"Moving to E5 has been really good from a security point of view... Now we can get a holistic view of whatโs going on, which helps us to make changes and recommendations for future plans."
IT Service Manager
Ian Harkess
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Please note: A minimum of 150 enterprise licenses is required for FastTrack eligibility.
โWe needed to find solutions to a variety of issues whilst being a complex business, operating in a 24/7 environment. Stripe OLT listened and understood immediately the challenges we faced.โ
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โWe needed to find solutions to a variety of issues whilst being a complex business, operating in a 24/7 environment. Stripe OLT listened and understood immediately the challenges we faced.โ
What are the Microsoft solution partner designations?
Published: August 22, 2022
Updated: December 03, 2025
In a nutshell:
Microsoft have introduced a new set of Designations for partners to attain. So what exactly dos this mean?
The Silver & Gold partner competencies will be removed as of October 2022
The New Microsoft Partner Designations
2022 started with a bang for Microsoft Partners. At the beginning of the year, Microsoft introduced the New Commerce Experience (NCE), a change to pricing structures, and essentially an adjustment to the Cloud Solution Provider Program (CSP) program.
More recently, however, a new change has been announced.
As of October 2022, the Silver & Gold partner competencies will be removed, and instead, there will be a range of Microsoft Designations.
What are the new 6 Microsoft Partner Designations?
This designation highlights a provider’s skills in managing customersโ data across multiple systems to build analytics and AI solutions.
This designation allows partners to demonstrate their ability to help customers migrate key infrastructure workloads to Azure.
This solution designation showcases partners that build, run, and manage applications across multiple clouds, on-premises, and at the edge.
The new Business Applications designation is a great opportunity for partners who provide consultation, deployment, or ongoing management services for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.
The new approach has been established around capability scores, based on a points system.
To attain a Microsoft Solutions Partner Designation, a partner will need to earn at least 70 points (including points in each subcategory) out of the available 100 points. These are measured by:
Performance: Measured by customer additions.
Skilling: Verifies and demonstrates a partnerโs dedication to skilling and training. Points are awarded for each person on a team, with specified certifications.
Customer success: Measured by usage growth and the number of successful solution deployments.
While the existing partner program is available until October 3rd, partners will have up to 18 months to transition to the new Microsoft Partner Designations.
Does this change affect Microsoft customers?
Customers want to work with partners who have the necessary skills and expert capabilities to meet their requirements, along with a demonstrated ability to deliver customer success. As such, this change is coming to provide customers with the power to easily identify partners with vast experience in high-demand Microsoft solution areas.
At Stripe OLT, we specialise in secure, cloud-first Microsoft technologies. These technologies underpin all of our core solutions, and asย cloudย andย security specialists,ย we look forward to whatโs ahead forย Microsoft Partnersโฆ watch this space.
Stripe OLT has achieved the Microsoft Cloud Security Specialisation, proving our expertise in securing Azure and Microsoft cloud environments. Learn what this means for your business.
Weโre incredibly proud to share that Stripe OLT has been named โSME Security Solution of the Yearโ at the 2025 Computing Security Excellence Awards.
Stripe OLT is now part of the Microsoft FastTrack Program, giving SMEs direct access to expert-led cloud adoption, security, and digital transformation - at no extra cost. Find out how this accelerates your IT resilience?
Donโt let cyber criminals turn your holiday deals into a data breach. Check out our bite-sized security guide to keep your users, and your business, safe this shopping season.
Across the world, Windows computers have by effected the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). This appears to have been caused by an outage of services provided by cyber security provider, CrowdStrike. The issue appears to have impacted a large number of organisations - from banks to airlines. Here are the current advisories.
Across the world, Windows computers have by effected the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). This appears to have been caused by an outage of services provided by cyber security provider, CrowdStrike. The issue appears to have impacted a large number of organisations - from banks to airlines. Here are the current advisories.
We're thrilled to share the news: Stripe OLT has been recognised as one of the top 50 emerging stars at the prestigious Megabuyte100 Awards 2024. These awards stand out in the UK's tech landscape, offering an unbiased, expert analysis of companies' financial prowess via the Megabuyte Scorecard.
A big congratulations to our Microsoft 365 guru, Lewis Barry, who received MVP status for his incredible work within the Microsoft technology community.
Last week, the 2023 Scale-Up Awards took place at Novotel London West, concluding months of nominations and judging for this yearsโ most successful entrepreneurs and scale-up organisations. Naturally, we were extremely happy to be in attendance, but it turned out to be a very successful night...
As you may have seen in the press earlier this year, Stripe OLT recently achieved two crucial Microsoft certifications, in both Modern Work and Security. As such, weโre very proud to announce our cyber security teamโs latest achievement - the Microsoft Security Threat Protection specialisation.
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