Get recognized with Partner Admin Link

[brian_levenson]

Partner Admin Link (PAL) enables Microsoft to identify and recognize partners who drive Azure customer success.

Optimized for managed services where your organization is acting on behalf of the customer, PAL allows you to associate your MPN ID with the credentials that you use to deliver services within the customer's Azure tenant. Microsoft can attribute influence and Azure consumed revenue to your organization based on the account's permissions (RBAC role) and scope (subscription, resource group, resource instance).

Learn more below and check out the new webcast recording from February 7th!

1. General: Overview Webcast: Get Recognized for Driving Azure Consumption (Sept 2018)
2. PAL Specific: Get Recognized for Driving Azure Consumption on-demand link (Feb 2019)

1. For management and consulting services with admin access
   1. Azure Partner Admin Link Documentation
   2. Contact: AzurePartnerAdmin@microsoft.com

1. For solutions deployed in customer environments
   1. Azure Customer Usage Attribution Documentation
   2. Contact: AzureISVPilot@microsoft.com

1. Existing method used for partner incentive programs
   1. Digital Partner of Record
   2. Cloud Solution Provider

1. Reporting and Insights
   1. Partner Center Dashboard
   2. MyInsights Dashboard

[bjohnsonsims]

@JanoschUlmer Can PAL and CSP coexist? For example, a PAL customer of ours moved to CSP with another partner, and it appears we stopped getting ACR credit in our Insights report. Should we be able to reattach to this customer for PAL and continue receiving credit for Azure usage?

[JanoschUlmer]

Yes, they can coexist. You won't get Incentives via PAL if the customer buys the CSP subscription from a different Partner, but it should still count towards competency requirements and solution partner status. Seems like during this move somebody changed permissions on the Azure subscriptions for the user account where you have used PAL. In Insights (Azure Report in Cloud Product Performance section) they should still appear if permissions have not changed. 

And that there were permission changes is very likely if e.g. the customer had PAYG before, and then moved to a CSP Partner it means there is new subscription and new permissions. If the customer had EA Azure subscription, and they moved to CSP with an Azure Expert MSP Partner it would not change the permissions - but still I'm sure there would have been some clean up done by the new Partner reg. permissions. 

Now that the Customer moved to getting Subscription and service via their CSP Partner, do you still have permission on the Azure resources with a user account of yours? Usually I would expect the CSP Partner is providing services as well. 

[TOledzki]

How PAL will count recognition (and incentives) when permissions in Azure set by my client grants Contributor or Owner roles to subscriptions set up and managed by other partners?

[JanoschUlmer]

@TOledzki :

If the other subscription is a CSP subscription sold by another Partner, you won't get any incentives, but it does count against competency requirements.

If the other subscription was obtained by customer directly, you will get less incentives when another Partner has also set PAL in the same subscription. Alternatively you could agree with them/the customer that you are the only Partner that sets PAL for a user/permission in e.g. Resource Group A, the service you manage, and the other Partner will only set PAL for a user in Resource group B - so you would each get 100% incentives for the service you manage.

See the Microsoft Commerce Incentive guides for details on rates: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/membership/partner-incentives 

Recognition for competencies is not shared, both Partners would earn it the same way even if PAL from both Partners is applicable to the same set of resources.

[Anonymous]

https://www.microsoftpartnercommunity.com/t5/forums/replypage.addmessageuseremailsubscription/message-uid/8389?t:ac=board-id/cloud_ai_csp_discussions/message-id/166&t:cp=subscriptions/contributions/messageactions

[ronin201]

Good day

Did anyone face with an isssue when PAL procedure doesn't recognize MPN partner ID?

error message: 

"We don't have a record for this partner ID?"

[JASA1976]

You need to use the ID related to your location rather than the normal partner ID.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/link-partner-id

Each of your locations has its own ID under business locations.

[ronin201]

Thanks for reply

I cannot understand customer must try to link MPN ID or kind of "location ID"? 

I have already used that link you mentioned. Customer using PAL link from Azure portal receive error that I described (screen is attached)

[JanoschUlmer]

@ronin201 : Might be late in the conversation, but for anybody who finds this thread: Yes, always a location ID.

All incentive programs and also CSP status is assigned at location level. As a Partner you always get one MPN ID defining the org (PGA - Partner Group Account) - and at least one location (PLA - Partner location Account).

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/account-structure

e.g. when you act as Partner on global level - you have one Partner org, but multiple locations in different countries. Since incentives and CSP program has regional boundaries/differences it makes perfect sense to use the PLA for any customer association, this also allows you as Partner to report on customer associations and revenue on local/subsidiary level.

[ChristianFUMEY]

Hello,

A question I don't find the answer in any FAQ.

PAL is associated to a PLA ID. As a partner may have many PLAs each enrolled in MCI, how will Incentives be paid if many PLAs of the same partner (PGA) are associated with PAL to the same customer's environment ? And can multiple PLAs ID from the same PGA by added as PAL by the same partner user with admin rights at the customer's environment ?

These scenarii exist when more than one specialized department of the same partner operate on the same Azure ressources and each department wants to be paid at its PLA level.

In this case, many PLAs from the same PGA as PAL in the same customer's environment, how are Incentives rates calculated: maximum for each PLA because same PGA or split between each PLA, as if they were from different partners/PGA ?

[lawtonma]

It does seem to accept the location ID - but to be honest we have given up with PAL - it seems very inconsistent whether we see it on our usage reports or not. It works occasionally and difficult to get ANY help from Microsoft.

MArk

[JanoschUlmer]

@lawtonma : I agree, some things with PAL did not work as good as it was hoped for, it should get better though.

Note that as per mid June 2020 PAL does also count towards competency requirements, so another reason to adopt using this since it removes the DPOR limitation that only one Partner could be associated to a customer. 

[ChristianFUMEY]

Hello,

It looks like that after you register as PAL (or DPOR) you must provide a proof signed by the customer that you are working with this customer. But I don't find any description of the workflow, of the requested proof(s) and examples of the emails the partner - and perhaps the customer - receive.

Any idea where I could find these ?

[JanoschUlmer]

That sounds more like the CPOR process - this requires proof of execution from the customer. PAL/DPOR association itself, e.g. for competencies or incentives, does not. At least I do not know any  PoE process for these.

Where did you get that information?

[ChristianFUMEY]

Yes, it sounds more like CPOR process, but I got this from a Gold Cloud Platform partner I work with.

I send you examples of these emails, as he kept a copy of them.

[ChristianFUMEY]

After checking with the partner, the POE were asked for DPOR at a subscription level and on a customer environment where this partner was not associated with PAL.

So this is OK with the process and FAQ available here 

https://partner.microsoft.com/resources/collection/partner-admin-link#/

[Robosh5]

Hello, if the partner is CSP parter on record and is also doing work as a MS provider in Azure, are they required to set up PAL?

[JASA1976]

No if they are the CSP partner then they will be getting the credit for all of the subscription already and don't need PAL.

PAL is for when you're not the transacting partner, but want the credit for work you are doing in Azure for your customers.

[JanoschUlmer]

@JASA1976 : One small clarification - when talking about the new Azure plan, PAL is actually one of the applicable options for the CSP Partner to earn the Partner Earned Credit (PEC) - e.g. when the customer reomves the default (AOBO) permission on the Azure subscription and thus PEC is no longer paid, transacting CSP Partner could use one user account linked via PAL to still earn PEC. So the usage scenarios of PAL have expanded a bit with respect to the new Azure Plan/New Azure Commerce Experience.

[tcalitz]

Hi @JanoschUlmer, hoping you can clarify a few things about this alternate association for PEC.

1. If PAL is our connection to earn PEC, do we still earn the full 15% or is it the 6% associated with PAL?
2. Also, if it's PAL for PEC, what if another partner associates with the customers via either AOBO and/or PAL? Is the PEC shared? Or do we keep the full 15% because they're in our CSP?