Visit the crayon.com enterprise site | Crayon is becoming SoftwareOne - Read more
Crayon Channel APAC

Search

Become a Partner Partner Login
Crayon Channel APAC

Search

The ABCs of Modern Work SPDs

The ABCs of Modern Work SPDs

Our latest webinar unpacks the essentials of Modern Work Solution Partner Designations.

Crayons in-house experts, Jye Wong and Ksenia Turner provide a practical refresher on Modern Work SPDs and the associated partner benefits, including product entitlements, go‑to‑market and co‑sell.

 

You’ll also get an overview of the Partner Capability Score across performance, skilling and customer success, aligned to Microsoft’s current partner program.

This webinar will give you a simple starting checklist, an understanding of where to find and track your score, and practical tips to prioritise effort.

You can also download the presentation slides, below the webinar video.

Grab your lunchbox, pop on your headphones and settle in!

Solution Partner Designations 101 (pdf 3.24 MB)
Why Modern Work SPDs matter and how to get started.

Why Modern Work SPDs matter and how to get started.

Our webinar session confirms an important message for partners and that is the Microsoft Solutions Partner Designation (SPD) is no longer just a nice-to-have badge. Rather, it’s a practical marker of proven capability and an increasingly important way to future-proof your partnership. 

At its core, SPD is Microsoft’s way of recognising partners who can demonstrate real capability and customer success across key solution areas. It helps customers quickly identify which partners have validated skills and a track record in areas like Modern Work, Azure, Security, and Business Applications.

Importantly, you can pursue more than one designation depending on your business focus.

Why does this matter? Because SPD gives you visibility and credibility with both customers and Microsoft. It signals that you’re not just reselling technology, you’re delivering outcomes. It can also open pathways to specialisations that further sharpen your differentiation.

 

The Benefits.

The session also unpacks what you actually get with SPD. Benefits span three major areas:

  • Product benefits (previously known as internal use rights): these include Azure credits, developer environments, and relevant cloud subscriptions that help you build demos, validate proof-of-concepts, and strengthen your internal delivery capability.
  • Go-to-market and co-selling support: including co-branded assets, campaign resources, and structured support to help you expand reach and drive new opportunities.
  • Skilling and technical enablement: through Microsoft training, bootcamps, and partner-focused learning resources, plus access to technical pre-sales and deployment support.

Related Blog: How to maximise SPD Partner Benefits

Understanding the SPD scoring model.

Understanding the SPD scoring model.

The most significant “how-to” component of the webinar is the scoring model.

To earn a designation, you must achieve at least 70 points out of 100, across three categories:

 

1. Performance: measuring your ability to grow the Microsoft footprint with customers.

2. Skilling: based on relevant intermediate and advanced certifications held by your team.

3. Customer success: reflecting real-world usage growth and deployments.

A key detail that often trips partners up is that you must score in every subcategory. Even if you hit 70 overall, zero points in skilling (or another subcategory) will block eligibility.

Pro tips and accelerators.

Pro tips and accelerators.

Jye and Ksenia provide partners with some great tips and practical accelerators.

  • Partner association: your CSP relationship is one way that customers are attributed to you. Submitting a Claiming Partner Record is even better. It can provide stronger recognition for the work you’re doing, even when you’re not the transacting partner. 

 

  • Link Microsoft Learn profiles to Partner Center: this is essential, otherwise, your existing certifications may not count toward your score. 
  • Mark your calendars: Microsoft refreshes SPD data on the 20th of every month, and renewal eligibility can depend on timing. Monitoring your score monthly and planning at least five months ahead of renewal can reduce last-minute stress.
Getting Started

Getting Started

We recommend partners start with a baseline assessment in Partner Center.

Use the insights and score simulator to shape your plan, align skilling to your target designation, and actively manage customer association. With a structured approach, SPD becomes less of a mystery and more of a growth engine.

Learn more about SPDs.

Related