Pender's Blog

Blog archive

Changes Coming to the Microsoft Partner Program...by 2011

Interesting stuff bouncing around this week about changes Microsoft is planning on making to the Partner Program. Apparently, the program is going to be less about technology and more about business planning, less generic and more specific in its certifications, and less Microsoft-focused and more customer-centric. Decipher this chart from the company at your own risk.

For instance, apparently generic Gold Certified Partner status will give way to something closer to Gold Certified Partner status in a particular area of technology of business expertise. We like what we hear so far, and Microsoft promises that the transition will be painless. In fact, it has even named the new plans Evolution, not Revolution. Stay tuned.

Posted by Lee Pender on March 11, 2009


Featured

  • Microsoft Dismantles RedVDS Cybercrime Marketplace Linked to $40M in Phishing Fraud

    In a coordinated action spanning the United States and the United Kingdom, Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) and international law enforcement collaborators have taken down RedVDS, a subscription based cybercrime platform tied to an estimated $40 million in fraud losses in the U.S. since March 2025.

  • Sound Wave Illustration

    CrowdStrike's Acquisition of SGNL Aims to Strengthen Identity Security

    CrowdStrike signs definitive agreement to purchase SGNL, an identity security specialist, in a deal valued at about $740 million.

  • Microsoft Acquires Osmos, Automating Data Engineering inside Fabric

    In a strategic move to reduce time-consuming manual data preparation, Microsoft has acquired Seattle-based startup Osmos, specializing in agentic AI for data engineering.

  • Linux Foundation Unites Major Tech Firms to Launch Agentic AI Foundation

    The Linux Foundation today announced the creation of a new collaborative initiative — the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) — bringing together major AI and cloud players such as Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and other major tech companies.