2. Who can register to deliver Planning Services Benefits?
 

1. Engagement Lengths: Planning Services are only available in 1,3,5,10,15 day engagement lengths (see Program Pages form more information: AZDPS, DDPS, DTDPS, L&EDPS, PVDPS, SDPS, SSDPS). 
2. Planning only: Planning Service Vouchers are to be used specifically for planning days only and should not be used for any sort of deployment. 
3. Stacking Vouchers: Each voucher represents an individual engagement and requires specific deliverables from the partner per the terms and conditions the partner accepted when they registered. However, in practice we understand that partners sometimes receive multiple vouchers from customers that are meant for one engagement. In these situations we allow engagements with multiple vouchers if the total days are less than 15 days. 
4. Multiple customers for one voucher: The only way Partners can perform “one big engagement” is if the separate EAs were truly for the same company and even then, they could not actually combine vouchers and would have to submit  one deliverable for all of the vouchers in VVR. Currently, we do not allow for separate companies to combine their vouchers together to make one big engagement. Even if the customers are in the same region, the Partner should perform separate engagements for each customer as their needs could quite possibly be different. 
5. Training Vouchers: Customers can convert Training Voucher days into Planning Service days on a 3:1 basis, with no limit. Text and sample calculations around customer entitlement can be found in Appendix 6 of the Product List.

1. Text and sample calculations around customer entitlement can be found in Appendix 6 of the Product List. 
2. Visit the Planning Services Customer Planning Services landing page to review what the customer sees. 
3. Watch the Planning Services Guidance Videos to review steps customers take to activate their voucher benefits. 
4. Review the Planning Services Providers Directory where customers find approved partners. 
5. Customers escalate problems with vouchers to VLSC Support or vlserva@microsoft.com.(NOTE: Partners escalate problems with reservation of customer vouchers through the Regional Service Center).

1. Joint Account Planning with Your Partner Account Manager to Create a Qualified Customer List
• Partners can contact their Partner Account Manager (PAM) and request to joint account plan to find entitled customers in the partner’s region
• Partners provide a list of current customers for whom they are the current partner of record to their PAM to have the PAM cross-check for customer benefit entitlement
• Partners can ask their PAM to coordinate working with a local Microsoft account team to help identify entitled customers in region interested in deployment 
2. Working with LARs
• Some Large Account Resellers (LAR) will share their list of entitled customers who purchased Software Assurance benefits with their license. If a partner is a System Integrators (SIs) they may be able to partner with a Large Account Reseller to identify potential SA eligible customers. 
3. Offer Deployment Planning to all Customers Regardless of Eligibility
• As a best practice, Microsoft recommends offering deployment planning to all customers. Deployment increases the rate of Enterprise Agreement renewals, which promotes future systems deployment and follow-on services for the partner. Regardless of customer eligibility, you can use the Planning Services' structured and pre-defined materials, best practices and intellectual property developed by Microsoft Services as a supplement to your deployment planning consulting you would typically offer to your customer. 
4. Working with Customers to Determine Eligibility
• If you are unable to have your PAM, a Microsoft sales or customer account contact help you determine customer entitlement, there are ways to work with your customer to do so.
• Once you know your customer has Software Assurance benefits, see the specifics on Calculating Customer Benefits (#7) to understand how many planning “days” they are entitled to.

1. Customer Facing Brochures for each Planning Service Program and Planning Services all-up, are available here.
2. Each Program may have different marketing tools on their Sell the Engagement Pages: AZDPS, DDPS, DTDPS, L&DPS, PVDPS, SDPS, SSDPS. 

1. Voucher Duration and Life Span:
• When the customer’s software license expires, the voucher also expires.
• However, when the voucher is activated or reserved, these two actions give the voucher an additional 180 days from the date of activation or reservation.
• Voucher Reservation: If you do not reserve the voucher, any partner or MCS can legitimately use it. Once you know you are going to work with a customer, reserve the voucher because you can change the engagement start and end dates.
2. Voucher requirements during lifespan: During this 180-day duration, Partners must reserve the voucher, deliver the engagement, and redeem the voucher in VVR. See how on the Voucher Life Cycle Page.
3. Voucher Exceptions:
• Although not guaranteed, if you feel your particular situation warrants an exception, please contact your PAM or your customer’s local account representative and have them email the SA Packaged Services Benefits alias in the Microsoft address book to request one.
• Unreserved vouchers returning to the pool of days: If 180 days pass and the voucher has not been reserved and it is still within the original lifespan of the licensing agreement, the voucher is considered unused and returns to the pool of available days.

1. See the Required Deliverables Page for a list of required deliverables.  
2. In order to pass Quality Assurance, post the actual final deliverables to VVR during the VVR redemption process. It is recommended that the delivery consultant take this step. Please see Redeem the Voucher Video to find out how.

Rates are detailed in Appendix 2 of the Terms and Conditions for each service type.  Rates are the same for all Planning service types and steps to the see the rates are the same as registering. Soft copies of the rates are not available. However, all updated rates can be found in Schedule A of the Terms and Conditions Program Addendums which are accessible online through the www.register.microsoftdps.com registration site. 

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