What is a Microsoft Certified Partner?

A Microsoft Certified Partner is a company who has agreed to provide Microsoft-related products and services and offer support alongside them.

Being a Microsoft Certified Partner, we are a part of the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN), meaning we have access to the most up to date resources around Microsoft technologies. We’ve got exclusive access to support and training from Microsoft for employees. Meaning our engineers can get certifications on the latest technology.

There are different levels of being a Microsoft Certified Partner. At entry level, a business can be a partner if they can prove their IT skills to Microsoft.

Then there is the opportunity to become a silver or gold partner depending on the number of exams passed and the skillset of their workforce.

Since 1996, Fabric IT has been a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. This is the highest accredited title for partners who offer some of the best Microsoft IT services in the UK.
The training and exams fall into specific skillset groups, or as Microsoft say: competencies.

Competencies for a Microsoft Certified Partner

All Microsoft partners are eligible to obtain competencies in key technical fields. Competencies can only be awarded if you meet a specific criteria to showcase your expertise across six main categories: App Dev and ISV, Cloud Platform & Infrastructure, Data Management & Analytics, Business Applications, Mobility, Productivity. For each competency, you can obtain a Silver or Gold award depending on how many requirements you meet. Each competency has its own track depending on whether you’re a distributor or supplier.

For example, we have a gold competency for Cloud Productivity in Managed Services. Below are the requirements to get this competency in Silver and Gold.

Silver:

• Partners must have deployed 2000 active entitlements (active users)

At least 1 individual must pass the following exam:

• Exam MS-100: Microsoft 365 Identity and Services

Gold:

• Partners must have deployed 4000 active entitlements (active users).

At least 2 individuals must pass the following exam:

• Exam MS-100: Microsoft 365 Identity and Services

As you can see, there’s quite a step up when it comes to achieving a Gold level competency. Requirements for each competency change on a regular basis as technology develops. There are some competencies which are fairly entry-level and others are more tricky to complete with many exams involved and requirements to meet.

Below is an example of the kind of logo to look out for from a Microsoft Certified Partner. It gives you a good indication on how competent the business will be for certain areas across the Microsoft product base. This example is ours from December 2019, when I wrote this post:

If you’d like to chat with a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, give us a call on 01625 443 110 or browse our other blog posts to learn more.

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