Microsoft Partner Network Competences
If you are a Microsoft Partner, you will know there are multiple stages within the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN). You can be a free partner, an Actionpack partner (MAPS), a Silver and a Gold partner. The Silver and Gold partnerships are based on specific competences and got their own requirements that need to be met. If you want to know what all the requirements are in detail, please check them here.
Assessment based Competences
Now there are some competences that can be met without the need of certifications, KPI's or Revenue. Let's have a look.
NOTE: The global admin account with whom you registered to the MPN will automatically pass all Assessments, including all those that are currently not available anymore.
DevOps Competence: If you have 2 individuals pass the DevOps Assessment, you will be eligible for the competence in Silver, and with 4 individuals it will be Gold. The Assessment retired on February 28, 2020, but if you have a colleague who did it before that time, it will be a quick win.
Dataplatform Competence: To obtain this competence in Silver, 2 individuals must pass the Technical Assessment Data Platform Foundational and any one of the following three Assessments: Technical Assessment for SQL Server 2016, Technical Assessment for Azure Data Warehouse, Technical Assessment Azure Data Services. If 4 individuals pass these Assessments, you will have the competence in Gold.
Windows and Devices Competence: This competence requires 2 individuals to pass the Windows 10 IoT Device Builder Assessment to become Silver or 4 individuals to become Gold.
There are also some competences that do require a certification as well as an Assessment.
Mixed competences
The following competences require both a certification and an Assessment to be completed to be eligible for them.
DataCenter Competence: While this competence does need 2 individuals to own the Azure Administrator certification for Silver, it requires the same individuals to complete the Windows Server 2019 Assessment as well. For Gold, it is 4 individuals who need to possess the Azure Architect certifications and the same individuals to also complete the Assessment.
Communications Competence: This competence requires 2 individuals to possess the Microsoft 365 Teams Administrator Certification, and the same individuals to pass the Practical Guidance Assessment for Voice for Silver. For Gold it will take 4 individuals with both the certification and the Assessment.
How to do these Assessments?
Go the Microsoft Partner Center and press login in the top right corner. Login with your company account and click on your account in the top right corner again when you're logged in.
Click on View Account, and a new window will open. Click My Profile.
You might have to login again. If not: lucky you! On your profile, you will see a section called Your Learning. Here you can associate both your Microsoft Learn account, which contains your Certifications, as well as your Partner University account. You can use the same email address as your Microsoft Learn account, so that the assessments will remain available, even if you switch employer (if you used a personal email address, that is).
When you associated the Partner University, click on view training or go here.
You might need to login again, or setup your Partner University profile. After that you are ready to go! Search for the Assessments as I named them per competence and you can start. There will be different chapters in which you will learn everything you need to know for the Assessment, after which you can start it. Most of them are between 25 and 60 multiple choice questions and you can do it as many times as needed. Happy learning!
What's next?
Let's dive back into Logic Apps and see if we can make some low-code API's!