Driving Azure. It’s all about the Cloud.

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Earlier I blogged about a couple of Microsoft’s key Cloud Competencies, specifically those focused on Office 365.  I thought I would be remiss if I didn’t also highlight our second most popular cloud product, Azure.

If you are not selling in the Cloud today, you are probably wondering why you should move your business in that direction. A 2014 IDC study determined that Partners who are generating more than 50% of their revenue from the Cloud have:

  • 1.5X gross profit than their less cloud active peers
  • 1.6X the recurring revenue as a portion of their total revenue vs other partners
  • 1.3X higher new customer ratio vs. other partners

There are approximately 57% of Fortune 500 companies on Azure today, and another 2,000 customers on average signing up each day.

If you are looking to earn a Microsoft Competency that is focused on Azure, you will want to look at the Cloud Platform competency . Included below are the benefits & requirements of the Cloud Platform Competency, along with some tools for the Cloud focused partner.

Benefits of Cloud Platform competency

With the MPN Program Core Benefits you are able to earn internal use rights (IURs) for Microsoft products that you can use in-house or for demo purposes. With the Cloud Platform Competency, you can not only earn additional IUR benefits, but also Azure credits of USD $6,000 or $12,000 per year, depending on your tier of Silver or Gold. Part of Core Benefits, there are also additional monthly Azure credits all partners can earn through the MPN program.

With Cloud Platform you have access to additional Visual Studio licenses, Signature Cloud Support, Pinpoint prioritization, access to offers and more.

How to get there

  1. Azure consumption

Your Azure customer consumption can start as little as USD $15,000 for the previous 12 months for a Silver Tier and $100,000 for Gold Tier.

To meet the Azure consumption requirement, your organization will need to be assigned as the Digital Partner of Record (DPOR) for each Azure subscription your organization is responsible for delivering and/or managing an Azure-based solution. For a quick tutorial, watch a short video on how to attach a Digital Partner of Record.

  1. Write exams

There is a requirement to write a technical exam. There is only one exam for Silver and two for Gold Cloud Platform Competency. Each exam typically costs approximately USD $150.00 and they are good for 12 months.

  1. Customer references

Your organization must submit three to five Microsoft Office 365 customer references from within the previous 12 months, depending if you are applying for Silver or Gold Competency tier. After a reference has been approved, it can be used toward earning or renewing a competency for up to two years.

  1. Pay the fee

The annual fees for Cloud Platform Competency vary between Silver and Gold tiers. Until June 30, 2016, Microsoft is waiving the fee for Silver Cloud Competencies. If you are already a Silver partner, you can earn your way to Gold without paying the Gold fee until your anniversary date (some restrictions apply).

Learn more about the Cloud, how to build a cloud business or understand more about cloud profitability by visiting Microsoft’s Cloud SureStep resources. We have also just launched the Cloud Profitability Toolbox which will give you an overview of all the Microsoft cloud resources available, including the IDC eBook series that discusses what it takes for partners to build a profitable, sustainable cloud business. Part 4: Optimize your operations, and it covers how profitable solution providers take operations seriously, focusing on repeatable engagements through methodology, automation, and tools.

Here are a few additional tools for cloud focused partners:

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