Are you a Microsoft partner looking to grow your business and help your clients thrive in the modern workplace? In today's rapidly evolving business environment, Microsoft Modern Work solutions, such as Microsoft 365 (M365) and Copilot, have become indispensable for organizations striving for enhanced productivity, collaboration, and security. Recognizing this, Microsoft is making a significant investment in these areas and offering substantial incentive programs to empower its partners. This blog post will provide a comprehensive overview of the FY25 Modern Work incentives, detailing how you, as a partner, can leverage these opportunities to maximize your earnings and drive customer success.
Key Takeaways
Microsoft is heavily invested in the future of Modern Work, and the FY25 incentive programs provide a compelling opportunity for partners to grow their business and help their customers succeed. Key takeaways include:
Significant Investment: Microsoft is making substantial investments in Modern Work, particularly in AI and security, providing strong market opportunities for partners.
Lucrative Incentives: The various incentive programs, including the M365 new commerce CSP incentive, Copilot Accelerate, and CSP Deployment & Adoption Accelerator, offer significant earning potential.
Strategic Accelerators: Take advantage of the E3 and E5 strategic accelerators to maximize earnings on premium products.
Comprehensive Support: Microsoft offers comprehensive support and guidance through its various engagement programs, ensuring partners can effectively drive customer adoption.
Focus on Adoption: The programs reward partners who actively drive adoption and effective use of Microsoft Modern Work products, not just sales.
By understanding and leveraging these incentives, Microsoft partners can build successful businesses and ensure that their clients are equipped to thrive in the modern digital landscape.
Table of Contents
Microsoft's Investment in Modern Work
Microsoft is heavily invested in the future of modern work, and this commitment is clearly reflected in their strategic priorities for Microsoft Cloud & AI Partner Solutions (MCAPS). The focus is not just on technology but on how technology can transform the way businesses operate. The key priorities are:
Copilots on every device across every role
This underscores Microsoft’s commitment to embedding AI-powered copilots across its ecosystem, making AI an integral part of every user’s experience, regardless of their role or device.
AI design wins with every customer
Microsoft aims to ensure that its partners are equipped to deliver cutting-edge AI solutions that drive tangible business outcomes for customers.
Securing the cyber foundation of every customer
With increasing cyber threats, Microsoft is prioritizing the security of its customers, ensuring that its solutions provide a robust and secure foundation for digital transformation.
M365 core execution
A focus on the fundamental aspects of Microsoft 365, ensuring that core services are functioning effectively and meeting customer needs.
Migrations, migrations, migrations
Recognizing that many businesses are still in the process of digital transformation, Microsoft is prioritizing the tools and services to facilitate smooth and efficient migrations to the cloud.
The financial investment behind these priorities is substantial. Microsoft is demonstrating its commitment through
10x YoY increased investment: This tenfold increase in year-over-year investment highlights Microsoft’s aggressive push into Modern Work solutions.
$150 million in AI investment: A significant portion of the investment is dedicated to AI, indicating the importance of AI in the future of modern work.
$90 million in incremental investment: This incremental investment further boosts the resources available to support partners and their customers.
50% YoY increased investment in AMM: There's a significant increase in investment specifically for the Area, Market, and Modality (AMM).
Double-digit incremental investment in SMC:Â Double-digit incremental investment is also available in the small, medium, and corporate business segments.
These massive investments underscore the immense opportunities available for Microsoft partners in the Modern Work space.
Microsoft Modern Work Incentives for Partners
Microsoft's commitment to its partners is not just about investment; it’s also about creating lucrative incentive programs. These incentives are structured to reward partners for driving customer adoption and effective use of Modern Work solutions. The incentives are broadly categorized into pre-sales and post-sales activities, and they include:
M365 New Commerce CSP Incentive
This is a significant incentive, offering up to 25.75% for premium products. This is structured as follows:
3.75% baseline: A base incentive for all eligible transactions.
15% for CSP customer add: An additional incentive for acquiring new customers through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.
Strategic Accelerator: This boosts the earning potential, especially for those selling M365 E5 and Copilot licenses.
Copilot Accelerate Program
This is a comprehensive program designed to guide partners through the entire Copilot lifecycle. It includes the following:
Copilot Vision & Value: Partners can earn up to $7,500 per engagement by identifying top functional scenarios, conducting security and privacy assessments, and building a business case and roadmap.
Copilot Proof of Value: This offers up to $20,000 per engagement. It focuses on the rapid evaluation to accelerate the expansion of Copilot to more users in a customer organization.
Copilot Deployment & Adoption Accelerator: Partners can earn up to $75,000 per engagement, which is aimed at accelerating the time to value of Copilot for customers.
CSP Deployment & Adoption Accelerator for ME3/5
This accelerator provides up to $8,000 for partners driving customer adoption of Modern Work products. Key details include:
Customer Qualifications
Customers must purchase eligible offers such as M365 E3 FUSL, M365 E3 FUSL EEA (Microsoft 365 E3), M365 E5 FUSL, or M365 E5 FUSL EEA (Microsoft 365 E5).
A minimum of 300 incremental seats must be purchased on annual term CSP subscriptions between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025.
Only one claim is allowed per customer tenant, and it must be claimed by the transacting CSP partner.
Activity Requirements
Defining the scope of work, including business requirement mapping and customer data migration assessment.
Adding at least 300 users to Entra ID, assigning M365 E3 licenses, and implementing Identity and Access Management to secure user identities.
Configuring email and app security, deploying Exchange Online, and migrating email/calendar data from on-premises or third-party hosting.
Enrolling end-user computing devices to Intune, implementing device management, and deploying Defender for Endpoint for at least 300 users.
Building and executing an adoption plan and delivering end-user training.
Modern Work Proof of Value Engagements
These engagements are designed to help partners implement high-value scenarios and deliver actionable plans to drive adoption.
They include:
Microsoft Teams Phone
Partners can earn up to $20,000 based on the market. The activities include:
Sharing the benefits of Microsoft 365 E3.
Assessing the customer's current infrastructure and endpoint environment.
Device enrollment and policy deployment.
Providing clear next steps for managing and securing their users, devices, and data.
Secure Productivity
This offers up to $5,000, and activities include defining use cases, completing checklists, and providing user readiness and support.
Maximizing Your Earning Opportunities
The incentive amounts for these programs vary based on the market (A, B, or C) and the engagement type. The strategic accelerators for E3 and E5 licenses also provide significant earning potential. It is important to note that these incentives can stack, allowing partners to reach a maximum earning opportunity for each engagement. For example, the M365 new commerce CSP incentive can reach a potential of 25.75% when all components are combined.
To maximize your earnings:
Focus on driving customer adoption of premium products, especially M365 E5 and Copilot.
Leverage the Copilot Accelerate program to provide value to customers at every stage of their Copilot journey.
Ensure that your customers meet the qualification criteria for the CSP Deployment & Adoption Accelerator, especially the purchase of at least 300 incremental seats.
Capitalize on the Modern Work Proof of Value Engagements to demonstrate the value of these solutions to your customers.
Conclusion
In summary, FY25 offers Microsoft partners a powerful opportunity to grow their business and drive customer success through substantial investments and incentives in Modern Work solutions. By leveraging programs like the M365 CSP incentive, Copilot Accelerate, and Deployment Accelerators, you can maximize earnings while delivering exceptional value. Focus on adoption, premium offerings, and strategic engagements to help clients thrive in the modern workplace. Start planning today to make FY25 a year of innovation and growth!
Don't miss out on these exceptional opportunities. Start planning your FY25 strategy today! Familiarize yourself with the details of each incentive program, identify the best fit for your business, and prepare to help your customers transform their workplaces with Microsoft Modern Work solutions.