Microsoft Launches Estimated ACR for IP Co-Sell Opportunities
Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Estimated Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) field in Partner Center's Referral Submission experience. This new capability is designed to help partners and Microsoft sellers better understand cloud potential and accelerate deal progression for Azure-related opportunities.
What's New?
Starting February 6, 2026, partners submitting IP Co-Sell referrals can now include an optional Estimated Azure Consumed Revenue value. This new field complements the existing Estimated Contract Value (ECV) by capturing the expected Azure usage and consumption for cloud-driven solutions.
The Estimated ACR field is:
- Optional: You choose whether to include ACR estimates for your opportunities
- Azure-specific: Appears only for IP Co-Sell referrals involving Azure products or services
- Currency-aligned: Aligned to the currency selected for your deal value
Why Estimated ACR Matters
Providing an Estimated ACR estimate serves multiple strategic purposes:
For Partners
Quantifying the cloud consumption potential of your deals helps you:
- Demonstrate the true cloud impact of your solutions
- Prioritize high-value cloud transformation opportunities
- Align your selling strategy with Microsoft's cloud revenue goals
- Showcase your understanding of customer cloud economics
For Microsoft Sellers
An ACR estimate enables Microsoft's sales teams to:
- Understand the full cloud potential of your co-sell opportunities
- Prioritize engagement and allocate the right expertise early
- Make faster deal progression decisions
- Align internal resources to support high-impact cloud deals
How It Works
When submitting an IP Co-Sell referral in Partner Center:
- Fill out the standard referral details (customer, opportunity, ECV, timeline)
- If the deal involves Azure products or services, you'll see the new Estimated Azure Consumed Revenue field
- Enter your best estimate of expected Azure consumption
- Submit the referral as usual
Real-World Applications
The Estimated ACR field is particularly valuable for opportunities involving:
- Cloud migrations: Estimate compute, storage, and data services consumption
- AI and analytics: Forecast consumption for AI services, SQL databases, and analytics platforms
- Infrastructure modernization: Project Azure IaaS and PaaS usage for legacy system replacements
- Digital transformation: Estimate full cloud consumption for business process transformation initiatives
Best Practices for ACR Estimation
When providing your Estimated ACR:
- Be realistic: Use historical data, customer benchmarks, and industry comparables
- Consider the timeline: Project consumption over the expected subscription or service period
- Account for growth: Many cloud workloads scale over time—factor in projected growth
- Document assumptions: If asked, be prepared to explain your estimation methodology
Availability and Next Steps
This capability is available now in Partner Center. To start leveraging Estimated ACR:
- Review your current IP Co-Sell pipeline for Azure-related opportunities
- Gather data on customer cloud consumption patterns and projected growth
- When submitting referrals, include Estimated ACR values alongside your ECV estimates
- Track the correlation between ACR estimates and actual deal progression
Why Now?
As Microsoft continues its cloud transformation journey, understanding the full consumption potential of partner opportunities becomes increasingly important. This feature aligns with Microsoft's focus on cloud-centric solutions and helps partners and sellers make more informed decisions about opportunity prioritization.
By providing both Estimated Contract Value and Estimated Azure Consumed Revenue, you're giving Microsoft's sales organization a complete picture of the deal's cloud impact—not just the initial contract size.
TL;DR
- New feature: Estimated Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) field now available in Partner Center Referral Submission
- What it does: Allows partners to estimate expected Azure consumption for IP Co-Sell opportunities
- Why it matters: Helps Microsoft sellers prioritize engagement and allocate resources to high-potential cloud deals
- When to use: When submitting IP Co-Sell referrals involving Azure products or services
- Next step: Start including ACR estimates in your referrals to showcase full cloud opportunity potential