The Microsoft Partner Program (MSPP) has simplified its approach to the points that partners earn to move to higher program levels and has redesigned its membership Web portal to make it easier for partners to determine their partner status. Microsoft has also finalized four additional competencies that partners can attain.

Counting Points

The MSPP awards partners points for various types of partner achievement, such as gaining a new solutions competency (e.g. expertise in security), submitting customer references, gaining Microsoft technical certifications, attending conferences, and building applications that meet logo program requirements. Partners with fewer than 50 points are in the Registered Member tier; by gaining points they can move into the Certified Partner tier (50 to 119 points) or the Gold Certified Partner tier (120 points or more). Partners in higher tiers get additional benefits, such as software for internal use, technical support for themselves or their customers, and a direct line to a contact in Microsoft.

Microsoft has simplified the rules for gaining partner points from customer references. Under the old rules, at least three customer references were required to achieve a competency, worth 50 points. The initial three references, required for the competency, had no point value; however, a partner could supply Microsoft additional references, for which they would get additional points.

Microsoft now gives partners two points for every customer reference, including the initial three that are submitted to gain a competency. The points awarded for the competency alone have been reduced from 50 to 30. That would seem to be an overall reduction in the points that customers earn from a competency for which they supply three references, but Microsoft has added a 20-point bonus for a partner's first competency, which will make up the difference.

Certified and Gold Certified Partners may need to make a slight adjustment to account for the new points schedule. A Certified Partner with two competencies previously had 100 points, most of the way toward the 120 points required for Gold Certified Status. Now, however, the same competencies will be worth only 80 points (30 points each, plus the 20-point bonus for the first competency). The six required partner references (three for each competency), will now be counted separately and will add another 12 points, bringing the comparable total to 92 points. These partners will therefore require will require more customer references, more staff with technical accreditation from Microsoft (such as Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers), an application that has passed Microsoft compatibility or logo testing, credit for product sales, or some other activity that gains partner points, in order to meet or maintain the requirements for Gold Certified Partner status.

Partners can also earn 25 points for the new Small Business Specialist (SBS) "designation," which is not considered to be a full competency, but which will be a substantial step toward higher program status for many partners.

New Portal

The new portal, called the Partner Membership Center, gives partners immediate access to their program status, displaying their program tier and their current number of points.

The Partner Membership Center also lists all the ways that a partner can earn additional points, such as gaining Microsoft certifications, selling Microsoft products, or additional customer references, with tabulations of how many points the customer has earned through each of these options.

Additional Competencies

The following four new Microsoft Competencies have been added to the nine competencies currently available under the MSPP:

The Custom Development Solutions competency is aimed at systems integrators and other developers who create custom (e.g., not retail) software for their customers. The competency includes three specializations, any one of which is required to gain the competency: application infrastructure development, smart client development, or Web development.

The Licensing Solutions competency has two specializations: license delivery, which should be appropriate for Microsoft resellers who advise customers on acquiring Microsoft licenses, and software asset management, for partners who advise customers on license management and compliance over the life cycle of their products.

The Mobility Solutions competency is for vendors, developers, and resellers of Windows Mobile solutions and applications.

The OEM Solutions Hardware competency is for partners who sell hardware designed or configured for specific customer requirements. It includes a system building specialization for builders of client and server PCs, and a device manufacturing specialization for vendors of computer parts, peripherals, or accessories.

Resources

MSPP competencies, requirements, and benefits are described in detail at the MSPP Web site, partner.microsoft.com.

A comprehensive description of Microsoft's partner programs can be found in Apr. 2005 Research Report, "Microsoft Programs for Partners."