August 25, 2023

Americas Partner Insider Newsletter: August 2023 Issue

Sign up to receive future US Partner Insider Newsletters in email.

August is Black Business Month, a time to acknowledge and advance Black-owned businesses. We hope you take this opportunity to learn more about the Microsoft Black Partner Growth Initiative (BPGI) and celebrate our BPGI partners.

Register here for our Americas Partner Insiders Call on September 6 at 10:00 AM PT. And it’s not too late to register to attend the August 16 Insider Call to learn about our key solution plays for FY24. If you can’t attend or missed any of our previous calls, you can also register to watch Insider Calls on demand.

The Americas Partner Insiders Newsletter highlights key messages from Microsoft for the month. Use these Quick Links to go directly to the content that’s most relevant to your business:

Quick links

Modern Work and Security	LinkedIn
Azure	Transformation
Business Applications	Partner Resources
Black Partner Growth Initiative	Join Us (Events and Activities)
Demand Gen

Modern Work and Security

DON’T MISS THESE UPCOMING SURFACE LIVE VIRTUAL BRIEFINGS
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #Event #GrowSkills #Surface

Explore the Microsoft Surface for Business portfolio in our virtual briefings. Sessions include:

Surface Hub / meeting rooms – August 24, September 7, and September 21
Surface portfolio – August 29, September 12, and September 26

Customers and partners can learn more and sign up here.

EXPERIENCE AI ON THE EDGE WITH MICROSOFT SURFACE
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #LearnSolutionAreas #Surface

The enhanced AI sensory experiences and performance brought to life on Surface devices was a featured topic at this year’s Inspire event. Read this Surface IT blog for the full story and additional resources.

SURFACE HUB 2S JOINS THE MICROSOFT TEAMS ROOMS FAMILY
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #GeneratePipeline #Surface

When all new Surface Hubs ship with the Teams Rooms experience starting later this year, Surface Hub 2S will become the first touch-enabled board running Teams Rooms on Windows. Read this blog to learn more about what that means for the future of collaboration.

ANNOUNCING THE ADDITION OF SALES ADVISOR TO MICROSOFT 365 LIGHTHOUSE
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate #GrowYourBiz #ModernWork

Project Orland has moved to general availability with a new name, Sales Advisor, in the expanded Microsoft 365 Lighthouse. Lighthouse transforms the way Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) engage with their customers through advanced AI-driven insights to proactively manage customer relationships on a larger scale. Sales Advisor simplifies tenant management, minimizes risks, and delivers personalized recommendations. We strongly advise our partners to make regular use of this tool to fully unlock your customer’s potential. Learn more and get started!

SIGN UP FOR OUR FY24 SMB WORKSHOPS
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate #GeneratePipeline #ModernWork

SMB workshops drive customer intent and conversion with partner-led interactive briefings. In FY24, workshops are updated to support our FY24 solution plays with better value and flexibility for partners. To register your interest in the SMB workshops, fill out this form.

EXTENDED: MICROSOFT 365 E3 PROMO
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate #AccelerateDeals #ModernWork

The Microsoft 365 E3 15 percent off promotion for new customers is being extended through Q1. We encourage partners to drive upsell to Microsoft 365 E3 and help get customers AI-ready. Review this FAQ and this summary to learn more.

INTRODUCING BING CHAT ENTERPRISE
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #ModernWork

Bing Chat Enterprise gives organizations AI-powered chat for work with commercial data protection. Bing Chat Enterprise is rolling out in preview to customers licensed for Microsoft 365 E5, E3, Business Premium, and Business Standard at no additional cost. A standalone subscription will be available for $5 per user per month in the future. To learn more, read this announcement and this blog introducing Bing Chat Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing.

ANNOUNCING MICROSOFT 365 COPILOT PRICING
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #ModernWork

Microsoft 365 Copilot brings a whole new way of working, including the ability to ask questions and get answers from the web. We’re excited to announce that Microsoft 365 Copilot will be available for $30 per user per month for Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium customers. To learn more, read this announcement and this blog introducing Bing Chat Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing.

INTRODUCING MICROSOFT 365 COPILOT IN TEAMS PHONE
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #ModernWork

Copilot in Teams Phone will quickly generate summaries of phone conversations, capture action items, and answer users’ questions about their phone calls. When summarizing calls, Copilot will highlight key points, such as names, dates, numbers, and tasks that were discussed, and can also recommend next steps based on what was covered in a conversation. Read more about the next wave of Copilot in Microsoft Teams.

NEW: TEAMS ESSENTIALS + TEAMS PHONE SYSTEM BUNDLE PROMO
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate #GrowYourBiz #ModernWork

As of July 17, 2023, CSP partners can now use a new set of promotional discounts and packages to create new customer acquisition motions around calling with Teams Essentials plus Teams Phone (up to $4 off per user per month). To learn more, see the promo FAQ and the Teams Phone SMB partner playbook.

NEW: MICROSOFT 365 CSP MASTERS BOOTCAMPS
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #Event #GrowSkills #ModernWork

The CSP Masters Program is built to help partners grow their Microsoft 365 sales and technical capabilities and drive adoption. We’re excited to announce the new bootcamps coming in September. Learn more and register for a bootcamp today.

WINDOWS 365 ENTERPRISE IN CSP OFFER
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #ProgramOfferUpdate #ModernWork

Windows 365 Cloud PC has revolutionized hybrid end-user computing. To create more partner and customer excitement, we’ve introduced a 20 percent off promo for all Windows 365 Enterprise performance SKUs for existing Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers. CSP partners can take advantage of this channel-wide offer for all existing M365 Business Premium customers regardless of the original channel of purchase. Refer to the promo summary deck for details.

INTRODUCING THE NEW MICROSOFT TEAMS EXPLORATORY SELF-SERVICE TRIAL OFFER
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #ProgramOfferUpdate #ModernWork

Microsoft launched a new Teams Exploratory self-service trial offer for Enterprise and SMB customers. The new Teams Exploratory self-service trial offer replaces the 12-month Teams Exploratory trial. The intent of this trial is to allow end users without Teams to use the offer for free, seeding usage that can be converted to a paid Teams license upon trial expiration. Learn more about the Teams Exploratory experience.

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Azure

LEARN HOW TO LEVERAGE AI IN YOUR SMB PRACTICE
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #LearnSolutionAreas #Azure

Are you getting questions from your SMB customers about AI? Are you trying to learn more about Azure Open AI? Learn more about what SMBs are looking for and find the enablement content you need to get started learning about AI.

MORE INVESTMENTS ARE COMING TO AZURE!
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate #AccelerateDeals #Azure

No matter the customer’s reason for making the move, we understand migration can be complex. We want to help alleviate the customer’s risks and help them get started on their migration with confidence. The Azure Migration and Modernization Program is here to help simplify and accelerate the journey to Azure. Azure Specialized partners now have a path to directly nominate customers for Azure Migrate and Modernize and Azure Innovate in a self-service workflow. This agile path reduces time to market and can help partners drive scale. Learn more about these new Azure partner offerings.

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Business Applications

PREPARING FOR THE BUSINESS APPLICATIONS AI OPPORTUNITY
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #GrowYourBiz #BizApps

Customers have been inquiring about the new features and functionality of Copilot within Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. Take this opportunity to lead the AI transformation and differentiate your offerings with customers. Get started by reading this blog.

NEW ATTACH SKU NOW AVAILABLE
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate #BizApps

As of July 15, 2023, Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium qualifies as the base license for Dynamics 365 Field Sales attach licenses ($20). Learn more.

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Black Partner Growth Initiative

DISCOVER THE BENEFITS OF BECOMING A BPGI PARTNER
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #DoingBizwMSFT #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution

The Microsoft Black Partner Growth Initiative (BPGI) was launched in 2020 to increase the representation of Black-owned partners and enable their growth, building one of the largest diverse partner ecosystems in the technology sector. Check out the BPGI site to explore the benefits, opportunities, and resources available to our BPGI partners.

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Demand Gen

ACCELERATE YOUR GO-TO-MARKET SUCCESS WITH MICROSOFT SOLUTION AREAS
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #BestPractice #GoToMarket #CrossSolution

Make it easy for customers to identify your solutions and your expertise in areas with high market demand. When your messaging and go-to-market activities work with Microsoft you can optimize your targeting, offers, and overall messaging to stand out relative to your competitors.

Align to Microsoft solution areas and solution plays to create your joint value proposition and go-to-market with Microsoft.

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GROW YOUR LINKEDIN FOOTPRINT
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #BestPractice #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution

Your LinkedIn page is the hub of your online business presence, and where you can make meaningful connections and grow your business. Followers are the key to organically growing your LinkedIn footprint. Read 15 Tips for Attracting Followers to Your LinkedIn Page in 2023 for a definitive list of the activities that will drive your follower growth.

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Transformation

NEXT STEPS IN CSP NEW COMMERCE: COMMERCIAL LEGACY SEAT-BASED SUBSCRIPTION MIGRATION AND INTRODUCTION OF PUBLIC SECTOR OFFERS
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #ProgramOfferUpdate #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution

In fiscal year 2024, Microsoft is taking two important steps toward the retirement of the CSP legacy commerce platform. Beginning in November 2023, public sector (academic, government community cloud [GCC], not-for-profit [NFP]/charity) offers will be available in new commerce for new and renewing customers. Starting in January 2024, Microsoft will begin automatic migration of all renewing commercial and public sector customers to new commerce. Learn more.

PARTNER ANNOUNCEMENTS TO HELP GROW YOUR BUSINESS
Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #ProgramOfferUpdate #UnderstandBenefits #CrossSolution

Fueling partner growth and profitability in the era of AI
The next generation of our partner program was announced at Microsoft Inspire. The new Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program empowers every partner to deliver customer value by leveraging Microsoft AI and the Microsoft Cloud. Other key investments announced at Inspire include new Solutions Partner designations, general availability of ISV Success and its expanded benefits, and investments in the commercial marketplace. To learn more, read this blog by Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer and Corporate Vice President, Global Partner Solutions.

The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program brings together everything across the entire partner lifecycle, including onboarding, skilling, go-to-market, incentives, and co-selling. Partners get all the value and benefits of the previous program plus access to new offerings and benefits specific to AI. There is no action for a partner to take to move to the new program—we’ve moved all our existing partners into the new program effective immediately and partners maintain their existing benefits and designations.

AI-focused announcements to help partners adopt technology to deliver customer success and in their own organization include:

Expanded benefits for ISV Success, including access to GitHub Copilot (coming end of 2023).
Key marketing resources, including the new “Era of AI” marketing campaign-in-a-box.
Expanded Solutions Partner designations to provide opportunities for partners to differentiate their technical capabilities and demonstrate customer success.
General availability of ISV Success within the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program—a curated path purpose-built for organizations building B2B applications. ISV Success empowers all ISVs to build innovative applications across the Microsoft Cloud and sell with us through our marketplace.

The Microsoft commercial marketplace is central to our partner go-to-market strategy. We’ve recently announced co-sell changes to better align to the marketplace opportunity and have announced new features, like multiparty private offers, to empower partners to work together to sell customized deals through the marketplace.

Watch Inspire sessions and browse the session catalog to explore all the available learning opportunities.

Read the Official Microsoft Blog for a roundup of news and announcements.

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Partner Resources

Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #News #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution

Microsoft is a national member of the Small Business Digital Alliance (SBDA). The SBDA provides small businesses with free tools, training, networking, and other resources—the keys to helping you innovate, grow, and succeed. Learn more and get started today!
Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program provides the resources to help you stay engaged with your customers and take your business to the next level. Get the latest partner resources and news tailored to our Americas partners.

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Join Us (Events and Activities)

Partner Audience: All
Relevant to: #Events #GrowSkills #CrossSolution

Art of the Possible: Empower Higher Education with Microsoft Devices. See the agenda and register now for this interactive session with industry experts on August 24.
Secure Horizons: Empowering Partners with Microsoft’s Defender Suite and Microsoft Sentinel. Register here for the industry roundtable on August 21. Following this interactive discussion with Microsoft Security SMEs, attend the technical workshop on August 22–24.
Partner Academy webinars. Register here for on-demand webinars designed to help you have richer conversations with your customers.
Partner Training Calendar. Register today for upcoming training events that will accelerate your Microsoft skills. Filter by solution area or solution play, among other options.