January 2026: Key Updates for Microsoft Partners
January brings important announcements and program updates designed to help Microsoft partners grow their business. Highlights include skilling opportunities, program enhancements, and strategic initiatives to support partner success.
Partner Skilling Kickoff: Turn Readiness into Growth
Microsoft's January 2026 skilling kickoff empowers partners to build expertise across cloud, security, and AI capabilities. Focused training tracks help partners develop credentials and unlock new revenue streams through advanced technical knowledge.
New Partner Benefits Coming
Upcoming program enhancements will deliver greater value to certified partners. These benefits focus on incentive structures, co-marketing opportunities, and differentiated go-to-market support that reward partners for driving innovation and customer outcomes.
CSP Program Updates and Pricing Announcements
The Cloud Solution Provider program continues to evolve. January announcements include updates to CSP promo license caps for Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 bundles, providing partners with expanded promotional flexibility to drive customer acquisitions and accelerate cloud adoption.
MFA Enforcement Timeline
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement for Partner Center APIs begins April 1, 2026. Partners should begin implementation planning now to ensure seamless integration with the new security requirements and avoid service interruptions.
Solutions Partner for Modern Work Program Updates
The Solutions Partner for Modern Work specialization continues to provide competitive advantages. January updates clarify requirements, expand eligible workloads, and introduce enhanced go-to-market resources to help partners succeed in the modern workplace transformation market.
SharePoint Online and OneDrive Retirement Advisory
Microsoft announced the retirement timeline for standalone SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business plans. Partners should review this guidance to understand customer impact and begin engagement conversations around migration strategies to current Microsoft 365 offerings.
Source: Microsoft Partner Network