If you’re working towards a Microsoft Solutions Partner designation, or you’re close to renewal, some important updates landed in February that we wanted to share. There’s a mix of good and less-good news, so let’s take a look at what’s changed for 2026.
Let’s get this bit out of the way first. As with most things right now, costs are increasing. Let’s get this bit out of the way first. As with most things right now, costs are increasing. Microsoft has raised the price of Partner Program membership by 3%, effective from 13 February.
On balance, this is a fairly modest increase – and you do get a raft of upgraded benefits, which hopefully makes the price rise a little easier to swallow.
As a Microsoft Partner in 2026, you will have access to more product license discounts, more Azure credits and more technical services than ever before.
Specifically, Microsoft is pushing partners to go big on AI and security – topics that pretty much every organisation is grappling with right now. As such, when you renew your Modern Work designation, you will now receive the following enhanced benefits:
Azure credits
Copilot seats (up from 5)
monthly Copilot Studio credits
Teams Premium licenses (up from 10)
Entra & Intune Suites
Defender Suites
Another big change this year is that more workloads now count towards the Modern Work designation.
So if you’re helping customers with any of the following workloads, these will earn points towards your Solutions Partner qualification (which wasn’t the case before):
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft Entra ID P1
Viva Goals
Teams for Frontline Workers
Teams Premium
Teams Rooms Monthly
Active Devices
Did you hear about this?! Microsoft has been fixed a curious anomaly that was negatively impacting some partners working towards Modern Work and/or Security designation.
Previously, you could be supporting an SMB customer that – due to growth in seats and/or usage – Microsoft would reclassify as an Enterprise customer. If you were on the SMB path, you’d then lose all the points and progress you earned from that customer. Partners were being penalised for helping customers grow.
Thankfully, this has now been resolved. Microsoft has adjusted its customer growth calculation, and the fix has been applied automatically. No action needed on your part – and no more lost progress.
Partners used to receive a small amount of dedicated Azure credits when purchasing Microsoft Visual Studio. Under the new benefits model, this is no longer the case. The credits do still exist, but they have been distributed across the Security, Modern Work and Azure designations.
We hope this is a useful summary of Microsoft’s changes. At Westcoast Cloud, we love deciphering the detail to keep you informed about what matters for your business. If you need to chat through any of the above – or any other announcement – please do get in touch.
One final update, this time about our own services. We are currently refreshing the Thrive Programme to make it even more useful for partners. It’ll be more interactive, with new ways to stay on top of designations, deals and promotions. More details are coming soon so watch this space.
Not on Thrive yet? You can see what’s included here – it’s totally free to join and a great way to boost your skills and grow your Microsoft revenues.
If you have any questions, feel free to drop us an email at thrive@westcoastcloud.co.uk