Let's Get Microsoft Certified: Practical Tips for your Certification Journey / Microsoft Partner Competencies

Are you ready to get certified or do you want to elevate your Partner business to the next competency level? In part one of this blog, I will first explain the partner resources to map out your personal certification journey including tips to get trained and certified for free. In the second part of this blog, I will explain from a more organizational level how to utilize Partner Competency programs and Partner Center to lift your organization trough certification to a next level Microsoft Partner engagement.

Part 1: Let's get Certified!

There are many reasons to work towards certification. As an introduction some interesting numbers to motivate you to get started!

• 91% of certified IT professionals say certification has given them increased confidence to do their jobs ??
• 61% of tech professionals say they were promoted after earning a certification ??
• 94% of decision-makers agree certified employees provide added value ??

The learning options which Microsoft and our Partners offer are extensive. Adding to the Microsoft resources Microsoft Partners offer trainings on platforms like Cloud Champion, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning and many more. With all these options it can be a challenge to find the way most fitting to your personal preferences and time. It can helpt to find a Microsoft Learning Partner to help you prepare or you can get things done by yourself with the resources that will follow in this blog.

Map your journey

When you know towards which certification you are studying, there still are many options to support your journey to get there.

Tip 1. Check the latest certification roadmap Microsoft training and certifications to understand your potential certification goals ahead. More information on Learning Paths can be found Microsoft Learn.

At the certificates pages on Microsoft Learn you can find a link - Journey to certification - to the journey map (see picture below, which on web version includes links to the skills outline guides, self-paced online learning, etc.). For a full overviews of certification paths check the Microsoft guides, for Azure aka.ms/AzureTrainCertDeck, Microsoft 365 aka.ms/M365TrainCertDeck, Dynamics 365 aka.ms/D365TrainCertDeck, Power Platform aka.ms/PPTrainCertDeck, Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity aka.ms/SecurityTrainCertDeck.

On-demand training

Most certification learning paths on Microsoft Learn include on-demand training sessions. In addition you can find more on-demand certification training at partner.microsoft.com (see the latest added trainings in snip below) and Cloud Champion.

In-person training sessions

If you prefer in-person trainings, you can check the Partner Training Calender for upcoming sessions. Live sessions are also available at the Microsoft Virtual Training Days.

Practice tests are available and often offer a free certification voucher. Check out the following links for the upcoming exam practice tests:

• Modern Work: Partner Training Calendar (microsoft.com)
• Security: Partner Training Calendar (microsoft.com)
• Azure Migrate: Partner Training Calendar (microsoft.com)
• App Innovation:?Partner Training Calendar (microsoft.com)
• Data AI: Partner Training Calendar (microsoft.com)
• Business Applications: Partner Training Calendar (microsoft.com)

Tip 2. Filter with the name of your planned certification at the partner training calender and find out if you can benefit from the free certification offer (I can't promise anything) or check the links above per solution area to learn what free exam vouchers are available for you!

Study Together at Events and Training Days

Studying together is more fun! Consider studying together with your colleague or customers to team up, have fun and build stronger relationships.

Tip 3. Engage and challenge your customers to go for a certification together. The Virtual Training Days are available to both customers and Partners!

Microsoft Ignite is the event to team up and study together to get certified. Check out the Learning Zone about the opportunities that are awaiting you. Learn more about the free exam offer, the challenge details and register for Microsoft Ignite (November 2-4)

Tip 4. For special training events you can be informed by regular checking in on your local Partner Hub, Partner Community, Event & Training page or subscribe to your local partner newsletter.

In case you want to go deeper for a whole week of upskilling, join?Microsoft's 'Digital Skills Week' from November 15th! Hear from industry leaders, build in-demand skills and more. With free talks and daily skill-building workshops, there’s something for everyone. Explore the agenda and register for your free spot now:?aka.ms/digitalskillsweek.

Thank you for your time and considerations to get Microsoft Certified. I wish you the best of luck to become certified and hope this blog has helped you to get the best out of your certification journey!

If you would like to do a pleasure to your employer (Partner), don't forget to connect your personal email (with which you have done the training and received the certification) with your employers Partner Center to receive the organizational recognition for your attained skills. Learn more at How to link your MCP profile to a partner organization - Developer Support (microsoft.com)

Part 2: Skilling and Partner Competencies

Great news! Partner Center has become the ultimate Microsoft Partner tool to build a solid partnership. Partner Center has been going through growth spurts and is now only clicks away to understand what your businesses status is in regards of current competencies, attained certification and potential advanced specializations to distinguish your Microsoft Partner business with competence!

Tip 5. To be a distinguished Microsoft Partner you do need to invest time and align and commit internal stakeholders. In regards of skilling, it is important to involve operations, marketing, hr and the talent with a growth mindset to continuously learn.

Understand your Partner Competencies

Learn about gold or silver competencies and find out how close you are to meeting the requirements. Requirements often include performance and passing exams and certification. You can find the current competency requirements in Partner Center (admin rights: Global admin | User management admin) and at the Microsoft Partner website.

Customers prefer to collaborate with Partners that have deep knowledge. In addition to the silver and gold competencies Microsoft has introduced Advanced Specializations for?Azure,?Business Applications,?Modern Work?and?Security. The Advanced Specialization status allows Partners to demonstrate their extensive skills and experience.?Learn about the requirements?(which usually include X certifications) and build a plan on how to work towards attaining these. At Partner Center you can see exactly what your status is of the Advanced Specialization requirements and what your next steps could be to attain these. See the picture below as an example.

Download skills report (Microsoft Certification list)

If you want details on the attained certifications, the skills report can be accessed and downloaded by any Global Admin or MPN Partner Admin from Partner Center. Go to MPN - Competencies and click on the right sight next to the competency level to?learn more.

Recognize and link your talents Microsoft Certifications

Microsoft Certifications are usually connected to the private email because people come and go from workplace to workplace. When you hire a Microsoft Certified talent it would be sensible to connect their certification or MCP ID to your Partner Center account, see Microsoft Learn MCP ID to Partner Center account - Partner Center | Microsoft Docs and How to link your MCP profile to a partner organization - Developer Support (microsoft.com).

Invest in Fresh Microsoft Skilled Talent

One of the challenges Partners face is the war on talent and with that the skilled talent being recruited by fellow Partners and customers. By being an attractive employer, you can retain and attract new talent.

With the first part of this blog, you can see that it is possible to educate non-technical talent from scratch with all the training options Microsoft has available. The technology industry is attractive to work in and it is sensible to attract fresh talent from outside the industry who have a continuous learning and growth mindset.

Tip 6. It can be even easier to attract from outside the industry by partnering up with local initiatives who already offer Microsoft certified tracks. In the Netherlands organizations like Techionista and the ITPH Azure Academy make this happen and are worthwhile to partner up with. Check the video below for information on meet and greet with their talent and the potential of talent to your business.

Go to Market with your attained partner status

Your newly attained partner status will become visible on both the Microsoft Partner overview website and the Appsource marketplace (only when you have a solution in market). The Microsoft competencies build trust with customers, and it is worthwhile to reflect these when applicable to win customers.

Tip 7. With the Microsoft logo builder you can create a partner logo, certified letter, or award - Logo Builder - Partner Center | Microsoft Docs. These logos can be a nice addition to your website.

Next to the customer perspective it is important to reflect your business profile correctly (including competenties) for Microsoft to better understand who you are as a partner, which focus areas and which customer profiles you support, to make the best out of business together. Check your profile in de new 'Partner' search option on Appsource (Microsoft Marketplace) to check your status and how your business is reflected.

Tip 8. Update or create a business profile to get Microsoft sales leads and help customers find you. Learn more about how this can be done in Partner Center at?Get sales leads - create a business profile - Partner Center | Microsoft Docs. When you have your business profile representing your business, Microsoft can then start referring customers to you. Your Partner business will also become visible in the?Find a solution provider?customer search experience.

Continue reading...

Thank you for your time and considerations. Do you like to read more? Check out my other blogs that can benefit your Microsoft Partner business:

• Next Level Microsoft Partner Sales & Marketing: Co-sell together
• Flourish and Thrive with your Microsoft Partnership
• Empowering Microsoft Partners to start a conversation with Microsoft
• Empowering Microsoft Partners with 5 tips to get the most out of your co-op funds
• Why Microsoft Partners should consider setting up customer associations
• Empowering Microsoft Partners with 'hidden' benefits
• Azure Fundamentals Exam Prep Tips