Microsoft AI Cloud

Partner Program
Solutions Partner designations

Partner associations playbook

OVERVIEW
Associations are the sole mechanism by
which customer success, performance, and
skilling subcategory points are
acknowledged and calculated towards
achieving Solutions Partner designation(s).

Without these associations in place, partner

capability score points are not recognized.
Eligible partner associations by
Solutions Partner designation
Solutions Partner designation | Partner association eligibility
Partner association type Solutions Partner designation

Data & AI (Azure)

Business Applications* Digital & App Innovation (Azure) Modern Work Security
Infrastructure (Azure)
Claiming Partner of Record
X X (Enterprise & SMB) X
(CPOR)
Net customer adds, Usage Net customer adds, Usage Net customer adds, Usage
Eligible subcategories
growth, Deployments growth, Deployments growth, Deployments
Digital Partner of Record
X X X (Enterprise only)
(DPOR)
Net customer adds, Usage Net customer adds, Usage growth, Net customer adds, Usage
Eligible subcategories
growth, Deployments Deployments growth, Deployments

Partner Admin Link (PAL)** X X X

Usage growth, Net customer adds, Usage growth, Net customer adds, Usage
Eligible subcategories
Deployments Deployments growth, Deployments
Cloud Solution Provider
X X X (SMB only)
(CSP)

Net customer adds, Usage Net customer adds, Usage growth, Net customer adds, Usage
Eligible subcategories
growth, Deployments Deployments growth, Deployments

*Different workloads within the Business Applications designation have different partner association eligibility. Please go here to learn more about eligibility by workload.
**This association type is not available in China or Government clouds.
 Requirements for each Solutions Partner designation
Each designation has a specific number of possible points that can be earned per category. You have the
flexibility to choose which categories to focus on within a solution area to match your business needs
Each Solutions Partner
designation requires
70+ points Solutions Partner Solutions Partner Solutions Partner Solutions Partner Solutions Partner Solutions Partner
with at least one point for Business for Data & AI for Digital & App for Infrastructure for Modern Work for Security
in each subcategory
Applications (Azure) Innovation (Azure) (Azure)

-------------------------------------------------------------- Subcategory ----------------------------------------------------------

--------------- Category -------------

Performance Net customer

15pts
Net customer
30pts
Net customer
30pts
Net customer
30pts
Net customer
20pts
Net customer
20pts
adds adds adds adds adds adds

Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate

20pts 20pts 20pts 10pts
Certs Certs Certs Certs
Intermediate Intermediate
Skilling Certs
40pts
Certs
40pts

Advanced Advanced Advanced Advanced

15pts 20pts 20pts 15pts
Certs Certs Certs Certs

Customer Usage Growth 30pts Usage Growth 20pts Usage Growth 20pts Usage Growth 20pts Usage Growth 30pts Usage Growth 20pts
Success

represents maximum number Deployments 20pts Deployments 10pts Deployments 10pts Deployments 10pts Deployments 25pts Deployments 20pts
# of points in that subcategory
PL AYBOOK
CONTENTS
1 Claiming Partner of Record (CPOR)

2 Digital Partner of Record (DPOR)

3 Partner Admin Link (PAL)

4 Cloud Solution Provider (CSP)

5 Certified professional associations

Claiming Partner of Record
(CPOR) partner association
How does CPOR work and what are the benefits?
What is CPOR? What is it used for? Process

Claiming Partner of Record (CPOR) allows a partner Some types of CPOR are used to allocate Partners initiate the claim process and submit
to be recognized for servicing a customer’s incentives, while other types of CPOR are used to a claim within the Incentives workspace in
Microsoft cloud environment. recognize partner associated or influenced revenue Partner Center.
or usage but are not eligible for incentives.
Make CPOR claim associations at the subscription
CPOR allows only one partner of record per Associate with your customer via the “usage” or workload level.
workload or product. However, multiple partners option if you drive their adoption and usage of an
can be associated to the same customer for eligible product/workload. Provide required Proof of Execution (POE) for each
different subscriptions or workloads. incentive claim (if required by type of CPOR).
Associate with your customer via the “pre-sales”
Counts toward partner capability scores for option if you influenced their selection of an Your claim will be validated by both Microsoft
Modern Work, Business Applications and eligible product. and customer.
Security net customer adds, deployments Associate with your customer via the “revenue
and usage growth. association” option if you influenced their selection
of an eligible product as a Business Influencer.

Online Services Online Services Advisor Online Services Usage RevRec

Usage M365 (OSA Sell) Business Applications Allows revenue associations
Types of Allows incentive associations, Allows incentive associations and Allows incentive associations per subscription (non
and usage associations (non revenue associations per only per subscription under compensable) under Enterprise
CPOR compensable) per workload subscription (non compensable) Enterprise Agreement and Agreement, CASA/EES, and Web
and is licensing agnostic. under Enterprise Agreement, CASA/EES licensing. Direct (MOSA).
CASA/EES, and Web Direct (MOSA).
CPOR: Usage vs. Revenue recognition

Why claim Revenue Association? Why claim for Usage Recognition?

Revenue association available for Business Usage recognition available under M365 (Modern
Applications partners is the primary way in which Work & Security) and Biz Apps allows you to claim
partners achieve revenue recognition and contribute for the work that you are driving with your customer
to demonstrating impact with their customers. and be recognized as their partner of record by
Microsoft. Please note some usage associations may
earn incentives.
Revenue recognition for non-incentivized workloads
gets recognized automatically and you will not have
to submit Proof of Execution (POE). Available under Usage recognition for non-incentivized workloads
Enterprise Agreement, legacy CSP, CASA/EES, and get recognized automatically and you will not have
Web Direct (MOSA) licensing models only. Please to submit Proof of Execution (POE).
note POE is not required for revenue association at
this time.
CPOR Solution
area Activity/Program
Applies to Partner
Capability Score? When to select? Licensing
Requirements to
submit a claim

association Business
applications
• Incentive
association
Presales – OSA
Business Applications:
• Deployments
Select if you influenced
the purchase of an eligible
product and want to apply for
Enterprise
Agreement,
CASA/EES, and
• Active and
in-grace
status of the

types
• Usage growth pre-sale incentives or revenue- Web Direct subscription.
association. Revenue (MOSA). Please
• Revenue Business Applications: • Subscription
association is automatically note legacy
association purchased
• Net customer adds completed once you associate CSP is revenue
only – (RevRec) through
to OSA (note one-month lag association only.
Program applicable
The CPOR claiming platform allows agnostic (non-
for this to reflect in Microsoft
scorecards).
licensing
for CPOR association claims related compensable) program.
• Excludes
to Business Applications and • Incentive Business Applications: Select if you drive the adoption Enterprise
MPSA licensing
association – • Deployments and usage of an eligible Agreement and
Microsoft 365 solution areas as well OSU Business product and want to apply for CASA/EES.
and CSP.
• Usage growth
as recognition outside of these Applications
(Usage)
usage incentives. This option is
only applicable if the customer
programs (see non compensable purchased these products via
Enterprise agreement, and
associations below). Select the CASA/EES.
correct activity based on the Microsoft • Incentive Modern Work and Select if you drive the adoption N/A • Tenant must
descriptions to avoid having to 365 association – Security: and usage of an eligible at least have
OSU M365 • Net customer adds workload, for a customer and one active
reclaim in the future. Claiming with (Usage) want to apply for usage subscription
• Deployments
an incorrect activity may result in • Usage growth
incentives, or usage
association.
under the
claimed
missed eligibility, Solutions Partner • Usage Modern Work and The usage association only
workload.

attainment, and incentive earnings. association Security M365: workloads: Teams, Yammer, • Excludes MPSA
only – Program • Net customer adds Outlook Mobile, and Microsoft
agnostic (non- Defender for Office (MDO)
compensable) • Deployments formerly Office Advanced
• Usage growth Threat Protection (OATP).
How to complete a Claiming Partner of
Record (CPOR) association
Customer Partner creates
association
association
process STEP 1

After you create a new customer association, Microsoft Partner provides

ST
Microsoft will verify the details of the

STEP
notifies the

EP 2
association and proof of execution provided Proof of Execution
to ensure its accuracy. customer
If you and another partner claim for the
same customer and product/workload,
Microsoft will review each partner's proof of
execution documentation to determine
EP

ST
which partner to approve.
P

3
4 E
ST
Additional information might be requested
from both partners which could cause delays Microsoft notifies of Microsoft reviews
in processing your association request. approval, rejection, association
If your association is approved Microsoft will or action required
notify the customer.
Creating an Download CPOR claim guide

association

To create an association, start

with the steps below:

• Visit Partner Center

• Under Incentives, select Customer
associations
• Select +Customer association
• Follow the steps in the claim guide
• Only the following users in Partner
Center can view and create
associations:
– Incentive Admin
– Incentive User
Claiming Partner of Record (CPOR)
Partner/customer FAQ
Partner/customer CPOR FAQ
How do I explain CPOR to a customer?

CPOR enables Microsoft to identify and recognize those partners who are helping customers achieve business
objectives and realize value in the cloud. Once an advisory partner associates to a workload or subscription they
will only obtain access to the usage and/or sold seats data for the products/workloads they have claimed. This
enables partners to monitor active usage and utilization while providing customers with recommendations of how
to maximize usage. Partners will only have access to the daily usage and seats/sold feed for workload/products
they are associated to in the period in which they are attached as partner of record. Partners will not have access to
any other transactional or usage data.

Additionally, this association helps Microsoft understand the ecosystem of our service providers and to refine
the tools and programs needed to best support our common customers.

There is no action required for the customer, we allow customers the opportunity to opt out. Customers will
receive a notification informing them of the association request for partners. If a customer denies association
to a partner, they will not be able to be recognized as the partner of record. When you engage with your
customer, Please ensure that the customers tenant administrator (this is the person receiving the notification)
is aware of the engagement so that they do not decline the consent request.
Partner/customer CPOR FAQ
Can more than one partner have CPOR for the same workload?
CPOR allows only one partner of record per workload or product. However, multiple partners can be associated to the same customer for different
subscriptions or workloads.

I was disassociated, why? How do I fix this? I was expecting incentives, how do I escalate?
If you were disassociated, it is due to another partner claiming for the same subscription/workload. If you believe you are the right POR, we ask you to
re-claim via CPOR providing updated POE that proves you are the partner driving the most influence to the customer’s environment.

We have many PartnerIDs. Which one should we use for OSUM365? I claimed for the wrong PartnerID, how do I fix it?
You should claim with your partner location ID only, and one rolls up to the partner global account (PGA) you want to get the partner capability score credit
for the association. If you have claimed with the wrong PartnerID, you will need to submit a new claim.

At what point is our eligibility determined, upon submission of the claim or the approved date of the claim?
Our systems look at the claim submission date for incentive eligibility. Incentives are however not earned until a milestone has been reached.

What happens if there is an existing partner of record on a claim that I’ve submitted?
Partners should claim and provide detailed proof of execution documentation as called out in the incentives guide. Microsoft will then review the
documentation and determine which partner exerted the greatest influence in driving usage of the customer’s workloads.

I’m being asked for more POE, why? It should be sufficient?

If you’re being required to submit POE it is due to another partner claiming for the same subscription/workload. Microsoft assesses partner of record
adjudications based on the quality of POE. We recommend that you follow the POE guidelines outlined in this deck and in the Incentive Policy Guide for
guidance on how to submit quality POE.
Claiming Partner of Record (CPOR)
Partner resources
RESOURCES
CPOR claim guide

Partner Center

Video: Partner associations: Online Services Usage (OSU)

program

Partner docs: Understand CPOR associations

Incentives page on the partner website:

aka.ms/partnerincentives

Partner Center incentives resources asset collection on the

partner website
Digital Partner of Record (DPOR)
partner association
How does DPOR work and what are the benefits?
What is DPOR? What is it used for? Process

Digital Partner of Record (DPOR) associates DPOR is intended to associate a consulting Only a customer can designate a DPOR for their
servicing partners to a Microsoft cloud (Systems Integrator) or management (Managed subscriptions. To recognize the partner for that
subscription. It is an online capability to attach a Service Provider) partner with a customer's relevant work, the customer adds the partner ID to the
partner to a customer's Microsoft online Azure footprint for the time while the partner is subscription via the customer’s service portal.
subscription. engaged with the customer.

Allows only one partner of record per customer. DPOR is attached at subscription level for each
cloud product. Active usage is also calculated at
Counts toward partner capability scores for Data & subscription level, except Office 365, which is at
AI (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), customer tenant level. Partners must be added as
Infrastructure (Azure), Modern Work, and Business the DPOR each time a new subscription is
Applications net customer adds, deployments and established, regardless of whether their customer is
usage growth. new or existing.

Who is a Digital Partner of Record (DPOR)? When should customers add their DPOR?
The Digital Partner of Record for Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Windows Intune, Enterprise Encourage your customers to attach a Digital
Mobility Suite, and Microsoft Azure subscriptions is the partner who is helping the customer design, build, Partner of Record to their subscriptions
deploy or manage a solution that they’ve built on the service. It is not the partner who sold the immediately to make sure you have access to
subscription. business-critical reporting and support
capabilities, and to enable you to qualify for
incentives. DPOR is also one way to ensure that
you receive credit toward Solutions Partner
designations.
Digital Partner of Record (DPOR) automates how partners are attached as the Partner of Record for the
subscriptions you are actively managing for customers for Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Online, Microsoft Intune, Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), and Microsoft Azure.

DPOR registration Benefits

We have enabled online capability to automate how Partners benefit because it allows them to qualify for
partners are attached as the Partner of Record for solutions partner designations and enables reporting that
Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, provides a single view into the revenue, usage, and
Microsoft Intune, Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), and Azure consumption driven by you. This insight can also be
subscriptions. Customers can designate you as their Partner leveraged for cross-sell/upsell opportunities and allows
of Record for subscriptions you are helping them deploy, or partners to proactively engage customers at risk for non-
for solutions you are helping them design, build or manage. renewal.

DPOR improves the partner and customer experience, When a partner is registered as the DPOR, it signals to
reduces your cost of doing business with us, and enables Microsoft’s Fast Track services to defer to the DPOR for
automated tracking of cloud performance levels. For customer assistance to ensure partner attach.
Solutions partners, DPOR is one of the ways to register your
role in cloud subscriptions to earn points for customer Customers benefit because it provides their partner with
related partner capability score metrics. access to performance and usage data so you can provide
better service and support to them and help optimize their
usage for the desired business outcome.
How to complete a Digital Partner of
Record (DPOR) association for Office 365,
Intune, EMS, PowerBI, Dynamics 365, CRM
On-Line and AX7
Attaching a DPOR for Office 365, Intune, EMS,
PowerBI, Dynamics 365, CRM Online and AX7
Customers should complete the steps in
this and the following slide to create the
DPOR association.

3
Go to the Microsoft 365 admin
1 center at admin.Microsoft.com.

Log into your account using your

2 username and password.

You will enter the Microsoft 365

3 admin center.
Attaching a DPOR for Office 365, Intune, EMS,
PowerBI, Dynamics 365, CRM Online and AX7

4 Go to Billing > Your products and select a subscription.

5 Under the subscription, select the Partner tab.

6 Enter the Partner Network ID, and then select Add.

Additional
support
If your customers have any problems or questions
about this process and the ability to assign,
maintain, and change and remove their Partner of
Record, they can click the Support link on the left
navigation pane of the admin portal screen to get
access to Technical and Billing support and to find
support options and recommendations.
How to complete a Digital Partner of
Record (DPOR) association for Azure
Attaching a DPOR for Azure

Customers should complete the steps in

this and the following slide to create the
DPOR association.

Go to the Microsoft Azure portal

1 at http://azure.microsoft.com/.

Select Subscriptions then the relevant

2 subscription where you'll add a
partner as DPOR.

2
3 Select Partner Information and enter
the partner's Microsoft Partner ID.
Attaching a DPOR for Azure

Select Validate ID
4
The name of the partner you're adding as DPOR will appear on the UI.

5 Select Save partner

 A notification will tell you the partner information changed. It might
take some time for the portal to reflect this new information. If you
don't see it in a few minutes, refresh the page.
Additional
support
If your customers have any problems or questions
about this process and the ability to assign,
maintain, and change and remove their Partner of
Record, please reach out to Support by using the
following link: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-
us/support/options/
Digital Partner of Record (DPOR)
Partner/customer FAQ
Why designate your partner as DPOR?
You have taken the first step to invest in a Microsoft Cloud Service. The next step is to ensure you get the full value of your investment. The partner who sells you the
cloud service, and those who may help you deploy or manage it already earn recognition from Microsoft for working with you, but you can additionally benefit by
designating your lead Deployment or Management partner as the Digital Partner of Record (DPOR). By designating your partner as your Digital Partner of Record, they
can proactively help monitor and manage your service to ensure you are maximizing your investment, helping you achieve your business outcomes, and supporting you
throughout the lifecycle of the service. These partners are deeply committed to ensuring the services they provide are customized to your organization and aligned to
your business outcomes. Microsoft will also look to this partner first if any issues arise with your service, helping you get back up to speed quickly. Assigning your partner
as Digital Partner of Record allows them to:

Provide proactive advice on the right plan Accelerate your path to realizing value by Monitor your system uptime and Provide integrated Cloud Support to
based on your desired business outcomes and making sure you successfully activate all ensure that everything runs smoothly, support your business outcomes and
usage, including when you could save money required seats/users, and proactively meets your business needs, and that advise you of planned service outages
by using a different Microsoft offering (SKU) recognizing when a user is unable to access your users get the support they need
the service

Who can attach a Partner of Record?

The administrator role, also known as the owner, is the only role within your tenant or account that can attach a Partner of Record. Service admins, co-admins, and
partners who you’ve designated as delegated admins do not have the ability to change the Partner of Record.

When should I add a Partner of Record to my Azure subscriptions?

We recommend you assign a Partner of Record to your subscriptions immediately. This capability is also enabled for Office 365, CRM Online, AX7, D365, Intune and
Enterprise Mobility Suite subscriptions in the admin portal for those services.

Once a DPOR has been assigned can it be changed? Is there a limit to the number of changes possible?
Yes, DPOR designation can be changed, added, removed as many times as customers wish.
When a new subscription is purchased and provisioned (in case of a product upgrade/migration/etc.) will the DPOR designation of the old customer subscription
be automatically added to the new customer subscription?
No. In all cases where a new subscription is created, either by necessity (in case of new services being provisioned) or by customer volition, the new subscription will be created and no
DPOR will be initially Digital Partner of Record FAQ present until there is one added by the global administrator (owner). This gives the end-customer the control of this designation, and
it takes a specific designation step to attach the DPOR.

Can there be more than one DPOR assigned to a subscription at the same time?
No, there can be only one DPOR designated on any single subscription at a point in time.

I am a CSP partner, how do I get DPOR recognition?

There is no DPOR functionality per-se on CSP subscriptions. By being a customer’s CSP partner you will automatically get recognition for the consumption and usage that occurs. CSP
consumption and usage will count towards a partner’s solutions partner designation attainment. CSP partners may also be eligible to earn incentives on CSP usage and consumption.
More details on the specific partner incentives are available on the Partner Incentives page.

Once a DPOR has been assigned can it be changed? Is there a limit to the number of changes possible?
Yes, DPOR designation can be changed, added, removed as many times as a customer wishes.

If a customer decides to change their assigned DPOR, will any notification be sent to the old and/or new partner?
Yes, an automatic notification will be sent to the old partner informing them they are no longer the DPOR for that specific subscription. The partner who has been added to the
subscription as the DPOR will also receive an email notification to that effect.

Who can attach a Partner of Record?

The administrator role, also known as the owner, is the only role within your tenant or account that can attach a Partner of Record. Service admins, co-admins, and partners who you’ve
designated as delegated admins do not have the ability to change the Partner of Record.

When should I add a Partner of Record to my Azure subscriptions?

We recommend you assign a Partner of Record to your subscriptions immediately. This capability is also enabled for Office 365, CRM Online, AX7, D365, Intune and Enterprise Mobility
Suite subscriptions in the admin portal for those services.

Once a DPOR has been assigned can it be changed? Is there a limit to the number of changes possible?
Yes, DPOR designation can be changed, added, removed as many times as customers wish.
Digital Partner of Record (DPOR)
How to request DPOR association from customer
Sample email requesting DPOR

Dear <<insert name>>,

Further to our discussion, and as part of our on-going engagement with you on your Microsoft Azure subscription ID
<<Insert Azure Subscription GUID>>, we would like to request that you designate us as the Digital Partner of Record
(DPOR) for this subscription.
DPOR is an on-line capability to identify a specific partner to your Microsoft Azure subscription. Through the designation
of <<Insert Partner Name>> as your DPOR on this subscription, Microsoft will be able to better support our mutual
engagement and recognize <<Insert Partner Name>> for additional support and capabilities accordingly. Being
recognized as DPOR will ultimately enhance our ability to deliver a quality service to you with respect to the deployment
and on-going maintenance of your Azure workloads. You can find more details on Digital Partner of Record at
Microsoft Partner docs.
You can designate <<Insert Partner Name>> as DPOR by associating our Microsoft Partner Network ID <<Insert Partner
PartnerID>> to your subscription ID <<Insert Azure GUID>> within the Azure.com portal. Either your Azure Subscription
Administrator or Azure Account Administrator have the ability to complete this designation.
By using the following link (comprised of both your Azure subscription ID and our own Partner Network ID) your
Administrator will be brought directly to the portal.azure.com (they may be prompted to sign in if not already signed in).
They then simply need to click “save partner” to complete the designation.
https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Billing/PartnerInformationBlade/subscriptionId/<<INSERT
SUBSCRIPTION GUID>>/partnerId/<<INSERT PARTNER PartnerID>>
Feel free to contact us should you have any questions or concerns in relation to the above request.

Regards,
Digital Partner of Record (DPOR)
Partner resources
RESOURCES

Introduction on linking a partner ID with DPOR

Partner Admin Link (PAL)
partner association
How does PAL association work
How does PAL work and what are the benefits?
Using Partner Admin Link (PAL), partners can associate their PartnerID with the credentials used for service delivery whenever they act on
behalf of the customer to manage, configure and support Azure and Business Application services (Power Platform and Customer
Insights). Unique to PAL is that it allows for different partners to get recognized for the same customer engagement. Partners can be
associated to the same workloads and both get ‘credit’.

Azure Plan Power Platform and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights services

It enables Microsoft to identify and recognize partners who drive To get credit for the services, you can associate your partner network
PAL is used for Azure customer success. Microsoft can attribute influenced and Azure ID with the Azure credential used for service delivery that's in your
both modern consumed revenue to your organization based on the account's customers’ production environments using the Partner Admin
commerce permissions (Azure role) and scope (subscription, resource group, Link (PAL).
platform (Azure resource). PAL tracking capabilities are automated and don't require
plan) subscriptions partner input. PAL allows Microsoft to identify and recognize partners that have
& Power Platform Link an Azure account to a partner ID | Microsoft Docs Power Platform and Customer Insights customers. Microsoft
and Dynamics 365 attributes usage to a partner's organization based on the account's
permissions (user role) and scope (tenant, resource, and so on).
Customer Insights
services.
Link a partner ID to your Power Platform and Dynamics Customer
Insights accounts with your Azure credentials | Microsoft Docs

*This association type is not available in China or Government clouds.

 Built into Azure,
Managed services focus Power Platform, and Multiple partners
Customer Insights

PAL is optimized to track services PAL is built in to be used PAL enables multiple partners to
delivered by a partner within a whenever a partner delivers earn recognition for influence
customer’s Azure, Power Platform, services within a customer’s within the same customer
and/or Customer Insights production environment. environment.
environments.

Partner access rights to customer’s Azure, Power Platform, and Customer Insights environments
Information
linked by Azure services revenue consumed & Power Platform and Customer Insights consumed services
PAL
Customer and partner organizational information
Power Platform and Customer Insights
PAL association
PAL activation approach
Customer gives Partner links Partner ID Partner links credentials
partner access to credentials to service resource

Customer grants partner Partner links a valid Partner ID Partner links the same credentials
credentials to access resources via: with their credentials in the to the service resource (i.e., Power
• A user account Azure Management Portal Apps application) with the
• A service account (portal.azure.com), activating PAL required resource role to become
• A Service Principal the attributed user

Product – Resource mapping

Product Resource Attributed User Logic
Power Apps Application Owner/co-owner of the application.
Power Automate Flow Creator of the flow
Power BI Dataset Publisher of the dataset
Customer Insights Instance Lasted active user
The following section explain how to: We recommend taking these actions in the sequence on
the left.
The attribution step is critical and typically happens
1 Get access accounts from your customer
automatically, as the partner user is the one creating,
editing, and updating the resource (i.e., the Power App
application, the Power Automate flow, etc.).

To ensure success, we strongly recommend that you use

Solutions where available to import your deliverables into
2 Link your access account to your Partner ID
the customers Production Environment via a Managed
Solution. When you use Solutions, the account used to
import the Solution becomes the owner of each
deliverable inside the Solution. Linking the account to
your partner ID ensures all deliverables inside the
Attribute your access account to the product Solution are associated to your partner ID, automatically
3 resource handling step #3 on the left.
Get access accounts from your customer
Before you link your Partner ID, your customer must give you access to their Power Platform or Customer Insights resources. They use one of
the following options:

Directory account Service principal

Your customer can create a dedicated user account, or a user account to act as a service Your customer can add an app or script from your organization in their directory and
account, in their own directory, and provide access to the product(s) you’re working on in provide access to the product you're working on in production.
production.

Link your access account to your partner ID

Linking your access account to your partner ID is also called PAL association. When you have
access to a Production Environment access account, you can use PAL to link the account to
your Microsoft Partner Network ID (Location PartnerID)
For directory accounts (user or service), use the graphical web-based Azure portal, PowerShell,
or the Azure CLI to link to your Microsoft Partner Network ID (Location Account PartnerID).
For service principal, use PowerShell or the Azure CLI to provide the link your Microsoft Partner
Network ID (Location Account PartnerID). Link the partner ID to each customer resource.
To use the Azure portal to link to a new partner ID:
Sign into the Azure portal.
Go to Link to a partner ID in the Azure portal.
Enter the Microsoft Partner Network ID for your organization.
– Be sure to use the Associated Partner ID shown on your partner center profile.
– It’s typically known as your Partner Location Account PartnerID.
Attribute your access account to product resource

To count the usage of a specific resource, the partner user or guest account needs to be
attributed to that resource for Power Platform or Dynamics Customer Insights. The resource and
user requirements vary by product. The access account is the one that you received from your
customer. It's the same account that was linked through the Partner Admin Link (PAL).

To ensure success, we strongly recommend that you use Solutions where available to import your
deliverables into the customers Production Environment via a Managed Solution. When you use
Solutions, the account used to import the Solution becomes the owner of each deliverable inside
the Solution. Linking the account to your partner ID ensures all deliverables inside the Solution
are associated to your Partner ID, automatically handling this step.

To learn more about product details, including how usage is calculated, please go here.

The learn more about how PowerShell, Azure CLI, and other tools manage ownership and link
partner IDs, please go here.
Azure | PAL association
PAL activation approach

1 2 3 4
Customer enters PAL tracks and
Customer gives partner Partner links PartnerID
services agreement reports partner
access to credentials
with partner services impact

Customer enters Customer grants partner Partner links a valid PAL automatically
agreement with partner credentials to access PartnerID with their begins to track and
for the delivery of Azure resources via credentials in the Azure report the influence of
value-added services RBAC roles Management Portal partner-delivered
within the customer’s (portal.azure.com), services on Azure
Azure environment activating PAL consumption
How PAL tracks partner influence on Azure
consumption
Customers use Azure role-based access controls (RBAC) to assign:

1 Resources a partner can access Subscription Resource group Resource

access to all resources access to grouped resources access to resource instance

Resource
Resource group
Resource
Azure Environment Subscription
Resource
Resource group
Resource

2 User roles: define what a partner can do with resources (Examples: Owner, Contributor, Reader*)

Learn more: aka.ms/rbac_overview

*Reader roles are not currently eligible for financial incentives with PAL
How to activate PAL

Meet minimum Partner links

Link activates PAL
requirements to customer

A valid, active PartnerID Partner links PartnerID to PAL automatically begins

admin credentials granted measuring and reporting
by customer partner influence on ACR
Admin credentials granted
to a partner to deliver
services in a customer Only the partner who
Azure environment creates a PAL link can
update or change it
Creating a PAL Link in the Azure Management Portal
3

1 Go to Link to a partner ID in the Azure portal.

2 Sign in to the Azure portal.

Enter the Microsoft partner ID. The partner ID is

3 the Microsoft Partner Network ID for your 4
organization. Be sure to use the Associated
PartnerID shown on your partner profile.

4 To link a partner ID for another customer,

select Switch directory. Under Switch directory,
select your directory or use Advanced filter.
PAL reporting and insights
Gain insights into your customer
engagements and your influence on Azure
consumption.
2
2

Go to Azure usage | Cloud product performance |

1 Insights | Partner Center (microsoft.com) OR go to
Partner Center Home AND

2 Select Insights workspace

3 Select Azure usage on the left nav

3
PAL
Partner/customer FAQ
How do I explain Partner Admin Link (PAL) to my Customer?
Partner Admin Link (PAL) enables Microsoft to identify and recognize those partners who are helping customers achieve business objectives and realize value in the cloud.
Customers must first provide a partner access to their resource. Once access is granted, the partner’s PartnerID is associated. This association helps Microsoft understand
the ecosystem of IT service providers and to refine the tools and programs needed to best support our common customers.

Is the PAL client information shared outside of Microsoft? What does Microsoft do with partner association? Some clients have a policy of
not endorsing vendors.
PAL client and partner association information is not shared outside of Microsoft.

Does this impact security of customer’s environment?

PAL association only adds partner’s PartnerID to the access already provisioned and does not alter any permissions or provide additional data to partner or Microsoft. To
learn more go here, Microsoft Docs: Link a Partner ID to Your Azure Accounts) and Link a partner ID to your Power Platform and Dynamics Customer Insights accounts
with your Azure credentials | Microsoft Docs.

What data does PAL collect?

No new data is collected when with PAL. PAL is a new type of association between a partner’s PartnerID and a customer’s environment. The PAL association
provides no new customer data to Microsoft. It simply tells us when a partner is active within a customer environment, so we can recognize the partner’s influence
for the service(s) they are providing.

Who can create a PAL link?

Any user from a partner organization who is managing a customer's resources can link a partner’s PartnerID to the customer’s environment. The PartnerID can be
added, changed, or removed only by the partner organization that created the link. The customer, or another partner, cannot change PartnerID associated via PAL.
However, a customer can revoke PAL access at any time.
Does a partner need to have an edit role or an admin role within a customer’s Azure environment to link their PartnerID to PAL?
If a partner would like to attain a designation via PAL, any Azure role is eligible. However, any role assigned needs to have the right resource(s) access for ACR to be
calculated. To learn more about Azure roles, please go here.

How do partners get usage credit for Power Platform and Customer Insights through PAL?
When a partner connects the account that was PAL associated to a specific Power Platform and Customer Insights resource, the usage (such as monthly active users or
monthly active profiles) of that specific resource is credited towards that partner’s PartnerID. The account requirements and the resource details vary by product and it's
recommended to use managed solutions where possible, see the documentation for more details, Link a partner ID to your Power Platform and Dynamics Customer
Insights accounts with your Azure credentials | Microsoft Docs.

Do I need to create a PAL association for every customer?

Yes. Partners must link an PartnerID to their Azure credentials for every customer tenant in which they are delivering services. PAL associations are generated on a per-
customer tenant basis and are not inherited by other customer environments serviced by the same partner. If more than one contact from a partner organization has
credentials in a single customer environment, the PartnerID should be associated to each set of credentials in order to enable full credit for influence on that customer’s
Azure consumption.

Is customer participation required to enable PAL?

Partners activate PAL by linking a valid PartnerID to the credentials they have been granted by a customer to perform services in the customer’s Azure environment.
• An authorized representative of the customer has consented to providing the partner access
• The customer understands that they may revoke access for the partner at any time
Partners may not assign or use their administrative access to add additional parties without customer consent.
Will Azure consumed revenue (ACR) driven by PAL association be calculated retroactively, or will PAL association only be calculated from the
date that date PAL association becomes/became eligible for solutions partner designation?
ACR is tracked over trailing 12 months. Therefore, if a partner had already associated their PartnerID to PAL when PAL becomes/became eligible for solutions partner
designation, their ACR will be calculated retroactively, up to a period of 12 months.

What if customers do not want to give you guest user access on their Azure Portal?
This is usually the case if the partner is providing training or project management services and does not actually do any deployment using Azure, Power Platform, and
Customer Insights environments, in this case, such a service will not count towards attributing usage towards your organization.
PAL
Partner Resources
RESOURCES Partner Admin Link (PAL) training gallery

Video: How to set up PAL

Partner Admin Link (PAL) FAQ

Introduction on linking a partner ID with PAL

Link a partner ID to your Power Platform and Dynamics

Customer Insights accounts with your Azure credentials |
Microsoft Docs

Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC) | Microsoft Docs

Cloud Solution Provider (CSP)
How does CSP work and what are the benefits?

soft 365 Key benefits to the partners of MS CSP Program:

Micro
Own the customer lifecycle relationship to offer
unique cloud-based solutions

Sell
Own Create cloud subscriptions and partner offers. Grow
Integrated
Control the annuity-based revenue
Offers and
billing
Services

m ic s
M ic ro

Support customer as the first point of contact

Provision,

yn a
Manage and
s of

Support tD
Attach a broader portfolio of DaaS, IaaS, PaaS and
tA

of

ur SaaS server with cloud-based deployment

icr
os

e
z

M
Build differentiated hybrid solutions powered
by Azure.
Two CSP models based on partner’s business
model
Direct bill model

For partners who wants to own the end-to-end lifecycle of the customer relationship
Microsoft
Sells directly to the customer and is able to own all sales, billing, provisioning, and
support of customers
Credit approval required; minimum $300K trailing-12-months indirect CSP reseller
revenue threshold across all partner tenants
CSP
Direct Bill
Must have premium support plan (ASfP or PSfP) for company

Discounts on cloud seat-based offers sold, based on offer type; partner earned credit
(PEC) for Azure plan

Customer
Billed revenue incentives rebate (requires solutions partner designation; accelerators
may also apply per location)
Indirect reseller model

For partners who want to leverage the support of an Indirect Provider who can provide
technical training and assistance, help market your solutions, and assist with credit & Microsoft

financing

Able to deliver solutions sales, billing, and support to customers backed by the
Indirect Provider(s) Indirect
Provider

No minimum revenue or support plan required for CSP participation. Resellers

purchase from the Indirect Provider(s) for provisioning customers
Reseller

Margin on sales varies depending on agreement with Indirect Provider and product

Incentives rebates based on billed CSP revenue (requires solutions partner designation; Customer
accelerators may also apply per location)
How to enroll in CSP
To complete the CSP application, you’ll need your company’s PartnerID, complete business address, bank
information, and the work email for the employee who will act as the admin for the Partner Center.

1 Sign into the Partner Center dashboard with your work email (that is, your Azure AD tenant credentials).

Associate your PartnerID to your profile.

2 • If you’re already enrolled in the program, select the location Partner ID, which is linked to your incentive's enrollments. The
location PartnerID must be active and located in the same country as your CSP account.
• If you have not enrolled in the program, enroll today.

Create your partner profile. You can either look up your company profile or enter company information manually. If your
3 company is registered with Dun & Bradstreet, use the DUNS ID to look up your company information. If you want to provide
your company details yourself, select Enter manually.

For some countries, when you enter your address manually, we'll validate your address for you. If the address you enter differs
4 from the validated one, we suggest you use the validated address. This ensures that the elements of the address are
standardized as defined by the country’s postal authority, are correctly formatted, and are shippable.

During verification, Microsoft may ask you for another document, or request that you complete a questionnaire. It can take
5 several days to review and verify the information provided; once verified, an email will be after review is complete.

After Microsoft has verified your information, accept the Microsoft indirect reseller terms agreement. Go to Home page and
6 select CSP from the Pending actions view on the right-hand side to sign Microsoft Partner Agreement.
CSP
Partner resources
RESOURCES
What is the Cloud Solution Provider Program?

Requirements for enrolling in the Cloud Solution

Provider program

Cloud Solution Provider program regional markets and

currencies where you can sell CSP offers
Certified professional association
 • Microsoft certifications are linked to an
individual's learning account. To ensure
your organization is benefiting from
relevant certifications earned by
employees, it's important to link the
individual's certification to their
organization's account in Partner
Center.
• Once you’ve associated an employee
with your Partner Center account, have
your employees take the following
steps:
– Log in to Partner Center using their
work credentials
– Click on the setting icon at the top
right and select Account
– Go to My Profile and follow
the instructions to associate both a
Partner University and Microsoft
Learning account

To learn more about how to make this association, go here: https://assetsprod.microsoft.com/mpn/how-to-link-learning-

credentials-to-your-companys-partner-center-account.mp4
 Thank you

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