Designation, specialization, and incentive work for members of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, checked before you apply.
For members of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program working toward a Solutions Partner designation, earning a specialization, filing an incentive claim, or getting a Marketplace offer co-sell ready. Fixed prices where the scope is fixed, a written cap where it is not.
Khavion is an independent consulting firm and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft. Designation, specialization, and funding decisions rest with Microsoft.
Services
Advisory Call (90 minutes)
A working session on which Microsoft programs fit your next two quarters: designation, specializations, funding, Marketplace, and co-sell. Written recommendations within 48 hours.
- Price
- $249
Partner Program Roadmap
A written read of where you stand on the Solutions Partner designation path, your Partner Capability Score gaps by metric, which specializations to pursue in what order, and how ready you are for funding and co-sell, with an owner and level of effort for each gap. Findings in 10 business days, then a 60-minute walkthrough. Paid in full up front.
- Price
- $1,500 fixed
Specialization or designation readiness review
One designation or specialization, checked line by line against the published requirements and the published specialization audit checklist. Ranked findings memo within five business days of a complete package, a 30-minute readout, and one re-check within 14 days.
- Price
- $1,950
Incentive or claim review
One incentive claim, its proof of execution and the claim package, checked against the published program terms before you submit it. Same memo, readout, and re-check.
- Price
- $1,500
Authoring and remediation
We write or fix your Marketplace consulting offer listing, co-sell materials (one-pager, pitch deck, business profile), and partner attribution (Partner Admin Link, claiming partner of record), with you. Against a written cap; new clients prepay half the cap, and the unused part is refunded.
- Price
- $175per hour against a written cap
How a review works
Send the package
Your application or fund request, with the calculators and statement of work.
Read line by line
Against the published requirements: evidence for each requirement, numbers that agree across documents, and dates that work.
Findings memo, then one re-check
Ranked by severity with a fix for each, within five business days of a complete package, then a 30-minute readout and one re-check within 14 days.
Partner Program Roadmap
One roadmap covers one partner organization. It answers three questions: where you stand today, what to pursue next and in what order, and what each step will take from your team.
A Solutions Partner designation needs a Partner Capability Score of at least 70 out of 100 in its solution area, with more than zero points in every metric.
- What it covers
- The Solutions Partner designation path that fits your work, and your Partner Capability Score gaps metric by metric
- Which specializations to pursue, in what order, and what each one's published requirements and audit checklist ask for
- Funding and incentive programs you can apply for yourself, and what a claim will need
- Marketplace and co-sell readiness: listing, business profile, and partner attribution
- What you get
- A written roadmap: current standing, ranked next steps, and a gap list with owner and level of effort for each
- A 60-minute walkthrough
- The questions worth asking your Microsoft partner contacts, so you confirm eligibility before you invest
- Price
- $1,500 fixed
- Turnaround
- 10 business days from read access
- Payment
- In full up front, card or ACH
Where you stand
Tier, programs, and evidence as they are today.
The one gap that blocks the next step
Named, with an owner and level of effort.
Next two quarters
Which programs to pursue, in what order, and what each will ask for.
A competency alongside
Pursued in parallel when the evidence already exists.
Later
Kept on the page so nothing is pursued out of order.
Specialization or designation readiness review
Before you apply for a specialization or count on a designation, we read your evidence the way the published requirements and the published audit checklist will: customer evidence, skilling, performance figures, and the documents an auditor asks for. You get a findings memo ranked by severity, with a fix for each.
- Price
- $1,950
- Turnaround
- 5 business days from a complete package
- Includes
- 30-minute readout, one re-check within 14 days
Incentive or claim review
For an incentive or funding claim you file yourself: we check the proof of execution and the claim package against the published program terms before you submit, so a missing document or a date that does not line up is caught first.
- Price
- $1,500
- Turnaround
- 5 business days from a complete package
- Includes
- 30-minute readout, one re-check within 14 days
What changed in FY27
Solutions Partner badges have new names. The three Azure designations now show as Solutions Partner for Cloud & AI Platforms, and Business Applications and Modern Work now show as AI Business Solutions. Microsoft says the requirements did not change.
On July 31, 2026, Microsoft merged several specializations into three new ones: Analytics on Microsoft Azure, App Modernization on Microsoft Azure, and Agentic Business Solutions. Partners moved into a merged specialization kept their anniversary date.
Since July 30, 2026, the Cloud Security, Data Security, Identity and Access Management, and Threat Protection specializations require an independent third-party audit, paid for by the partner and repeated every two years.
The Frontier Partner specialization, which validates agentic AI delivery, opened to eligible partners on September 30, 2026.
Azure Expert MSP stopped taking new enrollments on September 15, 2026, and renewals end in January 2027.
In an update dated July 31, 2026, Microsoft removed the Azure consumed revenue threshold for SMB track eligibility on the three Azure solution paths. A partner with at least 80% of its customers in the SMB segments can qualify for the SMB track.
From early 2027, renewal opens 30 days before your anniversary date and must be finished by that date: the 30-day grace period after it goes away for benefit packages, Solutions Partner designations, and the specializations tied to them.
Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204) retired on July 31, 2026, and Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500) on August 31, 2026. A retiring certification completed before its retirement date stays valid for one year.
Azure AI Engineer Associate retired on June 30, 2026. Completed before that date, it still counts toward the Data & AI (Azure) skilling metric for one year.
From November 2, 2026, partners have five calendar days to accept or reject an SMB referral. Corporate and enterprise referrals keep the 14-day window.
Partner Center shows your real score and status. A review still matters for what a score cannot judge: whether the evidence, the audit documents, and the claim hold up.
Checked October 2026.
Not a fit if
- You need a guarantee. Nobody can give one; Microsoft decides.
- You need anything that depends on non-public Microsoft information. Khavion works only from published requirements.
- You expect Khavion to get you funding that only Microsoft's field team nominates, for example ECIF.
- You want the application written from scratch for a review price. Writing is authoring, against a written cap.
If one of these is you, the first call will say so. That's the point of it.
Questions
Can you get my company a Solutions Partner designation?
Khavion can plan it, find the metrics where your score is short, and write the material that depends on writing. The points come from your customers, your certified people, and their usage, and Microsoft calculates them in Partner Center. The roadmap tells you which metric to work on first.
Which specialization should my company start with?
The one your recent customer work already proves, on a designation you hold or can reach. The roadmap checks fit against the published requirements before you write anything, and the readiness review checks the evidence before you apply.
Can you get my company field-nominated funding such as ECIF?
No. Some Microsoft funding is nominated only by Microsoft's field team. Once you have funding you file for yourself, Khavion can check the claim package and proof of execution before you submit.
Is the free score check the same as Partner Center?
No. It estimates the Data & AI (Azure) score from the published rules and the numbers you enter. Partner Center calculates your real score from Microsoft's own data.
Does Khavion hold a Microsoft designation?
No. Khavion is a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program and does not hold a Solutions Partner designation or specialization.
Do you guarantee a designation, specialization, or funding?
No. Microsoft makes every designation, specialization, and funding decision.
Khavion is an independent consulting firm and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft. Designation, specialization, and funding decisions rest with Microsoft.
Not sure which program comes next? Book a free 30-minute call, or start with the $1,500 roadmap.