Key Changes to Microsoft Incentives in FY26: What it means for Partners

As we step into FY26, Microsoft has announced a series of new and updated partner incentives and offers designed to help drive growth, innovation, and success within our partner ecosystem. These updates reflect Microsoft’s commitment to empowering partners with the tools and resources they need to thrive in an ever-evolving customer landscape.

Key changes for FY26 include new eligibility criteria, updated payment terms, and the introduction of new engagement opportunities. For our partners, these changes mean more opportunities to drive your sales revenue, earn incentives and deliver greater value to your customers. 

We recommend you familiarise yourself with these new engagement opportunities, eligibility criteria and benefits. Staying informed about these updates will you to maximise your earning potential and take full advantage of the programs available. Additionally, we encourage you to actively engage with your Dicker Data partner development manager to ensure you are leveraging all available support.

In this post, we will cover the following key incentive programs which we believe offer the greatest opportunity and benefit for our partners:

• Modern Work & Security Envisioning Workshops & Immersion Briefings
• Azure Solutions Partner Designation for SMB, Migrate and Modernise
• ERP Envisioning Workshop & Business Central Immersion Briefing

Overview of Modern Work & Security Envisioning Workshops & Immersion Briefings

Partner Eligibility, Customer Qualifications, and Engagement Terms

Threat Protection Envisioning Workshop

The Threat Protection Envisioning Workshop is designed to build customer intent for purchasing advanced Microsoft Security products, including but not limited to Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel. The engagement is expected to require about a three-day partner effort. 

The Threat Protection Envisioning Workshop is delivered in a customer’s production environment by discovering real security threats and vulnerabilities.

NB. Dicker Data will be partnering with TechClick to help you offer these workshops, to your qualifying customers, in the event you do not currently have the necessary Security Designation status.

Partner Eligibility

• Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement

• Microsoft Commerce Incentives

• Active Microsoft Security Partner Designation
  

Customer Qualification

• 300 - 5,000 Paid Available Units (PAU) for Microsoft Entra ID Plan 1 

• 250+ Monthly Active Users (MAU) for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online or Teams Meeting

• Customer may not have previously attended a Threat Protection Envisioning Workshop between July 1, 2024 and June 1, 2025

Engagement Summary & Activity Requirements

For the Threat Protection Envisioning Workshop to be considered complete a partner is required to deliver the following activities:

• Identify customer’s key security objectives & priorities.

• Use customer’s existing licenses or product trials of the engagement products to perform discovery and exploration of threats and vulnerabilities in customer's production environment.

The Threat Protection Envisioning Workshop includes following mandatory modules:

• Microsoft Defender Portal - (Microsoft Defender XDR)

• Cloud Identity Protection - (Entra ID Protection, Entra Conditional Access)

The Threat Protection Envisioning Workshop includes following selectable modules where at least three (3) must be completed:

• Unified SecOps Platform - (Microsoft Sentinel)

• Email Protection - (Microsoft Defender for Office 365)

• Endpoint and Cloud Apps Protection - (Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps)

• Server Protection – (Microsoft Defender for Cloud)

• Identity Protection – (Microsoft Defender for Identity) 

• Microsoft Security Copilot Demonstration

• Provide recommendations and next steps

Proof of Execution

• Customer Survey (sent by Partner, completed by Customer)

• Partner Survey (completed by Partner)

• Respond to all mandatory questions

• POE verification: your hours investment for the engagement reached the minimum hours required

• Invoice (uploaded by Partner for activity completion)

Activity Payment

Market A (Australia and New Zealand) - $8,000 USD

Engagement Term

July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, or until program cap is reached.

Data Security Envisioning Workshop

The Data Security Envisioning Workshop is designed to build customer intent to purchase Microsoft Purview solutions. By providing real data driven examples of data security and regulatory risks in their own environments combined with collaborative workshop sessions, the workshop helps partners create compelling ways for customers to remediate and prevent data security risks using Microsoft Purview (E5 Compliance) technologies.

NB. We will be partnering with TechClick to help you offer these workshops, to your qualifying customers, in the event you do not currently have the necessary Security Designation status.

Partner Eligibility

• Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement

• Microsoft Commerce Incentives

• Active Microsoft Security Partner Designation

Customer Qualification

• 300 - 5,000 Paid Available Units (PAU) for Microsoft Entra ID Plan 1

• 250+ Monthly Active Users (MAU) for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online or Teams Meeting

• Customer may not have previously attended a Data Security Engagement between July 1, 2024 and June 1, 2025

Engagement Summary & Activity Requirements

During the Data Security Envisioning Workshop, a partner is required to cover the following topics:

•  Identify customer’s key data security objectives & priorities.

• Conduct discovery of data security and compliance risks in customer’s production environment, including but not limited to:

• Stale and sensitive data

• Data loss, data theft and data leakage

• Insider risk and risky user behaviour

• Interactions with Microsoft and 3rd party AI applications

• Provide the customer with an introduction and overview of the Microsoft Purview Products and solutions that:

• Is tailored to the risks identified during the discovery activity

• Discusses how Purview can help the customer mitigate and eliminate the identified risks

• Is focused on Purview Data Loss Prevention, Information Protection, Insider Risk Management and is complemented with other products from the Purview suite if needed

• Provide recommendations and next steps.

For the Data Security Engagement to be considered complete, a partner is required to deliver the following activities:

• All Data Security Check mandatory modules:

• Exchange Online

• SharePoint Online

• Microsoft Teams

• Insider Risk Management

• At least one (1) Data Security Check optional module:

• Compliance Manager Tenant Assessment

• On-Premises Data Discovery

• Windows 10/11 Endpoints

• Communication Compliance

• Data Security for AI

• Microsoft Purview Portfolio Overview

• Recommendations and Next Steps Presentation

Proof of Execution

• Customer Survey sent by Partner, completed by Customer)

• Partner Survey (completed by Partner)

• Respond to all mandatory questions

• POE verification: your hours investment for the engagement reached the minimum hours required

• Invoice (uploaded by Partner for activity completion)

Activity Payment

Market A (Australia and New Zealand) - $8,000 USD

Engagement Term

July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, or until program cap is reached.

Modern SecOps Envisioning Workshop

The Modern Security Operations Engagement is designed to build customer intent to purchase the Microsoft Sentinel and Unified SecOps Platform. The engagement is expected to require about a three to-four-day partner effort.

To complete the Modern Security Operations Engagement, partners must identify key security objectives, translate them into scoped modules, demonstrate the capabilities of Microsoft's cloud-native security platform using Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender XDR, and Microsoft Entra ID, showcase integration and features, and provide recommendations for next steps.

Partner Eligibility

• Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement

• Microsoft Commerce Incentives

• Active Microsoft Security Partner Designation

• 300 - 5,000 Paid Available Units (PAU) for Microsoft Entra ID Plan 1

• 250+ Monthly Active Users (MAU) for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online or Teams Meeting

• Customer may not have previously attended a Modern SecOps Engagement between July 1, 2024 and June 1, 2025

Engagement Summary & Activity Requirements

During the Modern SecOps Envisioning Workshop the partner is required to cover the following topics:

• Identify customer’s key security objectives & priorities.

• Translate customer objectives for engagement into scoping “Mandatory and Selectable Modules” for driving value and successful outcome.

• This proof of value engagement guides partners and customers to see the power of the cloud native security platform that delivers great SOC analyst efficiency via native correlation and third-party integrations.

• Use customer’s existing licenses or product trials of Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Entra ID to perform exploration of threats across identity, endpoints, communication/collaboration tools, and cloud and on-premises assets showing end to end security.

• Show case the integration of Microsoft Sentinel into Microsoft Defender XDR with “Unified SecOps Platform”

• Demonstrate value of Microsoft Sentinel by showcasing product features such as threat detection, log visibility, and SOC automation.

• Provide recommendations and next steps.

For the Modern Security Operations Envisioning Workshop to be considered complete, a partner is required to deliver the following activities:

All Modern SecOps mandatory modules:

• Microsoft Defender XDR / Unified SecOps

• Identity Threat Detection

• Communications and Collaboration Threat Detection

• Azure Threat Detection

• Threat Intelligence

• At least one (1) Modern SecOps optional modules:

• Server Threat Detection

• Third-Party Alert/Logging

• SOC Automation

• Microsoft Sentinel Cost Estimation

• Data Ingestion and Retention

• Recommendations and Next Steps Presentation

Proof of Execution

• Customer Survey (sent by Partner, completed by Customer)

• Partner Survey (completed by Partner)

• Respond to all mandatory questions

• POE verification: your hours investment for the engagement reached the minimum hours required

• Invoice (uploaded by Partner for activity completion)

Activity Payment

Market A (Australia and New Zealand) - $8,000 USD

Engagement Term

July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, or until program cap is reached.

Threat Protection Immersion Briefings

The Threat Protection Immersion Briefing is designed for partners to demonstrate value, build customer intent, and accelerate opportunities. This immersion briefing allows partners to deliver a 1:Many event using an immersive experience to demonstrate the business value that customers can achieve by using Microsoft E5 Security.

At the end of this 90-minute briefing, customers will foundationally understand how these unified products work seamlessly to detect, prevent, and respond to threats in real time.

• Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement

• Microsoft Commerce Incentives

• Active Microsoft Security Partner Designation

• Max of 3 executions per year per partner

Customer Qualification

• Minimum of 100+ seats per customer of Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3, and/or Office 365 E3+EMS E3.

• Minimum 5 unique customers per event, maximum of 25

Engagement Summary & Activity Requirements

• Attendance by a minimum of 5 unique customer organizations.

• Additional attendees permitted to participate.

• EDU and non-profit are eligible to attend, but do not count toward the minimum customer requirement.

Minimum Minutes

• 90 minutes

Partner Success Metrics

Execution of Immersion Briefing focused on either ME5 or ME5 Security to an audience of 5 or more unique customers.

Proof of Execution

• Customer Survey (sent by Partner, completed by Customer)

• Partner Survey (completed by Partner)

• Respond to all mandatory questions

• POE verification: your hours investment for the engagement reached the minimum hours required

• Invoice (uploaded by Partner for activity completion)

Payment Terms

• Market A (Australia and New Zealand) - $2,000 USD

• Microsoft, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to pause partners from creating claims for new engagements if the existing engagements do not meet the criteria for success.

Engagement Term

July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026.

Data Security Immersion Briefings

The Data Security Immersion Briefing is designed for partners to demonstrate value, build customer intent, and accelerate opportunities. This immersion briefing allows partners to deliver a 1:Many event using an immersive experience to demonstrate the business value that customers can achieve by using Microsoft E5 Compliance.

At the end of this 90-minute briefing, customers will foundationally understand how these unified products work seamlessly to secure AI, reduce compliance risk, streamline investigations, and safeguard sensitive information across the entire organization.

Partner Eligibility

• Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement

• Microsoft Commerce Incentives

• Active Microsoft Security Partner Designation

• Max of 3 executions per year per partner

Customer Qualification

• Minimum of 100+ seats per customer of Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3, and/or Office 365 E3+EMS E3.

• Minimum 5 unique customers per event, maximum of 25

Engagement Summary & Activity Requirements

• Attendance by a minimum of 5 unique customer organisations.

• Additional attendees permitted to participate.

• EDU and non-profit are eligible to attend, but do not count toward the minimum customer requirement.

Minimum Minutes

• 90 minutes

Partner Success Metrics

• Execution of Immersion Briefing focused on either ME5 or ME5 Compliance to an audience of 5 or more unique customers.

Proof of Execution

• Customer Survey (sent by Partner, completed by Customer)

• Partner Survey (completed by Partner)

• Respond to all mandatory questions 

• POE verification: your hours investment for the engagement reached the minimum hours required

• Invoice (uploaded by Partner for activity completion)

Payment Terms

• Market A (Australia and New Zealand) - $2,000 USD

• Microsoft, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to pause partners from creating claims for new engagements if the existing engagements do not meet the criteria for success.

Engagement Term

• July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026
  
  

Overview of Azure Solutions Partner Designation for SMB, Migrate and Modernize

Partner Eligibility, Customer Qualifications, and Engagement Terms

Solutions Partner Designation – Migrate and Modernize Partner funding

The Azure Migrate and Modernise program—now part of the broader Azure Accelerate initiative - is designed to help organisations move to the cloud and modernize their IT infrastructure with expert guidance, tools, and financial support. New to this program is the Extra-Extra small funding engagement.

• Cloud Migration Support: Assists in evaluating, planning, and migrating workloads to Azure using tools like Azure Migrate.

• Modernisation Assistance: Helps update applications and infrastructure through containerisation, refactoring, and PaaS adoption.

• Expert Guidance: Links organizations with Azure partners and Microsoft experts for technical and implementation support.

Partner eligibility

• Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement

• Microsoft Commerce Incentives

• SMB Track – Solutions Partner for Infrastructure

Customer Qualification criteria

Project Deal size now starts at Project size: $5K – $15K/year planned Azure consumption

• Extra Extra Small: >$5,000-$15,000/year Planned Azure consumption

• Extra Small: >$15,000 - $50,000/year Planned Azure consumption

• Small: >$50,000 - $100,000/year Planned Azure consumption

Customer Eligibility

SMB customers with a valid TPID detected by Microsoft internal systems

Partner Payment

• Extra-Extra Small engagement:  $2,000 USD

• Extra Small engagement: 4,000 USD

• Small engagement: $12,00 USD

For deployments containing a minimum 4% Defender for Cloud and also meeting the above minimum Azure consumption criteria, an additional 15% to the above Partner Payments will apply. 
 
The project sizes are the planned Azure consumption in year 1 measured from project 
Completion.

Engagement Summary & Activity requirements

• In this engagement, partners will provide expert guidance to execute a Core Migrate and/or Modernisation project. 

• It can include migrating any of the following workloads to Azure: Windows Server, Linux, SQL Server and open-source databases (Azure SQL, Azure PostgreSQL, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure MySQL) modernisation of existing applications to Azure.

• Partners are required to perform specific milestones in the project which should include the following activities: 

• Infrastructure/ Application Compatibility Assessment/Review 

• Landing Zone Setup or Review 

• Deployment of Migration/ Modernization activities including securing the Azure workloads.

Engagement Term

July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026

Azure CSP Customer Adds – Indirect incentive

Engagement Summary & Activity Requirements
Cloud Solution Providers providing billing and support as part of a partner-managed Azure experience for customers who purchase Azure services under a new Azure offer (offer plan) are recognized for incentives when transacting through a Partner Location ID meet all eligibility requirements for available engagement opportunities and applicable incentive enrollment requirements.

Measure and Reward:
Incentives for the new Azure offer (Azure plan) are calculated as a percentage of all Azure consumption revenue including Payas-you-go, ACR from Reserved Instance, and Azure Savings Plan consumption. All payments made on a monthly cadence via Microsoft.

Partner Eligibility

• Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement

• Microsoft CSP Indirect Channel Authorization

• Microsoft Commerce Incentives

• Azure CSP customer adds - 15% CSP Indirect Reseller payment against Azure consumption: calculated in addition to related MCI Azure CSP incentives and paid with 100% rebate earning type

• Maximum earning opportunity $250k USD

• Maximum earning opportunity at per partner and per tenant for up to 12-month period

Engagement Term

October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025

Overview of ERP Envisioning Workshop & Business Central Immersion Briefing

Partner Eligibility, Customer Qualifications, and Engagement Terms

ERP Envisioning Workshop

Partner Eligibility

Partners must hold at least one Business Applications Specialisation:

•    Business Intelligence
•    Finance
•    Intelligent Automation
•    Microsoft Low Code Application Development
•    Sales
•    Service
•    Small and Midsize Business Management
•    Supply Chain

Customer Qualification

Minimum opportunity estimated Annual Contract Value (ACV) size of $50,000 USD for at least one workload:

•    Dynamics 365 Finance
•    Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
•    Dynamics 365 Commerce
•    Dynamics 365 Human Resources
•    Dynamics 365 Project Operations
•    Dynamics 365 Business Central

Engagement Summary & Activity Requirements

• The workshop assists customers in modernising on-premises ERP systems to Dynamics 365 solutions, focusing on driving customer intent with a vision for an AI-powered ERP future state and clear business outcomes.
• The partner delivers three modules:

• Assess: Business needs assessment, gap analysis, identification of success metrics and priorities.

• Art of the Possible: Demonstration of business process transformation value, scenario prioritization, and persona alignment.

• Build the Plan: Creation of a business value analysis, project plan, statement of work (SOW), and boardroom-ready proposal.

Proof of Execution

• Customer Survey (triggered by Partner, completed by Customer)

• Partner Survey (completed by Partner)

• Invoice (uploaded by Partner for activity completion)

Payment Terms

Payout is the lower of:

• Number of delivery hours multiplied by the market rate Market A (Australia and New Zealand): $163 USD/hour

• 7.5% of the MSX Opportunity Size

• Maximum payout cap: $6,000

Engagement Term

July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, or until program cap is reached.

Business Central Immersion Briefing

Partner Eligibility

• Partners must have:

• Business Applications Small and Midsize Business Management Specialisation

• OR be a Strategic Business Central and M365 Partner (by invitation only)

Customer Qualification

• Minimum of 10 attendees per event, with at least 1 attendee per customer tenant.

• Customers must have no existing Business Central licenses

Engagement Summary & Activity Requirements

• 90-minute demand-generation customer event, virtual or in-person, led by the partner and subsidised by Microsoft Incentives.

• Target is to drive interest and acquisition in Business Central, introducing and showcasing product capabilities, integration with Modern Work solutions, and AI value proposition.

• Partners conduct:

• Business Central pitch and demos

• Walkthrough of a business requirements questionnaire for quick product fit assessment and cost transparency

• Define next steps (trial, 1:1 assessment, proof of concept)

• 10 Customer Surveys (triggered by Partner, completed by Customer)

• Partner Survey (completed by Partner)

• Invoice (uploaded by Partner for activity completion)

Payment Terms

Fixed payment by market:
Market A (Australia and New Zealand): $2,000

Engagement Term

July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, or until program cap is reached.

How to leverage these incentives

These incentive programs present a remarkable opportunity for Microsoft partners to deliver added value to your customers while increasing your revenue and profitability. We encourage you to reach out to the Dicker Data Microsoft team for more information and to explore how this these programs can benefit your organisation.