Microsoft has delayed the start of the certification requirements of its new partner program. Slated to go into effect on May 1, the requirements have been postponed until October 1 and there are already bets that further delays are likely. This apparently affects all levels from SPA, the general partner tier, through the silver and gold certification levels. Word about this decision started being delivered to VARs about a week ago, but it seemed very clear that not everyone got the news at the same time and some organizations heard about it far more recently. The program is viewed as potentially driving many smaller resellers from the channel since achieving some certifications would mandate for staff than they have.