Microsoft ECIF explained: the partner money your marketing plan can't spend

If you run marketing or alliances at a Microsoft partner and have heard “ECIF” in a meeting and nodded along, this is for you. Microsoft ECIF (End-Customer Investment Funds) is money Microsoft’s own field teams spend on proofs of concept and deployment work for a customer, and they choose the partner who does it. It doesn’t pay for your marketing, and you can’t claim it like co-op funds.

I worked for Microsoft partners before I started Fifty Five and Five, and we’ve worked with Microsoft ever since. ECIF works differently from the funds most partner marketers know.

If it’s your marketing funds you’re after, our Microsoft MDF guide covers those.

What is Microsoft ECIF?

Microsoft defines it in its own supplier toolkit. End-Customer Investment Funds “are used to drive growth and close pipeline by conducting a proof of concept or helping customers deploy Microsoft products and enhance the customer and partner experience through consulting services from Microsoft and our partners” (Microsoft ECIF toolkit ).

So Microsoft pays a partner to help a customer actually start using its products, with a proof of concept or a migration, say.

The same toolkit sets two rules worth knowing. ECIF paid to suppliers “has to reflect the fair market price of these services”, and “ECIF must never be used as a sales discount”. So you can’t use it to knock money off a licence.

Who decides who gets ECIF?

Microsoft’s account team. Jill Armour, a community manager on Microsoft’s partner community, put it simply: “ECIF Funding is a Microsoft field-led investment, not partner-led”, and partners should talk to their partner development manager or account team (Microsoft Tech Community ).

That’s the opposite of co-op funds, which partners earn through Microsoft’s incentive programmes and claim back. With ECIF there’s no balance waiting in Partner Center. A Microsoft account team decides a customer project is worth funding, then picks who delivers it.

To be picked, a partner has to be set up as an ECIF supplier. Microsoft’s toolkit says the request for quote “is a mandatory part of the ECIF Supplier onboarding in parallel with a vetting and compliance process”, and “No delivery can start without the full onboarding of your company”. It also says Microsoft “intends to select a limited number of suppliers” (Microsoft ECIF toolkit ).

The rules for individual programmes change every year. One example, from Microsoft’s partner community team in January 2025: “Partners who provide a SoW with projected Azure Consumed Revenue at a 10:1 ratio can apply for ECIF funding” (Microsoft Tech Community ). And in July 2026 Microsoft said that for ECIF or field-nominated engagements, partners need a one-time activation to use its Cloud Accelerate Factory delivery programme (Partner Center announcements ).

How is ECIF different from MDF and co-op funds?

The table shows what each one pays for and who decides.

Co-op funds are the ones most partners know. Microsoft says they’re “funds that you earn through Microsoft Incentive Programs by claiming reimbursement for activities that support Microsoft product awareness”. Earnings build up over a six-month period, have to be used in the next six months, and “If you don’t use your earnings by the end of the usage period, you forfeit them” (Microsoft Learn ).

MCI (Microsoft Commerce Incentives) engagements sit in between. They’re Microsoft-funded customer engagements, but the partner claims them in Partner Center, with the customer’s consent and proof the work happened (Microsoft Learn ).

Our MDF guide covers discretionary MDF as well, which is agreed with your Microsoft contacts for specific campaigns. And if you’re on the funding side, how to see what MDF funds produce is about measuring what partners’ marketing money actually bought. We built Microsoft a tool to do exactly that.

How do partners get chosen for ECIF work?

ECIF can’t pay for your marketing, but your marketing has a lot to do with whether you get picked.

A Microsoft account team with a funded project needs a partner, and they’ll pick one they already know does that work. If I were a partner, I’d want to be one of these.

1. Already onboarded. If you’re not set up as a supplier you can’t deliver, however good you are, so do the paperwork before there’s a project.
2. A clear offer for one workload. Nobody can pass on “full-service Microsoft partner”. Something like “we move SAP workloads to Azure” they can.
3. Proof the field can forward. An account manager can forward a short case study with a named customer and a real number. Nobody forwards a capabilities deck.
4. Known to the account team. People pick people they know. Go to their events and tell them about your wins.

Every ECIF project you deliver can also be your next case study, if the customer agrees. Microsoft backed it in the first place, so the field is more likely to trust it.

Can ECIF pay for marketing?

No. Microsoft designed ECIF to pay for proofs of concept and deployment services that help a customer adopt its products, and it describes the money as funding for consulting services from Microsoft and its partners. A partner’s campaigns and website aren’t customer deployments, so ECIF doesn’t cover them. A partner’s marketing is what co-op funds are for, and Microsoft describes those as funds partners earn through its incentive programmes and claim back for activities that support Microsoft product awareness. Some partners also agree discretionary MDF with their Microsoft contacts for specific campaigns. The work an ECIF project pays for can become marketing afterwards, as a case study or customer story, if the customer agrees. That kind of story tends to persuade, because the project really happened and Microsoft backed it.

So what is Microsoft ECIF, and how is it different from MDF?

Microsoft ECIF is field-led money for proofs of concept and deployments. Microsoft’s account team decides where it goes and picks an onboarded partner to deliver, at a fair market price. Co-op funds and MDF pay for a partner’s own marketing, and the partner earns or agrees them and claims the money back.

You can’t spend ECIF on marketing, but marketing helps you get picked for it. If you’d like the account teams to know what you deliver, get in touch.

Frequently asked questions