Dear Partners,

Enjoy the read of the latest news from Microsoft.

Regards  The Axiz Microsoft team.

At Microsoft, we are committed to protect the health and well-being of the communities where we operate. Our technologies are enabling our partners, customers on the front lines, including governments, heath providers, and schools while they work remotely without sacrificing collaboration, productivity, or security.

I highly recommend you learn about key updates to our partner programs, remote work, Microsoft cloud services continuity, and shared resources for our partners and customers.

We are here to support you and to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

If you have any questions or need anything, please feel free to reach us here.

Thank you for your partnership with Microsoft.

Stay safe.

Bruno Delamarre
General Manager, One Commercial Partner and SMC
Microsoft Middle East & Africa

Partner Corner Website | Partner Network Program Updates

We are committed to support our partners during these unprecedented times. Find complied guidance and resources, including trial guidance, Virtual Instructor-led trainings, MEA events and webinars on the Middle East & Africa Partner portal, Partner Corner. Recently announced, in light of current situation, there are some adjustments made to partner programs to provide more flexibility. Learn about the key updates on programs, including competencies, training, exams, certifications, incentives, Microsoft Partner Agreement, Microsoft Inspire and Go-to-market resources.

Responding to Covid-19 | MEA ISV Solutions

In responding to Covid-19, you need to find the right app for your business needs. Get solutions tailored to your industry, including education, government, healthcare and retail. Find your suitable app from our Middle East & Africa ISV Solutions catalogue

Microsoft Inspire 2020 | Save The Date | July 21–22

The safety of our community is a top priority. In light of health safety recommendations from public health authorities, we will be moving Microsoft Inspire, our annual partner conference, to a virtual event this year. We are bringing our partner community together, find what’s happening on Microsoft Inspire site.

• Microsoft Inspire will be a digital-only event experience
• The event dates are July 21–22 (aligned to the Pacific Time Zone)
• Registration will open in June
• There will be no cost to attend

Partner of the Year Award | Submit Nomination Now
The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards acknowledge successes and innovations by partners in a wide variety of categories, all related to partner competencies, cloud technology, and entrepreneurial spirit. Review the official guidelines and rules and regulations for an in-depth understanding of the program and find details about the award and the criteria by visiting the Partner of the Year Awards page.

Announcing New Community Response award
Recently, an additional award category is added to our Partner of the Year Awards program this year – the Community Response award. This new award recognizes a partner organization that has made a great difference, providing innovative and unique services or solutions to help solve problems for our customers and community during these unprecedented times.

Additionally, the nomination submission deadline has been extended for all of our awards to 11:59 pm Pacific Time (PT), on Tuesday, May 12, 2020.

Thank you in advance, and we look forward to reading about all of the great work that our partner community is doing. Together, we achieve more!

New Microsoft Partner Agreement for Cloud Solution Provider program

All Microsoft partners are now required to accept the new partner agreement to ensure no disruption to create new customers or place new orders for existing customers in the CSP program.

Accept the Microsoft Partner Agreement on the Partner Center dashboard page. Get more details about the agreement here.

Implement security requirements to safeguard your business

Greater security and privacy safeguards are among our top priorities. We know that the best defense is prevention and that we are only as strong as our weakest link. That’s why we are requiring partners take action and ensure they have appropriate security protections in place.

To help safeguard partners and customers, we’re introducing a set of mandatory security requirements for partners participating in the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program. Activate the security safeguards. Learn more: Partner Guide: Activation of security safeguards

Partner virtual instructor-led trainings

Enhance your team’s technical skills with interactive webinars for all core customer technical scenarios. Participate in interactive, regionally delivered webinars that are designed to prepare your team for Microsoft certifications and boost your team’s knowledge of deep technical scenarios across all Microsoft cloud solutions. These training opportunities, offering chat-based instructors, provide targeted information that can enhance your team’s expertise. Visit the landing page to learn more about virtual training sessions.

Go-to-market with Microsoft resources

We’ve recently added new resources on the partner website to help you go to market faster. Get started with campaigns and content today and connect with customers through Digital Marketing Content On Demand, explore turnkey marketing materials in Partner Marketing Center, or assess your readiness to expand your business with the geo expansion or partner-to-partner readiness assessment.

Microsoft advanced specialization

Advanced specializations
Customers want to work with organizations that have deep knowledge, and advanced specializations let partners demonstrate their extensive skills and experience. Partners that attain a gold competency can further differentiate their organization’s services by earning an advanced specialization, highlighting their capabilities in the solution areas customers are seeking help. Customers can easily identify the partners most relevant for their business needs because the advanced specialization tag in the partner’s business profile is prioritized in search results within our partner directory. This kind of classification alone can have an immediate and positive impact on the partner’s business.

Our newest offering: Adoption and Change Management
Our newest advanced specialization, “Adoption and Change Management,” is now available for partners with an active gold cloud productivity competency. Providing adoption and change management services presents a unique opportunity to create new revenue streams and deliver additional value for customers. This advanced specialization is awarded to partners who have proven their expertise in helping customers manage the rapid pace of adoption and change of their users to Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Yammer.

Learn more about Adoption and Change Management.

Microsoft Cloud Society

Hone your skills with Microsoft Cloud Society. A program designed to support you in becoming a world-class expert in the space of cloud computing.
Click here to read more about Cloud Society.

Cloud enablement desk

Looking for assistance in building your business and learning about your opportunities with Microsoft? We can help by assigning you a dedicated cloud program specialist.

We’ll help you connect to customers through marketplaces, sell with us, and market yourself better. You will also learn how to take advantage of Microsoft partner programs, build your business through competencies, activate your benefits, use technical training, and so much more.

Get started with the cloud enablement desk today.

Get the most from your Microsoft partnership

Schedule a complimentary one-on-one consultation with the Cloud Enablement Desk (CED) and access the following services with the CED:

  • Unlimited one-on-one access to 300-400 level technical resources*
  • Development of customized technical learning plan
  • Architectural review and solution building guidance
  • Pre-sales consultation
  • Proof-of-concept and deployment assistance

It’s easy to get started

The CED is a no-cost service for Microsoft Partner Network members who do not have a Partner Develpoment Manager.
Don’t miss out!

Questions? We are here to help.

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