Microsoft Program Announcements
Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace now available
Build and publish solutions faster, scale your business, and drive revenue through Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace.
- Date: September 28, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: Eligible partners
Turn AI innovation into Microsoft Marketplace opportunities through trusted expertise, skilled teams, and savings and investments. Now available to eligible partners, Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace provides a unified experience to guide you through building and publishing, growing, and differentiating your business on Marketplace—so you can accelerate transactions and scale revenue as your business grows.
Frontier Partner specialisation now live
The Frontier Partner specialisation validates agentic AI delivery capabilities. Start working toward the specialisation today.
- Date: September 30, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: All partners
Starting on September 30, 2026, all eligible partners can earn the new Frontier Partner specialisation. This specialisation recognises partners who can design, build, deploy, govern, and secure AI agents across the full Microsoft Frontier Transformation stack—which includes Microsoft 365 Copilot, Azure AI Foundry, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Entra, and Microsoft Purview.
New security designation workloads
More ways to attain the Solutions Partner designation for Security.
- Date: October 5, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: CSP distributors, CSP indirect resellers, CSP direct bill partners, Scale Solution Providers (SSPs), and global systems integrators/systems integrators (GSIs/SIs) pursuing the Solutions Partner designation for Security.
Stand out from the competition and unlock benefits that grow your business with more ways to attain the Solutions Partner designation for Security.
Explore what's new in PostgreSQL
Turn new PostgreSQL on Azure capabilities into modernisation and managed services opportunities.
- Date: October 7, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: Systems integrators, global systems integrators (GSIs), software development companies.
Put the latest PostgreSQL on Azure capabilities at the center of your next database conversation. Announced at FabCon Europe, the updates pair AI-assisted operations with Azure Ultra Disk Storage, Storage Autogrow, and long-term retention previews, plus governance and access management capabilities for enterprise operations.
Office LTSC 2021 end of support
Office LTSC 2021, Project LTSC 2021, and Visio LTSC 2021 nearing end of support.
- Date: September 15, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: All partners, including Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners and advisors.
Support for Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) 2021, Project LTSC 2021, and Visio LTSC 2021 ends on October 13, 2026. After this date, these products no longer receive updates, security fixes, or technical support.
Nonprofit promotions to drive Copilot growth
Create new Microsoft 365 Copilot sales opportunities with nonprofit promotions, available through December 31, 2026.
- Date: September 24, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: CSP distributors, indirect resellers, and direct bill partners serving nonprofit customers.
Expand your Microsoft 365 Copilot pipeline with new nonprofit-specific Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) promotions that increase customer affordability while creating additional opportunities for renewals, upselling, and AI conversations.
Introducing the new Copilot: One connected experience, designed for the next phase of AI-powered work
Introducing one connected experience, designed for the next phase of AI-powered work.
- Date: September 25, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: All partners.
Customers increasingly want AI to take on complex work, build solutions, and automate business processes. They also need the business context, governance, and commercial flexibility required to scale AI across their organisations.
Enhance Business Premium security deals with a new CSP partner promotion
Build a 7.5% promotion into qualifying Business Premium security quotes beginning October 1, 2026.
- Date: October 1, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: Eligible CSP direct bill partners and distributors selling Defender Suite or Purview Suite for Business Premium to customers with fewer than 300 seats
Starting October 1, 2026, Microsoft is introducing a 7.5% promotional Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) pricing for eligible partners offering Microsoft Defender Suite for Business Premium and Microsoft Purview Suite for Business Premium to eligible customers with fewer than 300 seats.
Eligible CSP distributors and direct bill partners receive promotional pricing that they can build directly into quoting and pricing. If eligible, you decide how to reflect that pricing in your offer, giving you greater flexibility to compete, manage deal economics, and expand your small and medium-sized business (SMB) security business.
Update: Usage-based billing is default on for new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licenses starting December 1, 2026
The effective date for this change has been updated. Previously communicated as November 2, 2026, usage-based billing will now be enabled by default for new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business subscriptions purchased through CSP, beginning December 1, 2026. Additional updates on availability, Partner Center sandbox environments, and default spending limits are also included.
- Date: October 1, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: CSP partners (distributors, indirect resellers, direct bill, SSPs), systems integrators, and software development companies selling Microsoft 365 Copilot Business.
Starting December 1, 2026, usage-based billing will be enabled by default for new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licenses purchased in Cloud Solution Provider (CSP). Pay-as-you-go will be the default billing configuration to help customers access eligible usage-based experiences, including Copilot Cowork, Work IQ APIs, and GitHub Copilot Harness, with less billing setup, while also providing flexibility to expand usage over time based on business needs.
Growth margin is live
Earn incremental margin on qualifying growth across strategic workloads starting October 1, 2026.
- Date: October 1, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: CSP direct bill partners and distributors.
As announced in July, growth margin goes live on October 1, 2026, creating a new way for eligible Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) direct bill partners and distributors to earn extra margin as they grow customer adoption of strategic Microsoft solutions.