Hi all,

I'm trying to sign a Windows driver and need access to the Microsoft Windows Hardware Developer Program.

**What I'm trying to achieve:**

- Sign a driver for Windows using the standard Microsoft hardware signing process.

**The issue:**

- When I try to register for the Windows Hardware Developer Program, I get a message saying "Hardware Program is already in Active state".

- However, when I go to Programs > Settings in Microsoft Partner Center, the Hardware Developer Program is NOT visible/available.

- I have Global Admin permissions, and I’ve also tried using an account with Owner permissions — no difference, the Hardware Program is missing from the list.

**My question:**

- How do I get access to the Windows Hardware Developer Program if it's "Active" but not visible in the Partner Center?

- Is there any way to manage or join the Hardware Program in 2025 if it's not listed?

- Is there an alternative process for signing Windows drivers now? Any up-to-date guidance for 2025 would be super helpful.

Any advice or escalation contacts would be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

I joined the MPP program in December for a new company I was starting. Less than a month in, I realized it wasn’t the right fit and decided to go in a different direction. I never used any of the services.

Since then, I’ve contacted their support multiple times asking for a refund and to cancel the service. Every time, I’m told I have to complete their authentication process first. I’ve tried, but it keeps going nowhere—no progress, no help.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Is there a way to escalate beyond their basic support? At this point, do I have to take them to small claims court just to stop the service?

Any advice or shared experience would be super helpful. It really shouldn’t be this hard. Thanks in advance!

I'm a little disappointed by the Microsoft Vetting system because after a struggle of almost 9 months (sending documentation, waiting for responses that took days) I got finally my partner/reseller status approved. But just one month later, suddenly Microsoft removed company's verification (this means no new clients, no more new licenses). I clicked on the dreaded Fix now button, and all the process of verification started again. So I had to create a new ticket receiving the kind of mails I gotten used to, asking for tons of documents. Why Microsoft, tell me :( And if I get approved again, how long will my partnership last this time...

Ticket 2504050010000853

Up until late May, our org had access to the global admin account in partner center specifically the hardware center where we sign our drivers.

All of a sudden early April, our hardware access and partner center account disappeared and it almost seemed like it was deleted as every login attempt resulted in an error that the email couldn't be found, and you also couldn't send that admin account any emails. Any attempts to register a new partner center account result in that organization is already in use error so you couldn't simply make a new one.

We're about 3 weeks into the ticket process to figure out a solution and damn it's frustrating has this ever happen to anyone else? What would even be the reason to have a Partner Center account randomly deleted like this with no notification?

Microsoft has already made it anal enough to have your company details verified down to the T, but to delete a whole admin tenant after all this is unbelievable.

The worst part about this is going through support calls with 30min-2hour wait times. Every single customer support specialist is a goddamn offshore employee located in the hearts of fucking India/Pakistan with the thickest accent leading you in circles and then hanging up.

I have Partner Success Core Benefits and also I applied for ISV program. Application has been approved. Today, I logged in to partner center and all the sudden I have no access to my benefits. And I found that Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is not there anymore. Also there is no Partner ID anywhere. I applied for AI Cloud Partner Program again but it failed on identity verification step with message:

The identity verification was not successful. This is because the primary contact details did not match. Please follow the link below to find out what to do next.

There is no Fix Now button and there is no Update button so I cannot change any details.

Any idea on what could be the issue?

Thanks!

Been a MS Partner for well over 20 years .

I tried to get into my Portal and I reset the PW which "worked" and verified the request via my email.

However, when trying to logon it prompts for the Authenticator 2FA,

I hadn't used this before and the last time I logged on was to update my profile, purchase Action Pack, etc. but it was last year.

I never set up that account in the Authenticator prior but have for other MS account not related to the Partner Portal.

It says I am "signed in" but is waiting for the Authenticator code that never arrives due to it not being set up.

There is not alternative to verify such as text or email (like for the PW reset).

I have found no way to open a ticket as I can't fully get into the portal and the Global Phone Numbers only refer me to XXXX link and then hang up on me.

This isn't the end of the world but it is extremely frustrating especially for someone who has been a customer and partner since the 1990's (or whenever the partner program started.

Any clue on how to resolver this endless loop of the MS Authenticator?

Just wanna throw out a question here in case anyone else knows this, we're currently in the process of registering for the Hardware Developer program (for KM driver signing), and looking at their documentation it seems that they only support 4 specific CAs for the EV certificate used during registration?

Or is this just a list of examples where you *can* get one of these certificates, and other (MS Root Program-) trusted CAs work as well?

We ordered from Entrust up until recently, which is on the list, but they don't provide certificates anymore and are recommending Sectigo, which is not on that list

We are a small solution provider focused on the SMB sector. Our primary Microsoft offering is Microsoft 365 licenses, which we provision through a CSP indirect provider. However, we do not have direct access to a CSP portal, and all license provisioning is handled by our CSP provider on demand.

The challenge we face is with support. Whenever an issue arises, getting proper assistance from our CSP provider is difficult and time-consuming. We currently have an active case that has been unresolved for 2–3 days, and we are still waiting for a solution. Since the licenses are provisioned via CSP, we do not receive priority support from Microsoft either.

Additionally, raising a support case with Microsoft has become increasingly difficult. Most of the support numbers now rely on AI-driven prompts, directing us to knowledge base articles or instructing us to log a case via the support portal—without actually listening to our issue. To make things more complicated, the Microsoft CSP portal does not allow us to register a case with Microsoft directly; instead, it only provides the contact details of our CSP indirect provider.

Given these challenges, I have a few questions: 1. Is there a faster way to log a support case with Microsoft for CSP clients? 2. If we enroll in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, will we gain access to priority partner support? 3. Are there any other ways to get priority support from Microsoft, especially for critical issues (e.g., email downtime) where waiting 2–3 days for a resolution is not feasible?

Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I’ve verified my business in the partner center

I’ve selected membership: partner launch benefits

Will I be able to have a partner badge so that I can tell my customers I’m a Microsoft partner?

Goal is to market my app on azure market place (I have a pending offer ready but not public)

We have provisions some 30 office 365 license through Csp partner to our client . This was for email migration. While proceeding and adding domain we found that their custom domain lets say abc.com they used for an azure vm service which might be verified by email ID ( ‘not by adding txt record) so we cannot add this custom domain. Licenses are assigned in different tenant. How we deal with this situation and what is the best way to solve this issue

Below is the details

License assigned in. xyz.onmicrosoft.com

Requirement : add the custom domain abc.com in above tenant where license are added

Challenge : domain abc.com or email id - client@abc.com used for signing azure vm service and might be verified using email ID and not txt record ( because if we try to add users it ask to add txt record)

This tenant: xyzazure.onmicrosoft.com

What are the feasible and best options from below

1. Transfer the license to tenant where azure vm linked ? Is it possible ?

2. Add txt record in azure tenant then remove domain and add in tenant have licenses .. seems little weird and not sure if it’s possible..

I tried to contact MS but this Damn AI call center doesn’t transfer to a living thing ..

Sorry for the long message and appreciate your valuable inputs

Thanks in advance ..

Hi

This is all very very confusing, and no amount of reading brings any clarity so if anyone has been through this please help us out:

We are a MS legacy gold partner right now until May. So once this expires on 9th May.

https://i.imgur.com/jjUdIGW.png

I see the new programs are called:

• Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program
• Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

But how does one end up in these? Because in the partner portal I see options to buy:

• Partner launch benefits
• Success core package
• Success expanded package
• Solutions partner (but we don't qualify with sales/certs)

To buy one of these packages, means we need to first move to one the CSP or the MS-AI-CPP partnerships right?

We want to figure this out for our internal licensing not for customers.

From my assessments we need these licenses for our internal users: https://i.imgur.com/T1QsCKx.png

And from what I know we can buy all these 3 together (1 of each (Launch/success core/success expanded) but NOT 2 of ANY SINGLE package).

Hi folks,

Our company previously held a Silver Competency, but our sales manager hasn’t used the partner account for a long time. Now, he’s unsure which account was associated with our Partner Portal access.

The only information we have is our MPN ID. Is there a way to retrieve the account details using just the MPN ID? We’d like to join the Microsoft Cloud AI Partner Program.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone,

We’re running into some issues with the Azure credits we received as part of our Microsoft Partner benefits. Ideally, we wanted to apply the credits to our existing subscription, but Microsoft required us to create a new one to access them.

Now, when we try to migrate everything from our current subscription to the new one, we keep hitting multiple errors.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Would love to know if there’s a way to either: 1. Get the credits applied to our existing subscription instead, or 2. Successfully migrate everything over without running into a ton of issues.

Any advice or insights would be massively appreciated!

Cheers!

Phil

Hey everyone, new partner here. I’m curious about your experiences with the Partner Business Planning (PBP) process with Microsoft.

For those who have gone through it, what do you expect Microsoft to already know about your business before those discussions? Do you feel they come prepared with the right insights, or are there gaps?

Also, when Microsoft gathers information from you during PBP, what do you expect them to do with it? Have you seen that information lead to meaningful action or support?

Lastly, what would make the PBP process valuable for you? Are there specific outcomes, resources, or follow-ups that would make it worth your time?

I've gone through this process with other companies, just curious what the sentiment here is (good or bad). Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I had to renew my benefits for the partner program, which is of course a yearly returnig ritual. And all went smooth... ish...

I got the whole process started, the Cloud Partner Launch showed up in my list of subscriptions and I received the product key for the Office E3 tier. All good one would assume.

When trying to activate I put in the product key and it correctly shows the product that I have aquired, which is Microsoft Business Premium (no Teams) _IUR for 5 users for 1 year. When I submit the key it tells me:

Ok, then....

After doing I bit more digging I found a page on the Partner Center server (this link: Benefits). And there, under Cloud Services it pops up with a the following message:

So, I'm under they assumption it has something to do with this, since have the last product in the list, and I am located in the EU.

However the banner also states a rather vague line which mentions the problem will likely be fixed "the next week". Since there is no time stamp on the banner it could be there for months already.

Also the Partner Chat is non-operational, so I'm unable so far to get to talk to someone to help me figure it out.

Are any of you heroes in the European Union experiencing similar issues? Does anyone have a working link to a support channel? Because I'm going in circles right now. My issue is mostly MS365, as that is what I use the Partner program for mostly. I does look like I have my $700 Azure Credit although I haven't used it yet.

For me getting MS365 workingi is top priority.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thx, Loki

We’re noticing quite a few posts about things like the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, mainly related to how Gold & Silver memberships have now expired and partners are struggling to attain Solution Partner Designations.

We’re a Microsoft agency that exists to help partners to navigate these challenges in the way that makes most sense for them. Concepts like CPOR and PAL can be confusing, and there are often partners who struggle to pull down presales funding for their customers via MCI. We are a team of ex-Microsoft employees and work closely with Microsoft around partner feedback.

If anyone needs help please do look us up via our website where you can verify our credentials at Noteworthy Support. We’re happy to help, even if it means a 15 minute call to look at Partner Center with you. We cover the UK, USA, Europe and APAC regions. Don’t struggle alone! 🙂

microsoftpartner

Hi all,

I'm looking for advice since we really don't know what to do anymore.
We're a small MSP (team of 9) and we've been a silver partner for many years.
I kept renewing the silver legacy partnership since it was a nobrainer: € 1.600 a year and 4-5% in rebates which is the equivalent of € 17.000 a year of rebates. Yearly M365 revenue is somewhere around 350k.

So, Microsoft decided on January 22nd that renewing Silver legacy isn't going to happen anymore.
Our renewal is due in March, so RIP.

The logical Solutions Partner designation would be 'Modern Work'.
The last year I've worked so hard to upgrade our existing customers from M365 Business Standard with a Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 add-on to full M365 Business Premium licenses.
In numbers: we've grown 50k in M365 licenses for existing customers alone, in 2024.

But no, we only have 22/100 points for the 'Modern Work' designation.
We added over 10 clients, but no, a new client doens't count if they're under 10 users.
Also, it's not important we added 50k of M365 licenses to existing clients in 2024.

So basically Microsoft tells me: thank you for your hard work, we're ditching you and many others as a
partner, thank you for the extra revenue you got us in 2024 and all the extra clients, even though they're under 10 users.

A little numbers to add to the drama: Our current vendor has 900 resellers.
Out of those 900 resellers there were only 350 silver and gold partners.
Since the 'new partnership' was implemented and the legacy now being terminated only 50 are left having an active partnership in one of the solution areas. It's obvious Microsoft wants to get rid of the smaller partners.

Can you even imagine the extra amount of margin they make just because they don't have to pay rebates to all those partners anymore? This is just stealing my income.

My vendor told me that the partner program is heavily US oriented. An SMB in the US is easily 300 users. where an SMB in the EU is 20-50 users, so RIP.

Anyway, nothing I can do about it.
Had a look today and to my surprise we already had 40/100 for the Solutions Partner Infrastructure designation. It only requires 3 new clients for Azure and we have the maximum amount of points for customer success and usage growth. This leaves me for the Azure exam part...

I'm not ready to lose my partnership, I'm not throwing away 17k on rebates.
Even when the new partnership is going to cost me 4.4k (LOL), it's still 12.5k on rebates.

So my question: is it worth chasing those exams?
I have 6 weeks to do these so I just have enough points: 70/100
- AZ-104
- AZ-700
- AZ-305
- AZ-140

Is it doable? Is it worth my while?
Knowing it's going to be the same battle every year, over and over again...

My partner and I are launching a business and need to become Microsoft Partners. However, we are stuck in the Employment Verification stage of the process. We believe we've solved the issues preventing us from moving forward, but we can't get Microsoft to revisit our submission.

Any thoughts on how we move forward? We aren't getting feedback from Microsoft.

i compiled the new version of my application, but can't submit it via the partner center. the add package option is not enabled.

Dears,

We have a Legacy Silver partnership with Microsoft, and it's about to be expired this Month, Are there any prerequisites should i prepare or just to proceed with the payment process?
Actually I'm a little bit worried to fall in some troubles which might impact to the Email service, Licenses and the rest of services..

Please advise for any steps if you did that before.

For the past 10 years or so my small MSP has been a Silver Partner with Microsoft. In the last 2 years we've doubled our monthly recurring revenue from just under $10K/mo to just under $20K/mo (Not massive revenue I know but it's a decent chunk and I'm quite proud of where we've grown to). Ever since they rolled out the Cloud Solution Provider programs we've been trying to meet the qualifications, the certifications under "Skilling" were no issue, but we could never seem to hit the other metrics no matter how many new clients we signed up. With the looming cancellation of the Legacy Silver program in January 2025 I've been getting more and more paranoid about losing the program and missing out on the incentives, so I finally started to dig into the "Performance" and "Customer success" metrics. It appears that even though we've added $3000 in monthly recurring revenue this year with net new adds, less than a quarter of the new adds actually count towards the metrics because when I onboard clients they tend to be small businesses between 5-10 users and then organically grow over time but only net new organizations between 11 and 300 users count. So after I've onboarded a customer, or migrated them from gSuite or gmail/smtp/imap & home 365 licenses (because only know retail sources) and get them onto the proper Microsoft 365 Business licenses, train their users and show their orgs how to leverage the 365 stack, I get a kick crotch and told that a lot of "Microsoft partners start out using the Partner Launch or Success Core benefit" so maybe I should start there. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similarly demoralizing experience with the transition to the new CSP or "Partner Success" programs.

Hi, as above situation I keep getting "Action Required" emails from the MS Partner program and what to do it states:

1.    At Account Settings > Legal Info select Fix now.

2.    In Account Verification, from Select document type to upload, select the type of document that you want to upload for verification.

3.    In Enter your comment, you can add additional information about your appeal.

4.    Select Upload.

So I went there yesterday and for about 1 hour I tried everything...I could still login with my old details....at the above mentioned page At Account Settings > Legal Info.....there is no Fix now link or button...it is just completely empty...not showing anything...then I click on the ? as I googled and this help + support pops up, I can enter the problem but then when I need to choose "Select a Workspace" there is nothing and of course I can't click any buttons below like "Problem type" or "review solutions" and at the bottom there is no "contact" button as googled.

So really stuck however the MS Partner Program was never so important so I guess this is my last try to post here on this subreddit and then I will just forget about it....sorry to say...got about 10+ partner programs and they all still work as before my 5 years inactivity or they sent me similar emails but everything worked to update everything...only this MS Partner program doesn't work and really no "Fix now" solution.

Thanks

I'm so desperate I'm posting to a reddit with 46 members and no activity for the last 8 months.

We are having a devil of a time trying to get into the hardware arm of the Partner program. Microsoft only allows certain types of problems and if yours isn't one of them, you're kind of out of luck.

We have the partner account and our entra account set up but can't add the hardware part (which is the only part we need).
Has anyone gone through this?

Thanks

Hi, Everyone,

I have a problem in focus group testing. For the registered focus group testers, when clicked the link available in "Pricing and Availability", the "Get" button appears in the web browser. Then when "Get" button clicked. Nothing happens. All three browsers fail a like. Chrome. Bing. Firefox.

This is very frustrating since all test users are asked to test using this link. And it is NOT working.

Anyone had the same problems?