Microsoft Partner Incentives

Azure | Incentive Guide

October 1, 2014 September 30, 2015

Contents
Contents ..............................................................................................................................................2
Overview ..............................................................................................................................................3
Summary of FY15 program / H1 / H2 changes ................................................................3
Azure Incentive Eligibility ..............................................................................................................4
Rates......................................................................................................................................................4
Revenue eligibility ............................................................................................................................5
Eligible revenue ............................................................................................................................5
Public sector ..................................................................................................................................5
Other restrictions .........................................................................................................................5
Earnings & payments ......................................................................................................................6
Earning requirements .................................................................................................................6
Incentive validation processes ................................................................................................7
Payout ..............................................................................................................................................8
Resources ............................................................................................................................................9
Useful links .....................................................................................................................................9
Support ............................................................................................................................................9

Overview
The Microsoft Azure Incentive rewards Partners for driving consumption of
Microsoft Azure Services on Microsoft Customer subscriptions purchased
through the Microsoft Online Services Agreement (MOSA) and Enterprise
Agreements (EA) only.
Microsoft Azure is a flexible Cloud platform that enables Customers to develop,
deploy and manage applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed
datacenters. Partners play a critical role in helping Microsoft Azure Customers
develop new applications and migrate existing applications to Microsoft Azure.
This Guide summarizes the requirements to participate in Microsofts Azure
Incentive. It replaces and supersedes all other Microsoft Azure Incentive Guides
and any related communications.
All links referenced throughout the Guide will be available in the Resources
section.

Summary of FY15 program / H1 / H2 changes

Introduction of partner-facing reporting through Channel Incentives Platform

(CHIP): Partners now have monthly visibility into their forecasted earnings

as well as the capability to download their final quarterly earnings

statements.
Partner eligibility: Partner must be an Azure Circle partner and must have at
least one valid Azure incentive opportunity, entered through PSX, between
July 1, 2012 and September 29, 2014.
Public Sector Country Eligibility List: The Public Sector Country Eligibility List
will be maintained as a separate list and refreshed as necessary on the 15th
of every month. Please reference the Public Sector Country Eligibility List
for the complete list.

Azure Incentive Eligibility

In an effort to ensure consistency across Channel Incentives and enhance clarity
for partners participating in multiple programs, Microsoft has created a standard
format for Eligibility Criteria.
To be eligible to participate in the FY15 Microsoft Azure Incentive, a partner must
meet the following criteria:

Partner
Status &
Performance

Eligibility
Type

Eligibility Requirement

Details

Azure Circle

Partner must be an Azure Circle partner and must have at least

one valid Azure incentive opportunity, entered through PSX,
between July 1, 2012 and September 29, 2014.

Azure Circle Partners that have not met the eligibility criteria will not be able to
participate in the FY15 Microsoft Azure Incentive.

Rates
Year

Rate

Year 1

20%

Year 2

20%

A Partner may earn Microsoft Azure Incentives for up to 24 months

association to a Subscription as long as the Subscription remains current.

Revenue eligibility
Eligible revenue
Eligible Microsoft Azure Services are only billable services that result in Microsoft
revenue. Microsoft Azure Services that are trial offers or free services are not
eligible for Microsoft Azure Incentives. Microsoft Azure Services that are not
metered, such as the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), are not eligible.

Azure Consumption is the monetary value of the billable Microsoft Azure

Services consumed by a Microsoft Customer in a given time period.

Public sector
Partners may only earn the Microsoft Azure Incentive for subscriptions involving
Public Sector customers if the customer resides in one of the countries listed in
the Public Sector Country Eligibility List.

Other restrictions

Not all Microsoft Azure Services are available in all markets.

New services and offers may be rolled out in new markets and current
services and offers may be discontinued. As these service changes occur,
Customer consumption of Microsoft Azure Services will also change,
resulting in different Incentive earnings for Partners.
Azure subscriptions purchased by the partner and partner affiliate are not
eligible for the Microsoft Azure Incentive.
Microsoft SQL Azure is not eligible for Microsoft Azure Incentives

Earnings & payments

Eligible Partners can earn a maximum amount of $100,000 USD (or equivalent in
local currency) per subscription from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

Earning requirements
Partners must be on-boarded to the Partner Sales Exchange (PSX) tool

In order to earn Microsoft Azure Incentives, eligible partners must be onboarded to the Partner Sales Exchange (PSX) tool. Please reference the
FY15 Azure Incentive Implementation Guide for onboarding details.
Partner enters an opportunity with the Customer Details and the
Customers Azure Subscription ID in PSX and once approved by Microsoft,
the Partner is associated with the Customers Microsoft Azure
Subscription.

Partner must influence the consumption of Azure

Influencing consumption includes building/migrating an app or enabling
Infrastructure as a Service. Below is a list of examples of these services:
Build/Migrate an app

Enable Infrastructure as a service

Build a custom app for the

customer on Azure
Migrate an app (e.g. SharePoint
testing)

Deploy SharePoint on Azure

Implement multifactor
authentication solution for a
customer
Migrate data/file to
StorSimple/Azure Storage
Configure SQL Server disaster
recovery or backup
Test compatibility for Windows
Server upgrade

Partner must submit banking documentation

Partners will be required to submit bank details in Microsofts CHIP

(Channel Incentives Platform). Additional details on the onboarding
process for CHIP and instructions on providing bank details will be made
available in the FY15 Azure Incentive Implementation Guide.

Partner must submit tax documentation (US, LATAM and Canada-based Partners)

Collection of the appropriate tax documentation must be complete before

any incentives can be released to a Partner with address in US, Latin
America or Canada. Without these documents, Partners will not be able to
receive incentive payments.
Additional details on how to submit tax information will be made available
in the FY15 Azure Incentive Implementation Guide.
Microsoft advises the partner to submit the documentation prior or right
at the time of association to prevent any payment delays or payment
cancellations.
If no documents are received by Microsoft after 90 days of the Partner
association, Microsoft will stop accruing the earned incentives on that
subscription and may also remove the Partner from the subscription.

Incentive validation processes

In cases of a dispute, the Partner may be asked for Proof of Execution.

Please reference the FY15 Azure Incentive Implementation Guide for
additional details.

Payout
Payments

Partners may receive payments through wire transfer or check.

All incentives are paid in Partner country billing currency (even if different
than the customer currency) and disbursed quarterly.

Earnings Statements

Partners now have monthly visibility into their forecasted earnings as well
as the capability to download their final quarterly earnings statements. The
statements will also include information on subscriptions where the
partner has been associated to the subscription.
Payment will be disbursed to the Partner along the following schedule:

Payment Schedule
Eligible Consumption Incentive Period

Disbursement By Date

October 1, 2014 December 31, 2014

January 31, 2015

January 1, 2015 March 31, 2015

April 30, 2015

April 1, 2015 June 30, 2015

July 31, 2015

July 1, 2015 September 30, 2015

October 31, 2015

Minimum threshold

Earned incentives below the $200 payout threshold will be placed on hold
and rolled over until subsequent earnings will exceed the threshold at
which point payment will be disbursed to Partner.

Resources
Useful links

Master Channel Incentives Agreement (MCIA):

https://mspartner.microsoft.com/en/us/pages/membership/downloads/m
aster-channel-incentive-agreement.aspx
The following documents will be posted here:
https://mspartner.microsoft.com/en/us/Pages/Membership/Premium/part
ner-incentives.aspx
o Public Sector Eligibility Country List
o FY15 Azure Incentive Implementation Guide will be available on
October 1, 2014
o FY15 Azure Incentive One Page Summary
o FY15 Azure Incentive FAQ

Support
Support can be accessed through the Microsoft Partner Network on
https://mspartner.microsoft.com. Under the Support tab, select the Contact
Support option. When the portal opens, select Partner Incentives as your
Category.
Additionally, you can email your regional Operations Center, using the aliases
below.
Region

Alias

EMEA - EOC - Dublin

ociemea@microsoft.com

LATAM - AOC - Reno

ocilatam@microsoft.com

APGC - APOC - Singapore

ociapgc@microsoft.com

Japan - APOC - Singapore

ocijp@microsoft.com

N. America - AOC - Reno

ocina@microsoft.com