Microsoft Ireland Podcast: Partnering with Microsoft

For this episode I sit down with Ciara Murphy to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about partnering with Microsoft. The full podcast is  nearly 11 minutes long, but I have included markers in the audio so you can use the skip buttons (either side of the stop button) to skip directly to the topics as per the table below:

Time

Topic

00:00:00

Welcome/Why partner with Microsoft?

00:02:10

Partner levels/requirements/benefits

00:05:15

Product certification (for ISVs)

00:06:28

Certifying hosted solutions (for ISVs)

00:06:54

Bonus points for first competency

00:07:24

Do membership points expire?

00:08:24

What happens licenses if my partnership expires?

00:09:04

Partner networking

00:10:19

Summary/Closing

You can find more information at https://partner.microsoft.com/, in particular the Partner Program and Points Guide is an invaluable source of information.

To achieve certified partner level you need to have 50 partner points. As mentioned in the podcast, for an ISV typically this is done by getting a product certified. You can find more information about testing at https://www.lionbridge.com/lionbridge/en-US/services/outsourced-testing/product-certification-programs/microsoft/Platform-Test-for-ISV-Solutions.htm , while the Platform Test for Hosted Solutions at https://www.lionbridge.com/lionbridge/en-US/services/outsourced-testing/product-certification-programs/microsoft/Platform-Test-for-Hosted-Solutions.htm addresses certification of a managed service.

Details of what the test for hosted services involves are available https://www.lionbridge.com/NR/rdonlyres/3E6C7DFA-8215-4308-946D-3C77AC475A12/0/MicrosoftPlatformHostedTestFramework10320080110.pdf and should give an idea of the effort involved in passing the tests.

Also available: mp3