Need to host a website in the Middle East & Africa? Leverage the Microsoft Partner Network

The Microsoft Partner Network is an invaluable way for our partners to surface their training offers, programs and capabilities in a very searchable way through the microsoft.com (ranked #22 in top 100 US websites). This network is localized for your specific country or region & through the Hosting Community, you can find a hosting offer to suit your needs. “The Microsoft Hosting Community, an extension of the Microsoft Partner Network, provides specific benefits to partners who focus on the hosting industry.” If you don’t see something you need on MPN, please contact your local DPE representative.

For hosters, you can find local training events in your region, create custom marketing & sales material based on templates that Microsoft provides, download demos that showcase your solutions on the Microsoft platform, and list your own offers in the catalog. 

Find a hoster

Let’s say I want to find the go-to hosting company in South Africa. Visit the Microsoft Hosting site and select the “Find a Hoster” option.

Choose one of the hosting service categories, such as Dedicated Hosting:

You can then filter the results by region, such as EMEA (Europe Middle East & Africa):

Are you a hoster?

If so, ensure that your solutions and offers are being broadcast.  Or if you see one of your local hosters missing, please let them know how they can list their information. You can find more information on the hosting competency benefits, but here is an excerpt:

“To list your solution you must:

1. Attain the Hosting Solutions competency.

2. Profile your solution in the Microsoft Partner Solution Profiler.

3. Sign in to the Microsoft Hosting Community and click Nominate a Solution.

4. Select your solution from the drop-down menu. Review your solution in Solution Profiler and make any necessary changes.

5. Select the catalogue where you want the solution to appear and verify that you meet the requirements.

6. Click Submit Your Nomination. “

Here’s a quick walkthrough on using the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN). First, ensure that your location is pointing to the correct country, if not it is simple enough to change from the top left hand portion of your screen.

Once you have changed your location, the content of the site will now be customized with material relevant to your region.  Select the Products & Solutions tab. Choose Partner Hosted Services and the Hosting Community button.

There you will see information on how to sign up for the hosting newsletter, join the Hosting community, and learn about Microsoft’s Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA) which gives you options to license on a monthly which typically makes the most economic sense for hosting providers.

Find training events for hosting partners

You can also find local training events in your region.

Create unique content about your hosting company using templates

Microsoft provides standard templates that you can use to create sales & marketing material about your services, solutions & case studies. Select the Sales & Marketing tab, and click the “Get Started” button.