Action Pack Program Guide_v2

MICROSOFT ACTION PACK PROGRAM GUIDE

Effective February 24 2014

New Action Pack Program Overview ...........................................................................................3

New Action Pack Program Design Principles ................................................................................................... 3

Software and Services licenses for internal use .............................................................................................. 5

Technical support ....................................................................................................................................................... 7

Training guides, Learning paths ............................................................................................................................ 8

Cloud Enablement ...................................................................................................................................................... 8

Developer tools ........................................................................................................................................................... 8

Bing credits ................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Pinpoint .......................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Ready-to-Go marketing campaigns .................................................................................................................... 9

Cloud services licensing ........................................................................................................................................... 9

Office 365 .................................................................................................................................................................. 9

CRM Online ........................................................................................................................................................... 10

Windows Intune................................................................................................................................................... 10

Microsoft Azure ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Requirements .................................................................................................................................. 11

MPN membership ................................................................................................................................................... 11

Partner organization validation .......................................................................................................................... 11

Microsoft Action Pack Overview and Assessment ...................................................................................... 12

Program fee ............................................................................................................................................................... 13

Eligibility restrictions .............................................................................................................................................. 13

Competency rules .................................................................................................................................................... 14

Continuous education requirement for re-enrollment ............................................................................. 14

Enrollment Experience .................................................................................................................. 15

Enrollment experience and steps ...................................................................................................................... 15

February 24, 2014

Action Pack Program Guide 2 Microsoft Partner Network

Re-enrollment experience and steps ............................................................................................................... 15

Call-To-Action for re-enrollment at launch in February 24, 2014: ................................................... 15

Other programs migrating to Action Pack .................................................................................................... 16

Call-To-Action for enrollment at launch since February 24, 2014: ................................................... 16

Action Pack Program Support .................................................................................................... 17

February 24, 2014


New Action Pack Program Overview

New Action Pack Program Design Principles

o Definition. Microsoft Action Pack is the global (membership partner program for Microsoft

partners. Action Pack is designed to help partners begin or enhance their development,

solution, services, or device businesses with Microsoft platforms. Program content helps

partners build a successful business by providing members with software and services

licenses, technical, business and marketing support.

o Target audience. Action Pack is the annual membership program geared toward technology

solution providers selling across all markets.

o Single subscription. The new Action Pack simplifies the digital experience through a single

subscription, and provides partners with resources and information per partner business

models. These business models include Reselling, Hosting, Application Design and

Development, Professional Services, Managed Services, and Device Design and

Development. The investment is a single, annual subscription, priced similar to previously

offered Action Pack DD subscription.

o Place in Microsoft Partner Network. As technology solution providers business on Microsoft

platforms matures, partners can advance to higher membership levels through

competencies. Competencies enable partners to showcase their deepened skill set and

expertise. Microsoft will identify high potential partners among active Action Pack

subscribers, and help them attain Microsoft silver or gold competencies.

February 24, 2014


Program components what partners get

The table below represents the summary of updated benefits available to partners with the new

Action Pack launch in February 2014.

Benefit MAPS SP and DD

before February 2014

New Action Pack:

February 2014 and onwards

Software + Services

licenses for IUR

10 On Premise only 10 On Premise + Cloud (mix)

Support 10 Advisory hours (MAPS DD only)

Cap of 10 incidents for Business

Critical Phone Support

Online Technical Community: 12

hour SLA

All Action Pack partners regardless their business model can

earn 5 Advisory hours by selling a cloud deal

10 incidents for Business Critical Phone Support

Access to our Partner exclusive Online Technical Community

Training None Technical and sales training guides and Learning Paths

organized by business model

Discounts on MCP exams 2 for 1 (promo)

Cloud Enablement None None at launch, but cloud onboarding resource for partners

is in progress: Cloud SureStep (Training / Community/ Sales

& Technical Support)

Developer tools MSDN online subscription - MAPS

DD Only

3 MSDN online subscriptions with Visual Studio 2013 and

Visual Studio Online all Action Pack partners

Bing credits $600 ad credits MAPS DD only $600 Bing search advertising credit all Action Pack partners

Pinpoint Prioritization over Network Members No change.

Campaigns N/A Ready-To-Go Marketing Campaigns materials

February 24, 2014


Software and Services licenses for internal use

New Action Pack provides subscribers with both offline software and online services licenses for

internal use with the Internal use (more details in the next table), which includes Windows

Intune, Office 365, Microsoft Azure and CRM Online. This opportunity is available for all Action

Pack partners.

Action Pack

Microsoft Software Internal-Use Licenses Remark

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Workgroup Server 2013 1 Server

5 Users

Maximum

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Professional (User

Subscription)

0 Seats Initial Partner can gain additional 5

Seats through 1 CRM Online

deal or at least 50 seats of

O365 sales in the previous

12 months

Windows Intune 5 Licenses 1) One License of Windows

Intune can be used up to

five devices.

2) Each license of Windows

Intune used in exchange for

one on-premises CAL of

System Center Client

Management Suite, System

Center Configuration

Manager, and System Center

Endpoint Protection

Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager

Client ML

Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Endpoint Protection

Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Client Management Suite

Client ML

Office 365 Enterprise E3 5 Seats Initial 1) Partner can earn

additional 5 seats of Office

365 after selling 25 seats of

Office 365 within the

previous 12 months

2) Each seat of Office 365

used in exchange for one

On-premises CAL of

Microsoft SharePoint,

Microsoft Exchange, and

Lync) and one license of

Office Professional Plus 2013

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013* 10

Microsoft Exchange Server - Standard 2013 CALs* 10

Microsoft Lync Server 2013 CALs* 10

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise CALs (include

Standard CALs)*

10

Microsoft Exchange Server - Standard 2013 1

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Microsoft Lync Server 2013 1

Microsoft MapPoint North America 2013 or Microsoft

MapPoint Europe 2013

10

Microsoft Project Professional 2013* 1

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 1

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Standard 2

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 CALs* 10

Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Standard 1

Microsoft Visio Professional 2013* 1

Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro* 10

Microsoft Azure $100 Monthly credit

Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro* 10

Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Enterprise* 10

Windows Embedded 8 Standard* 10

Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 Premium 1

Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 CALs* 10

Windows Server 2012 CALs (not edition specific) 10

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials 1

Windows Server 2012 R2 Foundation 1

Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services (RDS) CALs* 10

Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard 2

Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Workgroup 1

February 24, 2014


Action Pack - Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Subscription

Microsoft Software Internal-Use Licenses Remark

MSDN for Microsoft Action Pack Development and Design

(licensed per user)

You receive three MSDN for Microsoft Action Pack

subscriptions (licensed per user for development and

testing), which include the latest versions of: Microsoft Visual

Studio Professional, Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise,

Windows Pro and Windows Server

3

Notes: *Read additional notes and important details about certain licensing benefits for Microsoft Action Pack subscriptions.

Software and services licenses for internal use are also attractive for Microsoft Cloud Essentials

and Cloud Accelerate subscribers, who do not have another Microsoft subscription or

competency. These partners are invited subscribe to new Action Pack and continue their

engagement with Microsoft in the cloud space.

When a partner wants to buy additional software or online services licenses to complement their

Action Pack IUR licenses, they should use Microsoft volume licensing programs. Links to

Microsoft volume licensing programs are listed in the resource centers. The resource center for

Reselling is specifically focused on Microsoft volume licensing programs for partner use and for

reselling to customers.

Technical support

In the current (retiring) Action Pack we have 10 advisory hours for DD partners, and no advisory

hours for SP partners. With the launch of the new Action Pack provides 5 advisory hours of

phone support to any partner who has sold a cloud deal.

To be eligible for the 5 advisory hours immediately at the time of the February 2014 launch, new

Action Pack subscribers must have sold a minimum of one cloud deal within the previous 12

months (February 23, 2013-February 24, 2014).

Partners also have access to our partner support communities, which are online 24/7. This is a

partner-only community, where partners can ask their question, and review other partners

questions and solutions.

All new Action Pack subscribers can use 10 technical support incidents for Business Critical

Phone Support (for customer server-down issues). These critical incidents are strictly defined as

severe customer issues that immediately impede the operation of a customers business (such as

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when a server is down). Additional information is available on the Partner Network Support

Benefits and Incidents page.

Training guides, learning paths

In the new Action Pack subscription, each resource center lists the training guides and learning

paths relevant to that specific area of specialization, to partners line of business. There are

training sections that list relevant learning paths. A learning path is a guide to approximately 5

or 8 courses we recommend that partners take as they build their business. Partners are

encouraged to take these courses to get up to speed on new opportunities and learn where

Microsoft is heading. Many of the trainings are localized in multiple languages, and some are

available in English only. Many learning paths listed for Action Pack subscribers are also

recommended learning paths for Microsoft competency partners.

In order to reenroll, partners will be required to fulfill a continuous education requirement. This

can be accomplished by completing two training courses from the published list available in the

Partner Membership Center. This list will be published and courses available by the end of 2014.

Cloud enablement

Cloud SureStep is a way for partners to get their heads wrapped around the cloud, and move

into the cloud with Microsoft. With its self-help approach, Cloud SureStep is a combination of

trainings, plus community outreach, where partners can talk to each other and to Microsoft.

Additionally, advisory support hours will allow partners to really evaluate and begin building the

Cloud business.

Developer tools

Approximately 40% of Microsoft partners do development work of some type, whether it is

custom or app development. To meet this growing need, Microsoft developer tools are now

available to all new Action Pack subscribers regardless of their core line of technology business.

The goal of the new Action Pack subscription is to ensure partners can develop easily and

deeply across all platforms. Three MSDN subscriptions with Visual Studio 2013 Pro will be

available to all Action Pack subscribers and they will also have Visual Studio Online (5 seats free

of Visual Studio Online as a part of this offering).

February 24, 2014


Bing credits

Microsofts small and mid-sized customers use search engines to find their solution provider. To

help partners make sure their websites are optimized for these searches, Action Pack features a

Bing credit, allowing partners to see how Bing works for them. The Bing advertising credits

benefit is currently available to only Action Pack DD subscribers, but will be available to all

subscribers after the February launch. This is not a global offering today, but the geographic

coverage for Bing credits availability is expanding rapidly. $600 worth search advertising credits

include $100 worth credits for Action Pack Subscriber and $500 worth credits for Action Pack

subscribers customers.

Pinpoint

There is no change in Pinpoint listing for Action Pack subscribers.

Ready-to-Go marketing campaigns

Ready-to-Go marketing campaigns are available to everybody who is an MPN registered

partner, including Action Pack subscribers. Resource centers in the new Action Pack have links to

specifically selected marketing materials for partners to use as they start or expand their lines of

business. The offered marketing campaigns materials assume that partners evaluate their

business offerings, their target customer segments, and would develop and implement their

own unique go-to-market and sales plan which includes some of the offered ideas and materials

from the Ready-To-Go Campaigns.

Cloud services licensing

New Action Pack software and services licenses for internal partner use now include the Cloud

SKUs.

Office 365

For Office 365 all Action Pack partners can have immediate access to 5 seats of the Enterprise

(E3) SKU type in the subscription. They will have access to another 5 seats of Office 365 if they

sell 25 seats of Office 365 within the previous 12 months.

Partners, who do not sell cloud, have access to 5 seats of Office 365, and 5 seats of Exchange,

SharePoint, and Lync on-premise. Partners have the power of choice; 10 seats online, or (5 seats

February 24, 2014


online + 5 on-premise), and partners can switch to 10 seats online when they sell a cloud deal.

This benefit is worth over US$1,000.00 a year with the Enterprise (E3) SKU.

Cloud Service SKU IUR Benefit Notes

Office365 E3 5 seats initial

+ 5 seats through O365 sales

(25 seats)

Continue to receive 10 licenses of On-Premise (Exchange

/ SharePoint / Lync / Office)

Each seat of O365 used in exchange for 1 On-Premise

Client Access License (CAL) - (SharePoint, Exchange, and

Lync)

CRM Online CRM Online

Pro

0 Seats Initial

Partner can gain additional 5 Seats through 1 CRM Online

deal or at least 50 seats of O365 sales in the previous 12

months.

Windows

Intune

Cloud Service

Only

5 licenses Maximum 10 licenses used between On-premise (System

Center Config Mgr) and Windows Intune

Microsoft

Azure

N/A $100 Monthly Credit

CRM Online

Partners have an opportunity to earn up to 5 seats of CRM Online through one deal of CRM

Online, or through sales of 50 seats or more of Office 365 in the last 12 months.

Online services have real and significant provider costs every month for every seat that partners

use, and because CRM Online is approximately 5 times more expensive to support for Microsoft

than Office 365 online, partners must be selling CRM Online in order to receive CRM online IUR.

Windows Intune

All partners have access to 5 licenses of Windows Intune. They also have access to 10 licenses of

System Center, (only up to 5 licenses can be deployed online, and once deployed online,

another 5 can be deployed on premise.

Microsoft Azure

All Action Pack partners will receive a US$100.00 monthly credit for Microsoft Azure. That is a

US$1,200 savings a year to a partner for hosting a web-site on Microsoft Azure or an

application.

February 24, 2014


Requirements

New Microsoft Action Pack requirements effective February are effectively the same for the

former Microsoft Action Pack SP and DD. Requirements for Action Pack eligibility are checked in

the order management system once a partner selects subscribe from the Action Pack Home

Page. http://aka.ms/maps

MPN membership

Companies must be registered Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) partners, have an active

partner profile and sign the Microsoft partner agreement.

https://partners.microsoft.com/partnerprogram/Welcome.aspx

Partner organization validation

The second validation step is partner organization validation. This is done through an

automated process of checking the Dun and Bradstreet public records system for all worldwide

organizations. Based on the MPN Partner profile, which includes the business name and address,

phone number and web-site URLs, Partner Membership Center (PMC) engine will look for a

partner organization in a Dun & Bradstreet database. Once located, the PMC will check for the

valid industry code.

All legally formed organizations are assigned an industry code when formed. If the industry

code is recognized in Dun and Bradstreet, they have one or a few SICs (standard industry codes).

For partners located in the Dun and Bradstreet database, this will simplify their registration

process. If not located, the partner will be required to take the Microsoft Action Pack Overview

and Assessment.

February 24, 2014


If a partner organization industry code matches at least one of the 9 SICs (standard industry

codes) that relate to Technology codes, PMC will pre-approve a partner organization for

Action Pack subscription and will redirect to the Order processing part of the partner portal.

These validated in Dun and Bradstreet partners will not have to take Microsoft Action Pack

Overview and Assessment as a third requirement step; they will be automatically qualified to

receive Action Pack subscription via standard payment process of the annual fee.

Following are the 9 SIC Codes used for checking pre-qualification:

7376 Computer Facilities Management Services

7373 Computer Integrated Systems Design

7378 Computer Maintenance and Repair

7379 Computer Related Services, Not Elsewhere Classified

7377 Computer Rental and Leasing

7371 Computer Programming Services

7374 Computer Processing and Data Preparation and Processing Services

7375 Information Retrieval Services

7372 Prepackaged Software

It is our estimate that about 80% of our prospective Action Pack partners will be automatically

pre-qualified via Dun and Bradstreet, and only 20% would have to take the Microsoft Action

Pack Overview and Assessment course (PMC either cannot find them, or partner organizations

do not have the right industry code).

Examples of entities that do not qualify for membership in MPN (and therefore Action Pack)

include the following:

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

Academic institutions

Students

Government offices

Commercial businesses whose primary focus is not IT-related

Microsoft Action Pack Overview and Assessment

Available starting in February 2014 the Microsoft Action Pack Overview and Assessment online

course is essentially the same as it is for retiring Action Pack Design and Development (DD) and

Service Provider (SP) subscriptions. The new course educates a partner about the program,

eligibility, benefits, our Microsoft products, and Microsoft licensing. At the end of the course

February 24, 2014


there is a section with 10 multiple choice questions. A 70% completion score qualifies a partner

to proceed to the subscription purchase. The assessment will remain valid for two years.

Renewing partners will not have to pass the Microsoft Action Pack Overview and Assessment

initially at launch of the new subscription in February 2014, but later this can become a

requirement for renewing partners as well if they are not validated in Dun and Bradstreet

business directory.

Organizations with non-technology industry codes will not be disqualified from Action Pack

enrollment. They will be prompted to take the Training and Assessment course.

After July 2014, all renewing partners will have to take 2 training courses in order to renew.

Program fee

The new Action Pack subscription is a single annual subscription payable at point of

membership. Payment is accepted via a bank card/credit card. There is no change in the

payment system for new Action Pack subscribers at launch in February 2014.

The price points in mature markets are slightly increased, and in developing markets are slightly

decreased. So, some geos can see the price points going down from the existing DD

subscription and some geos can see the price points going slightly up from the existing Action

Pack DD subscription.

Eligibility restrictions

These restrictions apply to a partner organization that considers purchasing the new Action Pack

subscription.

Your company must sell more than 75 percent of its products and services to customers

outside your company.

You can renew only once per year.

Your company cannot hold a Microsoft gold or silver competency.

SP and DD subscriptions had one more restriction, that a company must have fewer than 100

employees. This restriction does not transfer to the new Action Pack. Companies of all size can

be eligible to purchase the new Action Pack.

February 24, 2014


Competency rules

Partners that have a Microsoft gold or silver competency are not eligible to enroll in the

Microsoft Action Pack subscription program.

Partners with an Action Pack that upgrade to a silver or gold competency are not required to

replace Action Pack software and product keys with those provided by the competency. After

the Action Pack subscription ends, the organization can continue to use Action Pack bits or keys,

together with the new bits or keys granted by the competency, to achieve the total license grant

entitlement. They will not be entitled to the licenses granted through Action Pack after the

subscription expires.

Note: There can be functionality differences between the keys provided by each program.

Continuous education requirement for re-enrollment

Beginning in February 2014, renewing partners will have to take 2 training courses to be eligible

to renew their new Action Pack subscription for the next consecutive year. Full list of free

training courses to select from is available to Action Pack subscribers in resource centers.

February 24, 2014


Enrollment Experience

Enrollment experience and steps

o Former Action Pack SP and DD subscribers who enrolled in Action Pack before February 24,

2013, and have no active Action Pack subscriptions should follow the new Action Pack

enrollment/purchasing process from the Microsoft Partner portal.

o MPN registered partners who have no Microsoft subscriptions and hold no competency

attainment should follow the new Action Pack enrollment/purchasing process from the

Microsoft Partner portal.

o Technology companies, who are not MPN registered partners should join MPN and follow

the new Action Pack enrollment/purchasing process from the Microsoft Partner Portal.

Re-enrollment experience and steps

o Existing Action Pack SP and DD subscribers who enrolled in Action Pack between February

24, 2013 and February 23, 2014 should follow the new Action Pack enrollment/purchasing

process from the Microsoft Partner portal.

Their Action Pack SP and DD subscriptions will expire between February 24 2014 and February

24 2015. On the day of SP or DD subscription expiration or any time earlier partners are

welcome to re-enroll into the new Action Pack from the Microsoft Partner portal.

Upon successful new Action Pack subscription purchase completion the old SP and DD

subscriptions benefits remain unchanged (they are available for use till they expire), and new

Action Pack subscription benefits are available immediately.

MAPS SP & DD cannot be renewed. As a result, it is possible for a partner to have SP, DD and

new Action Pack, all at the same time for some time.

There is no roll over of unused SP or DD benefits from into the new Action Pack subscription.

There also will be no roll-over benefits from one annual subscription to another subsequent

annual subscription in the new Action Pack.

Call-To-Action for re-enrollment at launch in February 24, 2014:

o Upgrade your existing or expiring Action Pack SP and DD subscriptions by

subscribing to new Action Pack http://aka.ms/maps

February 24, 2014


Other programs migrating to Action Pack

1. Microsoft cloud incubation programs integrate with Action Pack. Two Microsoft Azure

cloud partner programs, Cloud Accelerate and Cloud Essentials, are being migrated into

Action Pack and competencies.

2. Microsoft subscription programs integrate with Action Pack. Two Microsoft subscription

programs, TechNet subscriptions and MSDN subscriptions merge into Action Pack.

TechNet subscriptions will terminate automatically when partners purchase new Action

Pack subscription. MSDN subscriptions are still available at the launch of the new Action

Pack, but will be merged during 2014.

3. Microsoft auxiliary developer programs migrate with Action Pack. Subscribers to

BizSpark, which is dedicated to developers in startups, and DreamSpark, which is

dedicated to students and Academic institutions will be offered to transition to new

Action Pack at launch as these programs are being retired.

4. Microsoft devices development program integrate with Action Pack. Soon after the new

Action Pack launch, partners from Windows Embedded Partner Program will receive an

offer to either enroll in the new Intelligent Systems competency, or the new Action

Pack.

Call-To-Action for enrollment at launch since February 24, 2014:

o Subscribe to Action Pack today from http://aka.ms/maps

February 24, 2014


Action Pack Program Support

o FAQ for Action Pack

o FAQ for Action Pack in the Partner Support Community

o Phone your local Regional Customer Service Center for MPN membership and Action

Pack support (phone support is available only to active Action Pack subscribers)

Action Pack Program Guide_v2

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