A Microsoft partner earns status, incentives, and co sell access by keeping Microsoft satisfied. That relationship is valuable to the partner and it is precisely the thing that softens their position when they sit across from Microsoft on your behalf. We hold no partner status, so we have nothing to protect but your contract. No partnership. No incentive. No conflict.
Partner designations, competencies, rebates, and co sell pipeline all flow from Microsoft and can be adjusted by Microsoft. A partner who pushes too hard on a client renewal risks the very economics that make their business work. The incentive to keep the peace is real, and it shapes the advice whether the partner intends it to or not.
Rebates and co sell funding depend on partner standing. A firm that needs that funding next quarter cannot afford to be the firm that embarrassed the Microsoft account team this quarter. The leverage you are paying for is structurally capped.
Partners are often steered deals by the same Microsoft sellers who sit across from you. Burning that relationship to win you a few points of discount is a trade most partners will quietly decline to make.
Partner programs reward driving consumption and adoption of Microsoft products. Those are Microsoft's growth objectives. They are not the same as your objective, which is to commit to less and pay below the market median.
None of this requires bad faith. A well meaning partner still operates inside a relationship that quietly limits how far they will go. The cap is invisible to you and very real on your invoice, especially on a large EA renewal negotiation.
Ask the partner what happens to their Microsoft standing if they push your deal to the floor. The hesitation in the answer is your cap.Microsoft Licensing Experts · Why not a partner
Because we hold no Microsoft partnership, there is no rebate, no competency, and no pipeline that our position at the table could put at risk. That is what lets us push an EA renewal to the floor of the concession band and contest audit findings without calculating the cost to a relationship we need to keep. The independence is the product.
Two analyst calls. We will tell you where a partner relationship would have capped your outcome and what the uncapped position is worth.