Companies making an evaluation for a new Microsoft partner can often be confused about a prospective partner’s qualifications or what they may offer. For many partners, they may be certified in one area or another by Microsoft. They may also have a tier of qualification on each of their certifications. This blog will help make sense of all these potentially confusing titles that Microsoft gives out. It will also define and sort through all available qualifications so any potential buyer can make an informed decision when choosing a partner.

Partner Certification Levels

The first thing to pay attention to when evaluating partners is certifications. There are three tiers levels partners can achieve which each carry different requirements: Microsoft Certified Partner, Microsoft Silver Certified Partner, and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. It’s important to note that partners can also be certified in different competency areas so some may have different certification levels by competency.

The lowest tier of licensed partners is Microsoft Certified Partner. This status requires very little to attain: a partner must register on the Microsoft Partner Network website, which does not need any qualification, and they must pay a fee to become a Certified Partner. After attaining Certified Partner status, a partner must choose specific focus areas and demonstrate competency within those focus areas to gain a higher ranking. If a partner showcases that they are a Microsoft Certified Partner, that means they have only registered with Microsoft and paid a fee. It does not guarantee that they have experience with the software or services they sell.

To attain a Silver Certified Partner status, a Certified Partner must demonstrate Silver level expertise within a specified area. Depending on the competency area, that expertise requires a partner to have met an annual license, customer additions, or revenue threshold within a competency area. For example, to become a Silver Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Partner, a Certified Partner must have met a revenue target by selling Dynamics AX, GP, SL, NAV, or Business Central.

Some competency areas require staff members to pass tests that Microsoft provides about the related product or service. For example, to become a Silver Data Analytics Specialist Partner, a partner must have at least one staff person pass four competency tests related to Data Analytics.

Finally, the Gold Partner status simply requires a higher level of demonstrated competency than the Silver status. Using the previous examples, a Gold Certified ERP Partner must have made either $350,000 more revenue than the Silver competency if they’re an ISV, or $100,000 more revenue if they’re a reseller. These values are important because you can be sure that these partners are able to provide for enough clients to reach their thresholds. That is, they have demonstrated experience in their given focus area.

Competency Areas

The other aspect of partner certifications are the focus areas of the certifications themselves. There are many areas to demonstrate competency in. Most of these focus areas give an idea about what a partner does well. For example, a partner with a competency level in ERP has demonstrated expertise in Microsoft’s ERP software, while a partner who has a competency in Cloud Business

Applications had demonstrated expertise in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement, or in Dynamics 365 Unified Operations. If a customer is looking for an ERP partner, it may be better to work with one that holds a certification in ERP, while if they’re looking for a CRM partner, it may be better to work with one who has a Cloud Business Applications certification.

In addition, a customer may be looking for a specific type of expertise. A partner with a certification in Data Analytics or Data Platform will be able to assist with representing data in a way that may be useful for customer. This could mean identifying trends with customers, tracking Actual Revenue over time, or running reporting for other financials. There are a few different certifications related to Applications and Infrastructure that focus on how a partner operates on the back end.

If a customer requires extensive server management, they may want to have a partner with a certification in the Datacenter area. If they need help with combining multiple programs across multiple systems, an Application Integrator certification may be useful to them. If they are looking to decrease on-premises server costs by switching their servers onto Microsoft Azure, they may want a Cloud Platform certified partner.

It’s important to note here that not having a certification doesn’t make the partner worse than one with a certification.it just means that the company may not meet a revenue threshold required or that they have too little experience to procure a certification.

Finally, there are certifications for most Office 365 applications that we won’t go into here, but if a customer is looking for a partner who can manage apps like SharePoint, Intune, Exchange, or other Office 365 programs, it may be worth spending the time to review what certifications a potential partner has within those areas. You can find the full listing of competencies here.