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Microsoft Updating Incentive Program and Partner Center for FY 2022

Microsoft recently described several changes it plans to make to its Partner Center and to the Microsoft Commerce Incentives (MCI) program over fiscal year 2022, which started July 1.

"We are delivering a new experience in Partner Center for the Microsoft Commerce Incentives Program," wrote Kevin McCarthy, Microsoft's head of Global Partner Solutions, Incentives & Investments, in a blog dated Sept. 14. "In fiscal year 2022, we are releasing new incentive and investment offers leveraging this enhanced partner experience."   

The Partner Center will play a more centralized role in partner incentives, McCarthy explained. To make that happen, Microsoft plans to implement several design changes will provide more transparency and predictability around earning opportunities, spotlight more customer-focused earning opportunities, and create an overall more streamlined process around incentives.

McCarthy's post also highlighted five "earning opportunities" for partners in FY 2022:

  • Continued incentives for Azure on the new commerce experience as incentives for the previous Azure offer are phased out on February 1st, 2022. 
  • Earning opportunities for Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 breadth motions on the new commerce experience.
  • Rewards for Cloud Solution Provider partners for customer acquisition efforts for Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365. 
  • Usage-based incentives for partners who increase consumption on Power Platform. 
  • Additional activity-based incentives for partners who drive customer workshops for Modern Work and Security solutions. 

The changes announced last week comprise the third stage of a multiyear overhaul of Microsoft's partner engagement structure, McCarthy said. The first was implemented in 2019 "with the launch of Microsoft Azure incentives for new commerce for the enterprise purchase motion and later the addition of incentives for the breadth purchasing motion." The second was in 2020, when Microsoft consolidated Azure incentives with the MCI program.

In the future, Microsoft will bring new and existing incentives to the MCI program, a process that McCarthy said "will take time."

About the Author

Gladys Rama (@GladysRama3) is the editorial director of Converge360.

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