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Navigating FY25 Business Applications Incentives as a Solutions Partner

Writer's picture: ALIF ConsultingALIF Consulting

In today's dynamic business landscape, the ability to adapt and innovate is crucial for sustained growth. Microsoft Business Applications offers a powerful suite of tools and solutions designed to help businesses achieve these goals. As a solutions partner, you play a pivotal role in delivering these applications and guiding customers through their digital transformation journeys. The FY25 incentives program presents a significant opportunity for partners to not only expand their reach but also to drive meaningful impact and revenue. This blog post will serve as your guide to navigating these incentives, ensuring that you are well-equipped to maximize your potential.

Key Takeaways

  • Microsoft is heavily investing in Business Applications, with a 10x year-over-year increase in investment, including $150M in AI and a 50% overall increase.

  • Partners can improve win rates by up to 36% through funded engagements.

  • There are many new funded engagement opportunities in FY25, including pre-sales activities such as ERP, Customer Engagement, and Low Code Vision and Value workshops.

  • Presales advisor incentives reward partners for driving Dynamics 365 sales and can be maximized by focusing on net paid seat growth.

  • CSP incentives can stack up to 34.75%, offering a lucrative path for partners providing billing and support.

  • Strategic product accelerators can boost incentives, with rates varying by product and the potential for an additional 10% workload accelerator.


Table of Contents


Microsoft's FY25 Priorities

Microsoft's strategic priorities for FY25 provide a clear direction for partners to align their efforts. These priorities are not just internal goals but rather a roadmap for how partners can leverage Microsoft’s technology to drive customer success. The core priorities include:

  • Copilots on every device across every role: This emphasizes the pervasive integration of AI-powered copilots to enhance productivity and efficiency for users across all functions.

  • AI design wins with every customer: This highlights the importance of showcasing the value of AI solutions in solving customer challenges and achieving business goals.

  • Securing the cyber foundation of every customer: This underscores the critical need for robust security measures in today’s threat landscape and the role partners play in delivering secure solutions.

  • M365 core execution: This focus highlights the importance of strong performance and effective utilization of Microsoft 365 core products.

  • Migrations, migrations, migrations: This indicates the continued focus on migrating customers to modern cloud-based solutions.

  • By aligning with these priorities, partners can better position their services and solutions to meet the evolving needs of customers, ultimately creating more opportunities for growth and success.

Key Investment Areas for Partners

Microsoft is making significant investments to fuel the growth of its Business Applications ecosystem, which represents a unique opportunity for partners. These investments are a clear indication of Microsoft's commitment to supporting its partner network. The key areas of investment include:

  • 10x year-over-year increased investment: This dramatic increase signifies the scale of Microsoft's commitment to the Business Applications space.

  • $150M AI investment: This dedicated investment in AI underscores the importance of integrating AI into all aspects of business processes and solutions.

  • $90M incremental investment: This incremental investment further highlights the additional resources being directed towards partner enablement and growth.

  • 50% year-over-year increased investment: This substantial increase reflects the broad scope of investment across all areas of Business Applications.

  • Double-digit incremental investment in SMC: This signals a specific focus on supporting Small, Medium, & Corporate businesses, emphasizing the opportunities within this market segment.

    Modern work incentives

These investments translate into increased resources, enhanced support, and greater earning potential for partners, making it an opportune time to maximize engagement and build strong customer relationships.

Solution Plays: Your Roadmap to Success

To help partners navigate the Business Applications landscape, Microsoft has defined five key solution plays, which provide a framework for delivering value to customers. These solution plays are designed to guide partners in aligning their services with customer needs and Microsoft's strategic priorities:

  • Listen & consult: This involves understanding customer needs, challenges, and desired outcomes through active listening and strategic consultation.

  • Inspire & design: This focuses on crafting innovative solutions and designs that meet specific customer requirements and showcase the art of the possible.

  • Empower & achieve: This is about empowering customers with the tools and knowledge necessary to achieve their desired outcomes.

  • Realize value: This centers on demonstrating the tangible benefits and return on investment from the deployed solutions.

  • Manage & optimize: This emphasizes the importance of continuous support, optimization, and improvement to ensure sustained success and value realization.

By aligning with these solution plays, partners can effectively deliver end-to-end solutions that drive customer success, resulting in long-term relationships and enhanced business opportunities.

Funded Engagements: Opportunities for Growth

Funded engagements represent a substantial avenue for partners to grow their businesses, offering financial incentives for delivering valuable services to customers. These engagements are designed to improve win rates up to 36% with partner-led activities. These engagements are categorized into pre-sales and post-sales activities:

FY25 Business Application incentives

Pre-Sales Funded Engagements

New! ERP Vision and Value

Helps customers understand the potential of modern ERP solutions.

  • New! Customer Engagement Vision and Value: Showcases the value of improved customer relationship management.

  • New! Low Code Vision and Value: Introduces the possibilities of low-code development to accelerate innovation.

  • New! Tailored Demo: ERP Vision and Value: Provides customers with a personalized demonstration of ERP capabilities.

  • New! Tailored Demo: Customer Engagement Vision and Value: Offers a personalized demo of customer engagement solutions.

  • AIM Assessment: Provides a detailed evaluation of customer requirements and readiness.

  • Needs Assessment: Dynamics 365 Business Central: Helps identify the specific requirements for Dynamics 365 Business Central implementation.

  • Needs Assessment: Power Platform: Identifies the needs for Power Platform solutions.


Post-Sales Funded Engagements:

  • New! Dynamics 365 Vision and Deployment: Supports the implementation of Dynamics 365 solutions.

  • New! Dynamics 365 Solution Deployment: Aids in the deployment and customization of Dynamics 365 solutions.

  • New! Dynamics 365 Fast Track Deployment: Accelerates the deployment of Dynamics 365 using the FastTrack program.

  • Dynamics 365 Business Central Deployment: Supports the deployment of Dynamics 365 Business Central solutions.

  • New! Low Code Solution Accelerator Deployment: Facilitates the deployment of low code solutions.

  • These funded engagements cover various stages of the customer journey, from initial exploration to final implementation, and offer a flexible approach to partnering with customers in a meaningful way. These activities can earn partners up to $18k.



Maximizing Presales Advisor Incentives

Presales advisor incentives reward partners for pre-sales activities that drive the platform sale of Dynamics 365. These incentives are designed to encourage partners to invest in early-stage customer engagement and solution design. The incentives are structured around three different CSU (Cloud Solution Units) bundles:


FY25 Presales advisor incemtives

  • Basic CSU (65 bundles): Offers $4,875 for Enterprise (ENT) and $11,375 for Small, Medium & Corporate (SMC).

  • Standard CSU (225 bundle): Provides $16,875 for ENT and $39,375 for SMC.

  • Premium CSU Bundle (500): Rewards partners with $37,500 for ENT and $87,500 for SMC.

  • The key to maximizing these incentives is to focus on net paid seat growth above the High-Water Mark (HWM). The advisor fee per incremental seat above HWM varies by customer segment and workload:

    • For Finance & Supply Chain, ENT partners earn $250 per incremental seat, while SMC partners earn $20.

    • For Sales & Services, ENT partners earn $80 per incremental seat, while SMC partners earn $20.

    • For Activity & Devices, ENT partners earn $75 per incremental seat, while SMC partners earn $175.

    By strategically targeting areas of high growth and focusing on driving adoption, partners can substantially enhance their earnings through the presales advisor incentives.

CSP Incentives: A Lucrative Path

Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) play a critical role in delivering Business Applications to customers. Microsoft's CSP incentives program recognizes the importance of this role by providing a lucrative path for partners who provide billing and support for Business Applications workloads. These incentives can stack up to 34.75% for applicable products, which provides a strong financial motivator for CSPs. The specific incentive percentages are as follows:

  • 10% for Business Central

  • 7.5% for Finance & Supply Chain

  • 7% for Copilot Sales/Service/Finance/Studio

  • 20% of

  • CSP customers add Direct Bills & Indirect Reseller.

    Microsoft FY25 csp incentives

These incentives are designed to reward partners who provide excellent support and billing services and encourage them to drive greater adoption of Microsoft Business Applications.


Strategic Product Accelerators

In addition to the baseline incentives, Microsoft offers strategic product accelerators, which can further boost the earnings potential for partners. These accelerators vary by product and represent an additional opportunity to drive strategic growth. There is a potential for up to 10% strategic workload accelerator. These accelerators encourage partners to promote specific solutions and align their sales strategies with Microsoft's strategic objectives, providing added value to the partnership.

Conclusion

The FY25 Business Applications Incentives program presents a wealth of opportunities for solutions partners. By aligning with Microsoft's strategic priorities, leveraging funded engagements, and maximizing the incentives available, partners can significantly enhance their business growth and drive meaningful impact for their customers. Now is the time to act, engage, and take full advantage of these opportunities to build a successful and thriving partnership with Microsoft. The resources are readily available; it’s up to you to use them to their fullest potential.

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