Pax8 and Microsoft Updates for November 2026. * November 3, 2026 Check out the latest updates on what managed service providers (MSPs) and managed intelligence providers (MIPs) need to know about Microsoft in November 2026. Program updates. Visit Pax8 at Microsoft Ignite November 17-20 in San francisco. Pax8 will be on-site for Ignite, Microsoft's annual conference for IT professionals and partners. Visit Pax8 at booth 1733 and be sure to attend its breakout session, "Build the Managed Intelligence Stack for SMBs with Pax8 and Microsoft," Wednesday, November 18, from 11:30am-12:15pm PT. You'll learn how to turn Microsoft AI and security solutions into profitable SMB offers that drive adoption and fuel growth. Here's what else Pax8, Inc. has in store for Ignite: * Scan your badge for your chance to win a trip to Beyond San Diego, taking place June 6-8, 2027. * Connect with a Microsoft expert to discover new ways to help your SMB clients grow. * Learn how the Pax8 CEP connects businesses with trusted IT experts. * Register for Beyond, which unites its partners for three days of community, education and innovation. Microsoft Partner Agreement update. Microsoft has updated its Microsoft Partner Agreement (MPA) and CSP Program Guide. Changes focus on privacy, security, compliance and evolving business practices. The updated agreement will automatically take effect for most CSP partners December 1, 2026. No action is required, though partners can accept the new terms early in Partner Center. CSP software price increase. Microsoft's 5% price increase for CSP software subscriptions with annual-term commitments billed monthly has taken effect. Affected products include SQL Server, Windows Server, Client Access Licenses and System Center. Annual-term commitments billed annually or upfront, monthly-term commitments billed monthly and perpetual software licensing are outside the scope of the change. The update preserves monthly billing flexibility while aligning pricing across sales channels. Introducing Growth Margin. Microsoft has introduced Growth Margin, which programmatically rewards partners whenever they drive qualifying customer growth. Eligibility is evaluated at the customer tenant level and can be earned through three scenarios: new-to-offer, seat expansion or strategic SKU mix. Base margin remains the standard rate for renewals and ongoing subscriptions. Growth margin is a higher total margin for qualifying growth and already includes base margin, so the two are not stacked. Eligible CSP license-based offers include select products such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 E7, Microsoft Defender Suite, Microsoft Purview Suite and Windows 365 Enterprise. Azure Flex Spend Plans. Microsoft is introducing Flex Spend Plans, a new consumption-based CSP offer construct. With Flex Spend, a customer commits to a defined amount of consumption spend over a term and is billed monthly rather than paying the full amount upfront. The committed amount can be consumed at any pace during the term, and one agreement covers eligible products and services with full-year commitment coverage and auto-renewal. Flex Spend Plans require an Azure plan and are currently being tested in the CSP sandbox as a preview, not a production offer. Pax8 is validating purchase, billing and reconciliation workflows. No partner action is required, and a release date has not been announced. Usage-Based billing on by default for new Copilot Business licenses. Effective December 1, 2026, new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licenses purchased through CSP, including standalone licenses and bundles, will have usage-based billing by default. Either an Azure subscription will be used to bill usage, or Microsoft will automatically enable an Azure Plan subscription for usage. The default configuration uses pay-as-you-go billing with a preset monthly limit of 4,000 copilot credits per user, per month. Microsoft and Pax8 will provide more information soon. Microsoft Change of Channel Partner updates. Microsoft clarified that the following scenarios are no longer considered Change of Channel Partner events: * A customer changes resellers but remains with the same distributor * A reseller changes distributors while maintaining the same customer relationship * Authorization changes where the partner retains the same PGA You'll still earn applicable incentives in these scenarios if you meet normal program requirements. Microsoft also confirmed there will be no impact to July earnings as these updates were made before earnings processing. This is a positive development for Pax8 and its partners. The update removes unintended impacts associated with distributor and reseller transitions while keeping the policy focused on its original goal: rewarding net-new customer growth and value creation rather than partner-to-partner customer transfers. Promotions and offers. Current Microsoft promotions include: * Microsoft 365 E3 three-year offer: 10% off net price for first-time purchases, with a minimum of 100 seats, through December 31, 2026. * Microsoft 365 E3 one-year targeted offer: 20% off for at least 250 seats, through December 31, 2026. * Purview Suite for Business Premium: 50% off a one-year term with purchase of a Microsoft 365 Copilot annual subscription, for 10 to 300 seats, through December 31, 2026. * Microsoft Copilot Business: 15% off a one-year term, up to 300 seats, through December 31, 2026. * Business Basic and Copilot Business: 25% off a one-year term, up to 300 seats, through December 31, 2026. * Microsoft 365 Copilot for Nonprofit: promotional tiers range from 15% to 40% based on seat count, through December 31, 2026. Eligible promotions are applied after checkout through the promotions API and appear in the Pax8 Marketplace as Spiff Price Adjustments. Promotional pricing is applied before margins are calculated and distributed. Cloud and AI platforms update. Azure Migration Offer. Through December 31, 2026, the Pax8 Azure Migration Offer provides a funded assessment of non-Azure infrastructure and a roadmap for migrating eligible workloads. Global Pax8 partners at the Voyager Alliance Ignite tier or above can qualify after executing a statement of work and Funding Addendum. If the assessment leads to an Azure deployment within 30 days that reaches at least $200 in monthly Azure consumed revenue and all other requirements are met, Pax8 will issue a one-time $2,000 credit memo. Alliance Members and Azure Government customers are not eligible. AI business solutions update. Meet the new Copilot. Microsoft has made a new Copilot experience available to Frontier members (GA has not yet been announced): * Home brings Chat and Cowork together and adds Office in Copilot for creating and updating editable Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. * Code lets users describe an app, dashboard, automation or workflow in natural language and have Copilot build it. * Autopilot, formerly called Scout, is a proactive cloud-hosted agent with its own identity that continues working across Teams and Outlook. Copilot in 30. The Copilot in 30 CSP trial offering gives partners a repeatable way to help first-time Copilot customers evaluate Microsoft 365 Copilot Business. It includes 25 users for 30 days and is available in the Pax8 Marketplace. At the end of the term, partners can cancel the trial or convert it to a paid subscription with their choice of quantity, commitment and billing terms. The motion follows five stages: identify target customers, create a success plan, activate the trial, guide the customer experience and convert successful evaluations to paid seats. The Copilot Success Planner creates a tailored 30-day adoption plan based on a customer's role and priorities. Pax8 + Zensai end customer enablement promotion. Through December 31, 2026, partners that enroll before transacting and purchase at least 10 net-new seats of an eligible Copilot offer can receive an equal number of Zensai licenses for one year at no cost. Eligible prerequisite offers include Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Nonprofit and the Copilot Business plus Microsoft 365 Business Premium bundle. The matching Zensai licenses must be purchased within 30 days of the original Copilot purchase. November enablement update. See the November lineup of partner enablement and hands-on labs. Partner enablement sessions. Hands-On labs. Follow all of its events here. Join its Monthly Microsoft webinar. Learn even more about growing your Microsoft business in the Pax8 Monthly Microsoft Updates webinar series.

IT distribution is changing due to the rise of AI infrastructure. While attention in the financial markets is focused on the quarterly results of the major tech companies, a profound transformation is taking place beneath the surface in global IT distribution. That is what Jay McBain (photo), chief analyst for channels, partnerships & ecosystems at research firm Omdia, argues in an analysis on business network LinkedIn. According to McBain, the boundaries between cloud, software, physical hardware and services are blurring at rapid pace. The analyst points among other things to a recent announcement by Amazon Web Services (AWS) during a meeting in Nashville. AWS executive Matt Yanchyshyn announced that AWS Marketplace and Amazon Business have been merged into one integrated shopping platform. As a result, business buyers can combine software, data services and professional service contracts from the AWS Marketplace on one invoice with physical hardware and office supplies from Amazon Business. IT administrators can also centrally set governance rules, budget thresholds and approval processes that apply to both catalogues. According to McBain, this creates a unique procurement model. Since Amazon already has one of the largest logistics supply chains in the world, organizations can now purchase their complete IT infrastructure - from 'edge-to-cloud' and physical equipment to satellite and telecom connections - through a single platform. Convergence among IT distributors and MSPs. In addition to Amazon's move, McBain cites the recent partnership between cloud distributor Pax8 and PC manufacturer Lenovo as an important signal. Pax8 recently introduced '8os' and '8bot', platforms with which managed service providers (MSPs) can manage AI agents and commercialize 'managed intelligence' services. Lenovo's presence at the Pax8 Beyond EMEA event underlines how traditional cloud distributors are increasingly bundling AI PCs and endpoint hardware with recurring software services. At the same time, Lenovo expanded its enterprise AI library with validated applications to accelerate infrastructure rollouts. According to Omdia, the developments show that the market is moving toward integrated partner propositions in which hardware, software, AI orchestration and lifecycle services come together at scale. Platform battle for the multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure market. These initiatives are putting relations in the traditional IT channel on edge. Major global distributors such as TD SYNNEX, Ingram Micro, Arrow Electronics, ALSO Group and Carahsoft have invested billions in recent years to build their own e-commerce and management platforms. According to McBain, the global rollout of AI infrastructure - a market estimated to involve 7,000 billion dollars - places new demands on the chain. Customers are asking for global integration of hardware, software, telecom and professional services, combined with strict requirements around FinOps, data sovereignty, cybersecurity and laws and regulations. According to the analyst, the recent steps by players such as Amazon, Pax8 and Lenovo are defining the outlines of what the IT distribution landscape will look like over the next three to five years. About Witold Kepinski. Witold Kepinski (1969) is director, editor-in-chief and director of content at Dutch IT Channel and Dutch IT Leaders. Witold Kepinski has been active in the IT media and tech business sector for 25 years. With a specialized team of editors, bloggers and video makers, Witold Kepinski provides insight into tech business trends and applications with which IT decision-makers and channel partners make an impact.

Pax8 named 2026 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year. Published: October 23, 2026 Author: Alyssa Borelli Courtesy / The ASCII Group Vendor awards carry more weight when the customers cast the votes. That's the case with the ASCII Cup, where IT service providers rank the technology partners they work with all year. The 2026 top honor went to Pax8, which has now won Vendor of the Year twice in three years. Key things to know. * Pax8 is the 2026 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year, as voted by members of the ASCII community. * Atakama finished as first runner-up, and Kaseya placed third. * ASCII members vote at regional ASCII Edge events across North America, scoring vendors in 12 categories. * Pax8 also won Vendor of the Year in 2024 and finished as first runner-up in 2025. * ASCII is a community within the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA). Who won the 2026 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year? Pax8 won the 2026 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year. ASCII, a GTIA community, announced the result after a full year of member voting. The award recognizes technology partners whose innovation, partner programs and overall value help IT service providers (ITSPs) grow their businesses. When and where were the awards presented? The 2026 ASCII Cup awards were presented Oct. 22 at the final ASCII Edge event of the year in San Antonio, Texas. The event brought the ASCII community together to recognize the vendors that support ITSP success. The awards continue a tradition started by The ASCII Group, which is now part of GTIA. How are ASCII Cup winners chosen? ASCII Cup winners are chosen through a yearlong, peer-driven voting process at regional ASCII Edge events across North America. At each event, ASCII members evaluate participating vendors across 12 categories. Results from the full event series determine the Vendor of the Year and the rest of the top-ranked partners. The practical upshot: the ranking reflects repeated feedback from service providers, not a single judging panel or one-time survey. Which companies finished in the top ten? The 2026 ASCII Cup award recipients are: * Pax8: 2026 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year * Atakama: First Runner-Up * Kaseya: Third Place * SonicWall: Fourth Place * ThreatMate: Fifth Place * Monjur: Sixth Place * RYTHMz: Seventh Place * Vircom: Eighth Place * Proofpoint: Ninth Place * Cynet: Tenth Place Security vendors make up a large share of the list. SonicWall, ThreatMate, Vircom, Proofpoint and Cynet all placed, a signal of where service providers are putting their attention. How has Pax8 performed in past ASCII Cup voting? Pax8 has finished at or near the top for three straight years. It won Vendor of the Year in 2024, placed first runner-up in 2025 and returned to the top spot in 2026. That consistency matters more than a single win. It shows the same pool of ITSPs rating the company highly year after year. What does GTIA say about the award? GTIA describes the ASCII Cup as a direct reflection of what its members value in vendor partners. Jerry Koutavas, vice president, Community ASCII, at GTIA, points to the member-driven nature of the vote as the award's defining feature. "The ASCII Cup is a great example of the IT channel connecting and growing together," Koutavas says. "These awards come straight from our members, recognizing the technology partners who help ITSPs build stronger businesses. Congratulations to Pax8 and all of this year's honorees." How did Pax8 respond to the win? Pax8 credits its focus on community, education and partner success for the result. Rob Rae, corporate vice president of partner experience at Pax8, ties the award's value to who cast the votes. "Recognition from the MSP and MIP community means a lot because these are the partners we work alongside every day," Rae says. "Being named the 2026 ASCII Cup Vendor of the Year tells us our focus on community, education and partner success is making a difference, and we're honored by that vote of confidence." Why does the ASCII Cup matter to AV integrators? The ASCII Cup matters to AV integrators because it shows which vendors IT service providers trust as AV and IT work continues to overlap. More AV projects now involve networking, security and managed services, the same territory these ITSPs cover every day. For integrators adding managed services or recurring revenue, a peer-voted ranking offers a useful starting point when vetting partners. It's feedback from firms running similar service businesses. Posted in: News