Microsoft Program Announcements
Defend with Confidence with Microsoft Defender for Business
Take advantage of our 20% DISCOUNT on Microsoft Defender for Business - Exclusive to First Distribution
Microsoft Defender for Business is an enterprise-grade security endpoint solution for SMBs which provides security to SMBs that goes beyond anti-virus protection. SMBs who can best benefit from MDB are those with minimal to no security protection or those using competitive solutions. These businesses are often already Microsoft users with Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Business Standard and lack the necessary protection to secure their employees’ endpoints.
Get 15% off on Microsoft Copilot with First Distribution and Microsoft
On September 1, 2024, Microsoft launched the Getting Started with Copilot for Microsoft 365 promotion, which provides CSP partners 15% off the net partner price for all new customer subscriptions between 10 and 300 Copilot licenses.
This 15% off promotion is available for new Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription. Partners adding licenses to existing Copilot for Microsoft 365 customer subscriptions won’t receive the discount.
August Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) monthly updates and community reminder
Monthly views are now published including the updated partner launch calendars, the CSP Bimonthly Update newsletter, along with CSP community resources that provide you with essential program updates.
- Date: August 7, 2024
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: CSP direct bill partners and indirect providers
Always available—Launch content on demand
For a consolidated view of all recent and active launches in a single place, visit the partner launch calendars collection. You’ll find a timeline for each launch and links to published materials to help you learn more about that launch.
The downloadable CSP Bimonthly Update newsletter, which aggregates recent CSP announcements, updates, events, and reminders in an easy-to-read document.
Partner Journey Maps provide detailed navigation along the journey of Microsoft’s highest priority transformations.
Need licensing readiness? The monthly CSP spotlight webinars cover the latest CSP licensing information available for all partners.
Reminder: Copilot for Microsoft 365 (Education Student 18+) is now available
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is available for higher education institutions to purchase as an add-on for their students aged 18 and older.
- Date: August 13, 2024
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners
As of May 1, 2024, Copilot for Microsoft 365 is available for higher education institutions to purchase as an add-on for students aged 18 and older. Customers can purchase through their licensing provider with Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES) volume licensing, Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), or Microsoft account team.
In terms of eligibility requirements, students or faculty who have licenses via student use benefits (SUB) must be assigned Microsoft 365 or Office 365 A1, A3, or A5 licenses.
Other updates are as follows:
- The minimum seat purchase requirement has been removed for Copilot for Microsoft 365 across all channels and segments. However, customers must have a product license of one of the prerequisite base SKUs for each seat of Copilot for Microsoft 365 they purchase.
- Partners can refer to the original CSP announcement in Partner Center from January for more information on how they can transact Copilot for Microsoft 365 today.
- All new CSP SKUs need to utilise the new commerce experience (NCE) moving forward.
- Customers in China are able to purchase via web direct for faculty as of April 5, 2024.
Upcoming preview of Microsoft Office LTSC 2024
Microsoft 365 offers the cloud-backed apps, security, and storage that customers worldwide rely on to achieve more in a connected world – and lays a foundation for leveraging generative AI to go even further. However, we know that some customers have niche yet important scenarios that require a truly long-term servicing channel: regulated devices that cannot accept feature updates for years at a time, process control devices on the manufacturing floor that are not connected to the internet, and specialty systems like medical testing equipment that run embedded apps that must stay locked in time. For these special cases, Microsoft continues to offer and support the Office Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC). Today we are pleased to announce that the commercial preview of the next Office LTSC release – Office LTSC 2024 – will begin next month, with general availability to follow later this year.