Microsoft Provides Superior Specializations in Low-Code and SMB Administration — Redmond Channel Companion

Microsoft adds advanced specializations in low-code and SMB management

Microsoft’s expanded catalog of specializations for partners grows every quarter. The company now has two new advanced specializations, bringing the total list to 16.

A relatively new entry in Microsoft’s list of ID cards for partner organizations, the advanced specializations, are layered over a gold competency and have additional expertise in a particular area.

“In January, we introduced our first two expanded specializations in business applications, the expanded specialization for small and medium-sized business executives and the expanded specialization for low-code application development,” said Nick Parker, corporate vice president, global partner solutions, Microsoft , in a blog post Wednesday.

“This means that we now have advanced specializations in all five commercial solution areas – modern workspace, business applications, Azure (apps and infrastructure, and data and AI), security,” said Parker. “Advanced specializations offer partners the opportunity to demonstrate their experience in specific technical scenarios and give customers the opportunity to identify the partners who best meet their needs.”

Unlike most advanced specializations, which are only assigned to one or two specific competencies, the low code advanced specialization can be achieved from five different competencies. A partner can switch from a gold badge in the areas of cloud business applications, cloud platforms, cloud solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, cloud productivity or application integration to the low code specialization.

Requirements include that the partner has at least five Power Apps customers, meet a customer usage growth metric, have a certain number of people who have passed exams or have earned certifications, and that the partner’s apps must overcome various technical hurdles.

The extended specialization for the management of small and medium-sized companies is an option for partners with gold competence in cloud solutions for small and medium-sized companies or cloud business applications.

The advanced specialization requires five people certified as Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant Associates, 10 customer deployments with five or more monthly active users, a 35 percent increase in monthly active users across the customer base over the past year, and at least one consulting service with Dynamics 365 Business Central, published on AppSource.

Written by Scott Bekker on February 11, 2021 at 8:29 a.m.