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Focus firmly on AI at Microsoft Ignite
Vendor announces several enhancements to its cloud partner programme to encourage the development of expertise around artificial intelligence products and services
Artificial intelligence (AI) was the central theme at this week’s Microsoft Ignite event, with the vendor increasing the support it provides to get partners up to speed with the technology.
The firm has increased its commitment to developing skills across the channel with the introduction of the Agentic AI and Copilot Partner Skills Accelerator webcast series, and fresh Agentic and AI Workshops.
Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer and corporate vice-president of global channel partner sales at Microsoft, penned a blog post to share the main areas where the firm was working to enable partners to confidently deliver AI.
The vendor has used Ignite as a backdrop to outline a number of enhancements to its Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Programme, including increased training and badges to recognise those partners that have invested in this area.
“Technology is evolving at unprecedented speed, demanding continuous learning for both technical professionals and business users,” wrote Dezen. “In this environment, agility is everything. The partners who move fast, build skills and lead with credibility are the ones who succeed.
“That’s why, in the past year, we have made record levels of investment in partner skilling, with more than 2.4 million learners trained across solution areas,” she added. “AI skilling is accelerating as well. We expanded our AI course catalog by 66% year over year, and now offer 145 AI-focused courses that have supported 1.7 million learners building new capabilities.”
In terms of increasing recognition for those that had increased their AI capabilities, the vendor pointed to the introduction of its Frontier Partner badge for those that had demonstrated the ability to deliver AI transformation, as well as a Frontier Distributor designation, to highlight efforts across that tier of the channel.
Support Services
In addition, Microsoft is introducing the Support Services designation, which is for those that “deliver exceptional customer experiences across the Microsoft Cloud”, according to Dezen. There is also a Digital Sovereignty specialisation for those keen to demonstrate their expertise in that area.
Inspire also included updates around the Microsoft Marketplace, which will now include resale-enabled offers, allowing partners to sell their wares more easily. Another highlight is the introduction of App Accelerate, which brings together incentives, benefits and co-sell support to make it easier for developers looking to work with the vendor.
A final enhancement that will impact partners was the trumpeting of Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, with licenses set at $21 per user for customers with up to 300 seats, in a move to help partners get more small and medium-sized enterprises using the technology.
“Bringing together Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 Business Copilot, Microsoft Business Central and the Microsoft Purview Suite, you get a comprehensive, secure and connected toolkit at a price designed for small and mid-sized businesses,” the blog post stated.
Dezen said the firm has made the changes to support an ecosystem that was capable of delivering AI and taking advantage of the growth in the market.
“Every announcement, investment and innovation we share … is designed to strengthen capability, expand opportunity and deliver impact at scale,” she said. “The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Programme will continue to be the engine that fuels our partner ecosystem and empowers partners aligned to the innovation we are bringing to market.”
