Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards 2026: What's New & How to Strengthen Your Submission

The 2026 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards (POTYA) are officially underway, bringing fresh opportunities for Microsoft partners to showcase innovation, customer success, and measurable business impact.

This year’s awards introduce several important updates, including new award categories, refined submission requirements, and a stronger emphasis on AI-driven transformation. Whether you’re submitting for the first time or looking to improve on previous entries, understanding these changes can help you build a stronger nomination.

What’s Changed for 2026?

Microsoft has evolved the awards program to better reflect the rapid growth of AI and modern business transformation.

Some of the key updates include:

New award categories

Microsoft has introduced new categories that recognise emerging areas of innovation, including:

• Frontier Transformation – recognising partners delivering end-to-end AI transformation using technologies like Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Foundry and agent-based solutions.
• Commercial Device Channel – celebrating partners driving customer impact through AI-powered devices, Copilot+ PCs, Windows 11 and Surface solutions.

New regional recognition

Alongside the existing Country Partner of the Year Awards, Microsoft has introduced a regional award tier covering:

• Americas
• EMEA
• Asia

This creates another opportunity for partners delivering impact across multiple countries within a region.

Updated submission requirements

Partners should also be aware of several submission changes:

• Each award category now requires its own individual nomination.
• Executive summaries are limited to 8,000 characters (excluding spaces).
• Supporting PDFs are limited to three pages, meaning your strongest story should live within the nomination itself, not the attachments.

Key dates

If you’re planning to submit, keep these milestones in mind:

• Nominations open: 1 June 2026
• Submission deadline: 7 July 2026 (6:00 PM Pacific Time)
• Winners announced: Microsoft Ignite, November 2026

UBE Marketing Tips for a Stronger Submission

Winning submissions aren’t just about impressive technology, they tell a compelling customer success story backed by evidence. Based on Microsoft’s official guidance, here are a few ways to strengthen your entry.

1. Start with customer outcomes

Don’t focus solely on the technology you implemented. Demonstrate the business challenge, your solution, and most importantly, the measurable results delivered to the customer.

2. Choose the right category

With more award categories than ever before, selecting the category that best aligns with your strongest customer success story is critical. Review the eligibility requirements carefully before you begin.

3. Bring measurable proof

Strong nominations include evidence such as:

• Customer adoption
• Productivity improvements
• Revenue growth
• Cost savings
• Security outcomes
• AI-driven business impact

Where possible, support your claims with real metrics and customer validation.

4. Keep your executive summary concise

Microsoft notes that judges primarily assess the information entered into the nomination form. Supporting documents should reinforce your story, not replace it and all critical information should fit within the 8,000-character limit.

5. Submit early

Microsoft recommends submitting before the deadline to avoid last-minute technical issues. Once a nomination has been submitted, it cannot be edited, so leave time for internal reviews and final quality checks.

Why it matters

Recognition as a Microsoft Partner of the Year winner or finalist can help increase visibility, strengthen credibility, create new business opportunities and generate valuable marketing assets for your organisation. Microsoft also provides winners and finalists with digital badges, co-branded marketing resources and recognition across its partner ecosystem.

Learn more

This article highlights some of the biggest updates for the 2026 awards, but there’s much more to explore, including Microsoft’s recommended six-week submission timeline and a deeper breakdown of this year’s changes.

For official eligibility requirements, award categories and submission resources, visit Microsoft’s Partner of the Year Awards page:

Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards About UBE Marketing UBE Marketing is a B2B marketing agency empowering technology-driven companies and select Microsoft partners with unified brand, digital, and event strategies. Based in Sydney, we serve as an extension of your marketing organization delivering lead generation, content development, partner marketing, and end‑to‑end event management built on deep Microsoft ecosystem expertise.