The Logo Tells a Story: New Microsoft Dynamics Partner Branding Rules Set to Take Effect

What does a picture say about a business?  In the case of the updated guidance for Microsoft Dynamics partners, tomorrow, November 1, is the deadline for getting those old "Certified" and "Gold Certified" branded logos off of partner web sites and marketing materials.  In their place, new approved logos for certification levels are to be used. And those new gold and silver logos will go to a smaller group of Dynamics partners - for gold it will be going from 70% to around 20% who have managed to achieve the new competency standards.

Furthermore, software benefits of "Gold Certified" and "Certified" partners are now over - they need to part with the software licensing benefits afforded to them. From the Microsoft blog post on the topic (hat tip to Ben Hosk's Dynamics CRM blog):

"If you are a former Gold Certified or Certified partner and you have not achieved a gold or silver competency by October 31, 2011, you must uninstall any software licenses that have been provided to your organization based on achieving the Gold Certified or Certified partner level. The only licenses you will be eligible to use are those that you have earned based on your current membership in the Microsoft Partner Network. Check out the License Calculator tool to see what Internal Use Rights you receive with the various competencies in the Microsoft Partner Network."

If you work with partners on a regular basis, chances are you've already started seeing the new branding: