Hi everyone. I'm new here to the Microsoft Partner Community, but have been part of the MPN for a little over a year, and have been a technologist of many things Microsoft for almost 18 years.
I've recently decided to start my own consulting & managed services practice centered exclusively around Azure, M365/O365, and related Microsoft technologies. I'm still very, very much in the initial phases right now, but one of the major hurdles I'm encountering right now are the significant barriers to entry for the Azure Marketplace.
I'm hoping someone has some insight on how a new, non-Silver/Gold partner is supposed to possibly contend with the multi-competency, "medal holders" in consulting. At the moment, it's just me (though I have some contractors lined up to assist depending on workload), so the "skilling" category is out of reach, and I'm unsure how it is expected to have "net customer adds" and "successful deployments" when you can't even advertise your services on the Marketplace. The MPN offers a metric ton of marketing stuff, but from what I've seen so far, it's very much "quantity over quality."
I've tried to reach out to MPN support, but their understanding of what I'm asking is.... tenuous, at best.
I would be most appreciative of any guidance anyone can give.
Cheers,
Will
Axeleos Technology Consulting, LLC
