Each credential attaches to something different. Mixing them up is how a software company spends a quarter on exams that never move its co-sell position, or how a services firm earns certifications that never show up in its score.
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Practitioner Brief
Microsoft partner credentials
Certified, Designated, or Certified Software: What Each One Does for Your Microsoft Partnership
Three Microsoft credentials get called "certified." Each one does a different job. The common waste is earning the wrong one for your model, or earning the right one and never getting it counted.
Three credentials
Certified software
Services track: designations
Certifications
Why they don't count
What none of them do
When someone tells a software partner to "get certified," they could mean any of three Microsoft credentials: a role-based certification held by one person, a Solutions Partner designation held by the company, or a Solutions Partner with certified software designation held by a specific solution. Microsoft's membership page files designations under "Services partner" and certified software under "ISV partner."
Credentials matter. In its July 31, 2026 announcement, Microsoft calls a designation "a validated signal of capability which is recognized by customers and Microsoft sellers," and its certified software benefits include solution play cards to "help Microsoft sellers discover your solution." But each credential does a different job, and none of them replaces a transactable offer and Marketplace transactions. Software partners come first here; services partners have a marked track in section 3.
1
Three credentials
"Get certified" means three different things
2
Certified software
Certified software is earned by the solution and its Marketplace results
Enrollment comes first. Microsoft Learn's Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace FAQ (Sept 16, 2026) says "Active Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace enrollment is a prerequisite for any co-sell listing and for pursuing a certified software designation," and adds that "publishing or performance alone isn't sufficient." The certified software requirements page (updated Aug 5, 2026) and the certified software introduction page (updated Apr 1, 2026) don't mention the program. A partner reading only those two pages won't see the gate.
Then the requirements, by solution area, from the requirements page as of Oct 7, 2026. Azure requires IP Co-Sell Eligible status for Azure and a technical audit, plus one performance option: "USD4 million marketplace billed sales (MBS) transactions OR 12 net-new customer adds to the marketplace of greater than USD10,000 each," or "30 marketplace transactions with eight unique customers" (each at "a minimum value of USD100"), or USD 30 million of Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) "with at least five marketplace transactions," or USD 200 million of MACC "with at least one IP Co-sell eligible and transactable listing." It also needs "At least a 4.5 average commercial marketplace rating, and with 15 or more ratings OR Two artifacts of referenceable customer evidence."
Per offer
Certified software is earned per offer, through Marketplace results and a technical audit
None of the solution-area requirements on the page lists individual certifications, or a services designation.
Professional Services offers "will no longer contribute toward Marketplace Billed Sales (MBS) metrics used for CSD qualification," per the benefits page (Aug 5, 2026). CSD is Microsoft's short form for certified software designation.
Business Applications
"USD1 million marketplace billed sales (MBS) transactions over a trailing twelve-month period," or partner influenced revenue (PIR) of USD 4 million over the same period, plus a form-based audit.
Modern Work
The solution "must complete the Microsoft 365 App Compliance Program certification," plus "USD100,000 Marketplace Billed Sales (MBS) transactions OR Solutions averaging 50,000 Teams Apps monthly active users (MAU)."
Security
The same first three performance options as Azure (USD 4 million MBS, 12 net-new customers above USD 10,000, or 30 transactions with eight unique customers). Customer evidence "doesn't need to be publicly referenceable but might need to be validated by the customer."
The audit. The introduction page says to "Schedule a technical audit with a third-party vendor." On cost, Microsoft's membership page says only: "Costs vary and apply only if an independent auditing partner is necessary during the application." No Learn page IMS found states a price or how long a passed audit lasts, so budget the audit as an open line until the auditor quotes it.
What it gets you. The benefits page lists a "Dedicated engagement manager" (described as a subject matter expert who helps you "make the most of your Marketplace Rewards benefits"), a Marketplace badge, solution play cards to "help Microsoft sellers discover your solution," a choice of customer-facing solution briefs or a "Seller-facing solution battlecard," and incentive eligibility. The Frontier FAQ adds that the top tiers "require at least one active certified software designation offer in Azure or Industry AI." This is the credential Microsoft builds seller-facing material around.
3
Services track: designations
A designation proves services capability and gates specializations
A Solutions Partner designation is scored per solution area across performance, skilling, and customer success. The partner capability score page sets the bar: "at least 70 points," with "Every metric in the solution area" greater than zero, met "on any day during the qualification eligibility window." Microsoft offers "three Solutions Partner designation badges and six Solutions Partner designation pathways." The badge names changed in August 2026 to Cloud & AI Platforms, Security, and AI Business Solutions; "Qualifying for any designation pathway that maps to a badge earns you that badge."
The designation is the gate for specializations: "To enroll into a Specialization, you need to already be enrolled into the aligned Solutions Partner designation pathway." Validation then differs by area. Azure, Security, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Clinical Applications, Frontier Partner, and Digital Sovereignty specializations use an audit. Other Modern Work specializations use customer references. Business Applications enrolls automatically once requirements are met. "The audits and customer reference requirements are revalidated every other year." For Security, Microsoft's August 13 update says the audit "is funded by the partner and conducted every two years."
A software partner with a services arm runs both tracks separately. Microsoft's pages state the designation renewal window differently, so this brief gives none; the Frontier Accelerate brief covers the early-2027 change.
70
Points needed in a solution area, with every metric above zero
Source: Microsoft Learn, partner capability score page (last updated Jan 26, 2026).
IMS doesn't print per-person point values or a Security maximum in this brief. Section 4 explains why.
4
Certifications
Individual certifications score only when they are on the right list and current
This section matters to partners pursuing a designation. For certified software, individual certifications aren't on the requirements list.
The right ones. Each solution area has its own list, and in Azure and Security some certifications are gates rather than points. On the Azure Data & AI path, "Completing this step doesn't earn points but it's mandatory before points are awarded in step 3." Fundamentals certifications count only in Modern Work, where "Microsoft 365 Fundamentals" and "Microsoft 365 Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals" sit on the intermediate list (the first is retired but stays eligible for points through March 31, 2027). A team of Fundamentals holders scores nothing on the Azure, Security, or Business Applications paths.
Current. Microsoft says "There's no cost to renew your certification," the renewal assessment can be taken during a "six-month eligibility window," and "Fundamentals certifications do not expire." An expired certification "can lead to a score drop in the Skilling category." When Microsoft retires a certification, "If you completed a retiring certification before its retirement date, your certification remains valid for one year."
Where Microsoft's own numbers disagree. The point values per certified person don't match across Microsoft's sources. As viewed Oct 7, 2026, Partner Center's Solutions Partner insights showed a different skilling point total for Security than the Learn Security page, and Partner Center's criteria panel and score simulator gave different per-person points for Business Applications. Learn's Azure page says "Advanced certifications aren't applicable to the Data & AI solution area" while also requiring "one or more points for each of the following five metrics," which include advanced certifications; Partner Center's insights show only an intermediate metric for Data & AI. These are findings, not a ruling. Check your own Skilling eligibility and Score simulator tabs, and ask Microsoft support about any gap before you plan hiring or exams around a number.
5
Why they don't count
Six checks before anyone sits another exam
Each person links
"Each user must sign in to Partner Center and link their own profile." An admin can't do it for the team.
Credential first
Learn's FAQ says "you must first complete at least one exam or certification" before linking; the same page's main text says Microsoft recommends it.
Two links now
Skilling Hub linking opened Sept 28, 2026, but "Microsoft Learn credentials don't come through Skilling Hub, so keep your Microsoft Learn profile linked too."
Link with care
Profiles can be linked or unlinked "up to three times per year," with 30 days between links. Get the account right the first time.
Allow ten days
Linked certifications "appear in Partner Center within 10 days." Don't read a same-week score as final.
Watch the dates
Partner University assessments "continue to count" until June 15, 2027. Track every expiring and retiring certification against your qualification window.
6
What none of them do
What Microsoft says no credential does
No Microsoft page IMS found ties any credential to partner development manager (PDM) assignment or to Marketplace search ranking. Microsoft doesn't say either happens. No credential replaces the USD 100,000 trailing-12-month Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) or MBS bar for IP Co-Sell Eligible status for Azure, which the co-sell requirements page still sets as of its Oct 5, 2026 update; the Azure certified software designation requires that status first. And no credential accepts a referral: an unaccepted co-sell referral still expires after 14 days.
Microsoft's membership page sets its own limit. A solution certification "is based on the solution owner's self-attestation," and references to Solutions Partner "and any associated designation, shouldn't be interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, commitment, or any other type of representation or warranty on the part of Microsoft." Microsoft calls the credential a signal. Whether a seller brings a partner in still turns on a transactable offer, help closing something on that seller's number, and a reply inside 14 days.
Which one fits. A software partner with a transacting offer near the thresholds: confirm Frontier enrollment, then pursue certified software for that offer. A software partner below the USD 100,000 bar: transactability and Marketplace revenue come first. A services partner: the designation, then the specialization that matches what you deliver. Everyone: link every certified person, on both Microsoft Learn and Skilling Hub.
14 days
Before an unaccepted co-sell referral expires
Source: Microsoft Learn, manage co-sell opportunities (updated July 23, 2026). No credential changes that clock.
Is Program & Incentive Capture your constraint, or a symptom of something else?
The free IMS Co-Sell Readiness Index (CRI) scores six dimensions, Program & Incentive Capture among them, in about ten minutes with no email required. Run it before committing budget to exams or an audit.
Pick the credential that matches what you sell, then make sure Microsoft can actually see it.