Co-Sell RACI: Who Does What in a Deal

The co-sell program is well-documented. Who is accountable for each step of it is not. Microsoft publishes Partner Center UI walkthroughs, eligibility criteria, and referral mechanics. What it does not publish is a cross-functional accountability map that tells a partner organization who owns what, which Microsoft role has actual authority versus advisory influence, and where the motion most commonly breaks down. The result is predictable: referrals expire because no one monitored the 14-day window, deal registrations are rejected because the customer account check happened after submission, and deals stall mid-cycle because the PDM was treated as a deal closer when that responsibility belongs to the field seller.

This brief closes that gap. It maps the co-sell deal execution motion across six roles on both sides of the engagement, across five phases from origination through incentive capture, and calls out the nine documented failure points that no official documentation surfaces.

Who should use this: Partner alliance managers, VP Alliances, and any partner leader who owns the co-sell motion. Use it at deal origination to assign ownership before the referral is submitted, at Phase 2 to confirm 14-day window accountability, and at Phase 5 to validate all six registration criteria before submission.

Why This Document Exists

A Published Gap in an Otherwise Well-Documented Program

Microsoft's Partner Center documentation covers referral creation, deal type selection, mandatory fields, and stage progression. The Microsoft Commercial Engagement Model (MCEM) framework maps the deal lifecycle to Microsoft's internal sales methodology. Co-sell automation platforms such as Clazar and Tackle publish operational workflows for their own tools. Partner alliance advisory firms cover co-sell strategy at a conceptual level. Microsoft itself provides a generic RACI template in its Download Center.

None of these documents answer the operational question a partner leadership team actually faces: at each step of a co-sell deal, who in our organization is responsible, and who on the Microsoft side has actual authority to act? The generic RACI template covers project management. The platform documentation covers tool workflows. The program documentation covers eligibility. The intersection of roles, phases, accountability, and failure points remains unaddressed. This gap has direct revenue consequences: partners lose registration eligibility, deals expire in the 14-day window, and Microsoft seller engagement collapses when neither side knows who is responsible for the next step.

That gap is not an accident. Microsoft's documentation is written for a single audience at a time: the alliance manager submitting a referral, the field seller reviewing an inbound, the PDM managing a partner portfolio. No single document addresses all six roles simultaneously, across the full deal lifecycle, with explicit accountability for the moments where execution most frequently fails.

That is what this brief provides. It draws on official Partner Center documentation, practitioner guides from alliance advisory firms, community discussions among working PDMs and partner alliance managers, and Partner Center changelog documentation covering the 2025 and January 2026 mandatory field changes that broke partner CRM integrations built before them.

Published practitioner-grade RACIs for co-sell deal execution from the partner perspective

Microsoft publishes UI instructions and eligibility criteria. It does not publish a cross-functional accountability map. Alliance advisory firms cover strategy and team structure. None provide a phase-level RACI. Co-sell automation platforms document their own tools. The execution motion itself remains unmapped.

Program Mechanics

Three Deal Types. Most Partners Know One.

Before mapping accountability, the program structure matters. Microsoft has three distinct deal types in Partner Center, and the accountability model differs across them. Partners who treat them interchangeably create the conditions for deal registration rejections and missed co-sell incentives before the deal motion begins.

Deal Type	Microsoft Visibility	Microsoft Obligation	Deal Registration Eligible	What It Means Operationally
Private	None (unless partner enables)	None	No	Used for tracking purposes only. No Microsoft engagement, no incentive claim.
Partner-led	Microsoft can see it	None, sellers view only	Yes, if IP Co-Sell Eligible	Most commonly used. Creates deal registration eligibility without requiring Microsoft engagement during the deal.
Co-sell Active	Full visibility	14-day accept/decline window	Yes	Both parties carry a 14-day obligation. Microsoft seller accepts or declines. Partner must respond to inbound referrals within 14 days or the referral is archived as expired.

Critical distinction: Co-Sell Ready status means the partner's solution is visible in Microsoft's seller catalog. It does not create any obligation for Microsoft sellers to engage on any specific deal. IP Co-Sell Eligible status creates a quota credit incentive for the field seller, which is what actually changes seller behavior. Partners who believe Co-Sell Ready status triggers seller outreach are operating on an incorrect premise.

Role Definitions

Six Roles Across Two Organizations. Two Different Chains of Command.

Three roles on the partner side, three on the Microsoft side. Each with different authority boundaries.

The co-sell motion involves two distinct organizations with separate reporting structures, separate accountability systems, and different definitions of success. Understanding where the PDM's authority ends and where the field seller's authority begins is the single most frequently misunderstood structural point in the co-sell program. Getting it wrong causes partners to over-invest in PDM relationships as a substitute for field seller relationships, and to escalate incorrectly when deals stall.

Role	Owns	Does Not Own
Partner Alliance Manager Partner org	Microsoft relationship, from first referral to registration. Referral creation and monitoring in Partner Center. Inbound referral response. PDM relationship. Bridge between partner field teams and Microsoft field org.	Not the deal AE. Does not carry quota. Cannot substitute for field sales in customer conversations.
Partner Field Sales (AE) Partner org	Customer relationship. Deal qualification and close. Quota. Manages the deal with the customer, not the Microsoft relationship.	Not responsible for Partner Center submissions. Must be briefed by alliance manager on co-sell mechanics to avoid treating the engagement like a standard vendor deal.
Partner Solutions Engineer Partner org	Technical architecture. POC execution. Reference architecture documentation. Interface with the Microsoft Partner Technology Strategist (PTS) during technical validation.	Reference architecture diagram: required for SaaS and Dragon Copilot offers; optional for Azure Application, Container, and Virtual Machine offers. The SE owns it.
Microsoft PDM GPS (Global Partner Solutions)	Partner strategy and program health. Co-sell pipeline at the portfolio level. Introductions to field sellers. Escalation facilitation when deals stall.	Does not own any customer account. Cannot require field seller participation on any specific deal. Manages a small number of strategic partners. Dedicated PDM coverage is available only to a fraction of the total Microsoft partner ecosystem; partners without a dedicated PDM access program support through Microsoft's partner support tiers.
Microsoft Field Seller (AE) Enterprise/SMB/Digital Sales org	Customer revenue. Accept or decline of co-sell engagement. ECIF nominations (End Customer Investment Funds: Microsoft-funded POC and deployment support). FY27 scorecard priorities: Copilot, Azure AI, Security, Fabric.	Not partner-facing. Makes an independent engagement decision on every deal based on account priorities. A PDM introduction does not compel participation.
Microsoft PTS GPS (Global Partner Solutions)	Technical validation of partner solution. Support during specialization audits (optional add-ons to Solutions Partner designations). Accessed through PDM for complex deal pursuits, typically involving custom Azure architectures, multi-cloud integrations, or certification requirements.	Pre-sales role only. Not a customer-facing resource. Engaged selectively, not on every deal.

PDM vs.
Field Seller

Two roles. Two orgs. Two completely different jobs.

The PDM reports into GPS. The field seller reports into the enterprise or SMB sales org. The PDM manages the partner relationship. The field seller manages the customer account. Getting a PDM does not get you into customer deals. Both relationships are required and earned separately. The most common escalation mistake: partner contacts PDM to compel field seller engagement. PDM can facilitate. PDM cannot compel.

Execution Phases

The Five-Phase Co-Sell Execution Motion

The co-sell motion has a documented seven-stage deal lifecycle in Partner Center (Created/Accepted at 10% through Won at 100%). In practice, the partner-side execution clusters into five operational phases with distinct accountability profiles, hand-off points, and failure risks at each transition.

Phase 1

Deal Origination and Validation. Field sales surfaces the opportunity. Alliance manager qualifies it for co-sell candidacy: Is the customer Microsoft-managed? Does the solution area align with the field seller's FY27 scorecard priorities? Does Microsoft engagement change the outcome, or is this a deal the partner can close without co-sell? Selectivity at this stage determines referral quality over time. Partners who submit every deal dilute field seller trust, collapse acceptance rates, and reduce future referral volume.

Phase 2

Referral Submission and Microsoft Acceptance. Alliance manager creates the deal in Partner Center with all mandatory fields: customer, deal name, estimated value, close date, Solution Area and Solution Play (mandatory in the portal since 2025, and for API since July 31, 2025), help type (one of six; "No help required" makes the deal partner-led or private), at least one team member with full contact details, and at least one solution for IP co-sell. Customer need is optional. For API submissions, Marketplace Intent is required from January 5, 2026. Microsoft seller has 14 days to accept or decline; with no response, the referral is archived as expired. Partner has a parallel 14-day obligation on inbound Microsoft referrals. Both windows need a named owner.

Phase 3

Deal Qualification and Development. Field sales qualifies customer requirements. Alliance manager and field seller develop joint messaging. Solutions engineer provides technical architecture and POC. Microsoft PTS may be engaged for technical validation on complex deals. Alliance manager updates deal stages in Partner Center. If the deal stalls, PDM is the escalation lever: the PDM can nudge the field AE, but cannot require engagement. The partner alliance manager owns stage update discipline.

Phase 4

Proposal, Negotiation, and Close. Field sales owns the formal proposal and negotiation. Alliance manager positions Marketplace procurement first: in FY27 co-sell is Marketplace-first, partner-reported ACR (PRACR) no longer operates as a broad co-sell mechanism, and co-sell credit for Marketplace transactions continues to be recognized through Marketplace Billed Sales (MBS). If the offer is MACC-eligible, say so. Microsoft field seller participates where their presence creates value. Alliance manager marks the deal won or lost in Partner Center, at least 72 hours after creation: Microsoft says an earlier Won might get the registration rejected.

Phase 5

Deal Registration and Incentive Capture. Alliance manager verifies all six registration criteria: won status, IP Co-Sell Eligible solution, $25,000 minimum deal value, Microsoft-managed customer account, partner-led or co-sell deal type (private deals are ineligible), and, for a co-sell deal, Microsoft has accepted the invitation or marked the deal won. Registration must be submitted within 60 days of contract signature. Alliance manager monitors validation status and incentive claim. Microsoft reviews and validates the registration. Additional documentation may be requested.

Accountability Matrix

RACI by Phase: Who Does What

The table below maps the 22 key tasks across the five execution phases to the six roles. The RACI key: R = Responsible (does the work), A = Accountable (owns the outcome), C = Consulted (provides input), I = Informed (kept in the loop). Where a single role is both responsible and accountable for a task, it is marked A/R.

R Responsible A Accountable C Consulted I Informed — Not involved

Task	Partner Alliance Mgr	Partner Field Sales	Partner Solutions Eng.	Microsoft PDM	Microsoft Field Seller	Microsoft PTS
Phase 1: Deal Origination and Validation
Identify co-sell opportunity in active deals	A	R	—	I	I	—
Validate customer is Microsoft-managed	A/R	C	—	C	I	—
Assess co-sell candidacy (selective submission)	A/R	C	—	C	—	—
Confirm Solution Area and Solution Play alignment	A/R	C	C	C	I	—
Phase 2: Referral Submission and Microsoft Acceptance
Create deal in Partner Center (all mandatory fields)	A/R	C	—	I	—	—
Submit co-sell referral with help type specified	A/R	C	—	I	I	—
Monitor Microsoft 14-day accept/decline window	A/R	I	—	C	I	—
Respond to inbound Microsoft referrals (14-day window)	A/R	C	—	I	I	—
Microsoft seller accepts or declines engagement	I	I	—	I	A/R	—
Phase 3: Deal Qualification and Development
Qualify customer requirements and opportunity fit	C	A/R	C	I	C	—
Develop joint messaging and value proposition	A/R	C	C	C	C	—
Provide technical architecture, POC, validation	C	I	A/R	I	C	R
Update deal stages in Partner Center	A/R	I	—	I	I	—
Escalate stalled deal via PDM for field seller re-engagement	A	I	—	R	I	—
Phase 4: Proposal, Negotiation, and Close
Prepare and present formal customer proposal	C	A/R	C	I	C	—
Position Marketplace procurement and the offer's MACC (Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment) eligibility	A/R	C	—	I	C	—
Negotiate final terms and handle objections	C	A/R	—	I	C	—
Mark deal won or lost in Partner Center	A/R	C	—	I	I	—
Phase 5: Deal Registration and Incentive Capture
Verify all six registration criteria are met	A/R	I	—	I	I	—
Submit deal registration in Partner Center	A/R	I	—	I	I	—
Respond to Microsoft documentation requests	A/R	C	C	I	C	—
Monitor registration validation and incentive claim	A/R	I	—	I	I	—

Companion Documents

Reference Card (1-pager): All six roles, five phases, nine failure points, and the three critical rules on a single printable page. Open the Reference Card and save as PDF for a desk or field reference.

Swim Lane RACI Chart: Visual phase timeline with role swim lanes and 14-day window callouts. Open the RACI Chart for the interactive view or print as a landscape PDF.

IMS Brief Series

This brief is part of the IMS practitioner brief series. Brief 01: The Fractional Alliance Model covers how IMS structures the engagement and where it begins. Brief 03: Microsoft Partner Program: Current State for FY27 covers where the program stands today. Brief 04: The FY27 Partner Program Audit covers what changed in the current fiscal year and how to prepare for Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace, which opened on September 28, 2026. MCAPS FY27 Recap covers what Microsoft's July 2026 partner kickoff changed structurally.

Where Deals Break

Nine Failure Points the Official Documentation Never Assigns to an Owner

These are the specific, recurring reasons co-sell deals fail to register, fail to produce incentive claims, and fail to generate field seller engagement. Microsoft's documentation describes the rules. It does not assign any of them an owner.

1. The Dual 14-Day Cliff

Partners know they have a 14-day window to respond to inbound Microsoft referrals. Fewer know that outbound referrals also carry a 14-day acceptance window for the Microsoft seller. A referral nobody accepts in time is archived as expired. It cannot be edited; it can only be cloned and started again. Monitoring both windows is the alliance manager's operational responsibility.

2. Customer Account Type

If the customer is not a Microsoft-managed account, the deal is ineligible for IP co-sell deal registration. Choosing the account from the Microsoft Managed or Microsoft Unmanaged tab shows eligibility immediately. Choosing "Other" or entering the account manually does not: that error surfaces only at registration. Make the check before deal creation.

3. CRM Integration Breakage

The Marketplace Intent field is required for API-based co-sell submissions from January 5, 2026. Salesforce, Dynamics 365, and custom API integrations built before this change need updating. Do not assume a referral sent from the CRM reached Partner Center: confirm it arrived, and verify the integration against current API requirements.

4. Missing Mandatory Fields

Solution Area and Solution Play have been mandatory in the Partner Center portal since 2025, and for API submissions since July 31, 2025. They are also the mechanism for scorecard alignment: correct field selection is the signal that tells a field seller whether this deal contributes to their quota. A technically valid but wrong selection routes the deal to a seller with no reason to engage.

5. Scorecard Misalignment

A technically complete referral that does not align with the field seller's FY27 scorecard priorities (Copilot, Azure AI, Security, Fabric) gets deprioritized regardless of referral quality or partner relationship. Confirming solution area alignment in Phase 1 determines whether a field seller has any reason to engage.

6. Volume Over Selectivity

Partners who submit every active deal to Partner Center treat co-sell like a registration system. The result: acceptance rates collapse, PDMs stop prioritizing the partner, and field sellers deprioritize inbound referrals from the partner as noise. Submitting only deals where Microsoft engagement materially changes the outcome is not documented in official program materials but is consistently cited by practitioners as the dividing line between a functioning and a dead referral pipeline.

7. Deal Registration Timing

Microsoft says marking a deal Won less than 72 hours after creation might get the registration rejected, and registration must happen within 60 days of contract signature. Opportunities cannot be deleted once created. A rejected registration has one recovery path: Microsoft's exception process allows one request per referral, within 60 days, decided in up to 14 working days. Build the 72-hour gap in rather than relying on it.

8. PDM Relationship Confusion

The PDM is not a deal closer and is not a substitute for a field seller relationship. Partners who invest primarily in the PDM relationship and expect field seller engagement to follow are operating on an incorrect model. PDM manages partner strategy. Field seller manages customer revenue. The PDM can introduce and can facilitate escalation. The field seller decides independently whether to engage on any specific deal.

9. The Optional Field Partners Skip

Estimated Azure Consumed Revenue became generally available in the referral submission flow in February 2026. It is optional, which is exactly why most partners leave it blank. It differs from Estimated Contract Value: it is what the partner expects the customer to consume on Azure once the deal closes. Microsoft's stated purpose is to help sellers gauge cloud potential early and prioritize which referrals get resourced. A referral with a credible Estimated ACR figure gives a field seller a reason to engage that a referral without one does not.

Common Misconceptions in the Co-Sell Motion

Co-Sell Ready does not equal seller engagement. Sellers have no obligation to act at Co-Sell Ready status.

PDM is not a field seller. They report up different chains. Getting a PDM does not get you into customer deals.

Partner-led is not the same as co-sell active. Partner-led gives Microsoft visibility; co-sell active triggers the 14-day bilateral obligation.

Marketplace Intent is required for API submissions from January 5, 2026. Older CRM integrations need updating.

72-hour minimum between deal creation and marking Won. Marking Won sooner might get the registration rejected.

Deal registration is not co-sell. Registering a won deal without submitting a referral collects no Microsoft engagement during the deal.

How This Connects

Readiness Without Execution Accountability Is Not Readiness

The IMS Co-Sell Readiness Index (IMS CRI) at the center of the IMS engagement diagnostic assesses a partner's position across six dimensions: Marketplace Transactability, Co-Sell Eligibility & Status, Microsoft Field Traction, Enablement & Sales Readiness, Program & Incentive Capture, and Measurement & Attribution. The IMS CRI identifies where the gaps are. This brief addresses the execution layer that follows: once the gaps are identified and a partner moves into active co-sell mode, who is accountable for what at each step.

Most partners who fail to convert IP Co-Sell Eligible status into field engagement and deal registration do not have a program understanding problem. They have an execution accountability problem. No one owns the 14-day window monitoring. The alliance manager has not validated customer account type before submission. The field sales team is treating co-sell referrals as optional Microsoft color commentary rather than as a bilateral process with a response obligation. The deal is marked Won the day it closes, less than 72 hours after creation.

The RACI in this brief is an internal accountability structure. Its purpose is to ensure that every task in the co-sell motion has a named owner before the deal starts, so no one has to explain afterward why it failed.

IMS CRI connects to RACI

Diagnosis first. Ownership next.

The IMS CRI shows where a partner's co-sell position is weak. The RACI names who owns each step on the next deal, so the same gap does not reopen. The diagnostic identifies gaps. The RACI closes them.

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72 hrs

Leave at least this long between deal creation and marking Won. Sooner might get the registration rejected, and Microsoft's exception process allows only one request per referral.

Who Does What in a Co-Sell Deal: A Practical RACI for Microsoft Partners