On September 16, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, alongside Jared Spataro, CVP of Modern Work and Business Applications, revealed significant enhancements to Microsoft 365 Copilot, delivering key features that customers and partners have been eagerly anticipating. These updates include the debut of Copilot Pages, enhanced functionalities within Microsoft 365 applications, the introduction of Copilot agents, and branding changes.
These exciting improvements allow you to generate greater enthusiasm with new customers, while also providing an opportunity to revisit existing ones and boost those engagements. The full product details of the announcement are summarized in the Microsoft 365 blog post on the Wave 2 announcement.
Offers and opportunities for partners
Considering our great momentum, and based on my personal discussions with many partners, it is clear there has never been a better time to partner with Microsoft and capitalize on the AI transformation with Copilot. Partners are actively selling Copilot and delivering significant business outcomes to our customers. In the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, we are here to help partners accelerate this journey by providing guidance, promotions, and GTM tools and investments, as well as tools built upon our own customer experience and feedback.
Earlier this month we launched new Modern Work promotions, including the Getting Started with Copilot for Microsoft 365 15% off offer. This offer is in market now through December 31, 2024, and provides you with more deal-making capability for customers purchasing between 10 and 300 seats. You can further enhance this offer using the offer development guide and bundling this promotion with your professional services, while also taking advantage of our monthly Copilot QuickStart training for end users.
We understand that security remains one of customers’ top organizational priorities. The introduction of AI into the discussion amplifies this concern even further, underscoring the importance of safeguarding data. empower you to address customer needs, we also offer the Do More with Microsoft 365 E3 Accelerate 15% off promotional offer for new-to-Microsoft 365 E3 customers.
Microsoft 365 E3 provides the essential foundations to enable AI, including the M365 Apps and security capabilities that simplify IT management and help your customers on their Zero Trust journey. For customers looking for next-level threat protection and data security, the recommended solution is Microsoft 365 E5, which provides additional capabilities including XDR to defend across the infrastructure and enables data security throughout the data lifecycle to protect sensitive information.
I am excited about these two promotions, which provide enhanced deal-making opportunities to help our customers get started with a team or department of 10+ users on Copilot, bundled with services to ensure value and address security concerns.
Copilot GTM assets & resources
Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work. And its value now goes beyond individual productivity boosts—it supports top organizational goals like revenue growth, cost reduction, higher revenue per employee, faster employee onboarding, better workforce retention, and increased operational efficiency. To help customers identify and realize these business outcomes faster, we are introducing a new functional GTM approach that better demonstrates business value and provides a strong justification for business leaders to want to expand their investments. Below are the key resources you don’t want to miss.
Start with this video to understand the new functional GTM approach, then use these key resources with customers: the Drive Business Transformation with Copilot deck, the Copilot scenario library, and the Copilot Business Case Builder.
In addition, you can take advantage of these go-to-market resources to highlight the value of Microsoft 365 Copilot products and solutions with your customers:
Find more resources like these on the Modern Work for Partners - Copilot for Microsoft 365 CSP page and the Modern Work practice development site.
To further empower our partners to stay at the forefront of this technology innovation, we are incorporating over 20 highly sought-after product licenses into our partner benefits packages on January 22, 2025. This update features the addition of transformative products like Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Microsoft GitHub.
Skilling for success
It’s never too late to build your Copilot practice and capture new opportunities. Enhance and expand your skills for building and selling AI-enabled, customer-centric solutions across different modalities. Visit the Microsoft Global Partner Skilling Hub to register for upcoming live events and to access on-demand content across Azure, Business Applications, Modern Work, and Security, as well as Sales and Pre-sales Partner Skilling:
You can also learn about additional AI skilling opportunities such as Partner Project Ready Workshops, Certification Weeks, Sales and Pre-Sales Skilling, and Microsoft AI Partner Training Days.
The Copilot enhancements in the Wave 2 announcement further empower customers by boosting collaboration, productivity, and automation, while also creating new opportunities for partners to enhance their offerings, deliver greater customer outcomes, and drive business growth.
Personally, I look forward to seeing the innovative solutions and use cases that our partners help customers to realize. As we move forward with these exciting developments, we remain committed to empowering our partners with the go-to-market resources they need to succeed.
Next steps