What a Solutions Partner designation is, and what it proves
A Solutions Partner designation is Microsoft's statement that a partner organization reached a scored threshold in one solution area. Microsoft bases eligibility on the partner capability score, a composite that measures Performance, Skilling and Customer success from information already captured in Partner Center (Microsoft Learn, Introduction to Solutions Partner designations, accessed 2026-10-20). To attain a designation, a partner needs at least 70 of a possible 100 points, with points in every category and subcategory (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner program FAQs, accessed 2026-10-20). A designation therefore proves three things at once: the partner added customers in that solution area, it employs people who hold the required Microsoft certifications, and its customers' usage and deployments grew. It does not prove that the partner has delivered a project like yours, in your industry and at your scale, so a careful buyer reads the designation first and the delivery evidence second. EPC Group is a Microsoft Solutions Partner with all six Solutions Partner Designations as of October 2026 — Modern Work, Data & AI (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), Business Applications, and Security — and its Microsoft 365 consulting practice expects buyers to check that claim the same way they check anyone else's.
The six designations and the three badges
The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program offers six Solutions Partner designation pathways that roll up into three customer-facing badges. Data & AI (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure) and Infrastructure (Azure) map to the Solutions Partner for Cloud & AI Platforms badge; Modern Work and Business Applications map to Solutions Partner for AI Business Solutions; and Security maps to Solutions Partner for Security. Microsoft notes that partners still see and work with the six individual designations in Partner Center, and that the badge is an external representation that rolls up the designations earned (Microsoft Learn, Introduction to Solutions Partner designations, accessed 2026-10-20). Its announcement of the renamed badges states that the six solution paths remain the foundation for requirements, scoring and specializations, and that no paths were added or removed (Microsoft Learn, August 2026 announcements, accessed 2026-10-20).
The renaming changes how a logo should be read. A single Cloud & AI Platforms badge can stand for one, two or all three Azure pathways, and an AI Business Solutions badge can stand for Modern Work, Business Applications or both, so the badge alone does not say which pathway the partner qualified in. Ask which pathways sit behind each badge. What each pathway measures follows its workload. Microsoft describes Modern Work as broad capability to help customers with productivity and hybrid work on Microsoft 365, scored on five metrics that each need at least one point: net customer adds, intermediate certifications, advanced certifications, usage growth and deployments (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner for Modern Work, accessed 2026-10-20). Business Applications covers Dynamics 365 and Power Platform and publishes its split: net customer adds 15 points, intermediate certifications 20, advanced certifications 15, usage growth 30 and deployments 20 (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner for Business Applications, accessed 2026-10-20). The three Azure pathways share one scoring model but require different certifications for each area (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner for Data & AI, Infrastructure, and Digital & App Innovation, accessed 2026-10-20).
How the partner capability score works
The score has three categories. Performance measures net customer adds: points for eligible customers added in the trailing 12 months, with lost customers subtracted, against a growth threshold set for each solution area. Skilling counts people linked to the partner organization who hold the specified certifications, split into intermediate and advanced metrics. Customer success measures usage growth and deployments. To qualify, a solution area needs at least 70 points, every metric above zero, and both conditions met on any day of the qualification eligibility window (Microsoft Learn, Partner Capability Score, accessed 2026-10-20). Points are earned in whole increments; Microsoft's example is a metric worth 30 points that requires three customer adds, where one add earns 10 points (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner program FAQs, accessed 2026-10-20).
Three details change how a buyer should read a score or a badge. First, Microsoft states that government customers operating in clouds other than the public commercial cloud are not included in partner capability scores (Microsoft Learn, Partner Capability Score, accessed 2026-10-20), so work in GCC High or DoD tenants does not show up in the score at all. Second, enrollment is annual: a qualified partner enrolls, stays enrolled until its anniversary date regardless of score movement, and must qualify again within the qualification eligibility window to renew during the 30-day renewal window (same source; Microsoft Learn, Introduction to Solutions Partner designations, accessed 2026-10-20). Third, data lags: Performance and Customer success subcategories typically refresh by the 20th of each month, and Skilling within 10 days after a certification is completed (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner program FAQs, accessed 2026-10-20). A designation reflects the partner's position at its last qualification, not a live measurement.
Gold, Silver and specializations: what each signals
Microsoft retired gold and silver memberships on September 30, 2022. Partners that held them but did not qualify for a Solutions Partner designation could buy their legacy benefits until January 21, 2025, and Microsoft stopped selling legacy silver/gold benefits on January 22, 2025 (Microsoft Learn, Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program benefits FAQ, accessed 2026-10-20). Partner Center now states that Microsoft no longer offers Silver and gold memberships and that partners should stop using references to them (Microsoft Learn, Introduction to Solutions Partner designations, accessed 2026-10-20). The practical reading is simple: a present-tense Gold claim is out of date, while a statement that a firm held Gold competencies in the past is history rather than a current credential. EPC Group presents its Gold years as heritage only.
Specializations are the next layer. Microsoft requires enrollment in the aligned Solutions Partner designation pathway before a partner can enroll in a specialization, and publishes the mapping: Analytics on Microsoft Azure requires Data & AI; Cloud Security, Identity and Access Management, Data Security and Threat Protection require Security; Calling for Microsoft Teams and Modernize Endpoints require Modern Work (Microsoft Learn, Introduction to Solutions Partner designations, accessed 2026-10-20). Specialization requirements are separate checks, a credential that counts toward a designation does not automatically satisfy a specialization, and some specializations require an audit or customer references (Microsoft Learn, Use Partner Center to apply for specializations and check their status, accessed 2026-10-20). Read a designation as breadth across a solution area and a specialization as a narrower, separately validated capability inside it.
How a buyer verifies a partner claim
Microsoft's own surfaces are the place to check. A partner publishes a business profile that appears in the Connect with partners directory on Microsoft Marketplace, and Microsoft states that earned Solutions Partner designations, Azure Expert MSP status and specializations appear as badges on that profile after 72 hours. The company name on the profile comes from the legal business profile in Partner Center (Microsoft Learn, Create a business profile for Microsoft Marketplace to get sales leads and referrals, accessed 2026-10-20), so the name a buyer sees should match the contracting entity on the statement of work. Badges are attained at the partner global account level and can be distributed to location accounts (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner program FAQs, accessed 2026-10-20), which is why a multi-office firm can show the same badges on several location profiles.
EPC Group gives buyers a five-step check, and applies it to its own claim as readily as to anyone else's:
- Find the firm's Microsoft Marketplace profile and confirm that the badges shown match the claim in the proposal.
- Ask which of the six pathways sit behind each of the three badges.
- Ask for the month the designations were last verified, since Microsoft checks requirements on each anniversary date.
- Ask which specializations are held and whether any required an audit.
- Ask for engagement evidence in your industry and at your scale, which no badge supplies.
Documented work
This page documents a credential rather than a client engagement, so no engagement data is cited here. EPC Group's designation sentence comes from the firm's claims register, which records the public Microsoft Marketplace partner listing as the evidence source and the month the status was verified. EPC Group engagement data for healthcare, financial services and public-sector organizations is described on the Microsoft 365 consulting and managed Microsoft services hubs by industry and organization size only, with no outcome figures that cannot be traced to a signed deliverable.
Primary sources
- Introduction to Solutions Partner designations — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Partner Capability Score — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Solutions Partner program FAQs — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Solutions Partner for Modern Work — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Solutions Partner for Business Applications — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Solutions Partner for Data & AI, Infrastructure, and Digital & App Innovation — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- August 2026 announcements — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program benefits FAQ — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Use Partner Center to apply for specializations and check their status — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Create a business profile for Microsoft Marketplace to get sales leads and referrals — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the six Solutions Partner designations?
The six pathways are Data & AI (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Modern Work, Business Applications and Security. They roll up into three customer-facing badges: Solutions Partner for Cloud & AI Platforms for the three Azure pathways, Solutions Partner for AI Business Solutions for Modern Work and Business Applications, and Solutions Partner for Security (Microsoft Learn, Introduction to Solutions Partner designations, accessed 2026-10-20). Microsoft states that the six paths remain the foundation for requirements, scoring and specializations after the badge renaming, with no paths added or removed (Microsoft Learn, August 2026 announcements, accessed 2026-10-20).
How is the partner capability score calculated?
Each solution area is scored out of 100 points across three categories: Performance (net customer adds over the trailing 12 months, with lost customers subtracted), Skilling (intermediate and advanced certifications held by people linked to the organization) and Customer success (usage growth and deployments). A partner needs at least 70 points, with more than zero in every metric, on at least one day of the qualification eligibility window (Microsoft Learn, Partner Capability Score, accessed 2026-10-20). Points are earned in whole increments, and Performance and Customer success data typically refresh by the 20th of each month (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner program FAQs, accessed 2026-10-20).
What replaced Gold and Silver competencies, and when?
Solutions Partner designations replaced the gold and silver memberships, which Microsoft retired on September 30, 2022. Former gold or silver partners that did not qualify for a designation could buy their legacy benefits until January 21, 2025, and Microsoft stopped selling legacy silver/gold benefits on January 22, 2025 (Microsoft Learn, Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program benefits FAQ, accessed 2026-10-20). Partner Center now tells partners to stop using references to Silver and gold membership (Microsoft Learn, Introduction to Solutions Partner designations, accessed 2026-10-20). A present-tense Gold claim on a partner website is therefore out of date.
What are specializations, and how do they differ from designations?
A designation shows broad capability in a solution area; a specialization shows a narrower, separately validated capability inside it. Microsoft requires enrollment in the aligned designation pathway before a partner can enroll in a specialization, for example Security for Identity and Access Management, or Data & AI for Analytics on Microsoft Azure (Microsoft Learn, Introduction to Solutions Partner designations, accessed 2026-10-20). Specialization requirements are separate checks, and some require an audit or customer references (Microsoft Learn, Use Partner Center to apply for specializations and check their status, accessed 2026-10-20). Working toward a specialization does not raise the capability score (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner program FAQs, accessed 2026-10-20).
How does a buyer verify a partner's status?
Start with the partner business profile in the Connect with partners directory on Microsoft Marketplace. Microsoft states that earned Solutions Partner designations, Azure Expert MSP status and specializations appear as badges on that profile after 72 hours, and that the company name shown comes from the legal business profile in Partner Center (Microsoft Learn, Create a business profile for Microsoft Marketplace to get sales leads and referrals, accessed 2026-10-20). Then ask which pathways sit behind each badge, the month the status was last verified, and for delivery evidence in your industry, because Microsoft checks requirements again on each anniversary date (Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner program FAQs, accessed 2026-10-20).
Talk to a senior architect
If you are comparing Microsoft partners and want to test a designation claim against Microsoft's own listings, a 30-minute discovery call with a senior EPC Group architect covers which pathways matter for your project and what delivery evidence to request. See the Microsoft 365 consulting service hub for engagement structures.
Email contact@epcgroup.net or call 888-381-9725.
a Microsoft Gold Partner (2000 until Microsoft retired the program in 2022) — today holding all six Microsoft Solutions Partner Designations.