As you may have heard, in May 2012, we will be combining two of the existing Microsoft Partner Network competencies (Systems Management and Virtualization) into a new unified competency (Management and Virtualization). As a Microsoft partner, these two areas are huge business opportunities and now you have the chance to get ahead of the game by moving into the new Management and Virtualization competency before we bring it to market in May 2012. That’s right! You don’t need to wait until May to work towards achieving the new Management and Virtualization competency and below I’ll show you how you can get started right now.

Why should you get into the Management and Virtualization competency? Well, outside of the big business opportunity that Systems Management and Virtualization offer, here are just some of the additional advantages:

• Attaining the Management and Virtualization competency gives you the opportunity to differentiate your business by delivering a new breed of Private Cloud, Management and Virtualization solutions
• Get access to relevant updates,resources, tools, and training for Microsoft management and virtualization technologies
• Attaining a gold Management and Virtualization competency qualifies you to earn substantial channel benefits through programs like the Management and Virtualization Solution Incentive Program (SIP) and the Private Cloud, Management and Virtualization Deployment Planning Services (PVDPS)

So can you qualify for the new Management and Virtualization competency? Let me show you:

Are you a partner with an existing Systems Management competency or Virtualization competency?

If so, then I have some good news for you. After the merge of the two existing competencies and launch of the new Management and Virtualization competency (scheduled for May 2012), all active Systems Management and/or Virtualization competency partners will automatically get transferred into the new competency. So if you already have one of those competencies and it is active after the merge in May 2012, your path is pretty simple, you’re in. One thing to note, when you come up for renewal of your competency after May 2012, you will have to meet the new competency requirements to renew into the Management and Virtualization competency.

After May 2012, if you want to obtain the new Management and Virtualization competency:

Here are the requirements for both the silver and gold competencies (these also apply to any partner looking to renew their competency after the merge):

Partners who do NOT have a Systems Management or Virtualization competency today but want to get the new Management and Virtualization competency:

Good news for you! You do not have to wait to get the new competency because all partners have the unique opportunity to meet these requirements for either the silver or gold competency and then contact their local Regional Service Center. The Regional Service Center will confirm your credentials and place you into either the Systems Management or Virtualization competency. Then, when the new requirements go into effect, you will automatically transition into the new Management and Virtualization competency.

We have a document posted on the Microsoft Partner Network portal that you can download and has full details around the new merged competency, the requirements, the migration paths, and more, so you might want to grab that to look through as well.

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Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER, LinkedIn, and RSS and see “What I’m thinking”
Director, Worldwide Partner Experience
Microsoft Corporation
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights