16 December 2024
Microsoft 365 Copilot enables new opportunities for partners
Partner audience: #AllPartners #CSP
Relevant to: #News #GrowYourBiz #CrossSolution #ModernWork #BizApps #Azure #Security
In the ever-evolving technology ecosystem, the unprecedented pace of innovation with Microsoft 365 Copilot is reshaping the future of work. Powered by generative AI, Microsoft 365 Copilot is at the heart of this transformation—revolutionizing productivity, collaboration, and customer engagement.
With recent upgrades, including Copilot Pages, advanced app integrations, and AI models, Microsoft 365 Copilot offers partners more tools to create innovative solutions for their customers. The enhancements in the Wave 2 announcement further empower customers by boosting collaboration, productivity, and automation. These upgrades create new opportunities for partners to enhance their offerings, deliver greater customer outcomes, and drive business growth.
In this blog, we’ll highlight recently launched offers and announcements, GTM and skilling resources, and next steps to help you seize this opportunity to deliver innovation and drive business value.
Introducing a new payment option
On December 1, 2024, we introduced a new monthly billing plan for annual subscriptions of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Services. This new monthly billing option for annual subscriptions will be priced five percent higher than the annual billing (upfront payment) option for annual subscription plans. For additional details, read this Microsoft 365 blog and this Pricing Updates FAQ.
Promotional offers
To help you get customers AI-ready, the following offers are available to accelerate the customer’s adoption of AI while helping them stay secure and compliant.
Getting Started Microsoft 365 Copilot offer
Now through December 31, 2024, customers buying between 10–300 seats on a new Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription will get a 15 percent discount. This discount will be applied to the partner net pricing, allowing you the flexibility to decide how to use these savings with your customers. Leverage the functional offers development guide to further enhance this promotion by bundling with your professional services. We also recommend that you take advantage of our monthly Microsoft 365 Copilot QuickStart training.
Do More with Microsoft 365 E3 promo
Security remains a top priority for customers. The introduction of AI amplifies this concern, underscoring the importance of safeguarding data. Now through June 30, 2025, CSP partners will receive a 15 percent discount off the net partner price for new-to-Microsoft 365 E3 customers. Microsoft 365 E3 provides essential foundations to enable AI, including Microsoft 365 apps and security capabilities that simplify IT management and support customers on their Zero Trust journey. For customers seeking next-level threat protection and data security, Microsoft 365 E5 provides additional capabilities such as XDR to defend across the infrastructure and ensure data security throughout the data lifecycle.
Microsoft 365 E5 customer offer
Beginning January 1, 2025, partners can receive a 15 percent discount off the net price of Microsoft 365 E5 annual commitment subscriptions for eligible customers. This promotion will be available worldwide for new-to-offer customers, for subscriptions between 1–2,400 licenses.
The offer will be available through June 30, 2025. Look for more information in the Global Promo Readiness Guide beginning January 1.
Go-to-market resources
Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work. And its value now goes beyond individual productivity boosts—supporting top organizational goals like revenue growth, cost reduction, higher revenue per employee, faster employee onboarding, better workforce retention, and increased operational efficiency.
To help customers identify and realize these business outcomes faster, we’ve introduced a new functional GTM approach that better demonstrates business value and provides a strong justification for business leaders to want to expand their investments.
Here are the key resources you don’t want to miss:
Start with this video to understand the new functional GTM approach, then use these resources with customers: the Microsoft 365 Copilot pitch deck, the Microsoft Copilot Scenario Library, and the Business Case Builder.
Leverage these GTM resources to highlight the value of Microsoft 365 Copilot products and solutions with your customers:
Additional resources are available at Modern Work for Partners – Microsoft 365 Copilot CSP and Modern Work for Partners – Microsoft 365 Copilot practice development.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Excellence Workshop
Leverage this workshop to accelerate your Copilot sales journey. The Copilot Excellence Workshop provides one-on-one Microsoft-led training to support the partner sales cycle with end customers targeting an increase in Copilot seats or net new Copilot seats. Learn more about the program and nominate your customer through Partner-led Sales Resource (PLSR).
Skilling for success—build your AI practice
It’s never too late to build your Microsoft Copilot practice and capture new opportunities. Enhance and expand your skills for building and selling AI-enabled, customer-centric solutions across different modalities. Visit the Microsoft Partner Skilling Hub to register for upcoming live events and to access on-demand content across Azure, Business Applications, Modern Work, and Security, as well as Sales and Pre-sales Partner Skilling. You can find even more AI learning opportunities by visiting this Microsoft partner skilling blog.
You can also attend Level Up CSP: Modern Work & Business Applications trainings (formerly CSP Masters) that are built to help partners accelerate sales and technical capabilities.
Microsoft CSP Briefings
Unlock the potential of your small to medium-sized business practice with these Microsoft CSP Briefings (formerly called SMB Briefings), designed to optimize our shared sell-through-your-partner innovative solutions.
Use these Microsoft-developed demand-generation events to drive customer interest in new-to-Microsoft-Cloud CSP customer acquisition. Aligned with Microsoft CSP solution plays, these partner-led briefings are designed to help you demonstrate value, build customer intent, and accelerate opportunities for Modern Work and Security.
Partner benefits offerings update
On January 22, 2025, to further empower you to stay at the forefront of this technology innovation, we’re incorporating more than 20 highly sought-after product licenses into our partner benefits packages. This update features the addition of transformative products like Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Microsoft GitHub.
Next steps
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- Highlight Microsoft Copilot Wave 2 with your customers. We’ve made approximately 700 product updates based on feedback from our customers—this is a great opportunity to re-engage! Review the Microsoft 365 Copilot FAQ for Partners.
- Lead with business value across various functions. To drive growth required to meet FY25 aspiration, we need to talk to various “rooms of the house” as well as IT using functional content, videos, and demos. Build a customer offer.
- Maximize usage of offers and adoption resources. Accelerate sales and usage by maximizing all offers available, including demos, discounts, and Microsoft-funded Cloud Services Agreement (CSA) support.
- Get up to speed on the latest resources. Review the Microsoft 365 Copilot brand guidance and the Modern Work for Partners resources page.
- Join the Copilot Partner Community, designed specifically for partners interested in Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Join the conversation
Want to explore this and other topics you care about with Microsoft and other US partners? Head over to the Microsoft Americas Partner Community on LinkedIn.
