New Microsoft CSP rules? Here’s how MSPs can stay ahead with Ingram Micro

Meeting business leaders operating within the heart of the Australian IT industry during the past 18 months, I have listened to partners sharing everyday challenges – longer sales cycles, tighter margins, rising delivery expectations, and more operational scrutiny. 

MSPs are expected to act as transformation partners across cybersecurity, workplace modernisation, and AI in an increasingly complex environment. Inflation, high interest rates and discretionary spending cuts are impacting deal velocity.  

At the same time, vendors want deeper capability from their partners. They expect security compliance, sales specialisation, and services maturity. These expectations are being passed on to MSPs and resellers who are already stretched for talent and time. 

So, how do businesses not just survive but thrive in an ever-changing industry? We have seen some of our most successful partners investing in specialisation. They are clear about who they serve, what they deliver, and how they win. They use our ecosystem to extend capability without adding headcount. 

We also see partners who have outgrown their current model but do not want to take on more risk. These are businesses moving into new solution areas or deeper compliance requirements. Our role is to help them navigate that growth responsibly. 

One of the clearest examples of transforming delivery models is Microsoft's revised Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, now in effect. Under the new CSP framework, Microsoft has significantly tightened requirements around revenue, security, and customer lifecycle management. 

This means MSPs must either build new compliance frameworks, reporting processes and support models internally, or partner with a distributor that already has them. 

For the MSP channel, the shift means that partners are no longer differentiated by access alone but by their ability to meet higher operational standards, scale through automation, and guide customers through increasingly complex decisions around cloud, security, and AI. 

Many sectors are exploring automation and analytics, but the governance and infrastructure pieces are lagging. Partners who can guide customers through this transition have a real chance to differentiate.  

Cloud remains the foundation of most transformation programs, yet many organisations are still in the early stages. Hybrid environments are common. Spend optimisation is a top concern. And cloud-first strategies often collide with legacy infrastructure. 

Digital transformation is built around our Xvantage platform. We are embedding automation across provisioning, billing, insights and support. This reduces friction and helps partners spend less time on admin and more time on sales. 

To support Microsoft-focused partners specifically, we recently launched a global tool within the Xvantage platform designed for CSP resellers. This new capability provides greater visibility and control across Microsoft provisioning, billing and lifecycle management. It helps partners reduce manual effort while meeting Microsoft's evolving program requirements. 

Ingram Micro One-Click Deployment is another solution now available to Microsoft partners. These deployments are built by our in-house technical team using pre-configured templates for Azure infrastructure, applications and AI workloads. Built using Azure Resource Manager templates, Bicep scripts, GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps pipelines, these offerings are designed to reduce deployment time, minimise configuration errors and support faster prototyping and scaling. 

Ingram Micro’s professional services are designed to help partners accelerate their Microsoft practice without committing upfront to building internal delivery teams. This is particularly true in infrastructure, AI enablement and business applications. In Azure, partners are working with us to support IaaS projects, from migration and optimisation to scaling existing environments.  

Customer interest in Microsoft Copilot is growing quickly. Partners want to move early but often need help with readiness assessments, planning workshops and integration guidance. We’re also seeing momentum in business apps such as Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, where partners are using our support to deliver early implementations while they consider how to scale their own capability. 

Ingram Micro is also supporting cloud partners with architectural support, consumption-based pricing models and flexible financing. We are active in VMware-to-Azure migrations, where many customers are reassessing long-term platform commitments. 

Our dedicated support services include: 

• 24/7 technical support with direct Microsoft escalation
• AI-driven automation through our Xvantage platform
• Dedicated enablement across Azure, Copilot, Modern Work and Security
• Access to certified solution architects and pre-sales expertise
• Demand generation support including lead campaigns and customer events
• A $1-for-$1 monthly recurring revenue incentive for new customer acquisition

This approach helps partners focus on delivering customer outcomes while Ingram Micro manages the underlying compliance, tooling and infrastructure. 

With more than 9,000 active Australian partners and 150 vendor relationships, Ingram Micro is helping innovative and specialist MSPs move beyond basic fulfilment and into high-value roles. 

Looking to become an Ingram Micro Partner? Contact us today