News & Updates

Copilot purchasing is changing, while existing subscriptions keep their current service and commercial terms. From December 1, 2026, new Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Business offers can be purchased without a qualifying Microsoft 365 base subscription, at the same price as current offers but with new product and SKU IDs. Existing offers gained “(add-on)” in their names on October 16 and reach CSP end of sale on December 1; existing customers can still renew and adjust seats. CSP teams should use IDs rather than names in automation and review the November 1 price-list preview. Available experiences still depend on the customer’s licensed apps and services.

SQL Modernization Day offers partners a practical update on moving SQL Server workloads to Azure and building AI applications afterward. The free October 20, 2026 livestream runs from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Pacific, with eight Microsoft SQL team sessions covering Azure SQL, Managed Instance, virtual machines and Fabric. It also introduces the SQL modernization agent and expanded multi-instance Azure Arc migration capabilities in public preview. Partners supporting SQL Server 2016 customers can use the sessions to plan supported modernization paths; recordings will be published after the event, and preview capabilities remain subject to change.

Azure migration and AI conversations gain a new commercial lever on November 2, 2026: targeted CSP consumption promotions. Microsoft lists discounts of up to 30% for eligible database modernization usage, 20% for qualifying Fabric scenarios, and 15% for selected Foundry-related app and data services. Direct bill partners, distributors and indirect resellers can check eligibility in Partner Center or through the API, redeem within the offer window, and reconcile discounts using new promotion fields. Partner earned credit is preserved, and promotions sit alongside existing incentives; customer and workload eligibility still apply.

Multiparty private offers now support sales to customers in Hong Kong SAR, extending Microsoft Marketplace’s channel-led transaction model to another market. Software companies and channel partners can collaborate on customer deals through Marketplace, with software providers reaching additional customers and channel partners retaining their customer relationships. The October 8 announcement adds Hong Kong SAR to the existing supported-market list rather than opening the feature worldwide. Partners targeting this market should review the linked setup and eligibility guidance before structuring an offer or promising availability to a customer.

Microsoft has broadened the Azure security workloads that count toward the Solutions Partner designation for Security. Recognized consumption now spans services such as Application Gateway, Azure Firewall, Key Vault, Microsoft Entra, Purview, Security Copilot and Sentinel, giving security partners more ways to demonstrate performance through the work they already deliver. Network Watcher no longer qualifies. CSPs, systems integrators and other partners pursuing the designation should review their actual progress in Partner Center; this is a change to eligible workloads, not a statement that every partner automatically qualifies.

Growth margin went live on October 1, 2026, giving eligible CSP direct bill partners and distributors extra margin on qualifying expansion across Copilot, Microsoft 365 E5/E7, Defender, Purview and Windows 365 Enterprise. Customer prices do not change. Eligibility is assessed across channels and partners at the customer-tenant level and locked when the transaction completes, so teams should validate it before every quote. Base margins also change for selected Microsoft 365 and Office 365 products; the public announcement directs partners to the sign-in-protected guide for product-level rates rather than publishing those figures.