If you have gone looking for a Microsoft Gold Partner recently, you will not have found one. Microsoft retired the Gold and Silver tiers at the end of 2022 and replaced them with Solutions Partner designations.
The change matters more than a rebrand. The new system is harder to earn, harder to keep, and much easier for a customer to verify independently. It also created a gap worth understanding before you appoint an IT provider, because the word “partner” now covers everything from a company that registered for a partner ID to one that has been independently measured against Microsoft’s capability criteria.
Both can accurately call themselves a Microsoft partner. Only one has been measured.
What a Solutions Partner designation measures
There are six designation areas, aligned to the way Microsoft groups its cloud:
- Modern Work, covering Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint and Copilot
- Security, covering identity, endpoint and threat protection
- Infrastructure, covering Azure migration and platform work
- Data and AI
- Digital and App Innovation
- Business Applications, covering Dynamics 365 and Power Platform
A partner earns a designation by reaching a threshold on what Microsoft calls a partner capability score. That score combines three things:
Performance. Real deployment and consumption growth across customers, measured from data Microsoft already holds, not from anything the partner submits.
Skilling. Certifications held by individual engineers, at the specific certification level Microsoft requires for that area.
Customer success. Evidence of usage growth and successful deployments across the partner’s actual customer base.
That last category is what separates the current system from the old one. A partner cannot reach a designation by sending enough people on enough exams. Microsoft looks at what those people went on to deliver.
Designations are also not permanent. They are reassessed on the partner’s anniversary date every year, and the annual fee only maintains the badge if the underlying score still qualifies. A designation earned in 2023 and left to lapse is not a current credential.
Specializations sit on top
Above designations sit specializations: narrower, deeper credentials that require an existing designation plus a separate technical audit.
A partner claiming Calling for Microsoft Teams, for example, must already hold Modern Work and then meet further requirements on top. Specializations are the strongest signal available in the programme, because they involve external validation rather than self-reported capability.
If a provider holds one that maps directly to the work you are buying, that is meaningful. If they hold none, that is not disqualifying, but it is worth knowing which you are looking at.
Why “Microsoft partner” and “Solutions Partner” are not the same thing
This is where most of the confusion sits, and it is not always deliberate.
Membership of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is open and largely administrative. Any company can join, obtain a partner ID, and legitimately describe itself as a Microsoft partner. Resellers who transact Microsoft licensing sit here too.
A Solutions Partner designation is a scored, annually reassessed credential in a named solution area.
Marketing copy tends to blur the two. A website saying “Microsoft partner” alongside a Microsoft logo is not making a false claim, but it is also not making the claim most buyers assume it is making. Meanwhile, some sites still display Gold Partner badges four years after that programme ended.
None of this requires assuming bad faith. It does mean the badge on a website is not the thing to rely on.
How to verify any provider in about two minutes
You do not need to take anyone’s word for it, including ours.
1. Search the Microsoft partner directory. Microsoft publishes a public directory through AppSource. Search the company name. An active partner with a current designation appears there with its designations listed.
2. Check which designations, not just that there are some. Match them to the work you are buying. Modern Work for Microsoft 365 and Copilot projects. Security for identity and threat protection. Infrastructure for Azure migrations. A designation in an unrelated area tells you the company is capable, but not necessarily at the thing you need.
3. Ask directly, and ask for specifics. A provider that holds designations will tell you which ones, in which areas, and when they were last renewed. Vagueness in response to a direct question is itself an answer.
4. Ask about certification breadth. A designation can be supported by a small number of certified individuals. Ask how many engineers hold relevant certifications, not just whether the company qualifies.
5. Ask for evidence at project level. Designations prove programme-level capability. Case studies in your sector prove delivery. Ask for both.
What a designation does not tell you
Worth being honest about the limits.
A designation says nothing about responsiveness, communication, how the service desk behaves at 4pm on a Friday, or whether the provider will understand your sector. It measures Microsoft technical capability, which is one input into a decision that also involves people, contracts and culture.
It also says nothing directly about security posture. A provider can hold Modern Work without holding Security. If you are buying security outcomes, check for the designation that actually covers them.
Treat it as a filter rather than a verdict. It tells you a company has been independently measured against a standard, which is more than most credentials in this industry offer. It does not tell you they are the right fit.
The practical version
Ask any provider you are considering three questions:
- Which Solutions Partner designations do you currently hold, and in which areas?
- Do you hold any specializations relevant to this project?
- Can I see your listing in the Microsoft partner directory?
Any provider comfortable with their credentials will answer all three without hesitation, and you can verify the answers yourself in the time it takes to make a coffee.
Talk to us
We work across Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune, Defender and SharePoint for businesses throughout the UK, and we are happy to answer all three of those questions before you ask them.
If you are reviewing your current IT provider or shortlisting a new one, get in touch and we will talk you through what we hold and what it covers.