FY16H2 Microsoft O365 Offer
Frequently Asked Questions
February 10, 2016
Office 365 Terms and Conditions
https://assets.microsoft.com/Office-365-Sprint-to-the-Finish-Incentive-Terms-and-Conditions-Global.docx
FAQ Sections
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Overview
Operations
Payments
Overview
Q: What are you offering?
We are pleased to announce a new Office 365 promotional offer available to eligible Microsoft partners starting February
1st, 2016. Designed as a partner channel incentive, a partner can receive up to $10,000 (USD) via selling the Office 365
subscription service to net new customers. Customers must purchase a qualifying Office 365 SKU; Office 365 Business
Premium, Office 365 Business, Office 365 Business Essentials, ProPlus, and the Enterprise SKUs (E1, E3, E4, and E5) K1 and
Exchange Online Only. To be eligible for rebate payouts, the customer must be a net new Office 365 customer (i.e. a new
tenant) and these new customer must exhibit “active usage” of Office 365 on at least one of the Office 365 workloads.
Up to $50 per Office 365 seat on all new customer adds post the 3 rd new customer add by partner during offer period.
Earn up to $10,000 per partner.
Please refer to the Terms and Conditions documentation for all applicable eligibility and requirements.
Q: What is the partner eligibility criteria for this offer?
 This offer is available to all Microsoft Resellers transacting via Open and CSP channels.
 Partner must be registered for the offer via the campaign portal by June 1st.
 Partner must be classified as a registered Microsoft Partner Network partner, and have a “MPN ID”.
 To redeem and receive rebate payouts, partner must ensure customer has proof of Office 365 purchase within the
offering period, and ensure the customer has completed the “active usage” requirements. See Terms and
Conditions on “Active Usage” definition and requirement threshold.
Q: What is the customer transaction eligibility criteria for this offer?
 Offer applies to net new customers who have purchased an Office 365 qualifying SKU between February 1, 2016
and June 30, 2016.
 Promotional Offer available for purchases through Open or CSP licensing programs.
 For a customer to be counted, each must have:
 A minimum of 5 seats of an Office 365 qualifying SKU, with a Maximum of 50 seats payout.
 Must be new Office 365 Customer Add (i.e. net new tenant).
 Customer must complete a Partner of Record (PoR) form with transacting partner.
 Must be current on all payables to Microsoft or Distributor.
 Must have an active subscription at the time of offer payment calculation.
Q: What is the promotion timeframe for this offer?
 February 1, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Q: Are there any minimum thresholds required for offer eligibility?
 Yes, the partner minimum payout is $250.
 Yes, customer must purchase a Minimum of 5 Seats.
 Tenants have meet “active usage” (i.e. consumption) requirement.
Q: What is Active Usage?
Active Usage is defined as:
a) the Office 365 service is activated on the customer’s device within the 1st 60 days of purchase, and
b) for each seat purchased (i.e. as shown as an Active Qualified Entitlement), a minimum of one Office 365
Entitlement must be “active” for 2 consecutive months post-purchase date.
As defined in Cloud Services Dashboard, the “Active Entitlement” (i.e. Unique Active Users) is a unique count of
users, by workload, that have taken an intentional action within that workload in the past 30-days, rolling.
Examples of intentional actions include sending, forwarding or replying to emails via Exchange Online; uploading
or downloading a file; creating or editing a site via SharePoint Online; participating in an IM or Skype call via
Skype for Business; or posting or replying to a post via Yammer. Please refer to the Terms & Conditions for list of
“Intentional Action” by Workload.
Q: What is the payout structure in the offer?
 Partner is able to earn a rebate starting on their 4th net new customer add within the “offering period”.
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All 1 to 4 customer adds must meet the same qualifying offer criteria, making the 4th new customer add eligible
for rebate payout, and all subsequent customer adds up to the max payout of $10,000 (USD)
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Only qualifying O365 SKUs in the 4th and subsequent adds will be counted as part of the rebate (e.g. no other
SKUs such as a Dynamics CRM SKU that might be part of the full purchase transaction will count toward rebate.)
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Rebate payout calculation is based on the SKU’s sold. Partners will earn $15, $30, or $50 per seat depending upon
the Office 365 SKU sold.
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Discounted or free SKU’s are not eligible for the offer.
Q: Are there any maximum payouts in the offer?
Yes, the maximum payout per partner is capped at $10,000.
Q: Will this offer be extended into FY17?
This promotion is a limited, one-time promotion/program for FY16 H2 only and will NOT continue into FY17.
Q: Is this offer available in all geographies?
The offer is available in all geographies where the service is available via OPEN and CSP. China is excluded.
Operations
Q: How are Customers and Seats defined?
Customers will be defined as a tenant on the Microsoft Platform – this can be found in the Partner Admin tool for O365.
Seats are the licenses that are assigned to users in the Partner Admin tool for O365.
Q: What products are eligible?
This offer extends to Office 365 SKUs only.
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Business Essentials
- Enterprise SKUs with Office 365; E1, E3, E4, and E5.
- K1 Plan
- Exchange Online Only SKUs
Q: Where can I track my customers Active Usage of Office 365?
You can find out exactly which customers have Active Usage via the Microsoft Partner Network’s “Cloud Services
Dashboard”. See partner instructions and link to user guide in the appendix of this FAQ.
Q: Where can I find more information on how to use the MPN Cloud Services Dashboard?
Please review the detailed instructions guide on how to access the MPN Cloud Services Dashboard and navigate to your
customer’s Active Usage data. Guide is included in Appendix A, at the end of this FAQs document.
Q: Is there a similar program for CSP?
Yes, this O365 Cashback offer is available to Microsoft resellers transacting via the CSP channel. All Terms and Conditions
are the same CSP as they are for Open and Syndication channels. Please not that there is not a separate offer for CSP but
rather the performance across both OPEN and CSP are combined for the purposes of this offer.
Q: Can I qualify for this offer as well as other promotions at the same time (e.g. Office 365 FastTrack)?
It depends on the restrictions of the other promotions. However, SMB Sprint to the Finish offers are independent of one
another and can be incremental to any other channel incentives. Partners, if eligible, can be paid on multiple SMB Sprint
to the Finish offers as well as other incentives including Office 365 FastTrack. Please contact your Microsoft representative
with specific questions or more information.
Q: How will my promotion payout value be calculated?
Your promotion payout value will be calculated using Microsoft Internal sales tools in order of transaction date and time.
If multiple products are sold on the same transaction, we will calculate the rebate amount to maximize your payout.
Q: When will my final payment be calculated?
Your final payment will be calculated approximately August 30th in USD.
Q: In which currency will I receive the promotion payout?
Unless otherwise specified by Microsoft, payments will be provided by Microsoft or a third party payment company on its
behalf in USD.
Q: What if there is a discrepancy between my records/data and Microsoft’s?
Microsoft shall have the sole right, at its own discretion, to use Microsoft’s internal sales tools and methodology to
provide results to Partners. Microsoft reserves the right, at its own discretion, to reject a partner claim as valid for this
offer. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions for complete details.
Q: Where can I find the Terms and Conditions?
Terms and conditions is available here and through the campaign registration portal. Please contact your local Microsoft
representative for more details.
Q: Will sales involving free or discounted SKUs count towards my performance as a partner for this offer?
No. Discounted or free SKU’s are not eligible for the offer.
Q: Where can I register?
The campaign registration portal is here.
Q: When can I register?
The campaign registration portal will be open March 1st – June 1st.
Q: What if I fail to register for the offer in time?
Failure to register on time will disqualify you from the offer.
Q: What if I register twice for the offer?
Registration is required one time per partner per offer. All deals within the offer period would be eligible under that
registration. You are able to register multiple times for the offer by partner but only one payment will be made.
Q: I have multiple MPN IDs should I register them all? Which ID should I use?
The ID that should be registered is the one that will get used by the customer to assign your organization to the Digital
Partner of record. In the calculations Microsoft will use the ID registered for your organization to match against the
customers Digital Partner of record. If you have multiple ID’s Microsoft will use the parent ID as the matching ID between
systems (this parenting hierarchy can be found in the MPN website). There is no need for you to register your parent ID.
Q: What is “Digital Partner of Record”?
To qualify for Office 365, CRM Online, and EMS incentives, each Customer is required to attach the Partner as their Digital
Partner of Record for the product subscription the Partner is actively managing. Download the customer guide to
attaching a D-POR. Learn more via the D-POR resources site on MPN.
Q: What if there is a different partner involved that is partner of record how does the selling partner get involved
in the offer?
As these offers are all tied to the ongoing service we are focused on that partner that will provide the ongoing service. For
the selling partner we strongly suggest that you become the partner of record for your customers as only the partner of
record will be paid for this incentive.
Q: In past offers the partner has just been required to sell the service and or product what is different here?
Simply selling the service is the first step, ensuring ongoing usage of the service is key – we are therefore no longer using
the sale of the license as the measure of partner performance in this offer. To be recognized for this offer the partner
needs to become digital partner of record.
Q: Will seats and customers count towards the offer that were sold in a different period but where my MPN ID was
assigned as Digital Partner of record within the offer period?
No. Sales of the seats and or customers need to be within the offer period.
Q: I sold seats in the offer period but failed to assign my MPN ID as Digital Partner of record within the offer
period can these seats still count towards my performance?
To count the sale needs to happen within the offer period and the digital partner of record needs to be updated by the
final calculation date (August 30th).
Q: What if I sold the transaction, however the customer has attached a different (or changed to a different)
Partner of Record?
The Partner who is attached at the time of final payment calculation will receive the credit for the transaction. If the
Partner of Record is changed after the final payment calculation date, that change will not be counted.
Q: What if the bill for the seats is not up to date?
If Microsoft records indicate that the account for the seats is in arrears it will not be counted in the offer.
Q: Will a customer who originally purchased through an Advisor partner and now shift to a CSP show up a net new
Customer?
No, this customer is not considered a “new Office 365 customer”, which is an eligibility requirement for partner to receive
the Cashback payout. The Office 365 Cashback program’s definition of Office 365 “new customer” means that a net new
tenant on Office 365 based-on and validated by “create date” of the tenant. Microsoft reporting systems track the original
“create date” regardless of transacting partner, and regardless of channel used to purchase.
Q: Can a customer purchase Office 365 seats at multiple times during the “Offering Period”? And does this count
as an eligible “net new customer add” for the partner to receive the Cashback payout?
Yes, a customer can have multiple purchase dates (i.e. multiple transactions) of Office 365 during the offering period with
the partner of record. Eligibility is tracked against the total number of O365 seats purchased during the offering period.
Therefore, provided the customer achieves the minimum 5 seat threshold this is considered a “net new O365 customer”,
and the partner of record payout will be calculated on the total number of O365 seats purchased during the offering
period.
Q: What if the customer purchases multiple different SKUs of Office 365, how will the partner payout be
calculated? And what if a customer who purchased multiple different O365 SKUs, also purchases more than 50
seats… how is the payout calculated?
If the customer purchases LESS than 50 seats of O365, and that customer purchases multiple different O365 SKUs at
different payout levels during the offering period; the Cashback payout will use the exact number of seats for each SKU in
the transaction, and the corresponding SKU tier level. Example: customer buys a total of 30 seats, 10 seats of O365
Business Premium in March, and 25 seats of Exchange Online in April. Based on the SKU Payout Levels; 20 x $30 + 25 x
$15 = $975.
If the customer purchases MORE than 50 seats of O365, and that customer purchases multiple different O365 SKUs at
different payout levels during the offering period. First, the “customer add” does qualify for the cashback payout, but
ONLY up to the 50 seat maximum threshold. The Cashback payout will use the exact number of seats for each SKU in the
transaction “based on transaction date”, and the corresponding SKU tier level. Example: customer buys a total of 55
seats, 10 seats of O365 Business Premium in March, 25 seats of Exchange Online in April, and 20 seats of E3 in May. Based
on the SKU Payout Level; (20 x $30) + (25 x $15) + (15 x $50) = $1,725. Note that only 15 of the 20 E3 seats sold are
included in the payout calculation as it exceeded the 50 seat maximum, and it was the latest transaction date in
chronological order.
Payments
When will I receive my payment?
Payments will be made approximately September 30th pending verification and validation of all information.
Q: Where can I see my current progress in this offer?
Reporting will be made available to your Microsoft representative. The MPN Partner Dashboard and Cloud Services
Dashboard are available to all MPN registered partners, which displays specific sales and Active Usage (i.e. Consumption)
data exclusively for that partner account.
Q: Do I get paid incentives on future, recurring revenue for the same customer?
No, payments will be made only for qualifying new customer adds during the offering period. Please refer to your Partner
communications and documentation for more details.
Q: What if my customer stops using the service purchased?
Promotion data verification will occur approximately August 30th. Deactivations will be adjusted in the calculation as
necessary prior to payment approval and distribution. Please not that there is a usage requirement also for O365.
Q: Where do I find out more information on this offer?
Please contact your local Microsoft representative for more details.
Appendix
O365 Cloud Services Dashboard Instructions.
https://assets.microsoft.com/Cloud-Services-Dashboard-for-Partners-Instructions.pptx
Online Services Dashboard User Guide
https://assets.microsoft.com/Partner-Online-Services-Dashboard-User-Guide.pdf