Featured article
A message from Matt Ontell
I have always loved our Connections events for the opportunity they provide us, currently in namesake fashion, to connect with and learn from one another. This is a special community of people and while I miss the chance to share a meal or connect in the hallways, I appreciate the team and community's creativity in making this digital event excellent. I so appreciate the generosity of time and expertise, and love hearing the stories of how each one of you is leveraging the assets of the program to build your businesses and help our customers succeed. I hope you all were able to gain specific actions you can take to improve how you can help customers become more secure and collaborate in this new era of hybrid work.
Matt Ontell
Program news
January FRP incentive statement
Processing for the January statements for December achievements were processed, with delivery to partners by February 14, 2022.
Please download the FRP Incentive Statement Summary for clarity by workloads as to what to expect in the statement.
If you have noticed a discrepancy between your records and the Proof of Execution (POE) statement you receive, you may submit an appeal.
FTOP Sync Delay
Awareness. Due to an upstream data issue, we are currently experiencing latency in approved CPOR claims syncing to FTOP. The root issue has been resolved. Recently approved claims may take approximately two weeks to display in FTOP. Claims approved in Partner Center before February 6, 2022, should be assigned in FTOP. Claims approved after February 6, 2022, are currently queued
FastTrack Migration SME Program
The FastTrack Migrations team has introduced the Migration SME program to assist those customers who have either struggled to onboard the FastTrack Migration Benefit or due to some uniqueness need a Migration subject matter expert (SME) to assist.
Refer to the knowledge article for details or the Yammer announcement to join the discussion about the Migration SME Program.
Awareness: FastTrack Ready Partner Dedicated (FRP-D) RFA Assignments
A new program, for customers not meeting the assignment business rules and are not assigned to the FTC, has been launched to service RFAs previously supported by the FTC including:
Not eligible for incentive
Not part of the No Incentive program.
This will not impact existing RFA assignments to FRPs.
Refer to the Yammer announcement regarding FRP-D RFA Assignments.
Events and training
FRP Virtual Connections Event resources
Thank you FRPs for joining the FY22 Virtual Connections Event. We had over 30 partners share their learnings and success stories, among other important FRP updates and resources.
To review the decks presented during the Connection events:
Note: Recorded presentations will be made available in the coming weeks. Stay tuned into FRP Yammer for more information.
Selling Microsoft Viva: How to Accelerate Sales Opportunities webinar
February 28, 2022, the second session in a three-part Partner Pitch Perfect series, How to Accelerate Sales Opportunities
Missed the first session? Watch the on-demand recording of Selling Microsoft Viva: How to Engage Decision Makers.
Upcoming events calendar
M365 Readiness Events
February 22, 2022, 7:00 AM PT: M365 ISV Showcase: Collaborative Apps in Microsoft Teams
February 22, 2022 Microsoft 365 ISV Showcase: Collaborative Apps in Microsoft Teams Featuring ROGER365.io, TeamViewer, and Firefly Learning
February 22, 2022, 8:00 AM PT: Meet the New Viva Addition – Ally.io OKR
February 23-24, 2022 (APAC time zones) – Enable Frontline Partner Bootcamp replay
February 24, 2022, 8:00 AM PT: February Conversation Series with Customer Engineering: Partner Center Viva Connections data card
February 24, 2022, 9:00 AM PT: What’s next in Security from Microsoft
February 28, 2022, 12:00 AM PT: Selling Microsoft Viva: How to Accelerate Sales Opportunities
March 17, 2022 Technical Training: Checklist for Managing Hybrid Work with Defender for Business, Lighthouse, and the Security Features in Business Premium
March 17, 2022, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PT: IT Checklist for Managing Hybrid Work with Defender for Business, Lighthouse, and the Security Features in Business Premium
Available on-demand
Click on the links below to view content on-demand.
FRP-specific events
FY22 Q3 Migrations Office Hours
Windows 11 Deployment Incentive Webinar
Other recommended events
Selling Microsoft Viva: How to Engage Decision Makers
Feedback focus
Based on your input
Thanks to those of you who have submitted ideas, voted, and added comments into our FRP Insights/Feedback tool. Here is an example of your suggestions taken into action:
Title: Unclaimed and Milestone Opportunity
Feedback: Within Power BI - Unclaimed and Milestone Opportunity tab can you please add customers TPID?
Outcome: Update has been made to the report.
Workload news
New pricing for Microsoft 365 coming March 1, 2022
Microsoft announced an update to its commercial pricing for Microsoft 365. This change will go into effect on March 1, 2022. It will include:
Enterprise
- Microsoft 365 E3 – US$36 (from US$32)
- Office 365 E5 – US$38 (from US$35)
- Office365 E3 – US$23 (from US$20)
- Office 365 E1 – US$10 (from US$8)
SMB
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic – US$6 (from US$5)
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium – US$22 (from US$20)
For full details, refer to this Yammer post
Read the blog post.
Customer-facing deck
FAQ
Microsoft Tech Community Blogs
For more resources join the discussion in Yammer.
From the Microsoft Tech Community Blogs
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P1 Now Included in M365 E3/A3 Licenses (*)
From the Microsoft Security Blog
Align your security and network teams to Zero Trust security demands - Microsoft Security Blog
For more resources join the discussion in Yammer.
Documentation updates
Go to Market content refreshed
The following resources have been refreshed:
- Accelerate you Microsoft 365 rollout email template
- Envision Checklist
- FastTrack Services to Customer deck
- Onboarding checklist
- Transforming your business Microsoft FastTrack sales guidance for partners
- Your request for a FastTrack Specialist email template
Review updated guidance in the Go to Market knowledge article.
Terms and Conditions
Download the Terms and Conditions for current program details.
FastTrack Playbook
Visit the Playbook Change Log for a complete list of updates.
The playbook has been deprecated in FTOP v2.
The reason for this change is that the playbook content within FTOP was no longer current/is no longer being refreshed as we work towards FTOP v2 deprecation. Please use the Playbook available at https://partner-docs.microsoft.com/partner-site/playbook/index.html.
Build assistants.microsoft.com experience for Edge
Awareness of updated target URL for Microsoft Edge Advisor (aka.ms/EdgeAdvisor) and Configure IE Mode (aka.ms/ConfigureIEMode) setup guides. Microsoft customers will now be directed to the un-authenticated entry point(s) located at https://assistants.microsoft.com landing page. There is a "Sign in: option in the upper right-hand corner for M365 admins that will take them to the M365 Admin Center experience.
Integrate Premier Offers into FastTrack
A review of existing Proactive Services and the FastTrack playbook has identified Proactive Accelerators and Managed Intellectual Properties (MIPs) that can augment a FastTrack engagement and bring additional value to a customer. These Proactive offerings have been identified and aligned to the impacted workload/service in the request specialist resources page in the playbook. This playbook update includes the following:
- Added Proactive Services engagement consideration for Proof of Concepts (POC) and Out of scope service/features within Determining required specialist role table.
- Added Proactive Services column to the Specialist Resource table.
- Aligned available Proactive services to corresponding workload/service
- Added Proactive Services engagement section that provides details about what these services provide and how to engage if an offer is beneficial to the customer.
Service Description
Access the FastTrack Service Description.
No updates this edition.
