Cloud Solution Provider authorization requirements

Our Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) offering is our hero motion that provides partners with offers, capabilities, and resources to capture the total addressable market opportunity and deliver the transformative solutions and experiences our customers expect.

Building customer trust through a secure partner ecosystem

To maintain a highly capable and compliant CSP partner ecosystem, these authorization requirements apply to direct bill partners and indirect resellers—and will be enforced starting January 1, 2026.

Direct bill partner requirements

In the direct bill model, partners purchase Microsoft products and subscriptions directly from Microsoft and sell them to customers through their in-house sales staff. The direct bill model requires partners to sell to, bill, manage, and support their customers autonomously. Partners who already operate with—or are willing to develop—the appropriate sales, billing, and support infrastructure can choose the direct bill model.

Direct bill partners must:

  • Transact as an indirect reseller for at least 12 months before applying to become a direct bill partner.
  • Complete business vetting.
  • Have a minimum of $1* million in CSP billed revenue at the Partner Global Account (PGA) level.
    • The sales that make up your trailing 12-month (TTM) CSP revenue are subject to review and verification by Microsoft, and you may be asked to provide additional information.
  • Pass an automated assessment that measures operational capabilities, including billing, provisioning, compliance, customer support, and security.
  • Have an active Advanced Support or Premier Support plan.
  • Complete the mandatory requirements of the Partner Center security score.
  • Have at least one Solutions Partner designation.
  • Accept the direct bill Microsoft Partner Agreement (MPA).

Indirect reseller requirements

Indirect resellers can purchase Microsoft Cloud solutions and services from a distributor to then resell to customers. With the indirect model, distributors also support indirect resellers with tools and resources for managing customer relationships, marketing, and billing. This model is recommended for most partners.

Indirect resellers must:

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* Throughout this page, $ refers to the US dollar (USD).