giant’s vice president for global partner solutions, incentives and investments, Kevin McCarthy, said Microsoft’s focus for the fiscal year was on ‘three pillars’.
Two of those pillars are rewards and support, while the third is maintaining predictability on core investments and incentive programs, which is to drive “simplicity and ensuring clarity in investment objectives to help partners plan for the long-term,” McCarthy claimed.
Part of that stability can be seen in Microsoft’s plans to maintain the overall effective rate in its Enterprise program.
“We are continuing our investment commitment to partners who establish meaningful relationships with enterprise customers to drive new, renewal, and true-up opportunities,” McCarthy said.
“The FY22 Enterprise program will experience no reduction to New, Renew, or Add-On rates for Core, Strategic Server, Modern Work & Security Cloud Standard and Premium levers. In alignment with the scope of changes previously announced, the Account Services earning opportunity will be redeployed into Level A and B nested in the Enterprise program," he added.
Also in line with predictability is that the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) incentive core rates will be the same as they were in the previous fiscal year.
“FY22 CSP core lever rates (Direct Bill Partner, Indirect Provider, and Indirect Reseller rates) and strategic product accelerator lever rates will remain consistent with FY21,” McCarthy wrote.
In addition, presales workshops and assessments are expected to see a continuation of investment by Microsoft, with a focus on customer acquisition and solution adoption.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s increased focus on cloud-based solution will see it prioritise advisory partners that play a strategic role in pre- and post-sales activities across Business Applications cloud-based solutions through its Online Services Advisor program.
However, it will no longer support the Certified Software Advisor program that it claims was designed for Dynamics on-prem licensing. Also flagged in its roadmap for the fiscal year ahead are the company's incentives for Azure to be only made available in Azure offers sold through its new commerce experience, which was previously mentioned in January.
The partner plan is expected to be enacted from October 2021, coming as part of Microsoft’s standard FY22 investments and incentives program launch, with further details to be shared “in the coming months,” McCarthy said.
