Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Partner Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) Microsoft partner may realize by participating the Microsoft skilling and enablement program.¹ This abstract will focus on global channel sales (GCS) partners utilizing the Microsoft skilling and enablement program and its value to their organizations.

Following interviewees at Microsoft GCS partner organizations fit this spotlight profile:

• VP at a GCS partner organization with 15,000 employees.

• Senior director at a GCS partner organization with 2,000 employees.

• Global cloud commercial lead at a GCS partner organization with 28,000 employees.

• Director of partner strategy and head of certification at a GCS partner organization with 127,000 employees.

GCS partners operate primarily as distributors, resellers, and midmarket-focused solution providers within the Microsoft ecosystem. They serve a broad and diverse network of smaller partners and resellers, often targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and midmarket organizations. Some of them specialize in enabling very small managed service providers (MSPs) and resellers who do not have direct relationships with Microsoft, supporting tens of thousands of resellers globally. These partners typically manage large, distributed ecosystems requiring scalable and flexible skilling and enablement programs.

Microsoft’s skilling and enablement program is a comprehensive initiative designed to equip partners and their ecosystems with the knowledge, certifications, and practical skills needed to effectively deploy, sell, and support Microsoft technologies. It offers a variety of learning formats, including online courses, instructor-led training, hands-on labs, and certification exams, covering foundational to advanced levels across Microsoft’s cloud, AI, security, and business application portfolios.

GCS partners leverage these programs to address their distinct challenges of managing large, diverse reseller networks primarily serving SMB and midmarket organizations. They implement phased enablement journeys that start with internal team readiness and extend to reseller enablement, often offering tailored support to smaller, less mature partners. By co-designing and customizing Microsoft content to fit market realities, GCS partners can enhance the relevance and impact of skilling. They also can invest in scalable operational capabilities — such as voucher distribution, integrated learning platforms, and KPI tracking — to efficiently manage certification progress across thousands of partners. This strategic use of Microsoft skilling can enable GCS partners to grow their ecosystems, increase deal sizes, improve reseller confidence, and ultimately drive business growth in competitive SMB markets.

Investment Drivers For GCS Partner Organization

The interviewees’ organizations leveraged Microsoft skilling and enablement program to equip their extensive and diverse reseller ecosystems with the necessary skills and certifications to qualify as Microsoft partners, drive reseller growth, increase deal size and revenue, build customer trust, and improve operational delivery efficiency in SMB and midmarket segments. GCS partners hold a unique position within Microsoft ecosystem and constantly faced the following challenges:

• Managing large, diverse, and less mature reseller ecosystems. Interviewees said their GCS partner organizations operated within a complex ecosystem of thousands of small and midsized resellers, many of whom lack the maturity or direct Microsoft relationship to independently manage certifications and enablement. This required GCS partners to invest heavily in phased, hands-on enablement journeys that started with internal readiness and extended to extensive reseller support. The senior director at a GCS partner organization explained: “Our resellers maybe have four to five people. … They’re very small and they’re trying just to start their business.” This interviewee further described certification as “Phase 2” in a broader enablement journey, where many resellers were not yet ready for Microsoft’s certification programs and needed guided growth programs first.

• Scaling enablement operations across network. The sheer scale of GCS partners’ reseller networks introduced operational complexity in distributing vouchers, tracking certification progress, and managing KPIs across a widely dispersed and heterogeneous partner base. The director of partner strategy at a GCS partner organization highlighted their unique API integration between Microsoft and their internal systems to automate certification campaign data flow — a capability not commonly found in GSI partners. The senior director at a GCS partner organization mentioned that their organization was building bulk voucher programs with reporting capabilities to track reseller certification progress and engagement. This operational challenge was unique to GCS partners due to their ecosystem model and contrasts with GSI partners’ focus on internal skilling.

• Balancing cost and time investment. Smaller resellers within GCS ecosystems often faced significant constraints on time and budget to dedicate to training and certification, making cost and opportunity cost critical barriers. The senior director’s organization invested hundreds of thousands annually in vouchers and instructor-led programs to subsidize costs for resellers. This interviewee noted, “Smaller corporations do not immediately jump to putting their person through a course that’s going to cost them a thousand dollars a week of their time and then a $100 to $150 voucher fee.” GCS partners must carefully balance investment to maximize ROI while ensuring accessibility for smaller partners. GSI partners, with larger internal teams and more direct control, face fewer such constraints.

• Need for customized, industry- and SMB-relevant content. GCS partners consistently expressed the need for Microsoft skilling content that was tailored to SMB markets and specific industry verticals. Interviewees from GCS partner organizations emphasized co-designing or piloting customized training to better fit their unique markets. The senior director at a GCS partner organization said, “Some of the program is focused on large enterprise, large deal customers, but this story is less relevant to the space that we serve.” The director of partner strategy at a GCS partner organization highlighted the importance of industry-specific architectural information as a future evolution to increase impact.

Investment objectives

The interviewees’ organizations chose to invest in Microsoft’s skilling and enablement program for the following reasons:

• Partner qualification and compliance. GCS partners invested in skilling programs because certifications are mandatory for Microsoft partner eligibility and solution designations, which unlock incentives and allow participation in competitive bids. The global cloud commercial lead at a GCS partner organization shared: “Skills and enablement are as important as solution designation, specialization, etc. It’s part of the game.”

• Enablement of reseller ecosystems. GCS partners manage large, fragmented networks of smaller resellers who often lack maturity and direct Microsoft relationships. Microsoft skilling and enablement programs helped uplift these partners, enabling them to sell and deploy Microsoft solutions effectively.

• Revenue growth and deal expansion. GCS partners saw the skilling and enablement programs as a lever to increase deal size, upsell advanced solutions, and drive recurring revenue. Skilled resellers can position higher-value offerings like security, Copilot, and Azure, which directly impact profitability. The senior director at a GCS partner organization shared: “Knowledge on Microsoft products and going through a certification journey will allow us to increase the size or deal size, right and upsell.”

• Customer trust and market credibility. Certifications built confidence with customers, especially in SMB markets where trust was critical. Certified teams helped resellers win deals and meet compliance requirements in RFPs. The director of partner strategy at a GCS partner organization explained: “Customers require certified people on the actual CV, the actual people who are on board.” The senior director at a GCS partner organization emphasized that certifications help resellers “have more constructive conversations with clients” and “solve real-life problems.” This driver highlights the credibility and trust factor that certifications bring to GCS partners and their ecosystems.

Key Results For GCS Partners

The results of the investment for the interviewees’ organizations include:

Increased deal size and revenue growth. GCS partners leveraged Microsoft skilling programs to transform transactional engagements into strategic, multi-workload opportunities. The programs enabled sellers and technical teams to move beyond basic product knowledge toward outcome-driven solution selling. Role-based learning paths, instructor-led cohorts, and hands-on labs equipped teams to position modernization, security, and AI solutions effectively. Partners also operationalized enablement through curated sales plays and campaign kits, ensuring that training translated into repeatable motions. Voucher funding and exam support removed cost barriers, accelerating certification completion. The VP at a GCS partner organization reported that adopting a modernization mindset through skilling “enabled us to grow project scope by 30% to 40% within just a year,” creating stickiness for recurring business. The global commercial cloud lead at a GCS partner observed “around 35% growth” in new revenue streams after intensive enablement programs, while the senior director at another GCS partner organization noted, “Knowledge on Microsoft products and going through a certification journey allowed us to increase the size or deal size, right and upsell.” These results demonstrated that when skilling was commercialized and tied to business outcomes, GCS partners achieved measurable revenue growth and higher margins.

Improved customer trust and market credibility. Certifications and enablement programs played a critical role in building customer confidence and meeting compliance requirements in competitive bids. GCS partners executed companywide certification campaigns with clear KPIs, ensuring that certified experts were available in-region and on-project to satisfy RFP criteria. The head of certification at a GCS partner organization emphasized that “customers required certified people on the actual CV, the actual people who are on board,” highlighting the importance of certification in winning deals. The VP at a GCS organization acknowledged that certifications were essential to “build confidence” in delivery teams. The senior director at a GCS organization added that certifications helped resellers “have more constructive conversations with clients” and “solve real-life problems.” By combining certification breadth with demonstrable expertise, GCS partners strengthened their market positioning and credibility, resulting in higher win rates and improved customer trust.

Operational efficiency and delivery quality. Microsoft skilling programs improved operational performance by embedding standardized delivery practices and technical proficiency across GCS partner ecosystems. Training aligned closely with Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework and reference architectures, reducing design variance and accelerating implementation. Hands-on labs and hackathons reinforced practical skills, while tiered support skilling lowered escalation rates by empowering frontline teams to resolve issues quickly. The director of partner strategy at a GCS partner organization reported that higher skill levels “allowed us to better use resources in quicker situations,” reducing reliance on third-line support and shortening incident resolution times. The VP at a GCS partner organization noted that certification combined with reference architectures yielded “30% to 50% more efficient” delivery compared to ad hoc approaches. These improvements translated into lower operational costs, higher customer satisfaction, and stronger renewal rates, making skilling a strategic enabler for delivery excellence.

Talent retention and career development. Skilling programs became a cornerstone of talent management strategies for GCS partners, supporting career progression and reducing attrition. Certifications were linked to promotion criteria and financial incentives, creating transparent pathways for advancement. Partners institutionalized learning through structured academies, communities of practice, and protected study time, mitigating the tension between billable work and professional development. The senior director at a GCS partner organization reported low turnover among certified technical staff, noting that certifications were embedded in promotion frameworks and reward systems. The head of certification at a GCS partner organization highlighted that skilling supported “career development” and internal mobility, enabling flexible staffing across geographies. By investing in continuous learning, GCS partners retained critical technical talent, reduced hiring costs, and maintained delivery capacity in a competitive labor market.

Ecosystem enablement and partner growth. For GCS partners, Microsoft skilling and enablement programs were instrumental in uplifting their extensive reseller networks and driving SMB market penetration. These partners implemented phased enablement journeys that began with internal readiness and extended to reseller and customer activation. Bulk voucher programs and co-funded instructor-led cohorts removed financial barriers for smaller partners, while LMS and API integrations automated enrollment, progress tracking, and reporting across thousands of resellers. The director of partner strategy at a GCS partner organization reported that their organization integrated Microsoft and internal systems to orchestrate certification campaigns at scale, while the senior director at a GCS partner organization emphasized, “We focus on both internal enablement and reseller enablement because to teach our resellers what they need, we need to be knowledgeable ourselves.” The global cloud commercial lead at a GCS partner organization reinforced its role to “enable all the channels and help our vendors to drive adoption of their products and services,” reporting net-new revenue streams as resellers became solution-capable. By localizing content for SMB relevance and industry verticals, GCS partners ensured that training resonated with their ecosystems, resulting in improved partner confidence, broader market coverage, and accelerated growth.