Claude Partner Network levels up: meet the Services Track and Partner Hub!

Hey everyone, it's Shiichan! Today I've got a story about how Anthropic just tidied up its whole partner program. There are a lot of numbers, so let's walk through them together.

Anthropic News anthropic.com

What was announced?

Over on Anthropic's News, they introduced two new pieces for the Claude Partner Network. The first is the Services Track, which sorts partner firms into tiers based on their real capabilities. The second is the Claude Partner Hub, a portal that makes each partner's status visible.

The Claude Partner Network is the group of firms that help customers adopt and build with Claude. Think of this update as adding a "ranking ruler" and a "dashboard" on top of it.

The story so far

The Claude Partner Network only launched in March 2026, backed by a $100 million commitment for training, technical support, and joint marketing. More than 40,000 firms applied, and over 10,000 consultants earned Claude certifications.

Big professional services firms jumped in fast: Accenture with 30,000 trained professionals, Cognizant with 350,000 associates, Deloitte with 470,000 users, KPMG with a workforce of more than 276,000, plus Infosys and PwC building their own Claude practices.

But once a network gets this big, it's hard to tell which partner is strong, or where your own firm stands. That's exactly what this announcement cleans up.

What changes

The biggest thing is that partner evaluation now runs on clear numbers: how many certified people you have, how many production deployments are live, and how many public stories you've published. One shared ruler for everyone, so it's fair and easy to read.

On top of that, the Partner Hub dashboards refresh daily. You can see in real time which requirements you meet and how far you are from the next tier. Less of that "we're working hard but the scoring is a black box" frustration.

Dive Deep

The Services Track has three tiers:

• Select (entry): at least 10 active certified individuals, at least 2 joint customers in production (trailing 12 months), and at least 1 public customer story
• Preferred (deeper practices): at least 100 active certified individuals, at least 15 deployed joint customers, and at least 3 public stories
• Global Premier (top tier): at least 1,000 active certified individuals, at least 100 deployed joint customers across 3+ regions, at least 15 public stories, and a joint business plan with named executive sponsors

I love how they measure it. Certifications only count if the person has actually used Claude within the last 90 days, so grabbing a cert and letting it go stale doesn't count. Deployments count only live production customers, and endorsements count only stories that were actually published.

The Partner Hub shows each partner's tier status, certified team size, deployments, and public references, and the dashboards refresh daily. There's also a new MCP connector, so you can ask Claude things like "what's my standing?" or "how many certifications do we have?" and even register deals. That part is quietly developer-friendly and kind of exciting.

Promotions and demotions have set rules too. Promotions happen on January 1 and July 1, plus an extra review on October 1, 2026. Demotions only happen at the December 31 annual review, and you get 90 days' notice, so nobody gets dropped out of nowhere.

Getting in is easy: the Registered level (at least 10 certified practitioners) is free to join, and a formal partnership begins at the Select tier. The requirements are identical no matter your company's size, and certifications come from Anthropic Partner Academy exams. Practice-building and referral business are tracked separately, so you don't have to pick one over the other. Industry- and use-case-specific specializations are coming next.

Wrap-up

• Anthropic added the Services Track (three ranking tiers) and the Claude Partner Hub (a daily-updated dashboard) to the Claude Partner Network
• Evaluation uses one shared ruler: certified headcount, production deployments, and published stories, with certifications counting only recent 90-day usage
• Tiers are Select / Preferred / Global Premier; you start free at Registered and become a formal partner at Select
• Promotions land on January 1 and July 1 (plus an October review), while demotions only happen at year-end with 90 days' notice
• An MCP connector lets you check standing and register deals right from Claude

If you run a consulting or SI business and want to grow it around Claude adoption, this one is right up your alley. And if you're a developer, the MCP connector is the fun little detail to watch. See you next time!