FY21 Partner Incentives -

Partner Associations
Overview
Incentive Association Models

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 Incentive associations
Microsoft partner incentives are aligned to specific associations between partners and
end customers.
Associations ensure Microsoft is calculating – and partners are earning incentives – for
executing the right behavior.

TPOR CSP POR DPOR CPOR PAL

(Transactional (CSP (Digital Partner (Claim Partner of (Partner
Partner of Record) Partner of Record) of Record) Record) Admin Link)
Incentive associations – quick definitions
Microsoft partner incentives are aligned to specific associations between partners and end customers. This ensures
Microsoft is calculating – and partners are earning incentives – for the right behavior.

Transactional Partner of Record designation is applied to the partner on a subscription at the time of an Enterprise Agreement
TPOR (EA) transaction. On Azure consumption, in cases where the partner is also the DPOR (Digital Partner of Record) on a subscription,
they will not earn as the TPOR on the same subscription. In that scenario, the partner will continue to earn as TPOR for any other
subscriptions under the EA enrollment where they are not listed as DPOR.

Digital Partner of Record designation is applied to the partner servicing a customer on a Microsoft cloud subscription. Partners
DPOR must be added – by the customer – as the DPOR each time a new subscription is sold, regardless of whether it is a new or
existing (renewing) subscription. The DPOR on a subscription must remain current for the duration of the incentive. The partner
will only earn from the month they are assigned as DPOR, or the month of competency attainment, whichever is later.

Claiming Partner of Record associates the partner to a customer’s Microsoft cloud subscription or workload via a claims process.
CPOR The CPOR can only associate with customers at the subscription or workload level, and only one partner may be associated per
customer subscription or workload.

Classified as Microsoft Confidential

Incentive associations – quick definitions
Microsoft partner incentives are aligned to specific associations between partners and end customers. This ensures
Microsoft is calculating – and partners are earning incentives – for the right behavior.

Partner Admin Link is a tool that Azure partners can use to automatically and precisely track their influence on Azure services
PAL consumed by customers. An Azure customer may grant a partner administrative credentials to access and service their Azure
environment, and the partner can then associate their MPN ID to those admin credentials.

CSP Cloud Solution Provider Partner of Record designation is automatically applied to the CSP transacting partner whenever a
POR subscription or product is sold in CSP.

(Admin on Behalf of) partners with a Microsoft billing relationship will, by default, be granted admin rights to the customer’s
AOBO
Azure subscription.

Classified as Microsoft Confidential

Associations and incentive program mapping
Solution Area
Modern Business Apps & Data &
Association Incentive Program License Agreement Partner Role
Workplace Apps Infra AI

Pre-sales, Services, X
CPOR Advisor Sell (OSA), OSU Biz Apps EA /CASA/ Web Direct/EES Deployment

TPOR Enterprise Sales X X X X

Enterprise Agreement (EA)
DPOR X (Power BI) X X

Services,
Microsoft Customer Deployment
PAL Microsoft Commerce Incentive Agreement (MCA)
X X
(MCI)

Microsoft Partner Sales

CSP POR Agreement (MPA)*
X X

CSP Direct Bill Partner

MCRA/MCDA**
CSP POR CSP Indirect Provider Sales X X X X
MPA*
CSP Indirect Reseller

Services,
CPOR OSU M365 All X
Deployment

For MPN competency association information, please visit the MPN here
Classified as Microsoft Confidential
 TPOR – Transactional Partner of Record
Definition
TPOR (Transactional Partner of
Record) is the transacting or
assigned partner of record on an
Enterprise Agreement (EA) at the
time of the transaction
Incentive Program
• Enterprise Incentive Program
Process
• End customer enters into an Enterprise
Agreement either directly with
Microsoft or through a Licensing
Solution Provider (LSP)
• If Enterprise Agreements are
transacted directly through Microsoft,
an Enterprise Direct Advisor (EDA) is
assigned at the time of transaction and
associated as TPOR
• If Enterprise Agreements are
transacted through an LSP partner, the
LSP is associated as TPOR
• Subscription activity assumes the TPOR
association of the Enterprise
Agreement
 DPOR – Digital Partner of Record
Definition Incentive Program Process

• DPOR (Digital Partner of Record) • Azure Incentive • Customer designates a single

is a designation assigned by a partner as DPOR per
• Online Services Usage Business
customer to a partner that is subscription (new or existing)
Apps (Power BI only)
servicing a Microsoft cloud • Incentive earnings begin to
subscription accrue once the DPOR
• There can be only one DPOR per designation is complete, and
customer subscription once the workloads show
consumption/usage
• Identifies partners who provide
value-added services for the • If DPOR designation is revoked,
customer incentive earnings stop
• Microsoft reserves the right to
request POE* to validate that
required activities have been
performed
*POE = Proof of Execution
 PAL – Partner Admin Link
Definition
• Partner Admin Link (PAL) is a tool
that Azure partners can use to
automatically and precisely track
their influence on Azure services
consumed by customers
• An Azure customer can grant a
partner administrative
credentials to access and service
total or part of their Azure
environment
Incentive Program Process
• Microsoft Commerce • Customer enters services
Incentive (MCI) agreement with partner
– Field-led • Customer gives partner admin
access to their Azure
– Customer-led*
environment
• Partner links MPN ID to admin
credentials in the Azure
Management Portal
• PAL tracks and reports partner
services impact
Learn more on the PAL resource
page of the Partner Website
Classified as Microsoft Confidential.
*This asset is nonbinding and intended only for reference purposes, as a high level overview of the program.
Full details and program requirements are set forth in the applicable program guide and partner agreement.
CPOR – Claiming Partner of Record
What is CPOR?
• CPOR (Claiming Partner of Record)
allows a partner to be recognized
for servicing a customer’s
Microsoft cloud environment.
• Allows only one partner of record
per workload or product. However,
multiple partners can be
associated to the same customer
for different subscriptions or
workloads.
Incentive Program
• Online Services Usage M365: Allows
Incentive associations, and usage
associations (non compensable) per
workload and it’s licensing agnostic
(see exclusions on the program guide).
• Online Services Usage Business
Applications: Allows Incentive
associations only per subscription
under Enterprise Agreement and
CASA/EES licensing.
• Online Services Advisor (OSA Sell):
Allows Incentive associations, and
revenue associations per subscription
(non compensable) under Enterprise
Agreement, CASA/EES, and Web Direct
(MOSA).
Process
• Access the CPOR function and
submit a claim within Partner Center
Dashboard.
• Make CPOR claim associations on a
subscription or workload level.
• Provide required Proof of Execution
(POE) for each incentive claim as
referenced in the program guide.
Learn more on the incentives page of
the Partner Website– navigate to the
OSA, OSU Business Applications and
OSUM365 asset collections.
CPOR Association Types
The CPOR claiming platform allows for CPOR association claims related to Business Applications and Microsoft 365 solution areas as well as
recognition outside of these programs (see non-compensable associations below). Select the correct activity based on the descriptions to
avoid having to re-claim in the future. Claiming with an incorrect activity may result in missed eligibility, competency attainment, and
incentive earnings.

Solution area Activity/Program When to select? Licensing Requirements to

submit a claim

• Incentive Association Select if you influenced the purchase of an eligible product, and
Presales – OSA want to apply for pre-sale incentives or revenue-association.
Revenue association is automatically completed once you Enterprise
• Revenue association associate to OSA (note one-month lag for this to reflect in Agreement, • Active and in-grace
only -Program Agnostic Microsoft scorecards). CASA/EES, and status of the
(Non-Compensable) Web Direct subscription
Business
This option is only applicable if the customer purchased these (MOSA). • Subscription purchased
applications
products via Volume Licensing agreement or Web-Direct. through applicable
licensing program
• Excludes CSP and
MPSA licensing
• Incentive Association- Select if you drive the adoption and usage of an eligible product, Enterprise
OSU Business and want to apply for usage incentives. This option is only Agreement and
Applications (Usage) applicable if the customer purchased these products via Enterprise CASA/EES.
agreement, and CASA/EES.

Microsoft 365 • Incentive Association- Select if you drive the adoption and usage of an eligible workload, N/A • Tenant must at least
OSU M365 (Usage) for a customer and want to apply for usage incentives, or usage have one active
association. subscription under the
• Usage Association only- claimed workload.
Program Agnostic • Excludes MPSA
(Non-Compensable)
POE Guidelines

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FY21- POE Submission Guidelines for CPOR
What constitutes effective proof of execution:
1. A customer signature or contain proof of customer acknowledgment to validate your
involvement with the customer.
Acceptable material: Physically or electronically signed proof of execution documentation by
customer (Printed name, signature, title, and date). This can also be an e-mail confirmation
describing the work.
Insufficient Material: Customer e-mails concerning licensing purchases and e-mails forwarded
from customers.
2. Connection between workloads/products and a description of the intended/ongoing work.
3. Activities driving revenue and/or usage growth need to be explicitly stated.
The below items constitute acceptable and unacceptable material for detailing activities and
ongoing work within the POE document in your claim:
Acceptable material: Number of users or infrastructure impacted per workload, timelines of the
proposed work, documentation describing challenges with current process technology and how
the partner’s work will support these challenges, detailed explanation of the services and
technology provided.
Insufficient material: General product benefits taken from technical or promotional materials,
list of high level tasks (e.g., “testing, ongoing support”), and generic POE templates submitted
on other partner claims.
4. The name of the claiming partner and the corresponding customer clearly visible
5. Dates.
Signature/customer acknowledgement in your proof execution must not be older than 12
months. POE documents with signatures aging more than 12 months, will need to have a recent
POE or customer acknowledgement confirming active engagement with the customer (this can
be an e-mail confirmation describing the work).
6. Public Sector (only applicable for OSUM365 and OSU
Business Applications incentive claims where the partner is
servicing a public sector customer)
• Public Sector is defined as government, healthcare, and
education customers.
• Partners may not earn incentives for public sector
customers if the customer resides in one of the restricted
countries listed in the Public Sector Country Ineligibility List.
The Public Sector Definition and Country Ineligibility List
can be found on the Microsoft Licensing Terms and
Documentation website.
Puerto Rico and the United States
• In Puerto Rico and the United States, Partners are eligible to
earn, Online Services Usage incentives, for transactions
segmented as Public Sector, provided that:
• For Partners claiming themselves as Claiming Partner of
Record, it is required for the Partner to disclose to the
customer the potential fees, commission or compensation
that Partner will receive from Microsoft, if any, in
connection with the products or services being procured.
Where the customer is a public sector entity, such
disclosure will be in writing, and acknowledged by the
customer in writing. All such disclosure and customer
acknowledgment will be reviewed by Microsoft. A failure to
comply with these disclosure requirements may prohibit
Microsoft from paying such amounts to the Partner or
require those amounts to be paid back to Microsoft.
FY21- POE Submission Guidelines for CPOR
These documents will not be accepted as proof of execution:

• A transactional contract for the licensing sale of Microsoft products

• Pricing quotes
• E-mail from the partner
• Purchase orders
• Master services agreements that do not contain recent documentation proving the engagement with the customer
• Documents without customer acknowledgment
• Proof of execution that does not contain specifications or mention of the activities that the partner is driving in the customer’s
workloads.
• ECIF documentation with high-level description of the activities and workloads being delivered. If you plan to submit ECIF as
your POE, please ensure there that your ECIF documents contain valid details describing workload and activities performed.
ECIF documents do not contain customer acknowledgement. Partners would need to provide a separate customer
acknowledgement related to the ECIF work performed.
FY21 CPOR Workflow
1. Create Claim 4. Customer Consent

• Access the CPOR function and submit a claim within Partner • If your association is approved Microsoft will notify the
Center Dashboard. customer

2. Proof of Execution Submission 5. Incentive Eligibility

• After you create a new customer association, Microsoft will
• Claim approval is separate from incentive eligibility. To earn
verify the details of the association and proof of execution
provided to ensure its accuracy. incentives you must ensure you’ve met incentive program
eligibility as called out in the Incentive Program Guide.

3. Claim Review & Approval 6. Reporting & Performance

• If you and another partner claim for the same customer
and product/workload, Microsoft will review each
partner’s proof of execution documentation to determine https://partnerincentives.microsoft.com
which partner to approve. Additional information might be
requested from both partners which could cause delays in
processing your association request.
 Partner Support Experience

Classified as Microsoft Confidential.

*This asset is nonbinding and intended only for reference purposes, as a high level overview of the program.
Full details and program requirements are set forth in the applicable program guide and partner agreement.
Support
Questions?
• For support, there are Incentives FAQs and links to relevant
self-help articles available within the Partner Center
support experience. If additional assistance is needed, you
can create a support ticket within the Incentives Online
Support Experience on Partner Center.
• For programs not on Partner Center, please visit the
Microsoft partner website.
• If you are experiencing difficulties signing into your Partner
Center Account, additional assistance can be found here.
• Step by step guidelines to access Incentives support are
available here.
• Where a standard query ticket has already been raised and
the case is out of SLA or has been closed but solution is not
satisfactory Email existing Tier 1 ticket to :​
EMEA : eocciesc@microsoft.com
 Support & Resources
Support
• For support, there are Incentives FAQs and links to relevant self-help articles available within the Partner Center support experience.
If additional assistance is needed, you can create a support ticket within the Incentives Online Support Experience on
Partner Center.
o For programs not on Partner Center, please visit the Microsoft partner website.
• If you are experiencing difficulties signing into your Partner Center Account, additional assistance can be found here.
• Step by step guidelines to access Incentives support are available here.

Useful links
Microsoft Partner Network: partner.microsoft.com
Incentives page on the partner website: aka.ms/partnerincentives
Partner Center incentives resources asset collection on the partner website
Partner Center: partner.microsoft.com/dashboard
Public Sector – Microsoft Licensing Terms and Documentation website
Partner Admin Link asset collection on the partner website
Partner Admin Link (PAL) linking documentation – aka.ms/partneradminlink
Questions?

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Classified as Microsoft Confidential

Thank you.

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Classified as Microsoft Confidential

 Appendix

Classified as Microsoft Confidential 22

Partner ready resources
For further information regarding the Microsoft associations, please visit the
below pages.

DPOR CPOR PAL

For Microsoft partner incentive program information, please visit

aka.ms/partnerincentives.

Classified as Microsoft Confidential

Classified as Microsoft Confidential
Classified as Microsoft Confidential
Classified as Microsoft Confidential
Classified as Microsoft Confidential
CLAIMING PARTNER OF RECORD

Creating your first

customer association
Before you can create a new customer association,
make sure your administrator has set you up as either
an Incentive User or an Incentive Admin.

These are the only two roles who will have

permissions to view and create customer associations
for your organization.

A user can get started by logging in to Partner Center

Dashboard and navigating to the Customer
Association tab under the Incentives menu.

Then, select “Create Association,” from the top of the

page and follow the prompts to create a new
customer association for the workloads you’re
assisting your customer to deploy or adopt.

For detailed step-by-step guidance,

refer to the Customer Association Guide
 CLAIMING PARTNER OF RECORD

When creating a new customer association, you’ll need to provide details of the engagement.

5 steps to creating a The following steps walk you through process to create a customer association.

customer association For detailed step-by-step guidance, refer to the Claims Partner of Record guide in aka.ms/partnerincentives

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Select the relevant product
from the product list. Then
select the role you’re playing
for this claim (such as Usage).
Select the MPN ID you want to
associate to this claim. Then
provide the Tenant ID and
subdomain for the customer.
Select one or more you’re helping the
customer to deploy or adopt that will
be associated to this claim.
Specify whom you’re working with at
the customer organization the point
of contact for this project at your
organization. Then name this claim.
Upload POE documentation that
supports the information provided
in the claim. This will help protect
against other partner claims for the
same workload.
Claim Status
Claim Status Appears When

Editing Your CPOR association claim has been created. It stays in this state until you upload the
proof of execution document and submit the claim for approval.
Submitted The partner has successfully submitted their CPOR association claim, however
Microsoft has not yet started the review process.
1. You can check the status Under Review Microsoft has started validating your POE documentation. You should expect a
of your CPOR association response within five business days. Please note, your claim may be in “Under Review”
status if additional review is required, or if the customer is already associated to
claim at any time by using another Partner. This will result in longer review time because both associations are
evaluated.
the Customer
Rejected Your POE was insufficient, or you didn't respond within five business days per the POE
Associations Dashboard review guidelines, and the claim has been denied. Claims can be disputed up to 30
(sign-in required). days after rejection.
Approved Claim has been approved. Once approved, the customer is notified and given seven
• Here are the statuses days to opt out of the association. Although your claim will show as approved, it will
only be sent for incentive assessment after the 7 day consent period has passed.
and their meanings:
Partner Action Required Microsoft has reviewed your claim and determined more information is needed to
approve. You have fourteen business days to resubmit your claim with the requested
information or it is automatically rejected.
Customer Consent Declined The customer has opted out of the association.

Disputed Rejected claim has been disputed by the Partner. Claims can be expected to be in
Disputed status for up to 5 business days.
Customer
Notification
For privacy reasons, Microsoft will
Microsoft 365 Business Applications
notify the customer contact to provide
them with the option of denying your
access to their subscription. The
customer’s Office Portal administrator
will also be copied.
The customer will receive the consent
email.
• If the customer consents to the
association request, no action is
required from them.
• Customers can deny or cancel the
request at any time.
• If the customer denies consent, the
status of your customer association
will change from Approved to
Customer consent denied.
• If customers have questions, they
can reach out to the partner
contact provided.
Note:
Customer consent opt-out emails are
not sent for revenue association
requests.
Please note that the claiming partner is
not copied on this notification.
Customer
Notification
This is what the customer will
see if they choose to deny or
cancel the association per the
email.
If a customer denies your
association the status will
change to Customer Consent
Declined.
Revenue Eligibility Since ISVs seek revenue recognition only, standard
Association OSA Sell eligibility requirements do not apply.

The ISV revenue recognition process follows the Incentive fee

Since ISVs/Business Influencers
seek revenue recognition only, process, with a few exceptions:
standard OSA Sell eligibility
requirements do not apply. • No customer opt -out notification will be sent, but
product/solution and customer details are required.
• Provide IP for a Dynamics
cloud solution • The recognized revenue will be displayed in PartnerSource
Business Center (PSBC)
• Have an active MPN and CSA • No Proof of Execution Required.
agreement status
• Please note, the CSA can be
signed in PSBC.
• Have a bank & tax profile on
Partner Center Dashboard
Revenue association
View Business Influencer-
associated revenue within
the “Partner focus–Sales
summary” section of
PartnerSource Business
Center (PSBC).
• Select Performance Area
“AX/D365 Rev Rec” for
recognition of ERP
revenue.
• Select Performance Area
“CRM/D365 Rev Rec” for
recognition of CRM
revenue.
For more details on revenue
association and the
applicable requirements
please review the OSA Sell
incentive guide on
aka.ms/partnerincentives
 Partner Incentives on MPN

Classified as Microsoft Confidential.

*This asset is nonbinding and intended only for reference purposes, as a high level overview of the program.
Full details and program requirements are set forth in the applicable program guide and partner agreement.
 Partner Incentives content is available at: http://aka.ms/partnerincentives

Classified as Microsoft Confidential.

*This asset is nonbinding and intended only for reference purposes, as a high level overview of the program.
Full details and program requirements are set forth in the applicable program guide and partner agreement.
 Example:
Online Services Usage Microsoft 365
Incentive Resources

Classified as Microsoft Confidential.

*This asset is nonbinding and intended only for reference purposes, as a high level overview of the program.
Full details and program requirements are set forth in the applicable program guide and partner agreement.
 Partners make more possible

© Copyright Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Classified as Microsoft Confidential.

*This asset is nonbinding and intended only for reference purposes, as a high level overview of the program.
Full details and program requirements are set forth in the applicable program guide and partner agreement.