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Microsoft 365 Publisher

Share your news, passions, stories, and expertise with Microsoft publishing templates. Enjoy free publishing templates for magazines, newspapers, book covers, and more. This topic applies to Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (on-premises). For the Power Apps version of this topic, see: Change the solution publisher prefix. Every solution has a publisher. The default solution has a publisher named “Default Publisher for ”. The publisher record contains a Prefix value.

Publisher verification helps admins and end users understand the authenticity of application developers integrating with the Microsoft identity platform.

When an application is marked as publisher verified, it means that the publisher has verified their identity using a Microsoft Partner Network account that has completed the verification process and has associated this MPN account with their application registration.

A blue 'verified' badge appears on the Azure AD consent prompt and other screens:

This feature is primarily for developers building multi-tenant apps that leverage OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect with the Microsoft identity platform. These apps can sign users in using OpenID Connect, or they may use OAuth 2.0 to request access to data using APIs like Microsoft Graph.

Benefits

Publisher verification provides the following benefits:

• Increased transparency and risk reduction for customers- this capability helps customers understand which apps being used in their organizations are published by developers they trust.

• Improved branding- a “verified” badge appears on the Azure AD consent prompt, Enterprise Apps page, and additional UX surfaces used by end users and admins.

• Smoother enterprise adoption- admins can configure user consent policies, with publisher verification status as one of the primary policy criteria.

Note

Starting in November 2020, end-users will no longer be able to grant consent to most newly registered multi-tenant apps without verified publishers. This will apply to apps that are registered after November 8th 2020, use OAuth2.0 to request permissions beyond basic sign-in and read user profile, and request consent from users in different tenants than the one the app is registered in. A warning will be displayed on the consent screen informing users that these apps are risky and are from unverified publishers.

Requirements

There are a few pre-requisites for publisher verification, some of which will have already been completed by many Microsoft partners. They are:

• An MPN ID for a valid Microsoft Partner Network account that has completed the verification process. This MPN account must be the Partner global account (PGA) for your organization.

• An app registered in an Azure AD tenant, with a Publisher Domain configured.

• The domain of the email address used during MPN account verification must either match the publisher domain configured on the app or a DNS-verified custom domain added to the Azure AD tenant.

• The user performing verification must be authorized to make changes to both the app registration in Azure AD and the MPN account in Partner Center.

  • In Azure AD this user must be a member of one of the following roles: Application Admin, Cloud Application Admin, or Global Admin.

  • In Partner Center this user must have of the following roles: MPN Admin, Accounts Admin, or a Global Admin (this is a shared role mastered in Azure AD).

• The user performing verification must sign in using multi-factor authentication.

• The publisher agrees to the Microsoft identity platform for developers Terms of Use.

Developers who have already met these pre-requisites can get verified in a matter of minutes. If the requirements have not been met, getting set up is free.

Frequently asked questions

Below are some frequently asked questions regarding the publisher verification program. For FAQs related to the requirements and the process, see mark an app as publisher verified.

• What information does publisher verification not provide? When an application is marked publisher verified this does not indicate whether the application or its publisher has achieved any specific certifications, complies with industry standards, adheres to best practices, etc. Other Microsoft programs do provide this information, including Microsoft 365 App Certification.

• How much does this cost? Does it require any license? Microsoft does not charge developers for publisher verification and it does not require any specific license.

• How does this relate to Microsoft 365 Publisher Attestation? What about Microsoft 365 App Certification? These are complementary programs that developers can use to create trustworthy apps that can be confidently adopted by customers. Publisher verification is the first step in this process, and should be completed by all developers creating apps that meet the above criteria.

  Developers who are also integrating with Microsoft 365 can receive additional benefits from these programs. For more information, refer to Microsoft 365 Publisher Attestation and Microsoft 365 App Certification.

• Is this the same thing as the Azure AD Application Gallery? No- publisher verification is a complementary but separate program to the Azure Active Directory application gallery. Developers who fit the above criteria should complete the publisher verification process independently of participation in that program.

Next steps

• Learn how to mark an app as publisher verified.
• Troubleshoot publisher verification.

Publisher Attestation is a voluntary program where you complete a self-assessment of your app's security, data handling, and compliance practices. The information you provide will be presented to your customers so they can better evaluate your app before enabling it for their organization.

Important

Microsoft does not validate the information provided. The developer is solely responsible for the information they provide in the self-assessment.

Program Benefits

• Time savings. Point your customers to your docs page where they can find your responses to commonly asked questions about your application.
• Accelerating an enterprise organization's security and compliance internal review timeline.
• Increased transparency.
• Differentiation from other apps in the store.
• Link to your docs page from your entry in AppSource.
• Qualification to start the Microsoft 365 Certification.

Publisher Attestation applies to apps that integrate with:

• Teams
• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Outlook
• SharePoint
• Project
• OneNote

Publisher Attestation Process

1. Take part — The Publisher Attestation is now integrated within Partner Center. You can complete the attestation in a user friendly questionnaire all within Partner Center. Please refer to our user guide for the step-by-step process.

2. Await review feedback and results — During the consistency-check review, if analysts find blocking issues such as inadequate response data, you will be contacted for further information. Analysts will maintain an app activity log detailing review findings and your follow-up submissions throughout the process. Once it has been determined that your attestation report is complete and your responses are acceptable, your submission will be approved. Your approval status will be valid for one year from the time of submission.

Note

If, within the interim approval status period, you update or modify your app or you receive notification of reported attestation submission misinformation you must revise and resubmit your documentation.

3. View the online portal — Once your attestation has been approved, your app will be listed in the online repository and will include the following:

   • A submission timestamp.
   • Links to a detailed copy of your submitted information.
   • A declaration that the information provided is based on your submitted attestation report.

For example, SeeMicrosoft Teams App Security and Compliance

Is Publisher Included In Microsoft 365

4. Review and re-submission — Your Publisher Attestation will need to be resubmitted on an annual basis. When your attestation nears the one year mark you will receive a notification through Partner Center encouraging a resubmission of your attestation.

   If your Publisher Attestation is not renewed before the expiration date, your apps attestation status will be revoked and your Publisher Attestation will be removed from the Microsoft docs pages.

Microsoft Office Publisher Free Download

Important

By participating in the Publisher Attestation program, you are agreeing to these supplemental terms and to comply with any accompanying documentation that applies to your participation in the Publisher Attestation program with Microsoft Corporation ('Microsoft', 'we', 'us', or 'our'). You represent and warrant to us that you have the authority to accept these Publisher Attestation supplemental terms on behalf of yourself, a company, and/or other entity, as applicable. We may change, amend or terminate these supplemental terms at any time. Your continued participation in the Publisher Attestation program after any change or amendment means you agree to the new supplemental terms. If you do not agree to the new supplemental terms or if we terminate these terms, you must stop participating in the Publisher Attestation program.

Microsoft Publisher Free Download

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