The Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions competency

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Launching September 30, 2014, the new Cloud Performance Competencies deliver unparalleled value for Microsoft partners. Learn all you need to know in this four post series.

  1. Ushering in a new era, with the Cloud Performance Competencies - post one
  2. The Small & Midmarket Cloud Solutions competency - post two
  3. The Cloud Productivity competency - post three
  4. The Cloud Platform competency - post four

The Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions competency: for partners selling Microsoft Office 365 to Small and Midmarket customers.

The spiritual successor to the Cloud Accelerate program and Small Business competency, the Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions competency is the perfect way to capitalise on your expertise selling Office 365 into SMB. Qualify through your proven cloud performance, attain the Silver level at no cost, Gold at a reduced fee and receive exclusive benefits in addition to the core Silver and Gold entitlement.

Silver Requirements

1. Meet the sales goal

150 seats of Office 365 sold with at least 10 new customers within the previous 12 months

  • Track your progress in the Online Services Dashboard
  • Seats not visible? Make sure you're listed as Partner Of Record for all Office 365 deals

2. Provide customer evidence

Submit three customer references for Office 365 deals closed in the past 12 months

3. Pay the silver competency fee

To help you invest in your future, the silver Cloud Performance Competency fee has been waived for the first year (offer available until June 30, 2015)

 

Gold Requirements

1. Meet the sales goal

300 seats of Office 365 sold with at least 30 new customers within the previous 12 months

  • Track your progress with the Online Services Dashboard
  • Seats not visible? Make sure you're listed as Partner Of Record for all Office 365 deals

2. Pass the qualifying exams

Two individuals must each pass Exam 70-347: Enabling Office 365 Services

  • Learn more about the exam and available readiness through this competencies' Learning Path (you may need to copy & paste the URL into your browser)

3. Provide customer evidence

Submit five customer references for Office 365 deals closed within the past 12 months

4. Pay the gold competency fee

To help you invest in your future, the gold Cloud Performance Competency fee has been reduced to $5,610 ($AUD, inc GST)

  • One gold fee is due once per year—no matter how many additional competencies your organisation earns

Exclusive Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions benefits

In addition to the core Silver and Gold competency entitlement*, Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions partners are eligible for:

*Please note: Cloud Performance Competencies attained through the no-cost Silver promotion are ineligible for the APC ticket entitlement.

Next steps

  • See the competency page for full benefits and requirements
  • Track your progress in the Online Services Dashboard
    • Seats not visible? Make sure you're listed as Partner Of Record    
  • Looking to transition to this competency from Cloud Accelerate or Cloud Deployment? See this blog post for more

 

Ready to enrol? Let's go!

Note: you must be your organisations' Primary Program Contact to enrol in a competency

1. Sign in to the Partner Membership Centre

2. Click the "Requirements and Assets" menu and select "Competency Summary"

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3. Scroll down to "Silver Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions" and click "Silver" to expand the Silver competency requirements (click "Gold" to attain at the Gold level)

 

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4. Customer references can be created by clicking "References" and following the prompts. Once your reference requests have been approved, assign them to your competency by clicking the "Requirements and Assets" menu and selecting "Reference List".

5. You can view how your tracking against the performance requirements under "Additional Requirements". View further information about your seats sold in the Online Services Partner Dashboard.

Note: If you believe seats are missing, make sure you're following the correct steps to assign yourself as Partner of Record (POR). Not only will it assist with your competency attainment, it will also allow you to manage your customers subscriptions more effectively.

I recommend the following:

    • For seats sold via Telstra (Syndication), ensure your dealer code is added to every deal you transact. If need be, T-Suite support can assist in retroactively assigning your dealer code to past deals
    • For seats sold via Disti (Open), when redeeming your customers 5x5 subscription key, there is an option to enter your Partner ID - make sure to do it! Your customer can assign you as POR (and Delegated Administrator) retroactively by adding your Partner ID in the Admin section of their tenant
    • For seats sold via Advisor / MOSP (directly through the Microsoft Online Portal) - if you have Partner Sales Features added, you can choose to include a Delegated Admin request whenever sending your customers a trial / purchase offer. This will automatically list you as POR. As with Open, your customer can also assign you retroactively by adding your Partner ID in the Admin section of their tenant
    • Check out the Office 365 Partner Admin Centre Guide, it's one of the most useful partner resources available

Note: Still experiencing issues? If you believe you meet the sales requirement, but it is not reflected on the Partner Membership Centre or the Online Services Dashboard , call the Regional Service Centre to request an override (see details at the end of the page).

You will be asked to provide:

  • Your partner name and MPN ID, the competency you are trying to attain, a summary of the issue and supporting evidence (eg. details of eligible deals that are not visible in the Online Services Dashboard)

6. Once all requirements have been met, your competencies' enrolment status will change from "In Progress" to "Attain". Follow the prompts to complete your enrolment.

 

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7. Congratulations! You’ve now entered the exclusive ranks of the Office 365 elite

Partner resources

 

 

 

Share your thoughts! Join the discussion in the Microsoft Australia Small Business Reseller LinkedIn Group or the Microsoft Australia MPN Yammer Community