Data Warehouse Migration to Microsoft Azure Advanced Specialization

Update July 1, 2021

Microsoft released the current version 2.0 audit checklist into preview on May 5, 2021 for the Data Warehouse Migration to Microsoft Azure advanced specialization. Version 2.0 went into effect July 1, 2021 and is now required.

We introduced a new modular format to the Azure advanced specialization audit, built on the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure. This benefits your business by:

• Validating your business’s ability to follow cloud adoption best practices and help ensure smooth cloud transition for your customers.
• Streamlining the Azure advanced specialization audit process to reduce the need to re-validate the same skills across multiple areas if your organization is seeking to earn more than one Azure advanced specialization.

• Module A evaluates and assesses a partner’s implementation of cloud adoption best practices, following foundational principles in the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure. This module is workload-agnostic, which means a partner can audit on Module A once and their passing result will apply to multiple Azure advanced specializations.
• Module B evaluates workload-specific capabilities. These are periodically updated to align to industry best practices. Module B also includes a requirement to conduct Well-Architected Reviews of customer workloads as part of the deployment.

Update March 24, 2021

ISSI provides extensive, in-depth consulting engagements to help partners prepare for Azure advanced specialization audits. Partners work directly with ISSI to schedule this remote session (via online web conference). For more information about this type of in-depth consultant engagement, click here.

Alternately, partners can participate in an optional, one-hour, live overview session provided by ISSI. This Audit Preparation Overview session provides a high-level overview of key aspects of the advanced specialization audit process. The session includes a discussion of the checklist requirements along with best practices to help partners prepare for the audit. Partners work directly with ISSI to schedule this remote session (via online web conference). For more information about this overview session, click here.

To ensure objectivity, audits are conducted by a different ISSI auditor than the one engaged for consulting. Consulting engagements can be scheduled at any time using the partner’s preferred conferencing platform.

* Please note there is a cost associated with the consulting and audit preparations services. See Payment Terms and Conditions.

Partners who demonstrate deep knowledge, extensive experience, and proven success in analyzing existing workloads, generating schema models, and performing extract, transform, and load (ETL) operations to migrate data to cloud-based data warehouses and enable cloud-based analytics solutions may seek the Data Warehouse and Analytics Migration Advanced Specialization.

Obtaining this advanced specialization enables partners with an active Gold Cloud Platform Competency to differentiate and position their expertise to customers looking to use massive volumes of data to power predictive analytics and machine learning models or uncover business-changing insights.

Partners who earn an advanced specialization will have a customer-facing label displayed on their business profile, gain access to specific go-to-market programs, and be prioritized in customer searches in the Microsoft Partner Directory. For these reasons, this opportunity is available only to partners who meet additional, stringent requirements.

Learn more about advanced specializations.

How do I apply?

Only administrators of an organizations’ Microsoft partner account can submit an application for the Data Warehouse Migration to Microsoft Azure Advanced Specialization on behalf of the organization. If you are the administrator for your organization’s Microsoft partner account, you can apply by going to https://partner.microsoft.com/cs-cz/dashboard/mpn/program/datawarehouse.

Please Note: *Advanced specializations can be activated in Partner Center only. If you have not yet moved your membership account from Partner Membership Center (PMC) to Partner Center, please sign into PMC and follow the instructions. Once you’ve moved your account, you can review the requirements and begin working toward earning the advanced specialization.