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Making the business case for Microsoft Security SPD

Making the business case for Microsoft Security SPD

Attaining the Security SPD does require time and resource, so building a solid business case to support a go/no-go decision is important.

 

 

Partners should be confident that the investment stacks up against their potential to make a strong commercial return.

Security SPD attainment can contribute to your topline and bottom-line objectives. In this article, I’ll touch on the value of validated capability, improved access to funded customer motions, and stronger service attach across the lifecycle of a security engagement.

Demand is high. Supply is low.

Demand is high. Supply is low.

The first article in this series covered customer priorities around security, including solution adoption intent and emerging demand for services.

As a brief recap:

  • Improving security and privacy is the number one IT objective, identified by 77% of SMBs.
  • AI adoption is a significant driver of adoption intent in both the security and continuity domains.
  • Solution and service demand is growing for data protection, identity and access management, Zero Trust Network Access, XDR, cybersecurity assessments, and security awareness training.
  • SMBs are actively looking for support in cloud strategy development, managed cloud operations, cost optimisation, cybersecurity assessments, application modernisation, migration and re-platforming, and integration services within the security domain.

 

Demand is growing, but skills and resources are scarce.

The shortage of cybersecurity skills is well documented with the specific challenges for Australia and New Zealand included in this detailed OECD whitepaper.

This shortage is part of the reason why Microsoft is aligning its funded motions to incentivise partners to ramp up around cybersecurity.

The simple economics of supply and demand place a premium on partners that have a Security SPD, which provides customers with a validated proof point of your capabilities.

However, the commercial logic does not sit in incentives alone. It sits in the combination of programme support, market demand, and service expansion.

Assessing the commercial stack.

Assessing the commercial stack.

The return for holding the Security SPD can show up across several commercial layers. One useful way to assess the investment is to look at the full commercial stack that Security SPD can support, which can include:

  • licensing growth
  • funded pre-sales workshops
  • deployment incentives
  • cybersecurity assessment services
  • managed services
  • longer-term security advisory

 

Partners with a Security SPD are further backed with high-level technical support and advisory from Microsoft.

This includes access to Microsoft technical pre-sales and deployment services, advanced support channels and co-selling opportunities.

These additional benefits offer increased competitive advantage in the market, making the return on skilling more tangible.

Pre-sales funding helps partners create and shape demand.

Pre-sales funding helps partners create and shape demand.

On the pre-sales side, Microsoft is funding activities that help partners generate demand and open more structured customer conversations.

These include:

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

These provide a funded pathway into strategic engagements around threat protection, data security, cloud security, identity, and modern SecOps.

This funding is a strong indicator of Microsoft’s’ assurance that its security solutions are good enough for most businesses.

 

Workshops and briefings help create better quality opportunities than product-led outreach alone.

They allow a partner to frame the customer problem properly, shape the solution direction, and identify where implementation, optimisation, or ongoing service support may follow, which is commercially significant.

Funded pre-sales motions also help partners test market demand signals within their customer and prospect base.

For example, our Future of Operations study with Forrester indicates that SMBs are seeking cybersecurity assessments, integration support, managed operations, and security awareness training.

Immersion briefings and envisioning workshops are an effective way to bring these needs into focus, quickly and effectively.

Post-sales incentives strengthen the delivery-side business case.

Post-sales incentives strengthen the delivery-side business case.

On the post-sales side, there are deployment investments tied to Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Defender, and Purview.

Depending on the engagement, available incentives can include offers up to:

  • US$38,000
  • US$10,000
  • US$1,750

 

These figures sharpen the commercial case because they support the transition from qualified opportunity to funded execution. That means partners have more than one route to value.

A workshop can open the door. An assessment can shape the scope. A deployment incentive can strengthen the economics of delivery.

From there, the engagement can extend into optimisation, managed services, compliance support, or broader security advisory.

This is where Security SPD becomes especially relevant. The capability required to attain the designation is closely aligned to the kinds of customer motions that can make these incentives useful and repeatable.

AI is increasing the value of security capability even further.

AI is increasing the value of security capability even further.

Another reason the investment case for Security SPD attainment is strengthening is that security is becoming more central as AI adoption grows.

SMB adoption of AI is accelerating, and IT/security is the top focus area in which organisations are implementing or experimenting with AI technologies or solutions. Businesses are under increasing pressure around compliance, governance, trust, and risk tied to AI adoption.

This is driving to emerging service demand in the security domain for:

  • AI readiness assessments
  • AI adoption training
  • AI user training
  • solution validation
  • opportunity assessments
Data Source: The Future of Operations: Advancing AI-Driven Innovation and Cloud Agility for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, a Forrester Consulting study on behalf of Crayon, March 2025

 

This is commercially important because it means a well-skilled security partner is preparing for more than today’s Defender or Purview conversation.

They are also preparing for the next layer of customer need around secure AI adoption, policy, readiness, and risk-managed deployment.

This gives the investment a future-facing dimension. Security SPD helps build capability that is relevant to current demand and increasingly useful in the next wave of cloud and AI-led engagements.

Pie chart of SMB AI capability demand in the cybersecurity domain

 

 

Stronger capability improves the quality of customer conversations.

Stronger capability improves the quality of customer conversations.

Security capability also changes the shape of the customer conversation.

Partners with recognised capability are often able to engage customers earlier and more strategically. The discussion can move into identity maturity, cloud risk, resilience, compliance posture, insider risk, data governance, secure productivity, and readiness for AI.

 

These are valuable conversations because they support more than one commercial outcome.

They build trust. They improve positioning. They create more room for advisory work.

They also make it easier to connect product adoption to wider business priorities and longer-term services.

Put simply, higher-quality conversations often lead to higher-quality opportunities.

Security SPD supports a more durable growth position.

Security SPD supports a more durable growth position.

Every partner will need to make choices about where to place time, budget, and attention. Those choices become easier when the market signals are strong, and the routes to return are visible.

In security, the signals are strong.

Strategies are shifting from ‘best-of-breed’ to ‘best for the customer’s operating environment and conditions’. The classic view of ‘one solution for one problem’ is changing as business leaders become more aware and better educated about how cyber incidents impact their ability to achieve topline and bottom-line objectives.

As a result, SMBs are prioritising security more highly. They are looking for outside expertise to assess, implement, optimise, and manage better integrated, end-to-end approaches to securing their entire operation.

 

SMBs are becoming more stringent in their partner selection criteria. Security SPD helps partners align themselves to these conditions. It supports stronger differentiation. It strengthens trust. It improves readiness for funded workshops and incentivised deployments. It creates more room for assessment-led selling, managed services, and longer-term advisory work.

Plus, Microsoft is also funding customer motions that can help partners create demand, shape opportunities, and support delivery.

For partners committed to building a durable Microsoft security practice, this is a practical growth investment that ensures your long-term competitive edge and delivers stronger upside as AI and security priorities continue to converge.

Taken together, this all adds up to strong market signals that support a credible Security SPD business case.

 

Distribution, done differently

Distribution, done differently

Your choice of distributor can make a material difference to your bid to attain a Security SPD.

Crayon – a SoftwareOne company – has the largest in-house team of cybersecurity specialists of any distributor in the region.

 

Combined with our deep understanding of Microsoft’s programs and platforms means you have even more support in going for gold!

If you’re ready to carefully consider Security SPD attainment, talk to your Account Manager, and ask for an introduction to our Security Technology Advisory Group. Or reach out to me directly on LinkedIn.

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