Gaining Clout In A Hot Market
10th Magnitude and New Signature have one common characteristic that makes them especially valuable to a company like Cognizant and its customers: Both are on the list of only 70 certified Azure Expert Managed Service Providers worldwide.
Gaining that Azure Expert Managed Service Providers certification takes a lot of work. To get it, an MSP must work with Microsoft on a pre-audit assessment and an on-site audit, and could require over 300 hours of effort, according to Microsoft. The MSP will also need to meet eight basic requirements:
• Have an active Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform competency
• Drive a high minimum bar of monthly Azure consumed revenue
• Have an active Cloud Solution Provider contract in place
• Have its MSP offering listed in AppSource or Azure Marketplace
• Promote its Azure MSP offering on its website
• Meet the minimum number of individuals with the required certifications
• Submit four customer references for its Azure MSP solution, including one public case study
• Have Advanced Support for Partners or Premier Support for Partners covering Azure
