by Julie Golding, U.S. MPN Lead

Each January, the Microsoft U.S. Partner Team prepares for a large number of our partners to renew their membership in the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN). By renewing your membership on time, you keep valuable benefits like partner advisory hours, MSDN and TechNet subscriptions, and exposure in the Microsoft marketplace, Pinpoint (benefits vary by membership, see the Core benefits overview for details). If you have a Microsoft competency, you also keep your distinction of being among the top 5 percent of Microsoft partners. If your company is due to renew in the next 90 days, our guidance can help make your renewal go more smoothly.

Is it time for my company to renew its Microsoft Partner Network membership?

You can find your company’s renewal date by signing in to the View your membership status page on the partner portal, using your Microsoft account (Live ID) affiliated with your MPN membership. Your company’s membership date is listed in Step 3. If your membership date is fewer than 90 days away, it’s time to get your renewal started.

Yes, my company is due to renew in the next 90 days!

Great! The next steps you take will depend on a couple of factors:

• Are you authorized to update your company’s Organizational profile and renew its membership? Your company’s Primary Program Contact is usually the person authorized to update your organization’s profile and renew its membership. You can locate the name of your company’s Primary Program Contact in the Organizations tab on your Individual Account Home page in the Partner Membership Center.
  • If you are the Primary Program Contact and authorized to renew your company’s membership, check out our competency renewal guide and follow our recommendations below to get started.
  • If you are not the Primary Program Contact, share this post with him or her.
• How soon are you due to renew your membership? If you’re within 30 days of your renewal date, we’d like to help you get started quickly. If your renewal is not quite that imminent, there are some self-help resources you can use to get started.

Renewal resources every competency partner needs

Even if you are not yet in your 90-day renewal window, planning ahead for your next renewal early is a good idea. Here are some resources that can help you.

• To earn certifications that meet competency exam requirements, create a competency training plan in the Learning Plan Tool or use the competency learning paths to determine what courses to take to prepare for the necessary exams.
• To save up to 40% on the cost of Microsoft certification exams, purchase MPN competency exam packs. Exams purchased before May 31 come with Second Shot—a chance to take the exam for free a second time if needed.
• Pass the licensing and sales assessments required by your competency.
• Gather your customer references and ask your customers to rate their satisfaction with you through the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSAT) (required for gold competency attainment and renewal).
• Download the latest Competency Roadmap to understand changes that may affect your next renewal. As of this post, the current roadmap is dated August 2012.

Read more competency-related blog posts.