We as Apexon are Gold and Silver partner of Microsoft but are struggling to get PDM to help guide us Microsoft processes

[GeetanjaliSahni]

We are looking for some one from Microsoft team who can help us accelerate our Microsoft Partnership.

Apexon is 6500+ employees company and Gold and Silver Partner with Microsoft. CSP enrolled for different locations.

We are struggling to get a PDM from quite sometime. As services company we are working with enterprise companies to support, augment MS services.

Can someone guide us - how can we get MS PDM? (process is quite complicated in Microsoft as compared to other competitive partners we are working with)

Looking for guidance and support

Reach out at (5) Geetanjali Sahni | LinkedIn or (5) Pradeep Nemadi | LinkedIn

[JanoschUlmer]

@GeetanjaliSahni : What exactly do you need help with? Is the background what you wrote in last post - "We are not able to show it on Portal coz we are not able to register the opportunities"?

Can you provide more details on what challenges you do face with regards to your membership? E.g. questions about new Cloud Partner Program and your Solution Partner status? Questions on how to associate yourself to your customers to get points towards solution partner designation?

For many of those questions Partner Center support is the right resource, though we can also try to provide guidance in here. As Jill mentioned, there is no process to get a PDM on request, actually only a small subset of Partners have a PDM - only if you increase visibility with e.g. Solution Partner status, Advanced specializations, revenue etc. it may become more likely a PDM is assigned. 

[GeetanjaliSahni]

Thanks Janosch.

We are working with many customers and helping them with end to end "services" of Microsoft and currently struggling to get that awarded in Portal.

We have directed to be CSP indirect Reseller which we did and to be in touch with CSP indirect provider. They told us - we need not to do it for just checklist item, we can do that directly with MS (we dont know how).

we are planning training and Certification for more than 100 employees.. looking from continuous support from Partner Support-> got redirected to MCT/MCP -then back to Partner support - then volume licensing - ending with incorrect Email id (Failure message)

It is taking lots of my time to get "Support" from MS Partnership only. While me working with many other partners as Alliance member- MS Partnership is one we are definitely struggling with. Looking for more support/direction/guidance from MS team.

[JanoschUlmer]

@GeetanjaliSahni :

On the CSP topic:

 - When you are in the business reselling Microsoft cloud services/subscriptions to end customers you can act as Indirect Reseller (working together with a provider) or Direct Bill CSP.  To become Direct CSP you need to have acted as Indirect Reseller for at least 12 months and have minimum of $300k billed revenue in last 12 months. Then you also need to have a support agreement (can be obtained during application as Direct, when you know the status is approved).

If you fulfill those requirements, you can start applying as Direct CSP here: Requirements for CSP direct-bill partners - Partner Center | Microsoft Docs

however - regardless if you are Direct or Indirect Reseller, any sales revenue you have will be recognized the same way and contribute towards legacy competencies, respective customers added as Indirect Reseller and service utilization happening on customer side as a result will contribute to Solution Partner status.

On the question on training and certification - what questions do you have? On what do you need support? Usually Partners will look at the certification requirements for the desired competency, or now the Solution Partner option, then options to take the relevant exams can be found on the MS learn websites: Learning and Development Services (microsoft.com) Employees would take the exams using their own personal account, and then employees need to link their personal account with their work account in Partner Center: Link Microsoft Learn MCP ID to Partner Center account - Partner Center | Microsoft Docs .

Not sure how volume licensing got involved here - maybe you can share details on the exact questions you have/had so we can find answers. 

[v-jillarmour · Accepted solution]

@GeetanjaliSahni I was able to get an answer from the internal partner team around this:

"Thanks for raising this. There isn’t a process to apply for a PDM. Instead, we regularly evaluate our business against market conditions, customer needs, and competitive landscape. When we make decisions about the partners that our partner management personnel will work with, we take many factors into consideration. Some of those factors are historical performance and demonstrated partner capabilities like cloud focus, technical enablement, strategic leadership, marketing and sales capability, and alignment with Microsoft priorities.

We recommend that all partners take advantage of the resources, programs, and offers in the Microsoft Partner Network to differentiate their businesses and build, go to market, and co-sell with Microsoft. Sign in to the Microsoft partner website to learn more and if there’s specific information you’re looking for, please post here and we will do our best to help you."

I hope you found this helpful! - jill

[GeetanjaliSahni]

Thanks Jill for responding.

I can assure you that we have Partner capabilities Azure, Sharepoint, Power Platform etc and we have all the capabilities as asked for. We are 6500+ people company and 600+ MS trained resources.

We are not able to show it on Portal coz we are not able to register the opportunities. Anyone from Microsoft(only) PDM, if they want to know details of ACV/capabilities/skills etc we can share details. I can guarantee you wont be disappointed.

[v-jillarmour]

Tracking in hopes someone has some input for you. I will try on my end to find some resources for you.