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Microsoft Pushes Back Start of Country Qualifications

  • Stay on top of changes to the Microsoft Partner Network with RCP's MPN Roadmap.

Microsoft is pushing back on the start date for the new country qualification requirements for partner competencies.

The basic idea is that partners with practices in more than one country will have to earn their competency in every country they want to claim the competency in.

So, for example, a partner who wants to claim a Small Business gold competency in both the United States and the United Kingdom must have the full complement of Microsoft Certified Professionals, customer case studies, and people passing the required sales and licensing exams in both countries.

When Microsoft Partner Network General Manager Julie Bennani originally announced the change in May, the plan was to roll out the country qualification requirements in October. A document distributed in July around the time of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference pushed the date back to January 2014.

Now a Microsoft spokesperson says the country qualifications won't take effect until the end of Microsoft's fiscal year 2014, which means the end of June 2014.

Companies on the RCP "Most Competent Partner" list, most of whom have a dozen or more competencies with operations in multiple countries, and other large partner organizations have to be breathing a sigh of relief at the extension.

Posted by Scott Bekker on July 31, 2013


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