About Microsoft Certified Partners

Microsoft® Certified Partners are independent companies that can provide you with the highest levels of technical expertise, strategic thinking, and hands-on skills. Microsoft Certified Partners encompass a broad range of expertise and vendor affiliations and their real world perspective can help you prioritize and effectively deliver your technology solutions.

• Microsoft Certified Partners have demonstrated expertise. Each Microsoft Certified Partner must employ a minimum number of Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) who have a demonstrated level of technical expertise and the proven ability to deliver solutions featuring Microsoft products. MCPs must pass certification exams developed by Microsoft.
• Microsoft Certified Partners have a broad-range of experience. Microsoft Certified Partners typically offer several areas of technical expertise including infrastructure, networking, office automation, e-commerce, collaboration, business intelligence, and other leading edge disciplines. Microsoft Certified Partner services include consulting, training, implementation, maintenance/support, and hosting services.
• Microsoft Certified Partners have direct support from Microsoft. Microsoft Certified Partners have access to 24 x 7 x 365 support for your project whenever they need additional support from Microsoft.
• Microsoft Certified Partners offer a real world perspective to your technology strategies. Microsoft Certified Partners have been in the business, on average, for more than 5 years. They bring experience to your projects gained through conducting similar projects over many years of service.
• Microsoft Certified Partners are local. With more than 26,000 Microsoft Certified Partner organizations worldwide, there’s a technical expert near you. We’ll help you locate one right now!

Microsoft Gold Certified Partners are the elite Microsoft Business Partners who earn the highest customer endorsement. They have the knowledge, skills, and commitment to help implement technology solutions that match your exact business needs. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners have passed the highest level of requirements from Microsoft and have demonstrated the most robust, efficient and scalable implementations of Microsoft technologies in demonstrated enterprise customer deployments or an on-site Microsoft assessment. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner has expertise in one of the following tracks:

• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Business Intelligence
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Collaborative Solutions
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for E-Commerce
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Enterprise Systems
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Support Services
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Hosting & Application Services
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Software Products
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Security Solutions
• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Learning Solutions

You can contact a Microsoft Certified Partner from the list we provide or you can tell us about your project and we’ll forward it to Microsoft Certified Partners who, already armed with a basic understanding of your needs, will contact you.

To qualify for the Microsoft Certified Partner program, organizations must have at least two dedicated, full-time employees who are current MCPs. The only way to become Microsoft-certified is to pass a series of rigorous exams required for certification in eight different areas:

• Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers design, install, support, and troubleshoot information systems. MCSEs are network gurus, support technicians, and operating system experts.
• Microsoft Certified Database Administrators implement and administer Microsoft SQL Server databases.
• Microsoft Certified Solution Developers use development tools and platforms to create business solutions.
• Microsoft Certified Professionals are expert in at least one Microsoft operating system, development tool, or desktop application.
• Microsoft Certified Professionals with a specialty in site building plan, build, maintain, and manage Web sites using Microsoft technologies and products.
• Microsoft Certified Professionals with a specialty in Internet technology install and configure server products, manage server resources, plan security, and perform other Internet-related duties.
• Microsoft Certified Trainers teach others about Microsoft products using Microsoft official curriculum at Microsoft authorized technical education centers.

More about the Microsoft Certified Professionals Program