What is an Asana Partner?
The Common Question
At the Work Innovation Summit in New York, while our CEO Marquis was manning the Cirface booth, someone leaned in, pointed at the banner, and asked, "What exactly is an Asana Partner?"
By that point in the day, it wasn’t the first time the question had come up. Or the fifth. It might have been the seventeenth. But it was still a good question.
And by the end of that conversation (like many others at the booth), the person asking the question would go from mildly curious to genuinely interested, not just in the partnership label, but in what it enables inside teams. So let’s break it down.
Key Takeaways
- Asana Partners are certified experts who set up, customise, and optimise Asana for other teams.
- There are three partner tracks: Solutions, Services, Referral
- Asana Solutions and Services Partners both handle the heavy lifting (workflow design, implementation, training, and ongoing support), while Referral Partners do not.
- Working with a partner accelerates time to value, reduces rollout risk, and grants insider access to beta features and priority support.
- Cirface operates as both a Solutions and Services Partner.
What is Asana? (and Why Teams Sometimes Need Help)
Asana is where work lives. Think tasks, timelines, goals, dashboards, automations. All in one space.
You can:
Create projects to manage everything from product launches to onboarding plans.
Assign tasks with deadlines, attachments, subtasks, and dependencies.
Automate repetitive steps with rules.
Visualize work in calendars, boards, portfolios, or reports.
It’s flexible. It’s powerful. And yes… it can be a little overwhelming at first.
“Asana can feel like giving a Ferrari to someone who’s never driven stick.”
DIY rollouts usually lead to siloed processes, no governance and low adoption of Asana in the long run. That’s where partners come in.
So... What Is an Asana Partner, Really?
Asana Partners are specialists who help teams get the most out of Asana. They aren't Asana employees, but they work closely with the platform to support users. There are three main types we will break down in this blog:
a) The Asana Service Partner: Your On-Demand Expert Crew
Think of a Service Partner like the certified contractor Asana brings in to do the actual heavy lifting. As the client, your contract is with Asana. Service partners simply carry out the work agreed to.
That means:
Building custom workflows
Running trainings
Supporting team rollout
b) The Solutions Partner: Your End-to-End Guide
Solutions Partners take it a step further. They don’t just show up after you’ve bought Asana. They help with everything before and after, including:
Helping you choose the right Asana plan
Setting up your instance from scratch
Onboarding your entire team
Designing your workflows and automations
Providing ongoing support, templates, and live training
Offering discounted license pricing (Cirface clients can save up to15% on licenses)
“Our biggest challenge was trying to accomplish a significant amount in Asana within a short timeframe. Cirface helped us streamline intake with automated project creation, replace Smartsheet processes in Finance and Sales, and build dashboards for real-time visibility across departments. Julieta brought deep expertise in all things Asana and guided us through a wide range of needs across multiple departments with confidence and clarity.”
Summary: As the client, your solutions contract is directly with the Solutions Partner. They guide you through the entire journey. From scoping and setup to training and long-term support.
c) Referral Partner: The Connector
Referral Partners simply introduce teams to Asana.
They notice when a team’s needs match Asana’s strengths and send those leads straight to Asana’s sales team. They don’t handle setup, training, or workflow design. Instead, their job ends once the introduction is made. If the team buys Asana, the Referral Partner earns a fee. Many agencies or consultants begin here before offering deeper implementation services.
Why Use an Asana Partner at All?
“You bought Asana, what now?”
Many teams buy Asana... then stare at a blinking cursor in a blank project.
“You could do it alone. But should you?”
Sure, you could YouTube your way through setup. But what about adoption? Governance? Integrations? Cross-functional workflows?
“Avoid the blank project blues.”
A good partner saves you months of trial and error. They help you design systems that work for your team, not just look good on a demo.
What It Feels Like to Work With One
Working with a good partner doesn’t feel like hiring a consultant. It feels like having someone in the room with you who understands how your work actually happens, and knows how to make Asana work around that.
You don’t need to be a power user. You don’t need to know what rules or dependencies are. We meet you where you're at.
“We come into your space, we can work with your team, we can do trainings, we can do implementations.”
Asana is a powerful tool. But powerful tools don’t build systems on their own. That’s what partners are for.
Whether you’re setting up your first project or trying to scale workflows across departments, the right partner can save time, avoid mess, and help your team genuinely feel the value of your investment.
How to Become an Asana Partner?
If you’re not just curious about what an Asana Partner is, but wondering how to become one, here’s the roadmap.
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Fill out the Asana Partner Application. Asana will review your fit and follow up if needed.
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You’ll need an active Asana subscription and a business model focused on selling or servicing Asana.
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Once accepted, you’ll complete ~2.5 hours of onboarding courses covering platform basics and partner responsibilities.
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You’ll gain access to the Partner Portal, sales resources, and community support, so you can start delivering value right away.
If you’re still scratching your head, don’t worry! Marquis Murray recorded a 4-minute explainer that covers everything in plain English.
Struggling to pick the right Asana plan or get the most from your workspace?
As an Asana Platinum Solutions & Services Partner, Cirface helps teams like PayPal, MLB and Neo4j choose the perfect Asana licence, optimize their setup, and streamline workflows for peak performance.
📅 Book a free connect call