As a Microsoft partner, you play a critical role in guiding your customers through this journey. That’s where the FY25 Copilot Accelerate program comes in. This initiative is designed to empower you to lead your customers through the complexities of adopting Copilot, ensuring they realize their full potential and accelerate their time to value. By leveraging the program's incentives and structured engagements, you can not only help your customers thrive but also drive significant growth for your business. This post will delve into the key aspects of the program, covering the customer value journey, available partner engagements, eligibility criteria, and the claims process, all based on the FY25 partner guide.
Key Takeways
Program Goal: To help partners guide customers through Copilot adoption.
Two Customer Journeys:
Microsoft 365 Copilot & Copilot Studio
Copilot 365 Role-Based agents
Key Engagement Programs:
Copilot Vision & Value: For new customers, 300+ O365 E3/A3 users.
Incentives up to $7,500 (Market A).
Copilot Studio Vision & Value: For custom copilots, $20K+ Copilot Studio or $250k+ Copilot/FLW.
Incentives up to $5,000 (Market A).
Copilot Proof of Value: For evaluating Copilot, 100-1k seats.
Incentives up to $20,000 (Market A).
Copilot Role-based Deployment & Adoption Accelerator: For role-based Copilots, 100+ seats.
Incentives up to $25,000 (Market A).
Copilot Deployment & Adoption Accelerator: For low adoption, 1k+ seats.
Incentives up to $75,000 (Market A).
Partner Incentives: Vary by market; must have Modern Work or Business Application specialization.
Customer Eligibility: Varies limited to one type of Copilot Accelerator engagement.
Claims Process: Requires customer consent and proof of execution (POE).
Three Markets (A, B, C): Different countries, incentives, and claim limits.
Resources: Downloadable materials are available for each engagement.
Table of Contents
Microsoft Copilot Value Journey
The Copilot value journey is a structured pathway that guides customers from initial exploration to full adoption of Copilot. It starts with understanding the basic capabilities and then moves towards more advanced and customized applications. This journey begins with Copilot Studio, a platform that allows the creation of custom agents tailored to specific business needs. From there, the journey includes role-based Copilot agents, which are designed to cater to the specific tasks and requirements of different roles within an organization. This is followed by the exploration of pre-built agents that offer out-of-the-box solutions for common scenarios. Finally, the journey culminates in the utilization of Microsoft 365 Copilot's functional scenarios and universal prompts, enabling users to enhance productivity through everyday tasks like summarizing emails or recapping meetings. Understanding this journey is paramount for partners as it allows you to position the right Copilot solutions for each customer at the appropriate time in their adoption process.
The Copilot Accelerate Program Overview
The Copilot Accelerate program is designed to accelerate the time it takes for customers to realize the value of their Copilot investment. The program provides structured engagements and incentives for partners, ensuring a smoother adoption process for customers. This program is structured around three key phases:
Vision & Value: This initial phase focuses on building customer interest and understanding the potential business value of Copilot.
Proof of Value: This phase is geared towards helping customers realize the value of their initial Copilot purchases and is aimed at encouraging seat expansion.
Deployment & Adoption Accelerator: This final phase concentrates on accelerating the deployment and adoption of Copilot across larger organizations, ensuring seamless integration and optimal utilization.
By participating in the Copilot Accelerate program, partners can leverage these phases to effectively guide customers from initial interest to widespread adoption, ultimately driving customer success and business growth.
Navigating Customer Journeys
The program outlines two primary customer journeys, each catering to distinct customer needs and stages of Copilot adoption.
Journey 1: Microsoft 365 Copilot & Copilot Studio
This journey is designed for new customers or those with limited Copilot seats, typically ranging from 100 to 1,000, who are looking to understand the value of extensibility and custom Copilots. It starts with the Copilot Vision & Value engagement to build initial interest and then progresses to Copilot Studio Vision & Value, which helps customers explore the possibilities of custom Copilots. Subsequent engagements such as Copilot Proof of Value and Copilot Deployment & Adoption Accelerator help customers expand and fully adopt Copilot.
Journey 2: Copilot 365 Role-Based Agents
This journey focuses on customers evaluating or expanding their use of role-based Copilots, again, usually with 100-1,000 seats. The primary engagement here is the Copilot Role-based Deployment & Adoption Accelerator, which is aimed at accelerating the evaluation and adoption of role-specific Copilot solutions.
It’s important to note that while eligible customers can participate in multiple engagements across these journeys, they are limited to one Adoption Accelerator engagement. This ensures a focused approach towards scaling Copilot adoption.
Microsoft Partner Engagement Opportunities
The Copilot Accelerate program provides several engagement opportunities for partners, categorized into pre-sale and post-sale activities, each with specific goals and customer focus.
Pre-sale Engagements
Copilot Vision & Value
This engagement is designed to build customer interest by assessing their technical readiness and identifying key functional scenarios, ultimately creating a business case and implementation roadmap. It's targeted at new customers with no Copilot seats purchased and aims to build purchase intent.
Copilot Studio Vision & Value
This engagement focuses on showcasing the value of Copilot Studio in enhancing Copilot experiences and enabling custom Copilot development. It targets customers who are evaluating or have purchased Microsoft 365 Copilot and are interested in custom solutions.
Post-sale Engagements
Copilot Proof of Value
This engagement assists customers in rapidly evaluating Microsoft 365 Copilot with an initial set of users, with the goal of seat expansion. It helps unlock high-value scenarios by demonstrating how Copilot agents can improve business processes.
Copilot Role-based Deployment & Adoption Accelerator
This engagement helps customers evaluate role-based Copilots with a focus on rapid adoption.
Copilot Deployment & Adoption Accelerator
This engagement is designed to accelerate the time to value realization through co-investment in deployment and adoption, targeting customers with significant Copilot seat purchases (1000+).
Each of these engagements plays a crucial role in guiding customers along their Copilot journey, and partners can "stack" them to guide a customer through the entire lifecycle.
Microsoft Partner Eligibility Criteria and Incentives
The program has specific eligibility criteria for both customers and partners, along with varying incentives depending on the engagement and market.
Customer Eligibility
Copilot Vision & Value engagements do not require a minimum number of Copilot seats but are targeted at customers with 300+ O365 E3/A3 users. They must not have received the "Copilot for Microsoft 365 Workshop" or a funded Modern Work Advisory Assessment.
Copilot Proof of Value engagements requires customers to have purchased between 100-1,000 Copilot seats.
Copilot Role-based Deployment & Adoption Accelerator requires customers to have 100+ role-based Copilot seats.
Copilot Deployment & Adoption Accelerator engagements are for customers with 1000+ Copilot seats. Customers cannot have previously received a Copilot Adoption Accelerator engagement or a Deployment voucher.
Additional eligibility may include having 50%+ Monthly Active Usage (MAU) for Entra ID P1, EXO, SPO, Teams & M365 Apps.
Microsoft Partner Incentives
Incentives vary based on the market (A, B, or C) where the partner operates. Market A countries receive the highest incentives, followed by Market B, with Market C receiving the lowest.
The incentive amounts also depend on the specific engagement and the customer’s seat count. For example, Copilot Vision & Value has a funding of $7,500 for Market A, while Copilot Deployment & Adoption Accelerator (X-Large) offers up to $75,000 in Market A.
Partners can stack Copilot engagements to maximize their investment opportunities.
Partner Eligibility
Partners must have a Modern Work or Business Application specialization and a validated Copilot practice and offer.
Some engagements also allow partners with a Low Code Specialization or Intelligent Automation Specialization.
Key Activities in Each Engagement
Each engagement within the Copilot Accelerate program is structured to achieve specific outcomes, with defined activities for partners.
Copilot Vision & Value
Inspire: Conduct an overview of Microsoft 365 Copilot and discuss data security, governance, and access.
Assess: Evaluate technical readiness, prioritize high-value scenarios, and develop a business case.
Design: Build an implementation roadmap and deliver an executive summary with recommendations.
Copilot Studio Vision & Value
Inspire: Provide an overview of Microsoft Copilot Studio and discuss the potential applications.
Assess: Identify industry focus areas and define priority scenarios.
Design: Create a business case and build an implementation roadmap.
Copilot Proof of Value
Get Ready: Conduct a pre-engagement questionnaire, identify user cohorts, and establish success metrics.
Onboard & Engage: Assign licenses, deliver Copilot Analytics overview, enable scenarios and train users.
Deliver Impact: Measure Copilot impact, create a business case, and deliver executive readouts.
Copilot Role-based Deployment & Adoption Accelerator
Get Ready: Conduct a pre-engagement questionnaire, identify user cohorts, validate scenarios and build deployment plans.
Onboard & Engage: Assign licenses, train champions and deliver training to users.
Deliver Impact: Deliver prompt training, collect feedback and build close-out reports.
Extend & Optimize: Deliver prompt training, collect feedback, and build custom copilots.
Copilot Deployment & Adoption Accelerator
Get Ready: Conduct a pre-engagement questionnaire, identify user cohorts, and build deployment plans.
Onboard & Engage: Implement data security controls, assign licenses, and create a champion community.
Deliver Impact: Deliver champion-led prompt training, collect feedback, and build a close-out report.
Extend & Optimize: Provide extended training and build custom Copilots.
Claims Process: Step-by-Step Guide
The claims process is an essential part of the program, ensuring partners receive their incentives in a timely manner.
Claim Customer: Partners create an MCI (Microsoft Commercial Incentives) claim for eligible customers. Partners can search for eligible customers, select an engagement and add the customer.
Customer Consent: Partners request customer consent for the engagement, which is necessary for the claim to be valid. Claims without consent automatically expire.
Execution & POE Submission: Partners complete the engagement per the requirements and submit Proof of Engagement (POE) for approval. Claims without approved POE will automatically expire.
POE Validation: Microsoft reviews the submitted POE. Partners may need to append or update the POE based on feedback.
Payment: Once the POE is approved, Microsoft will process the claim payment.
There are specific timelines for each step: claims must be made within 30 days of the MCI claim date, customer consent must be received within 90 days of the claim date, POE must be submitted within 30 days of customer consent, and payment is processed within 45 days of claim approval. Claims that do not meet these timelines will automatically expire. It is also important to note that customers can no longer be claimed at the TPID level. Partners must choose either the Tenant or Domain customer ID type.
Market Definitions and Limits
The program defines three markets (A, B, and C), each with specific countries that impact incentive payouts and claim limits.
Market A: Includes countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and most of Western Europe.
Market B: Includes countries such as Brazil, China, India, and many countries in South America, the Middle East, and Asia.
Market C: Includes all other countries not listed in Market A or B.
MCI enforces limits on active or completed claims by market. Market A has unlimited claims, while Market B is limited to 40 active claims, and Market C is limited to 20. These limits are reviewed quarterly and increased as needed. Systems Integrator partners have a maximum of 50 active claims at any time, while Global Systems Integrator partners have a limit of 100 active claims. Active claims include claims in various statuses, such as "Customer claimed," "Pending customer consent," and "Under review".
Conclusion
The FY25 Copilot Accelerate program is a powerful initiative designed to support partners in guiding their customers through the transformative journey of adopting Microsoft Copilot. By understanding the value journey, leveraging the structured engagements, and adhering to the eligibility and claims processes, partners can help customers realize the full potential of Copilot, driving both customer success and business growth. We encourage you to explore these resources, engage with your customers, and make the most of the opportunities presented by the Copilot Accelerate program. By working together, we can empower organizations to achieve more with AI.
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