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We are strategically focused in supporting our global partners' engagements with eligible customers to leverage the value and maximize the potential of their purchased Microsoft 365 licenses.

FastTrack Ready Partners "Heads Up" June 14, 2021

– Fri, 11 Jun 2021 23:46:00 GMT
Heads Up FastTrack Ready Partners
June 14, 2021
Programs concluding in June, FRP May statements, Intune for Education training, FRP program event updates

Awareness Only

Matt OntellA Message from Matt Ontell 

When we started the fiscal year in July of 2020, no one had any idea of what lay ahead and even now with so many things improving there is still uncertainty ahead. I want to express my whole-hearted appreciation to our entire community for the agility, patience, kindness, and grace all of you have shown our team, our customers, and one another during a surreal FY21, a time filled with many ups and downs both professionally and personally for so many. I’m continually inspired by the life-impacting customer success stories shared from all of you around the globe.

As we wrap up FY21, and specific engineering incentives (e.g., Edge, A310, and OLM-MAM) come to an end, I want to especially highlight this community’s impact on Edge, Security and Compliance growth, and Teams. Thanks to your contributions, Microsoft security business has grown to over $10 billion and we continue to see customer’s digital transformation accelerate- customers who desire to maintain a secure and compliant hybrid work environment.

Thank you for continuing to help with a strong close to Q4. The feedback from the field is that our FastTrack Ready Partners continue to be trusted advisors and a key part of the sales process. I know we need to continue to build field and seller awareness of your strong capabilities.

With FY22 only weeks away, we’re gearing up for an exciting year with continued growth in the program. We’ll continue to invest in better data, tooling, and insights to help you serve our customers. Please keep suggestions coming in through the Insights/Feedback Forum; I look forward to connecting with many of you this summer at Inspire and afterwards.

Matt Ontell
FRP Program Lead

In this Issue

Program News | Workload News | Documentation Updates | Events and Recordings

Program News

Workload News

Documentation Updates

Events and Recordings

Program News

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Microsoft Edge Primary Browser Usage Incentive Program ending June 30, 2021. New! Incremental usage growth during July and August will be paid.

Edge Incentive
The Microsoft Edge Primary Browser Usage Incentive Program will end on June 30, 2021. Incentives may be earned for eligible usage (Edge PBMAU) on registrations for an additional two months in FY22. For more information, please see the blog post.

IE Retirement Announcement
Internet Explorer mode (IE mode) provides legacy browser support within Microsoft Edge, therefore IE11 desktop application on certain operating systems will be retired on June 15, 2022.

Please review the IE Retirement Announcement blog for details or the Yammer announcement.

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FRP May statement

Effective June 10, 2021, partners with May incentive earnings may login to FastTrack Ready Support to view the May statement.

Download  the FRP Incentive Statement Summary for clarity by workload as to what to expect in the May statement.

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Requesting feedback: New partner performance tools in Partner Center dashboard

The M365 engineering team is developing new tools within the Partner Center dashboard to provide you with better business insights. Currently underway is the creation of a mechanism to measure your performance and ability to drive growth. This will enable you to measure your performance and see how you compare to other partners.

We are looking for your input on how this feature will be constructed. Please contact OMEX OSU-M365 Feedback to participate in a brief feedback session.

Follow the conversation in Yammer Your feedback: New partner performance tools in dashboard.

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Reminder – programs concluding June 30, 2021

The following programs will conclude on June 30, 2021:

  • Microsoft Edge - Primary Browser Usage Incentive
  • M365 Deployment Offer Voucher
  • Outlook Mobile Managed by Intune App Protection (OLM-MAM)
  • Azure AD App Integration (A310)
  • Microsoft Teams Meetings 60% Targeted Special Incentive
  • Brazil and India COVID response Limited Time Trial Offer

For any questions regarding the incentive programs, please review the FRP Terms and Conditions.

Workload News

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Intune for Education: Deployment Partner Readiness

Have you enrolled in our course, “Intune for Education: Deployment Partner Readiness?” To learn about Intune for Education take this self-paced training through Partner University. Partners who successfully pass the assessment will be highlighted and recognized as a Deployment Expert in Partner Finder.

Enroll here: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/training/assets/collection/intune-for-education-deployment-partner-readiness#/

Follow the conversation on Yammer Intune for Education: Deployment Partner Readiness.

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Plan for change: Intune ending Company Portal support for unsupported versions of Windows

Microsoft Intune follows Windows 10 lifecycle for supported Windows 10 versions. We’re removing support within the current Company Portal for Windows 10 versions that are now out of the Windows 10 Modern Support policy.

Given that Microsoft no longer supports these OS’s, this may not affect you as you have likely already upgraded your OS or devices. However, our service telemetry indicates you may have at least one Company Portal app version that is unsupported. Intune will not uninstall versions of Company Portal, but instead remove support for the OS versions out of lifecycle from the app in the Microsoft Store.

User impact:

  • Users are not getting the latest security updates, new features, bug fixes, latency improvements, accessibility improvements, and performance investments.
  • Users will not be able to be co-managed with System Center Configuration Manager and Intune.
  • Users will not be offered the Company Portal if they are on unsupported Windows 10 versions.

What you need to do to prepare:
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Plan for change: Removing Threat Agent Status Report from Microsoft Endpoint Manager Admin Center

With the Intune 2108 (August) service release, we will be removing the Threat Agent Status Report from the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center (Devices > Monitor > Threat agent status).

How this will affect your organization:

  • If you are still using the Threat agent status report, you will no longer be able to access the report within the admin center.
  • Microsoft Graph endpoints will still be available so this will not disrupt any automations you may have in place.
What you need to do to prepare:

Documentation Updates

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FastTrack Playbook

Visit the Playbook Change Log for a complete list of updates.

Driving Clarity on MIP E3 vs E5 – Know Your Data Workshop (Task 4126) has been modified to drive E3 versus E5 clarity.

Compilation for Compliance workload overview decks – Previously, there were four different Compliance overview decks; one containing all content and three supporting specific compliance pillars. The purpose of this change is to pull the overview decks and guidance into a single task with access to resources for MIP, MIG, IRM and D&R for a single place to access content and a single task to complete.

Impacted tasks:

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Service Descriptions

To provide customers with additional clarity the WVD Service Description have been adjusted to reflect the updates.

Changes to the WVD Service Description are as follows:

In-Scope

  • Deploying Shared Images
  • Configuring M365 Apps for FSLogix in a native WVD environment:
    • FSLogix:
      • Agent deployment
      • Configuring Profile and/or Office containers
      • Configuring content exclusions and folder redirections for M365 Apps

Out of Scope

  • Windows Virtual Desktop infrastructure deployment
  • Creation of custom images for WVD
  • Endpoint Configuration Manager and/or MEM configuration for WVD
    • This includes the leveraging of these tools for patching/management.
  • Microsoft Defender with Windows 10 multi-session

Events and Recordings

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FRP Program event updates

Please note key program event updates:

  • June Partner Success calls have been canceled for all regions. We will resume the series in September.
  • We are actively planning the FRP FY22 launch event; it will be scheduled for early Q1. Look for updates in the coming weeks.
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Register for the June FRP Conversation Series: Viva Connections

Join us June 17, 2021 for the monthly conversation about Viva Connections. In this conversation we will be discussing how Yammer integrates with Viva Connections. Perry Anderson will host with guest speaker Liz Sundet, so make sure to register with the link below.

Register today:

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Microsoft Inspire registration open

Registration for Microsoft Inspire is officially open. Register today to secure your spot.

This year’s digital-only event takes place July 14-15. As our largest partner event of the year, Inspire offers the opportunity for our global partners to learn from each other and create connections with industry leaders, experts, and other partners. Gain insights and experiences from the community as you advance your business, with a more thorough understanding of Microsoft’s cloud to edge, secure, and trusted business platforms.

See the Yammer announcement Registration now open for Microsoft Inspire! for more information.

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Upcoming events calendar

Click on the links below to register for upcoming events:

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Now available on-demand

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The general FRP "Heads Up" newsletter is published every 2 weeks.

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