We Did the Math on Microsoft's Solutions Partner Program. The Average MSP Does Not Make the Cut
TL;DR
- Microsoft's Solutions Partner designation replaces Silver and Gold competencies on October 3, 2022, with requirements most average MSPs will not meet.
- Qualifying requires 70 of 100 points across performance, skilling, and customer success, plus at least one point in every individual metric.
- The Modern Work SMB solution area demands 10 net new customer adds, 3 certifications, and 500 monthly active users of usage growth in a trailing 12-month period.
- The annual Solutions Partner fee is $4,730, priced where the Gold competency used to sit, while incentive rates remain roughly unchanged.
- Partners holding a competency on September 30, 2022 keep legacy benefits until their next anniversary, but from October 1, 2023 only a Solutions Partner designation earns incentives.
As of August 2022, Microsoft is rebuilding its partner program, and the changes read very differently depending on your size. Silver and Gold competencies are being eliminated in favor of a single Solutions Partner designation, and the growth metrics attached to it put the new designation, and the incentives behind it, out of reach for the average MSP. If you hold Silver today, or you are scraping into Gold, the honest read is that you will probably not meet the Solutions Partner bar.
As always with Microsoft programs, there is a lot to unpack: what changed, what it costs, the timeline, and the resources that tell you whether you qualify.
What is actually changing?
- The Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) becomes the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP).
- Legacy competencies go away, including the Silver and Gold designations.
- A single Solutions Partner designation replaces Silver and Gold.
- Solutions Partner designations become available starting October 3, 2022. Legacy competencies and their badging stop being valid, but partners holding a competency by September 30, 2022 continue receiving legacy benefits until their next anniversary date.
- If your anniversary date falls after September 30, 2022, Microsoft will provide options to keep purchasing legacy benefits, meaning you can pay the fee and still collect the incentive kickbacks and IURs after September 30, 2022 through October 2023.
- From October 1, 2023 onward, a Solutions Partner designation is required for incentive eligibility. Legacy competencies and benefits no longer count.
- You can track your progress toward the designation in Partner Center (opens in new tab) today as an admin.
How the scoring works
That graphic is Microsoft's marketing framing, all simplification and mutual growth. Underneath it, the qualifications sort into three categories that echo the legacy competencies:
- Performance, meaning net new customer adds
- Skilling, meaning certifications
- Customer Success, meaning usage and deployment growth
Analyze the actual growth metrics and the intent is plain: Microsoft wants all-in partners, shops that are primarily Microsoft-focused and likely doing over $7k+ MRR in licensing. Everything you need to hit has gone up across the board. The Modern Work SMB solution area, which we expect will be the most popular target in the MSP space, requires 10 net new customer adds, 3 certifications, and usage growth of 500 monthly active users in a trailing 12-month period. Even the fine print moved: a tenant now needs 10 Paid Available Units (PAUs) to count as a net new customer, up from 5. Our read is that some of this is Microsoft weeding out partners who gamed the old system, including those adding fake tenants just to hit requirements and collect kickbacks.
There are 6 Solutions Partner designations replacing the legacy competencies. You only need to attain one, pay a $4,730 annual fee, and you hold the designation; additional designations cost nothing extra. Attaining one requires 70 of 100 points across the metric categories below:
The Partner Center dashboard (opens in new tab) breaks this down per solution area and shows your current progress:
One detail that catches people: 70 of 100 points is not the whole rule. You also need at least one point in each individual metric, so you cannot simply write off a column like advanced certifications and make it up elsewhere.
How does the new program compare with Silver and Gold?
The Action Pack is not going away. You can still purchase it in the new program and its benefits have not changed.
Solutions Partner fees are priced at Gold. The $4,730 annual fee sits where the Gold competency fee used to be.
The metrics are harder to hit. Requirements went up across the board with a heavy emphasis on growth. More customers, more certifications, more usage growth. More of everything.
IURs, now called Product Benefits, got better. Comparing the previous IURs with the new product benefit table shows clear gains. Many MSPs at Silver or Gold valued their 25 to 100 M365 E3 licenses; the Solutions Partner Modern Work designation, the one we expect most MSPs to chase, grants 200 M365 E5 licenses and $6k in Azure credits for dev/test. We would hope the benefits improved given the higher requirements. The full guide: Product Benefits PDF (opens in new tab).
Incentive rates are unchanged. Comparing rates side by side shows no differences in the major categories. It will be worth watching whether that shifts over time to push partners toward the new designation.
Where do you stand? Check Partner Center first
The Solutions Partner dashboard section in Partner Center is the place to start. Individual solution designations sit on the left; clicking one pulls up qualification cards showing how far along you are in each category, and View Requirements lists everything on one page:
Clicking View Details on a card surfaces more, including metrics across your customer base:
View Insights on the same card opens a telemetry page that visualizes how you are trending:
The dates that matter
Straight from Microsoft:
September 30, 2022: the last date to renew a legacy competency.
October 3, 2022 to your next anniversary date:
- Solutions Partner designations become attainable on October 3.
- Partners who meet the requirements attain the designation and receive the new customer-facing badging.
- Legacy competencies and badging stop being valid, but partners holding a competency by September 30, 2022 keep legacy benefits until their next anniversary date, after which Microsoft will provide options to continue purchasing legacy benefits.
On your first anniversary date after October 3, 2022:
- Partners who attain a Solutions Partner designation choose between the updated Solutions Partner benefits or their legacy benefits, paying the corresponding fee.
- Partners who fall short of the designation but renewed a competency by September 30, 2022 can keep paying the fee to retain legacy benefits.
October 1, 2023 and beyond:
- A Solutions Partner designation is required for incentive eligibility. Legacy competencies and legacy benefits no longer count toward incentives, unless specific incentive program terms say otherwise.
Our take
The bottom line: if you do not hold a Gold competency today, meeting the Solutions Partner requirements is unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely. The practical first step is to open Partner Center and see where your numbers actually sit. If your competency anniversary lands after September 30, 2022 and you cannot reach the Solutions Partner bar, you still have until October 1, 2023 to keep collecting payouts; our guess is Microsoft will prorate the Silver or Gold fee for the time remaining.
Coming off a year of NCE, these changes deflate the partner program for a large share of MSPs. New Commerce liability plus vanishing incentives plus thin margin is not an investment case. We think this is one more argument for shifting client contracts to a per-user or per-device cost model and getting this category of vendor risk off your books; not a simple change, but Microsoft has made clear it is investing in the ecosystem's larger players. There is a full video breakdown of the program changes here: watch the analysis (opens in new tab).
Resources
- Introduction to the Solutions Partner program, Microsoft Docs (opens in new tab)
- Partner Center dashboard (opens in new tab)
- Evolving the Microsoft Partner Network programs (opens in new tab)
- Solutions Partner overview (opens in new tab)
- Solutions Partner for Modern Work, Microsoft Docs (opens in new tab)
- Program FAQs PDF (opens in new tab)
- Microsoft Commercial Incentives (opens in new tab)
- CSP Indirect Reseller incentive resources (opens in new tab)
- Advanced Specializations (opens in new tab)
Frequently asked questions
Is the Microsoft Action Pack going away with the new program?
No. The Action Pack remains purchasable in the new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program, and its benefits have not changed as of August 2022.
What happens if your competency anniversary falls after September 30, 2022?
Microsoft will provide options to continue purchasing legacy benefits after that date. Practically, you can pay the fee and keep receiving legacy incentive kickbacks and product benefits through October 1, 2023.
Where can you see whether you currently qualify?
The Solutions Partner dashboard in Partner Center shows your progress per solution area, with qualification cards for each metric, detailed views across your customer base, and an insights page for trend telemetry.
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Written by
Nick Ross
CEO · Microsoft MVP · Founder, T-Minus 365
Nick is not just a CEO, he's a respected thought leader and influencer in the MSP space. Tens of thousands of MSPs learn through his YouTube channel, T-Minus365. Nick has been honored as a three-time Microsoft MVP for his educational content; his expertise and influence are the backbone of our mission, ensuring that you are in the best hands when it comes to security.
Nick joined Pax8 in 2017, where he would ultimately oversee product management for PSA and Microsoft integrations. Following his tenure at Pax8, Nick has continued to demonstrate his leadership prowess as an executive at various MSPs, culminating in his most recent role at Sourcepass.
Nick holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from Florida State University, as well as a Minor Degree in Entrepreneurship. In his free time, Nick is an avid hiker, reader, and fitness-junkie.
