Action Pack Program Guide

MICROSOFT ACTION PACK PROGRAM GUIDE
Effective November 13 2014
New Action Pack Program Overview ...........................................................................................3

New Action Pack Program Design Principles ......................................................................... 3
Software and Services licenses for internal use ..................................................................... 5
Technical support .................................................................................................................. 7
Training guides, learning paths ............................................................................................. 7
Cloud enablement.................................................................................................................. 8
Developer tools...................................................................................................................... 8
Bing credits ............................................................................................................................ 8
Pinpoint ................................................................................................................................. 9
Ready-to-Go marketing campaigns ....................................................................................... 9
Cloud services licensing ......................................................................................................... 9
Office 365 ........................................................................................................................... 9
CRM Online .......................................................................................................................10
Windows Intune ................................................................................................................10
Microsoft Azure .................................................................................................................10
Requirements ....................................................................................................................................11
MPN membership .................................................................................................................11
Partner organization validation ............................................................................................11
Microsoft Action Pack Overview and Assessment ................................................................12
Program fee ..........................................................................................................................13
Eligibility restrictions.............................................................................................................13
Competency rules .................................................................................................................13
Enrollment Experience ................................................................................................................... 14

Enrollment experience and steps ..........................................................................................14
Re-enrollment experience and steps ....................................................................................14
February 24, 2014
Call-To-Action for re-enrollment at launch in February 24, 2014: .....................................14

Other programs migrating to Action Pack............................................................................15
Call-To-Action for enrollment at launch since February 24, 2014:.....................................15
Action Pack Program Guide
Microsoft Partner Network
February 24, 2014
New Action Pack Program Overview

New Action Pack Program Design Principles
o
Definition. Microsoft Action Pack is the membership partner program for Microsoft partners.
Action Pack is designed to help partners begin or enhance their development, solution,
services, or device businesses with Microsoft platforms. Program content helps partners
build a successful business by providing members with software and services licenses,
technical, business and marketing support.
Target audience. Action Pack is the annual membership program geared toward technology
solution providers selling across all markets.
Single subscription. The new Action Pack simplifies the digital experience through a single
subscription, and provides partners with resources and information per partner business
models. These business models include Reselling, Hosting, Application Design and
Development, Professional Services, Managed Services, and Device Design and
Development. The investment is a single, annual subscription, priced similar to previously
offered Action Pack DD subscription.
Place in Microsoft Partner Network. As technology solution providers business on Microsoft

platforms matures, partners can advance to higher membership levels through
competencies. Competencies enable partners to showcase their deepened skill set and
expertise. Microsoft will identify high potential partners among active Action Pack
subscribers, and help them attain Microsoft silver or gold competencies.
February 24, 2014
Program components what partners get

The table below represents the summary of updated benefits available to partners with the new
Action Pack launch in February 2014.
Benefit
Software + Services
MAPS SP and DD
New Action Pack:
before February 2014
February 2014 and onwards
10 On Premise only
10 On Premise + Cloud (mix)
10 Advisory hours (MAPS DD only)
All Action Pack partners regardless of their business model
Cap of 10 incidents for Business
can earn 5 Advisory hours by selling a cloud deal
Critical Phone Support
10 incidents for Business Critical Phone Support
Online Technical Community: 12
Access to our Partner exclusive Online Technical
hour SLA
Community
None
Technical and sales training guides and Learning Paths
licenses for IUR

Support
Training
organized by business model

Discounts on MCP exams 2 for 1 (promo)
Cloud Enablement
None
None at launch, but cloud onboarding resource for

partners is in progress: Cloud SureStep (Training /
Community/ Sales & Technical Support)
Developer tools
3 MSDN for Action Pack
3 Visual Studio Professional (latest version) licenses. Other
subscriptions - MAPS DD Only
IUR software benefits (Windows, Windows Server, etc.) can

be used for development and testing environments.
Bing credits
$600 ad credits MAPS DD only
$600 Bing search advertising credit all Action Pack

partners
Pinpoint
Prioritization over Network Members
No change.
Campaigns
N/A
Ready-To-Go Marketing Campaigns materials
February 24, 2014
Software and Services licenses for internal use

New Action Pack provides subscribers with both offline software and online services licenses for
internal use (more details in the next table), which includes Windows Intune, Office 365,
Microsoft Azure and CRM Online. This opportunity is available for all Action Pack partners.
Action Pack
Microsoft Software
Internal-Use Licenses
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Workgroup Server 2013
Remark
1 Server
5 Users
Maximum
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Professional (User
0 Seats Initial
Subscription)
Partner can gain additional 5

Seats through 1 CRM Online
deal with a minimum of 5
seats or at least 50 seats of
O365 sales in the previous
12 months
Windows Intune
5 Licenses
1) One License of Windows

Intune can be used up to
five devices.
Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager

Client ML
2) Each license of Windows

Intune used in exchange for
Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Endpoint Protection
one on-premises CAL of

System Center Client
Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Client Management Suite
Management Suite, System
Client ML
Center Configuration
Manager, and System Center
Endpoint Protection
Office 365 Enterprise E3
5 Seats Initial
1) Partner can earn

additional 5 seats of Office
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013*
10
Microsoft Exchange Server - Standard 2013 CALs*
10
Microsoft Lync Server 2013 CALs*
10
365 after selling 25 seats of

Office 365 within the
previous 12 months
2) Each seat of Office 365
used in exchange for one
On-premises CAL of
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise CALs (include
10
Standard CALs)*
Microsoft SharePoint,
Microsoft Exchange, and
Lync) and one license of
Office Professional Plus 2013
Microsoft Exchange Server - Standard 2013
February 24, 2014
Microsoft Lync Server 2013
Microsoft Project Professional 2013*
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Standard
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 CALs*
10
Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Standard
Microsoft Visio Professional 2013*
Microsoft Visual Studio Professional (latest version)*
Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro*
10
Microsoft Azure
$100 Monthly credit
Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro*
10
Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Enterprise*
10
Windows Embedded 8 Standard*
10
Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 Premium
Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 CALs*
10
Windows Server 2012 CALs (not edition specific)
10
Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
Windows Server 2012 R2 Foundation
Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services (RDS) CALs*
10
Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard
Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Workgroup
February 24, 2014
Notes:
*Read additional notes and important details about certain licensing benefits for Microsoft Action Pack subscriptions.
Software and services licenses for internal use are also attractive for Microsoft Cloud Essentials
and Cloud Accelerate subscribers who do not have another Microsoft subscription or
competency. These partners are invited to subscribe to the new Action Pack and continue their
engagement with Microsoft in the cloud space.
When a partner wants to buy additional software or online services licenses to complement their
Action Pack IUR licenses, they should use Microsoft volume licensing programs. Links to
Microsoft volume licensing programs are listed in the resource centers. The resource center for
Reselling is specifically focused on Microsoft volume licensing programs for partner use and for
reselling to customers.
Technical support
In the current (retiring) Action Pack we have 10 advisory hours for DD partners, and no advisory
hours for SP partners. The new Action Pack provides 5 advisory hours of phone support to any
partner who has sold a cloud deal.
To be eligible for the 5 advisory hours immediately at the time of the February 2014 launch, new
Action Pack subscribers must have sold a minimum of one cloud deal within the previous 12
months (February 23, 2013-February 24, 2014).
Partners also have access to our partner support communities, which are online 24/7. This is a
partner-only community, where partners can ask their questions, and review other partners
questions and solutions.
All new Action Pack subscribers can use 10 technical support incidents for Business Critical
Phone Support (for customer server-down issues). These critical incidents are strictly defined as
severe customer issues that immediately impede the operation of a customers business (such as
when a server is down). Additional information is available on the Partner Network Support
Benefits and Incidents page.
Training guides, learning paths
In the new Action Pack subscription, each resource center lists the training guides and learning
paths relevant to the area of specialization specific to the partners line of business. There are
training sections that list relevant learning paths. A learning path is a guide to approximately 5
or 8 courses we recommend that partners take as they build their business. Partners are
February 24, 2014
encouraged to take these courses to get up to speed on new opportunities and learn where
Microsoft is heading. Many of the trainings are localized in multiple languages, and some are
available in English only. Many learning paths listed for Action Pack subscribers are also
recommended learning paths for Microsoft competency partners.
In order to reenroll, partners will be required to fulfill a continuous education requirement. This
can be accomplished by completing two training courses from the published list available in the
Partner Membership Center. This list will be published and courses available by the end of 2014.
Cloud enablement
Cloud SureStep is a way for partners to get their heads wrapped around the cloud, and move
into the cloud with Microsoft. With its self-help approach, Cloud SureStep is a combination of
trainings, plus community outreach, where partners can talk to each other and to Microsoft.
Additionally, advisory support hours will allow partners to really evaluate and begin building the
Cloud business.
Developer tools
Approximately 40% of Microsoft partners do development work of some type, including custom
application development, driver development, and packaged applications. To meet this growing
need, Microsoft Visual Studio development tools (specifically, 3 licenses for Visual Studio
Professional) are now available to all new Action Pack subscribers regardless of their core line of
technology business.
Partners should take advantage of Visual Studio Online to manage software development
projects and host software project data in the cloud. Get up and running in minutes on our
cloud infrastructure without having to install or configure a single server. Connect to your
project in the cloud using your favorite development tool, such as Visual Studio, Eclipse or
Xcode. All Visual Studio Online accounts include 5 free users with the Visual Studio Online Basic
plan, an hour of free cloud build time per month, and more. As your team expands or your
needs grow, pick the right user plans and resources to give each user what they need.
Bing credits
Microsofts small and mid-sized customers use search engines to find their solution provider. To
help partners make sure their websites are optimized for these searches, Action Pack features a
Bing credit, allowing partners to see how Bing works for them. The Bing advertising credits are
available to all subscribers. This is not a global offering today, but the geographic coverage for
February 24, 2014
Bing credits availability is expanding rapidly. The $600 in search advertising credits includes
$100 in Action Pack Subscriber credit and $500 in credit for Action Pack subscriber customers.
Pinpoint
Pinpoint profiles for Microsoft Action Pack members are prioritized over Network Members.
Due to the recent re-launch of Pinpoint on 9/29/2014, we encourage all Microsoft Action Pack
partners to update their Pinpoint profile available at https://pinpoint.microsoft.com/. Ready-toGo marketing campaigns
Ready-to-Go marketing campaigns are available to everybody who is an MPN registered
partner, including Action Pack subscribers. Resource centers in the new Action Pack have links to
specifically selected marketing materials for partners to use as they start or expand their lines of
business. The offered marketing campaigns materials assume that partners evaluate their
business offerings, their target customer segments, and would develop and implement their
own unique go-to-market and sales plan which includes some of the offered ideas and materials
from the Ready-To-Go Campaigns.
Cloud services licensing
New Action Pack software and services licenses for internal partner use now include the Cloud
SKUs.
Office 365
All Action Pack partners can have immediate access to 5 seats of the Enterprise (E3) SKU type of
Office 365 in the subscription. They will have access to another 5 seats of Office 365 if they sell
25 seats of Office 365 within the previous 12 months.
Partners who do not sell cloud have access to 5 seats of Office 365, and 5 seats of Exchange,
SharePoint, and Lync on-premise. Partners have the power of choice; 10 seats on-premise, or (5
seats online + 5 on-premise), and partners can switch to 10 seats online when they sell a cloud
deal. This benefit is worth over US$1,000.00 a year with the Enterprise (E3) SKU.
Cloud Service
SKU
IUR Benefit
Notes
February 24, 2014
Office365
E3
5 seats initial
+ 5 seats through O365
Continue to receive 10 licenses of On-Premise

(Exchange / SharePoint / Lync / Office)
sales (25 seats)
Each seat of O365 used in exchange for 1 On-Premise

Client Access License (CAL) - (SharePoint, Exchange, and
Lync)
CRM Online
CRM Online
0 Seats Initial
Pro
Partner can gain additional 5 Seats through 1 CRM

Online deal with a minimum of 5 seats or at least 50
seats of O365 sales in the previous 12 months.
Windows
Cloud Service
Intune
Only
Microsoft
N/A
5 licenses
Maximum 10 licenses used between On-premise

(System Center Config Mgr) and Windows Intune
$100 Monthly Credit
Azure
CRM Online
Partners have an opportunity to earn up to 5 seats of CRM Online through one deal of CRM
Online with a minimum of 5 seats, or through sales of 50 seats or more of Office 365 in the last
12 months.
Online services have real and significant provider costs every month for every seat that partners
use, and because CRM Online is approximately 5 times more expensive to support for Microsoft
than Office 365 online, partners must be selling CRM Online in order to receive CRM online IUR.
Windows Intune
All partners have access to 5 licenses of Windows Intune. They also have access to 10 licenses of
System Center, (Up to 5 licenses can be deployed online, and once deployed online, another 5
can be deployed on premise.
Microsoft Azure
All Action Pack partners will receive a US$100.00 monthly credit for Microsoft Azure. That is
1,200 savings a year (US) to a partner for hosting a web-site on Microsoft Azure or an
application.
10
February 24, 2014
Requirements
New Microsoft Action Pack requirements effective February are effectively the same for the
former Microsoft Action Pack SP and DD. Requirements for Action Pack eligibility are checked in
the order management system once a partner selects subscribe from the Action Pack Home
Page: http://aka.ms/maps.
MPN membership
Companies must be registered Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) partners, have an active
partner profile and sign the Microsoft partner agreement.
https://partners.microsoft.com/partnerprogram/Welcome.aspx
Partner organization validation
The second validation step is partner organization validation. This is done through an
automated process of checking the Dun and Bradstreet public records system for all worldwide
organizations. Based on the MPN Partner profile, which includes the business name and address,
phone number and web-site URLs, Partner Membership Center (PMC) engine will look for a
partner organization in a Dun & Bradstreet database. Once located, the PMC will check for the
valid industry code.
All legally formed organizations are assigned an industry code when formed. If the industry
code is recognized in Dun and Bradstreet, they have one or a few SICs (standard industry codes).
For partners located in the Dun and Bradstreet database, this will simplify their registration
process. If not located, the partner will be required to take the Microsoft Action Pack Overview
and Assessment.
11
February 24, 2014
If a partner organization industry code matches at least one of the 9 SICs (standard industry
codes) that relate to Technology codes, PMC will pre-approve a partner organization for
Action Pack subscription and will redirect to the Order processing part of the partner portal.
These validated in Dun and Bradstreet partners will not have to take Microsoft Action Pack
Overview and Assessment as a third requirement step; they will be automatically qualified to
receive Action Pack subscription via standard payment process of the annual fee.
Following are the 9 SIC Codes used for checking pre-qualification:
7376 Computer Facilities Management Services
7373 Computer Integrated Systems Design
7378 Computer Maintenance and Repair
7379 Computer Related Services, Not Elsewhere Classified
7377 Computer Rental and Leasing
7371 Computer Programming Services
7374 Computer Processing and Data Preparation and Processing Services
7375 Information Retrieval Services
7372 Prepackaged Software
Examples of entities that do not qualify for membership in MPN (and therefore Action Pack)
include the following:
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
Academic institutions
Students
Government offices
Commercial businesses whose primary focus is not IT-related
Microsoft Action Pack Overview and Assessment

The online Microsoft Action Pack Overview and Assessment educates a partner about the
program, eligibility, benefits, our Microsoft products, and Microsoft licensing. At the end of the
course there is a section with 10 multiple choice questions. A 70% completion score qualifies a
partner to proceed to the subscription purchase. The assessment will remain valid for two years.
Renewing partners will not have to pass the Microsoft Action Pack Overview and Assessment
initially at launch of the new subscription in February 2014, but later this can become a
requirement for renewing partners as well if they are not validated in Dun and Bradstreet
business directory.
12
February 24, 2014
Organizations with non-technology industry codes will not be disqualified from Action Pack
enrollment. They will be prompted to take the Training and Assessment course.
Program fee
The new Action Pack subscription is a single annual subscription payable at point of
membership. Payment is accepted via a bank card/credit card or wire transfer, (depending on
country). Auto-renewal is a capability that is planned to be added for most countries by the
end of 2014. This capability will enable partners to select their subscription to automatically
renew on their anniversary date each year which would result in their preferred payment
mechanism to be automatically charged.
Eligibility restrictions
These restrictions apply to a partner organization that considers purchasing the new Action Pack
subscription.
You can renew only once per year.
Your company cannot hold a Microsoft gold or silver competency.
SP and DD subscriptions had one more restriction, that a company must have fewer than 100
employees. This restriction does not transfer to the new Action Pack. Companies of all size can
be eligible to purchase the new Action Pack.
Competency rules
Partners that have a Microsoft gold or silver competency are not eligible to enroll in the
Microsoft Action Pack subscription program.
Partners with an Action Pack that upgrade to a silver or gold competency are not required to
replace Action Pack software and product keys with those provided by the competency. After
the Action Pack subscription ends, the organization can continue to use Action Pack bits or keys,
together with the new bits or keys granted by the competency, to achieve the total license grant
entitlement. They will not be entitled to the licenses granted through Action Pack after the
subscription expires.
Note: There can be functionality differences between the keys provided by each program.
13
February 24, 2014
Enrollment Experience
Enrollment experience and steps
o
Former Action Pack SP and DD subscribers who enrolled in Action Pack before February 24,
2013, and have no active Action Pack subscriptions should follow the new Action Pack
enrollment/purchasing process from the Microsoft Partner portal.
MPN registered partners who have no Microsoft subscriptions and hold no competency
attainment should follow the new Action Pack enrollment/purchasing process from the
Microsoft Partner portal.
Technology companies who are not MPN registered partners should join MPN and follow
the new Action Pack enrollment/purchasing process from the Microsoft Partner Portal.
Re-enrollment experience and steps

Their Action Pack SP and DD subscriptions will expire between February 24 2014 and February
24 2015. On the day of SP or DD subscription expiration or any time earlier partners are
welcome to re-enroll into the new Action Pack from the Microsoft Partner portal.
Upon successful new Action Pack subscription purchase completion the old SP and DD
subscriptions benefits remain unchanged (they are available for use till they expire), and new
Action Pack subscription benefits are available immediately.
MAPS SP & DD cannot be renewed. As a result, it is possible for a partner to have SP, DD and
new Action Pack, all at the same time for some time.
There is no roll over of unused SP or DD benefits from into the new Action Pack subscription.
There also will be no roll-over benefits from one annual subscription to another subsequent
annual subscription in the new Action Pack.
Call-To-Action for re-enrollment at launch in February 24, 2014:
o
Upgrade your existing or expiring Action Pack SP and DD subscriptions by

subscribing to new Action Pack http://aka.ms/maps
14
February 24, 2014
Other programs migrating to Action Pack

1.
Microsoft cloud incubation programs integrate with Action Pack. Two Microsoft Azure
cloud partner programs, Cloud Accelerate and Cloud Essentials, are being migrated into
Action Pack and competencies.
2.
Microsoft devices development program transitions to Action Pack. Soon after the new
Action Pack launch, partners from Windows Embedded Partner Program will receive an
offer to either enroll in the new Intelligent Systems competency, or the new Action
Pack.
Call-To-Action for enrollment at launch since February 24, 2014:

o
Subscribe to Action Pack today from http://aka.ms/maps
15
February 24, 2014
Action Pack Program Support

o
FAQ for Action Pack
FAQ for Action Pack in the Partner Support Community
Phone your local Regional Customer Service Center for MPN membership and Action
Pack support (phone support is available only to active Action Pack subscribers)
16

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MICROSOFT ACTION PACK PROGRAM GUIDE

Effective November 13 2014

New Action Pack Program Overview ...........................................................................................3

Enrollment Experience ................................................................................................................... 14

February 24, 2014

Call-To-Action for re-enrollment at launch in February 24, 2014: .....................................14