# IT Partner Attains Microsoft's Support Services Designation > Microsoft awarded IT Partner LLC its Support Services designation on 4 November 2026 after assessing the support we deliver to CSP customers. What it is and what it means for you. Canonical: https://o365hq.com/blog/it-partner-attains-microsoft-support-services-designation Provider: IT Partner LLC — US Microsoft partner since 2006. Book: https://o365hq.com/book Published: 2026-11-04 · IT Partner On 4 November 2026 Microsoft awarded IT Partner LLC its Support Services designation, earned on the support a CSP partner delivers to the customers who buy Microsoft subscriptions through it. ## What Microsoft awarded on 4 November 2026 On 4 November 2026 Microsoft awarded IT Partner LLC its Support Services designation. It is a designation for Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners, separate from the Solutions Partner designations we hold for Security, Modern Work, Infrastructure, Digital and App Innovation, and Data and AI, and it is earned on one thing only: the support a partner delivers to the customers who buy Microsoft subscriptions through it. ## What the Support Services designation is Microsoft introduced the Support Services designation for partners in the Cloud Solution Provider program who hold a Solutions Partner designation and carry a Microsoft partner support plan. Partner Center describes the program as one that "recognizes Microsoft partners who demonstrate excellence in providing technical support services to their customers," and the activation notice calls it recognition of "your track record of delivering quality support to CSP customers across Microsoft products and solutions." Three assessments stand behind it, in Microsoft's order: - A **performance assessment** of the support cases the partner opens with Microsoft, read against the size of its cloud business, over a twelve-month window (ours: 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026; passed 9 October 2026). - A **customer satisfaction survey**, which Microsoft sends to the partner's customers and scores itself, with a pass threshold of 4.2 out of 5 (passed 9 October 2026). - A **capability assessment** of the partner's support organization: the support function, the skills of the support staff and the performance metrics kept on them (passed 3 November 2026, valid for two years). The designation activated the next day. The designation is active from 4 November 2026 through 3 November 2027. Microsoft re-assesses it every year: the renewal window opens 90 days before the anniversary and closes on it, and a partner that does not requalify loses the badge. That is the part we like about it. It is not a certificate from a course; it is a score on work already done, read against customers' own answers. ## What it means if you buy licensing through us Nothing changes in what you pay. Subscriptions bought through IT Partner sell at Microsoft's own list price, and the support that comes with them is the support Microsoft has now assessed: - **Break-fix support during business hours is included** with the licensing, at no extra charge; around-the-clock coverage is a separate, paid agreement. - **A person answers.** Microsoft's partner directory sorts 100,000 partners by responsiveness, and we have held a place on its first page for years. Our published response-time record is on the verification register, month by month. - **Escalation to Microsoft** runs through our Premier Support agreement when a case needs Microsoft's own engineers, as a paid add-on on the service pages that offer it. If your licensing sits with a partner whose support you cannot reach, moving it is a billing change rather than a migration: the tenant, the users and the data stay where they are. [Why switch](/why-switch) explains the mechanics and the questions to ask first. ## How to check it yourself Every claim we make about our Microsoft standing is published with its evidence on the [verification register](/verify). The designation has its own entry, [MS-07](/verify/support-services-designation), with Microsoft's certified letter of 4 November 2026 and the Partner Center activation notice transcribed, and with the honest caveat that Partner Center is the authority at any moment and this page can be up to 90 days behind it. ## Sources - Microsoft Corporation, certified letter to IT Partner LLC signed by Andrew Smith, General Manager, Partner Programs and Experiences, 4 November 2026 (listed under Solutions Partner: Support Services; valid as a certification until 4 December 2026). - Microsoft Partner Center, "Your Support Services designation is now active", notice of 4 November 2026 (active from 4 November 2026 through 3 November 2027; anniversary 4 November 2027; renewal window 90 days before the anniversary). - Microsoft Learn, "Support Services designation" (partner-center/membership/support-services-designation): eligibility, the assessment steps and the benefits; read 4 November 2026. - IT Partner verification register: [MS-01 Solutions Partner designations](/verify/solutions-partner-designations), [MS-06 Premier Support agreement](/verify/premier-support-agreement), [OP-06 included support](/verify/included-support), [CU-03 directory responsiveness](/verify/partner-directory-responsiveness). ## Key takeaways - Microsoft awarded IT Partner LLC the Support Services designation on 4 November 2026; it is active through 3 November 2027 and re-assessed every year. - It is earned on support already delivered to CSP customers: a performance assessment, a customer success survey and a capability assessment. - Licensing bought through IT Partner keeps Microsoft's list price and includes business-hours break-fix support; the designation is Microsoft's reading of that support. --- Read the evidence on the verification register, or ask us for the designation letter from Partner Center.