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Watch this OnDemand webinar for a high‑impact business and technical deep dive into the Microsoft Security Solutions Partner designation.

If you didn’t know, the Microsoft Solution designation for security, significantly increases your organisations rebates when reselling Microsoft security solutions across your customer base. A partner with the Microsoft security designation can almost double the margin on a security solution sale through rebates, your business will also be eligible for deployment accelerators to help your customer adopt their new security capabilities – further enhancing the value of the Microsoft Security SPD to your business.

As a Security SPD holder, you will be able to run Microsoft funded immersion and envisioning workshops that will help drive your customers to adopt a Microsoft security approach to their business – that’s right …… you get paid by Microsoft, to demo Microsoft to your key customers (restrictions apply).

We’ll break down why it matters, what’s included across the Security solution areas, and the exact steps partners can take to achieve the designation, with hands‑on support from Microsoft and Crayon/SoftwareOne.

Watch the video, review the key highlights and download the presentation deck for further reference.

SMB path for Solutions Partner designation for Security (pdf 2.29 MB)
Key takeaways

Key takeaways

Why the Microsoft Security SPD is more than a badge.

Security is no longer peripheral to the customer conversation. It is central to cloud, data, AI, compliance, identity, and business resilience. That makes it one of the most commercially important solution areas in Microsoft’s ecosystem.

This means the Microsoft Security Partner Solution Designation (SPD) is not just a badge to display on a profile page. It is a signal to the market of partners that are investing in in the skills, customer motions, and delivery capabilities needed to deliver serious outcomes to businesses.  These partners will be differentiated from those that cannot evolve beyond licensing transactions.

The Security SPD is the foundation from which partners can develop deeper specialisations in areas such as threat protection, cloud security, identity and access management, and data security.

How does the upside of SPD attainment justify investment?

The benefits of achieving the Security SPD are significant, and span three broad areas:

1. Market credibility and differentiation: the designation helps customers and Microsoft identify partners with validated capability in security. In a crowded market, that matters. It gives partners a stronger basis for trust and a clearer story to tell about why they should lead security engagements.

2. Access to Microsoft-led enablement and growth support: this includes go-to-market support, sales and technical resources, and structured pathways into deeper specialisation.

3. Commercial upside through funded engagements and deployment incentives: Security SPD is not simply a compliance exercise or a partner-program milestone. It can support real revenue outcomes through Microsoft-funded pre-sales activities and post-sales deployment investments. This includes :

Pre-Sales Investments

Practical demand-generation and opportunity-shaping motions that help partners create pipeline, engage customers earlier, and move conversations toward higher-value security outcomes.

  • Immersion Briefings, with payouts up to US$2,000
  • Envisioning Workshops, with payouts up to US$8,000

Post-sales deployment investments

Funded opportunities tied to Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Defender, and Purview deployments. Depending on the motion, these deployment incentives can reach up to:

  • US$38,000 for ME3/ME5-related deployment activity
  • US$10,000 for Defender and Purview suite activity
  • US$1,750 for Business Premium-related suite deployment

The combined effect of margin, incentives, workshops, and deployment funding results in meaningful revenue upside.

Partners that build the right capability are better positioned not only to win security work, but to monetise it more effectively.

Understanding the Security SPD scoring model.

Like other Microsoft solution-area designations, Security SPD is based on a 100-point framework, with partners required to reach at least 70 points overall. Those points are measured across three core categories and attaining the designation results from balanced performance across these areas.

Performance – your ability to grow Microsoft security business

Skilling – the certifications held by your team

Customer success – evidence of deployment and usage growth with customers

Skilling is a core part of the model and for the Security designation, relevant certifications include credentials such as AZ-500, SC-200, SC-300, SC-400, and SC-100, depending on the pathway being pursued. 

The skilling effort required to attain the designation can feel significant, but the revenue potential and Microsoft investment that comes with it makes the math work really hard on your side of the deal.

That’s why the investment in Security SPD attainment needs to be weighed on commercial terms, not just operational ones.

How can partners get started with the Security SPD?

The strongest advice from the session is to start with a baseline review in Microsoft Partner Center.

Partners should:

  • assess their current Security SPD score
  • review gaps across performance, skilling, and customer success
  • confirm certification mapping through linked Microsoft Learn profiles
  • use the score simulator to model improvement options
  • identify the customer motions and funded engagements that can support both score progression and commercial return

From there, the path becomes much clearer. Rather than treating SPD as a complex partner-program hurdle, partners can approach it as a structured growth plan for their security business.

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