The Microsoft Inner Circle: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

Membership of the Microsoft Inner Circle for Business Applications is a notable achievement for Tisski – but what exactly is the Inner Circle and, perhaps more importantly, how does our membership benefit our customers?

The Microsoft Partner Network is made up of an astounding 400,000+ organisations across the globe. If you’re finding it difficult knowing where to start when it comes to finding the right partner for you, it’s not difficult to see why.

Exploring Inner Circle partners and what they have to offer could certainly be in your best interest. Let us explain why...

1. The Inner Circle is like a ‘stamp of approval’ from Microsoft

Each year, Inner Circle for Business Applications membership is awarded to the top 1% of Microsoft partners globally in the BizApps space, with its members seen as the ‘upper echelon’ of the partner network.

Inner Circle membership comes with assurance from Microsoft themselves that the partner is at the very top of their game when it comes to providing purpose-build apps to help manage specific business functions, from sales and customer service through to finance and field service. This stamp of approval indicates Microsoft’s confidence that you’ll find yourself in safe hands.

2. Inner Circle members must evidence their skills and experience

The Inner Circle selection process sees Microsoft consider several different factors, including partner turnover, how many employees they have, how many licences they’ve sold, and how they use the applications available to them. This helps paint a picture of how much a partner has contributed to the Microsoft ecosystem – and not just in a financial sense.

A partner will have to evidence exceptional performance in all of the above areas to Microsoft in order to make the cut. By taking significant talent pools, successful customer projects and smart use of Microsoft applications into account, the Inner Circle highlights the most skilled and experienced partners in the network.

3. Customer relationships play an important part

For a prospective Inner Circle member to demonstrate they meet Microsoft’s criteria, they must have existing customers who are happy to ‘associate’ with them. Essentially, this means a partner must have a green light from their customer(s) in order to use their project as a reference.

If a partner has a number of customers willing to go ahead with association, this evidences strong relationships have been built between partner and customer – and strong customer relationships speak volumes about the quality of work a partner delivers.

4. Inner Circle members often have great relationships with key Microsoft contacts

For a prospective Inner Circle member to demonstrate they meet Microsoft’s criteria, they must have existing customers who are happy to ‘associate’ with them. Essentially, this means a partner must have a green light from their customer(s) in order to use their project as a reference.

If a partner has a number of customers willing to go ahead with association, this evidences strong relationships have been built between partner and customer – and strong customer relationships speak volumes about the quality of work a partner delivers.

5. An annual invite gives Inner Circle members insider knowledge

Inner Circle members attend an annual event which gives them exclusive insight into Microsoft’s strategy and direction for the year ahead.

A partner that’s in-the-know about upcoming changes and additions to the Microsoft ecosystem can spot future opportunities for their customers and plan in advance of any changes and new tech launching to market. Essentially, a partner that’s in the Inner Circle can respond quickly to change and use it to their customers’ advantage.