The Microsoft Preferred Supplier Program (MPSP) has specific criteria that suppliers are required to meet. Suppliers are also evaluated against certain Microsoft business objectives. That's why not every supplier that is referred to the program and that meets the basic criteria is admitted.
Criteria Overview
To be part of the program, suppliers must meet the criteria outlined here.
| Criteria | Premier | Preferred |
|---|
Be nominated by a Category Manager (CM), Supplier Account Manager (SAM), Procurement Manager (PM), or business owner. - Supplier must demonstrate a high level of performance
- Nomination is for a specific category of goods and services
|  | |
Sign an MPSP Agreement or MPSP-compliant contract | | |
Meet a minimal annual spend threshold. (> 10$M USD (US) and > 1$M USD (Other countries)) | | |
Offer preferred pricing to Microsoft | | |
Premier suppliers are the featured supplier by category in the e-procurement system that is used by Microsoft employees. In some cases, a supplier may be the sole supplier in a category. Some categories of goods or services may not have a supplier at the MPSP Premier level. Premier suppliers make up no more than the top 20 percent of the Microsoft supplier base.
Benefits Overview
When a supplier joins the Microsoft Preferred Supplier Program, the supplier becomes eligible for program benefits, which Microsoft may modify over time. The following table outlines the current MPSP benefits.
| Benefit | | Premier | Preferred |
|---|
More work | - Listed on Category Cards AVL's (Approved Supplier Lists) as the best suppliers for the given category
| | |
Training | - Trained on category-specific content as well as in the use of general Microsoft procurement processes, such as MS Invoice and MS Inquire (United States and Canada only)
| | |
Network | - Microsoft Product Roadmap: extended license and product displayed on the extranet site
- Access to BrandTools and MediaBank
- Discounts on select software, hardware, and books (United States and Canada only)
| | |
Updates | - Quarterly update about GPG through the MPSP Update newsletter
| | |
General events | - MPSP Summit
- MPSP/GPAC Supplier Expo
- Regional MPSP Supplier Day
| | |
Exclusive events | | | |
Exposure | - Annual meeting with regional directors
- Annual meeting with CPO (Global Premier Suppliers only)
| | |
Recognition | - Eligible for awards
- Premier plaque
| | |
Scorecard | - Minimum Annual Supplier Performance Management Review and Scorecard
| Minimum annually | |
Supplier Awards
Microsoft annually recognizes suppliers that consistently provide an outstanding level of service and quality through the MPSP Excellence Awards Program.
The award categories are:
Supplier of the Year
Value Excellence
Quality Excellence
Service Excellence
Diversity Excellence
Technology Excellence
Environmental Excellence
All nominations are submitted by the Category Manager (CM) and Supplier Account Manager (SAM) by using an official entry form. Suppliers cannot nominate themselves. An award selection committee then determines the winners, which are announced and awarded at the MPSP Annual Supplier Summit each year.
In 2011, Microsoft issued six MPSP Excellence Awards to key suppliers whose performance over the past year demonstrated exceptional commitment and service.
Diversity Excellence Award and Technology Excellence Award
Zones Inc. is a Microsoft-certified Diversity supplier* that has a long history of successfully supporting Microsoft. Today, the company supports Microsoft across many procurement categories and global locations spanning more than 30 countries. Since being awarded the U.S. hardware peripheral business in 2009, Zones has expanded its business model to provide world-class acquisition, logistics and fulfillment support for a number of Microsoft’s business-critical projects. Zones has demonstrated an ability to work closely with Microsoft, building customized fulfillment solutions that are supported by a dedicated team of account and technical professionals. Its commitment to offering exceptional customer service scales all organizational levels, and its partnership helps Microsoft execute many strategic initiatives.
Environmental Excellence Award
Hyatt Hotels Corp., one of the world’s largest hotel and hospitality companies, supported Microsoft’s environmental goals through Hyatt Thrive, a global corporate responsibility program designed to “help make the communities places where our associates are proud to work, our guests want to visit, our neighbors want to live and owners want to invest.” Hyatt recognizes that environmental sustainability is a journey and not a short-term endeavor. It has made considerable progress toward its aggressive 2015 goals to reduce energy consumption per square meter by 25 percent, reduce water consumption per guest night by 20 percent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions per square meter by 25 percent.
Quality Excellence Award
Moravia IT is a leading globalization solution provider specializing in e-learning, life sciences, localization and product testing services, internationalization, multilingual publishing, and technical translation. In FY11, Moravia IT delivered exceptional value to Microsoft by providing competitive pricing and service excellence as well as by consistently scoring an 85 percent performance rating on all deliverables. During the past three years, Moravia IT has supported more than 100 Microsoft product launches in over 100 languages, achieved consistent service excellence and efficiency gains, and surpassed Microsoft’s Localization Community Language Quality Assessment by 10 percent.
Service Excellence Award and Supplier of the Year Excellence Award
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 236,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Accenture has proven to be an exceptional partner, enabling Microsoft to drive a best-practice business process outsourcing (BPO) model in which three critical finance processes across 96 countries were outsourced. The BPO model led to efficiencies, which resulted in savings of more than $30 million for both companies; in parallel, Accenture has surpassed all service-level expectations. This relationship has resulted in a truly win-win paradigm.
Value Excellence Award
ChinaSoft International is a leading global provider of premier IT services that offers a full range of services and leading-edge solutions that generate significant long-term value for global clients including Microsoft. ChinaSoft exceeded Microsoft’s expectations by achieving over 50 percent cost savings by consolidating more than 100 individual resources from 16 suppliers to a single supplier with less than 70 individual resources. This model provides a 30 percent year-over-year return on investment through direct service level agreements, efficiency improvements and problem-solving. ChinaSoft’s commitment to deliver highly competitive offshore and onshore rate structures, along with a tangible plan for measuring and committing to high levels of quality, has generated substantial savings for Microsoft.
2010 Excellence Award Winners
Supplier of the Year Award: Hitachi
Diversity Award: Allegis Group Services
Environmental Award: Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Service Award: Pitney Bowes Inc.
Technology Award: Hitachi Ltd.
Quality Award: Universal McCann
Value Award: Flextronics International Ltd.
2009 Excellence Award Winners
Supplier of the Year Award: Compass Group, North American Division
Diversity Award: Corona Wright
Environmental Award: DB Engineering
Service Award: GLY Construction
Technology Award: Compass Group, North American Division
Quality Award: Crispin Porter & Bogusky LLC
Value Award: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST)
2008 Excellence Award Winners
Supplier of the Year: Lionbridge Technologies Inc.
Diversity: Marriott International Inc.
Environmental: Grubb & Ellis Co. and Compass Group PLC.
Service: CRG Events
Technology: Toshiba America Inc.
Quality: MV Transportation Inc.
Value: Revonet Inc.
2007 Excellence Award Winners
Supplier of the Year: Grubb & Ellis Management Services
Quality: MV Transportation
Service: LCJ EEIG
Technology: HP
Value: Infineon Technologies
Diversity: Kelly Services
2006 Excellence Award Winners
Supplier of the Year: Trammel Crow
Quality: GE Plastics
Service: Taylor Nelson Sofres
Technology: MRM Partners Worldwide
Value: Milligan Events
2005 Excellence Award Winners
Supplier of the Year: JVC Disc America
Diversity: Grubb & Ellis Co.
Quality: Carlyle Inc
Service: Foxlink International Inc.
Technology: comScore SurveySite
Value: Philips Optical Storage
2004 Excellence Award Winners
Supplier of the Year: Delta Electronics Inc. Power System Business Group
Diversity: Dell
Quality: Level 3 Communications, Inc.
Service: Harte-Hanks Response Management
Technology: SurveySite Inc.
Value: Freeman Companies
2003 Excellence Award Winners
Supplier of the Year: Flextronics International Ltd.
Diversity: Compass Group and Thompson Hospitality
Quality: Arvato Services Inc.
Service: Excell Data Corp.
Technology: Toshiba America Information Systems
Value: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Optical Media Solutions Division)
Note Only MPSP premier and preferred suppliers in North America and selected regions are currently eligible for these awards.
