German professional services firm MHP has earned a set of partner credentials from Microsoft that will put it in a better position to compete for Azure consulting deals.

MHP, which employs about 5,000 people worldwide, competes in two main markets. The first is the management consulting segment, where it offers services that help corporate clients with tasks such as boosting supply chain efficiency. MHP also takes on IT consulting projects. Last week, the company bolstered the latter part of its business by announcing that it earned half a dozen new partner credentials from Microsoft. All of them focus on Azure.

Microsoft offers six so-called Solution Partner Designations for consulting partners that work on Azure projects. Each credential covers a fairly long list of Azure use cases. By earning a Solution Partner Designation, a consulting partner demonstrates that it’s knowledgeable about the use cases covered by that particular credential.

Until recently, MHP had only two of the six Solution Partner Designations offered by Microsoft. The main highlight of the consultancy’s announcement last week is that it earned the remaining four. The new partner credentials are expected to expand the reach of the firm’s Microsoft consulting business.

“This alignment is not merely symbolic—it enables MHP to participate in Microsoft’s elite partner ecosystem,” Thomas Frahler, the senior director of markets strategy and services at MHP, told Boardroom Insight. He explained that the new credentials qualify “MHP for co-selling opportunities and early access to Microsoft innovations, thereby enhancing joint go-to-market strategies.”

The four new partner credentials that MHP earned focus on data and AI, security, “digital and app innovation” and infrastructure. The former two categories are self-explanatory. The digital and app innovation partner credential, in turn, is given to consultancies that can help companies build and maintain Azure applications. Microsoft’s infrastructure-focused credential is notable as well because it’s broader than what the name indicates. Earning it requires a consultancy to demonstrate experience in using not only cloud-based Azure infrastructure but also Azure Local systems. Those are on-premises servers managed via Azure Portal, the cloud platform’s admin console.

Microsoft decides whether to issue such credentials to a partner based on two main sets of metrics. Many of the metrics track a consultancy’s sales performance, in particular the number of deals that it signs with customers and the value of those deals. Additionally, Microsoft takes into account how many Azure-related professional certifications have been earned by a consultancy’s workforce.

Alongside the four Solution Partner Designations, MHP earned two Microsoft Azure specializations called “Analytics on Microsoft Azure” and “AI and Machine Learning on Microsoft Azure.” Taking AI projects from prototype to production can be a heavy lift for companies because machine learning talent is in short supply. As a result, bringing in a consultancy is often more practical than assembling an in-house AI team. MHP will provide clients with “access to highly specialized consulting services in areas such as predictive analytics, real-time data integration, and AI model deployment,” Frahler said.

Microsoft Azure specializations like MHP’s new AI and analytics credentials have the same basic function as Solution Partner Designations. The difference is that they focus on a narrower set of technologies and have stricter eligibility requirements. Furthermore, consultancies must undergo a third-party audit to verify that they meet those requirements. 

“This process ensures that MHP’s capabilities are not only theoretical but proven in real-world enterprise environments,” Frahler explained. He elaborated that the audits look at “technical delivery capabilities” such as the quality of a consultancy’s cloud architecture designs and its cybersecurity know-how.

Going forward, one of MHP’s priorities will be supporting the European edition of Microsoft’s XIAD program. It’s a series of one-day events in which the tech giant’s consulting partners host workshops about its products for IT buyers. The gatherings provide an opportunity for enterprises to familiarize themselves with Microsoft technologies. The participating consultancies, meanwhile, gain an opportunity to meet leads and demonstrate their expertise.