Updated November 2026
The short answer: Microsoft Gold Partner status no longer exists. Microsoft retired Gold and Silver memberships in 2022 and replaced them with Solutions Partner designations, earned through a partner capability score based on performance, skills and customer success.
If you are choosing a Microsoft partner today, the question is not "Are they Gold?" but "Which Solutions Partner designations do they hold, and can they prove delivery in your area?"
Many partner websites and directories still use the Gold label, often years after it was retired. This guide explains what replaced it, how the new system works, and how to check a partner's credentials for yourself.
What happened to Microsoft Gold Partner status?
For more than a decade, Microsoft grouped partners into Silver and Gold tiers across 18 competencies, such as Enterprise Resource Planning or Cloud Productivity. Gold meant a partner had passed exams, supplied customer references and taken competency assessments in that area.
On 30 September 2022, Microsoft retired those competencies. The new Solutions Partner designations launched on 4 October 2022 as part of what is now the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program.
Partners that held Gold or Silver could keep legacy benefits for a time by renewing them. That option ended too: the last day to buy or renew legacy Gold or Silver benefits was 21 January 2025.
Microsoft's guidance to partners is now clear. Partner Center states that Microsoft no longer offers Silver and Gold memberships and asks partners to stop referring to them.
What replaced Gold: Solutions Partner designations
Microsoft now recognises partners through six designation pathways, aligned to its solution areas. Those six pathways roll up into three customer-facing badges.
| Designation pathway | Covers | Customer-facing badge |
|---|---|---|
| Business Applications | Dynamics 365 (including Business Central), Power Platform | Solutions Partner for AI Business Solutions |
| Modern Work | Microsoft 365, Teams, Copilot | Solutions Partner for AI Business Solutions |
| Security | Defender, Entra, Purview, Sentinel | Solutions Partner for Security |
| Data & AI (Azure) | Azure data, analytics and AI | Solutions Partner for Cloud & AI Platforms |
| Digital & App Innovation (Azure) | Application development and modernisation on Azure | Solutions Partner for Cloud & AI Platforms |
| Infrastructure (Azure) | Azure infrastructure and migration | Solutions Partner for Cloud & AI Platforms |
The old competencies map onto these pathways. For example, the legacy Gold or Silver competencies in Enterprise Resource Planning, Cloud Business Applications and Project Portfolio Management all map to Business Applications.
Above designations sit specialisations. These prove deeper capability in a narrower field, such as Small and Midsize Business Management, Finance or Supply Chain. A partner must hold the matching designation before it can earn a specialisation.
How partners earn a designation now
The biggest change is how status is earned. Gold was largely a checklist of exams and references. A Solutions Partner designation depends on a partner capability score, which Microsoft calculates from data already held in Partner Center.
The score runs from 0 to 100 and measures three things:
- Performance – growth in the number of customers the partner supports in that solution area.
- Skilling – how many staff hold current Microsoft certifications for that area.
- Customer success – evidence that customers are actively using and expanding the Microsoft products deployed.
A partner needs at least 70 points in a pathway to qualify for that designation. Designations are renewed each year, and partners must still qualify at renewal.
In short, a designation reflects real, recent customer deployments, not just a one-off exam pass.
What this means when you choose a Microsoft partner
A designation is a useful starting filter, not the whole answer. Use these steps when you shortlist partners.
- Check the designation matches your project. If you are implementing Business Central or Dynamics 365, look for the Business Applications pathway. For Microsoft 365 and Copilot, look for Modern Work. For managed security, look for Security.
- Verify it on Microsoft's own listing. Ask for the partner's Microsoft Marketplace profile, where current designations and specialisations are shown. A logo on a website is not proof.
- Treat a "Gold Partner" claim as a prompt to ask questions. It is not a sign of a bad partner, as many simply have old wording in place. But ask what they hold today.
- Look for specialisations in your area. For SMEs, Small and Midsize Business Management is especially relevant.
- Ask for delivery evidence. Request recent case studies and references from businesses of your size and sector, and ask who will actually do the work.
- Check what happens after go-live. Support, managed services and ongoing improvement often matter more over five years than the implementation itself.
Where Advantage stands
Advantage was a Microsoft Gold Partner under the old programme and has been a Microsoft partner since 1999. Today, Advantage is a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Business Applications, shown by Microsoft as the Solutions Partner for AI Business Solutions badge.
That designation covers the core of what we do for UK SMEs: Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Power Platform. We also deliver Microsoft 365, Copilot, managed IT and cyber security, so one partner covers your business systems and your IT. We call this The Advantage Edge™.
Next step: if you are weighing up a Microsoft partner, talk to our team about your project, or start with our AI Readiness Assessment to see where Microsoft AI could help your business.
