Microsoft Adjusts SMB Cloud Competency Requirements, Relaunches Pinpoint
Hitting a delivery date promised in July, Microsoft on Monday launched three new cloud competencies for partners.
At the same time, Microsoft drastically reduced the number of customers a partner is required to have to achieve the SMB competency's silver tier, and announced improvements to Pinpoint, the partner directory for customers.
The new Pinpoint homepage. (Source: Microsoft)
The three new competencies that went live on Monday were Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions, Cloud Productivity and Cloud Platform. They are the first cloud-specific competencies Microsoft has launched in the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN).
Gavriella Schuster, general manager of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group, announced a change to the SMB competency in a blog post.
"Based on insight and input from the partner community, we have determined that the appropriate threshold for the Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions competency is 10 new customers over the last 12 months, down from the 15 customer limit we announced in July. The other eligibility components remain the same at 150 net new seats and three customer references," Schuster wrote.
Schuster also said an updated Pinpoint directory was going live on Monday and that Microsoft had released new materials to help partners optimize their Pinpoint listings. According to a Microsoft spokesperson, changes include better access and more tailored search.
Posted by Scott Bekker on September 29, 2014