Make the Most of Your Gold Competencies

Do you want to showcase your best in class capability within a targeted business solution area?

The level of commitment that a gold competency requires is rewarded by the deepest level of engagement and rewards that Microsoft has to offer. New to the Microsoft Partner Network, gold competencies will be available to all partners beginning in October 2010. When you achieve a gold competency, you’ll represent organizations and associated individuals that have demonstrated the highest, most consistent capability and commitment within a targeted Microsoft business solution area.

“Recent Microsoft-commissioned research conducted by IDC shows that partners with a higher level of engagement with Microsoft are more highly satisfied and demonstrate healthy business growth and profitability. These same partners report larger deal sizes than their peers while keeping sales cycles to an appropriate length.”

– IDC, “Microsoft Core Infrastructure: Partner Pathway to Business Performance,” June 2009

Benefits Gold Competency Benefits In the process of expanding the Microsoft Partner Network, we’ve aligned our competencies with how customers actually buy. Microsoft gold competencies provide a clear path for partners to further differentiate their expertise and access an exclusive set of benefits. With gold competencies, you can: • Continue to differentiate your business and demonstrate your proficiency in today’s competitive environment. A Microsoft gold competency can help set your company apart from the competition by confirming a consistent capability and commitment. • Capitalize on benefits that are tailored to your area of expertise and are in alignment with your business’ sales cycle. • Build a more integral partnership with Microsoft.

When you attain a gold competency, you’ll receive the following key benefits specific to your area of expertise and more: • Up to 100 Microsoft software licenses of each product, including 7, , Windows Server, SQL Server, Systems Center, SharePoint, Exchange, and more. • Eligibility for channel incentives and a Microsoft-named contact that will support the creation of a business plan and sales efforts. • Access to 50 hours of partner advisory support, including pre-sales technical and competitive based support, unlimited deal support, 5 incidents of break/fix support, and business-critical phone support. (For partners with either gold or silver competencies, pre-sales support will not use Partner Advisory Hours if a deal is worth $3,000 or more.) • An MSDN subscription and Three TechNet Plus Direct subscriptions so you can access tools, software, communities, and resources for developing, testing and evaluation. • Over 13,000 online and live training events to help you understand Microsoft products and solutions. Organized by partner type and business role, these training events will help you embrace key information to drive business and customer success. • Highest search ranking in Microsoft Pinpoint and Microsoft Solution Finder. Microsoft’s Pinpoint and Solution Finder applications allow your profile to be accessible to tens of thousands of potential customers in our online directory. • A customized Microsoft partner competency logo so you can showcase your expertise via a Microsoft partner gold competency brand.

1 Partners can attain multiple gold competencies. Your employees or contractors who pass the applicable gold competency exams are only eligible toward one gold competency. 2 Qualifying competency application tests refer to products that pass and software tests and apply to the ISV competency or other competencies through the ISV track. Qualifying application tests vary by product.

Partner Network™ Requirements

REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION

Credentials Four unique Microsoft Certified Professionals with credentials, not assigned to any other gold competency1 OR A qualifying competency-specific Microsoft Platform Ready test and/or a certified platform test (requirements vary by competency).

Joint Microsoft and Partner Plan Revenue Commitment Starting October 2010, partners will need to commit to delivering a minimum Microsoft revenue amount based on their respective geography and competency. Revenue may be directly transacted or influenced. In some competencies, revenue is identified as solution or customer wins. Beginning October 2011, Microsoft will begin to measure actual attainment and partners will need to meet the revenue commitment by their next re-enrollment date after October 2012.

Business Training and One individual who passes a Microsoft Licensing overview assessment (beginning October 2010) 2 Assessments AND One individual who passes an online Sales and Marketing competency assessment (beginning October 2010)

Customer Evidence Five unique customer references, per competency4 AND Participation in the Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Index

Commitment Full profile AND Annual gold competency fee3

Get Started Today! Here are the seven steps for achieving a Microsoft gold competency: 1. Build your plan: Determine which competencies represent your primary business focus. Choose the competency that aligns to your highest priority customer solutions offered in market (silver competencies are available now, while gold competencies will be available in October, 2010). Next, use the Transition Tool to determine where you may need to meet additional requirements in order to attain the competency or competencies. 2. Meet exam and assessment requirements (if applicable) and learn about special exam offers. • Find training guides for exams that you need to pass. To find which exams you’vepassed , go to Microsoft Learning. To find which exams are beingretired , check the retired exam list. • Purchase a 3, 5, or 8 competency exam pack to save up to 30% and get a free Second Shot retake on all exams. You can hand out exam passes to anyone within your organization that needs to get certified. If you have questions, exam experts are also available for real-time chats. • Take assessments (if required) or have your sales associate earn an accreditation. • Licensing overview assessment • Sales and marketing assessment • Consider having your sales associates earn a Sales Specialist Accreditation (only applicable for certain competencies).

3 Requirements vary by competency. 4 Partners may use customer references from a silver competency toward a gold competency. 5 Fees vary by geography. Partners will pay the silver competency or gold competency fee one time per year per location – no matter how many com- petencies are attained. If partners attain a gold competency after attaining a silver competency, then partners will only pay the difference between the two membership fees, unless they are within their 90-day renewal period. 3. If you are a software developer, submit your solution through the Microsoft Platform Ready tool (for ISV tracks or ISV competency). 4. Gather customer references: Log in to the Partner Membership Center, click the Requirements and Assets dropdown menu, and then click “Create Customer References.” 5. Participate in the Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Index. 6. Accept the revenue commitment as part of enrolling into the competency. 7. Pay the appropriate competency membership fee as listed on your local partner portal.

More Opportunities Opportunities abound when you gain a Microsoft gold competency. Make sure you’re making the most of your membership by taking advantage of all the benefits available to you. Then, depending on your business focus and goals, you may want to consider the following additional membership opportunities: • Participate in our community while engaging in a real-time dialog to discuss business and technology topics across social media. The Microsoft Partner Network community gives you numerous opportunities to build trusted relationships with Microsoft and other Microsoft partners to help you offer even more innovative solutions to customers. Through social networking, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the Microsoft Partner Network Community, partners can participate in “hot topic” conversations, learn about the latest technology trends, and ask questions directly to Microsoft employees. • Join one of our specialized groups, like the Small Business Specialists Community (fees apply). Becoming a Small Business Specialist helps you specify your expertise in delivering solutions to small and midsize businesses. As a Small Business Specialist, you’ll gain access to even more resources to help you grow business, find new revenue streams, and capitalize on market opportunities.

Key Resources Turn to these resources to help you make the most of your gold competencies: • Microsoft Partner Portal: View gold competency benefits and requirements. • Microsoft Partner Network License Calculator: Use the license calculator to calculate how many software licenses you’ll gain with each competency (starting October 2010). • Additional Support: Find answers to frequently asked questions or contact your local regional service center with questions.

Partner Network™