How software companies can expand their SMB reach with Microsoft Marketplace and AI
How can software companies turn a Microsoft Marketplace presence into greater customer reach and growth? Explore how Microsoft Marketplace can help software companies connect with more small and medium business (SMB) customers, support scalable sales, and expand into new markets in the age of AI. The article highlights Ntegral’s evolution from a traditional systems integrator to a software company with more than 300 enterprise solutions and deployments in more than 150 countries. You’ll also get a preview of what Ntegral President and CTO Dexter Hardy will bring to Ultimate Partner LIVE Reston, including practical perspectives on building beyond a Marketplace listing, developing pipeline, reaching SMB customers, and incorporating AI into a broader growth strategy. Read the full article to discover how Marketplace, AI-powered innovation, and an SMB-focused product strategy can work together to create new opportunities for software companies. 👉 Explore now: How software companies can reach more SMB customers through Microsoft Marketplace in the age of AIFrom discovery to decision: A connected way to buy in Microsoft Marketplace
When I talk with customers about technology decisions, one thing is clear: finding a promising solution is only the beginning. The real work is deciding whether that solution solves the business need. Can I understand my options quickly? How does one solution compare with another? Can my team try it before making a decision? And when we’re ready to move forward, can the purchase reflect the way our organization actually needs to buy? Those questions become even more important as organizations bring cloud and AI solutions into more workflows and evaluate a growing range of options. That’s why I’m excited about the latest enhancements to Microsoft Marketplace. They help customers to find, evaluate, and choose the cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents that best fit their needs. Start with what you’re trying to accomplish Technology searches don’t always begin with a product name. Often, you know the business outcome or technical scenario you’re trying to address, but you don’t yet know which solution will get you there. You may be looking for an agent that supports a particular workflow, a solution for an industry scenario, or simply a better way to explore the options available to you. This is where intelligent discovery changes the starting point. With smart search in Microsoft Marketplace, you can describe what you’re looking for in natural language. Marketplace uses that input to refine the search and help identify relevant solutions. I think about this as moving from “What should I search for?” toward “Here’s what I’m trying to do.” Once you begin finding potential solutions, the evaluation becomes more specific. You can compare up to three offerings side by side and add your own criteria to the comparison. That matters because every organization evaluates technology differently. The questions that matter to your developers may be different from the questions procurement or business leaders need answered. Interactive chat extends that approach to individual product pages. You can ask questions in natural language about the solution you’re viewing, giving you another way to find the information relevant to your evaluation without relying solely on navigating through each section of the listing. Together, these experiences create a more natural progression: start with your need, explore possible solutions, compare your options, and dig deeper where it matters. Evaluation becomes more meaningful when you can try the solution There’s a point in many technology decisions when research needs to become hands-on evaluation. You’ve learned about the solution. You’ve compared the options. Now you want to understand what it could mean for your organization. Free trials in Microsoft Marketplace help bring that evaluation into the same journey. Solutions with free trials are easy to identify through search, filters, and free trial badges. You can search for free trials or use the Free trial pricing filter to focus on solutions that offer one. Once a trial is underway, you can track its status and see the number of days remaining in the trial period through Azure portal or the Microsoft 365 admin portal, depending on where the solution is managed. If the evaluation confirms that the solution is right for you, you can move to a paid subscription at public pricing at any point during the trial without reinstalling the solution. If it isn’t the right fit, you can cancel before the trial ends. This is one of the changes I find especially useful because a trial becomes part of the evaluation journey itself. You can move from discovering and researching a solution into actually trying it, while retaining visibility into where you are in the trial. The right solution also needs the right commercial structure Technical fit is important, but it isn’t the only consideration. Once a team decides that a solution meets its requirements, the conversation often shifts. How long do we need it? How should the agreement be structured? Does a standard term fit the project we’re planning? This is where we’ve expanded the flexibility available through private offers in Microsoft Marketplace. Custom contract lengths can range from one month to 10 years for supported private offer scenarios. That means an agreement can be structured around a six-month requirement, an 18-month engagement, a multiyear deployment, or another duration appropriate to the customer and partner agreement. There is flexibility in billing as well, including monthly or one-time payment options and annual billing when the term is annual. Custom contract duration is available for SaaS and professional services through private offers. I see this as an important connection between technical planning and purchasing. A proof of concept doesn’t necessarily have the same commercial requirements as a long-term deployment. Providing more flexibility in contract duration can help the commercial agreement better reflect the scenario being planned. Sometimes the next step is simply starting a conversation Not every purchase can be represented by a standard offer. A customer may want to discuss customized pricing, different terms, or specific solution requirements with the publisher. Rather than treating that conversation completely separate from discovery, customers can now initiate it from supported Marketplace listings. With the ability to request a private offer, customers can share their contact information and details about what they’re looking for directly from the listing. The request is delivered to the publisher as a Marketplace lead, creating a clear starting point for the customer and partner to discuss the opportunity. Requesting a private offer is available for SaaS and professional services offers, as well as compute offers including virtual machines, Azure applications, and containers. It’s a relatively simple step, but I think it represents something bigger about the purchasing journey. Discovering a solution, evaluating it, and discussing how to buy it don’t need to feel like unrelated activities. Think of evaluation as a journey, not a search That’s my biggest takeaway from these updates. Searching is one moment in a much broader decision process. You are able to start by describing what you need using Smart Search. From there, you can narrow your options, compare up to three offerings, and ask more detailed questions about an individual solution. When a free trial is available, you can move from researching the solution to experiencing it. And once you’re ready to discuss purchasing, private offers can provide additional flexibility around commercial requirements. For me, the common thread is decision-making with more context at each step. As you evaluate your next solution, I’d keep a few questions in mind: What problem or technical scenario am I actually trying to address? What criteria matters most to the people who will build with, manage, or use this solution? Is a free trial available if we want to validate the fit? What contract duration and purchasing structure are available to reflect the way we plan to use it? Do we need to start a private offer conversation with the publisher? You don’t have to answer all of those questions at once. But thinking about them as parts of one journey can help connect technical evaluation with the eventual purchasing decision. Watch the Microsoft Marketplace customer office hour There’s more to explore than I can cover in a single post. In our Microsoft Marketplace customer office hour, we demonstrate intelligent discovery, smart search, solution comparison, interactive chat, free trials, custom contract lengths, and the ability to request a private offer. We also answer questions about moving from trials to paid subscriptions, finding trial offerings, comparing solutions, and working with private offers. If you’re evaluating cloud and AI solutions, I encourage you to watch the full session on demand at aka.ms/MarketplaceCustomerOfficeHours. And I’d love for the conversation to continue here in the Microsoft Marketplace Community. What are you evaluating today? What would help you make your next technology decision with greater confidence? Share your questions and scenarios with us. They can help shape the conversations we have in future customer office hours.Work IQ Cost and Pricing Model for Agents published in Marketplace
I would very much like to ask for assistance and input in regards of "Consumption, cost forecasting, break-even analysis and recommended customer pricing. " I believe a bit of context is required. We are about to publish two Work IQ MCP Agent in Marketplace. Both agents will be integrated to our existing Apps that are published in Marketplace. 1. iGlobe CRM for Teams and 2. iPlanner Pro for Outlook and Teams. Both Apps are multitenant Apps running on customers own tenant. The Apps can only be deployed from Marketplace. Lets use iPlanner Pro Agent as an example. In short, iPlanner Pro Agent uses Work IQ and MCP tools to understand emails, meetings and Microsoft 365 context, while iPlanner Pro turns that intelligence into structured Planner execution, including the appropriate plan, bucket, assignment, priority and supporting email context. Including saving the email or attachments on the task. A prompt could look like this "Find the latest email from email address removed for privacy reasons. Create a task for in Planner, put it in the correct Plan and bucket, assign it to the appropriate owner, set a due date for next week and save the email on the Planner Task" Work IQ and MCP provide context and intelligence, iPlanner Pro executes the structured actions, and Microsoft Planner remains the source of truth. To my understanding Work IQ API usage is billed through Copilot Credits rather than a separate per-user Work IQ license. Microsoft 365 Copilot includes Work IQ functionality within native Microsoft Copilot experiences, but third-party solutions such as iPlanner Pro consume Copilot Credits when they call Work IQ APIs. Work IQ does not require a separate API subscription, SKU or per-user licence. API usage is consumption-based and is measured in Copilot Credits. Work IQ operation Credit consumption Planning note Chat API Variable Depends on grounding, retrieval and reasoning complexity. Context API Variable Depends on the scenario and the sources used. Tool API 0.1 credit per API call Static component: $0.001 per call at $0.01 per credit. Example: 1,000 Tool API calls consume 100 credits, equivalent to $1.00 at the planning rate. Now here comes my confusion. 1. How do we know how many credits we are using with a prompt like the example I showed? the consumption is 0.1 credit per API call. 2. If I understand the above correct, the total consumption is calculated on the customer tenant. That consumption includes much more than just iPlanner Pro. Is that correct? 3. OR, will the sum of all customer using iPlanner Pro Agent be direct to us and we will be billed based on the total consumption of all our customers? If that is the case ( I don't think it is) then how do we know how much each customer consumed? 4. If consumption and billing is on the customer, how can the customer see what iPlanner Pro cost in consumed credits? This is important in regards of giving a cost forecast for customers. I am sure they would want that before start using the Agent. It is also important in regards of the question of if we should charge or offer it as a free agent? If we are billed then we will need to change for it. If the customer is billed then we probably will not be able to charge for it. I hope I have been able to explain my confusion. I tried asking contacts I have at Microsoft, but unfortunately haven't heard anything. That is why I am asking in the community. Have any one else the same challenge? what have you done? Can Microsoft assist here? I will be happy to take a Teams call and others are welcome to join. Thank youThe MSP guide to recurring revenue streams
AI is creating new opportunities for managed services providers (MSPs), but the opportunity goes beyond helping customers deploy the latest technology. As organizations adopt AI, they need ongoing help keeping their environments secure, governed, and ready for what comes next. Join Dux Raymond Sy, 17-year Microsoft MVP and Regional Director, for a practical conversation about turning those needs into recurring services for your managed service practice. Dux will explore opportunities around AI trust and security, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Agent 365, and Microsoft Purview, and talk about how MSPs can build lasting customer value around them. Drawing on more than 20 years at the intersection of technology, business, and leadership, Dux works with organizations and partners around the world to move from AI experimentation to execution with security, governance, data readiness, and people at the center. Come ready for ideas you can take back to your business, plus the opportunity to learn and connect with fellow MSPs. How do I participate? Registration is not required. Add this event to your calendar and select Attend to receive reminders. Post your questions in advance, or any time during the live broadcast. The Microsoft Meetup for MSPs is a recurring online community session where Microsoft product teams and MVP practitioners share working guidance for managing customer tenants at scale. Bookmark the Microsoft Meetup for MSPs resource guide for future session dates and resources to help you on your journey.How to run a managed service practice in the AI era
AI is rapidly changing how you deliver services, support customers, and operate your business. Join us for September's Microsoft Meetup for MSPs to explore a practical operating model for MSPs navigating the AI era. Learn why secure, well-managed tenants and standardized operating practices are critical prerequisites for introducing AI into service delivery and engineering workflows. See how multi-tenant management tools, supported APIs, monitoring, automation, and generated documentation can help create repeatable and scalable operations across your customer base. We'll also examine the role of professional services automation as a system of record for requests, approvals, evidence, time tracking, and billing, showing how automation can be connected through governed workflows that improve consistency without sacrificing accountability. Finally, we'll look at where human oversight remains essential, including AI-generated scripts, policy changes, customer communications, and any workflow that impacts access, security, or client data. Successful AI adoption starts with fundamentals, not prompts. Leave with practical ideas you can implement immediately, including one data-control improvement, one tenant-standardization opportunity, and one workflow you can automate within the next 90 days. Resources Read the What's new for MSPs blog for practical guidance to help managed service providers grow with Microsoft. Take the survey! Help us plan future meetups that are relevant and useful for you. Download the slides from this September meetup. The Microsoft Meetup for MSPs is a recurring online community session where Microsoft product teams and MVP practitioners share working guidance for managing customer tenants at scale. Bookmark the Microsoft Meetup for MSPs resource guide for future session dates and resources to help you on your journey.Bring Marketplace publishing closer to your development workflow
Explore how AI agents can help make Microsoft Marketplace publishing a more natural part of the development workflow. Marketplace Ingestion MCP connects MCP-compatible agent tools with Partner Center APIs, helping publishers turn natural-language intent into supported publishing actions. Learn four ways teams can incorporate agent-assisted publishing into their workflows, from creating and validating offers to building repeatable processes and working from familiar developer tools such as Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot CLI. See how publishers can bring product development and publishing closer together while keeping people involved in reviewing and approving changes. Read the articleBring Marketplace publishing into your agentic development workflow
Bringing Marketplace publishing into the development workflow can help teams connect product development and publishing activities through the tools and processes they already use. Teams build their product, then move into a different set of tools and processes to prepare, validate, and submit it. Marketplace Ingestion MCP creates an opportunity to bring those activities closer together. With Marketplace Ingestion MCP, publishers can use natural language and AI agents to create, validate, publish, and manage offers in Microsoft Marketplace. Instead of starting by manually constructing API payloads, publishers can describe the outcome they want. An agent can then help translate that intent into the information required by the underlying publishing APIs. Publishers can also build custom workflows using the MCP, connecting repeatable publishing activities with the development processes and tools their teams already use. The shift is straightforward: start with the publishing outcome, not the API payload. From publishing task to agentic workflow Marketplace Ingestion MCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects MCP-compatible agent tools with Partner Center APIs. For example, a publisher can ask an agent to create a SaaS offer and identify what is required before it can be published. The agent can retrieve the appropriate schema, build the payload, validate it, and create the offer as a draft. When the publisher is ready to continue, the agent can perform supported publishing actions. Publishers remain in control through the approval settings in their MCP client. This makes Marketplace publishing a more natural part of an agentic development workflow rather than a separate process that begins after development is complete. Four opportunities for agent-assisted publishing Teams exploring where Marketplace Ingestion MCP fits into their development lifecycle can start with four opportunities. 1. Start with intent Developers do not need to begin by manually assembling an API payload. They can describe the offer they want to create or the update they want to make. The agent can use Marketplace Ingestion MCP to retrieve the required schema, build the payload, and validate it before submission. This allows the publisher to focus first on the intended outcome while the agent handles more of the translation into API-specific structures. 2. Make repeated work part of the workflow Offer creation and updates often include steps that teams perform repeatedly. Those steps can become reusable agentic workflows and, where appropriate, be incorporated into continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines. The question for a development team now becomes: Which publishing activities do we repeat often enough that they should become part of our development workflow? The answer will differ across organizations, products, and release processes. Marketplace Ingestion MCP provides the building blocks teams can use to design a workflow that fits their needs. 3. Keep people in control Agent-assisted publishing does not require handing every decision to an agent. MCP client approval settings can require publishers to review and approve tool calls before changes are submitted. Teams can use those controls to determine where automation is useful and where human review should remain part of the process. 4. Work from familiar developer tools Marketplace Ingestion MCP works with supported MCP-compatible clients, including Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot CLI. This brings Marketplace publishing tasks closer to the environments where developers already build and operate their products. It also reduces the need to treat publishing as an isolated activity performed through a separate workflow. What does this look like in practice? Consider a fictional publisher, Contoso, that wants to bring a Microsoft 365 agent to customers. Contoso can provide its workflow integrated with the MCP with existing marketing material and the technical manifest for the agent. Marketplace Ingestion MCP can help translate that information into the structure required to create the product in Microsoft Marketplace. The workflow can then build on that information to create a linked SaaS offer for monetization, using the additional details required for the SaaS offer. The publisher describes what it wants to accomplish, and the agent uses Marketplace Ingestion MCP and the publishing APIs to turn that intent into supported publishing actions. Getting started Marketplace Ingestion MCP is included with access to Microsoft Marketplace publishing APIs. Before getting started, publishers need: A Partner Center account with the required role Access to Microsoft Marketplace publishing APIs A supported MCP-compatible client, such as Visual Studio Code or GitHub Copilot CLI The Microsoft Learn documentation covers prerequisites, installation and authentication, available tools, supported products, data handling, and an end-to-end SaaS example. Learn more: Marketplace Ingestion MCP server - Marketplace publisher Bringing publishing closer to development AI agents are becoming part of how developers build and operate software. Marketplace publishing can become part of those workflows as well. Marketplace Ingestion MCP connects natural-language intent with supported Marketplace publishing actions. It allows teams to create repeatable workflows while keeping publishers involved in reviewing and approving changes. The result is a closer connection between building a product and bringing it to market, helping developers focus on the cloud and AI solutions that differentiate their business. Thank you to the many teams whose collaboration brought Marketplace Ingestion MCP to publishers. Their work reflects a shared investment in helping publishers build, publish, and grow through Microsoft Marketplace.日本で加速するチャネル成長: Multiparty private offer で広がる Microsoft Marketplace の可能性
先日、2026年8月6日に開催された Marketplace community の partner office hour に、長岩とともに登壇しました。テーマは、Microsoft Commercial Marketplace の最新動向と、日本で提供が始まったばかりの multiparty private offer (MPO) を軸にした、日本市場でのチャネルビジネスの成長です。当日は多くのパートナーの皆様にご参加いただき、活発なご質問もいただきました。本記事では、その要点を Blog として共有します。日本のチャネルビジネスに関心をお持ちの ISV・販売パートナーの皆様のヒントになれば幸いです。 Marketplace はいま、どれだけ伸びているのか まず長岩から、Marketplace の全体像と市場のモメンタムをお話ししました。 Marketplace は、Microsoft AppSource と Azure Marketplace を統合した購買プラットフォームです。お客様はソリューションの「検索 → 購入 → デプロイ」までを一気通貫で行え、ISV にとっては販売チャネル、販売パートナーにとってはビジネスを広げるエコシステムになります。 数字が語るモメンタムは明確です。 クラウド Marketplace 市場は、2024年の約300億ドルから2030年には1,630億ドルへと拡大が見込まれ、チャネル経由の販売比率が高まっています（出典: Omdia, 2025年 1 ）。 Microsoft Marketplace の売上は、3年連続で前年比2倍に成長しています（出典: Microsoft パートナーブログ, FY27 2 ）。 co-sell は Marketplace 中心（Marketplace-first）のモデルへ移行しており、Microsoft Marketplace が Azure IP co-sell の主要な経路となっています。 3 日本の伸びが世界を上回っている点は、私たちが現場で感じている手応えとも一致します。 なぜ、いま Marketplace なのか Microsoft は、AI 時代の「Frontier Company」への変革をお客様とともに進めており、Marketplace はその購買体験をモダン化し、Azure 消費の中心となるプラットフォームと位置づけています。パートナーの皆様の視点で見逃せないのが、次の 2 点です。 お客様のコミットメントを活かせる (ベネフィットサイクル): お客様が Microsoft Azure に対して結んでいる消費コミットメント (MACC) は、サードパーティ ISV のソリューション購入にも充当でき、その購入額が MACC の消化としてカウントされます (IP co-sell Eligible なオファーが対象)。お客様は既存のコミットメントを活かして必要なソリューションを導入でき、パートナーにとっては提案しやすい環境が整います。 Microsoft 営業との連携: Marketplace 経由の取引は Microsoft の営業評価の対象にもなり、co-sell (協業) を組みやすくなります。さらに、認定 (Certified Software) を取得したソリューションは、追加のインセンティブ対象にもなります。 ISV を後押しする資金支援: Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace ISV の皆様が Marketplace 上でビジネスを立ち上げ、拡大するための資金支援プログラムも紹介しました。 プログラム 支援上限 狙い AI Build & Publish — Marketplace $100K Build and publish solutions AI Build & Publish — Copilot Agent Store $125K Build and publish agents SDC Customer Assessment & Proof of value (POV) $25K Assessment / POV SDC Customer Migration & Modernization $250K Migration / modernization いずれもプログラムへの登録と一定の要件があります。適格性の詳細やお申し込みは、記事末尾の窓口をご覧ください。 そして、multiparty private offer が日本へ (2026年7月15日 GA) ここからが本題です。2026年7月15日、multiparty private offer の日本提供が開始 (GA) されました。日本のチャネルビジネスに、新しい選択肢が加わったことになります。 Multiparty private offer の仕組み Multiparty private offer は、ひとことで言えば「ISV が販売パートナー経由でお客様に販売するモデル」です。ポイントは、ISV がオファーを作成・公開し、パートナー向け価格とオファー条件を設定することです。販売パートナーはマージンを設定し、顧客向け価格を決めて提示します。 実際の流れはこうです。 ISV がオファーを作成 販売パートナーへ提供 販売パートナーがマージンを上乗せ 顧客へ提示 顧客が承認 Marketplace で購入 Microsoft が代金を回収 Microsoft が販売パートナーへマージンを支払 Microsoft が ISV へ支払 本図では、multiparty private offer を MPO と表記します。 図1. Multiparty private offer 購入フロー 数字で見るとイメージしやすいと思います (以下は説明用の例です)。卸価格 100万円にパートナーマージン 20万円を乗せ、顧客価格は 120万円。Microsoft が顧客から 120万円を回収し、販売パートナーへマージン 20万円を支払います。ISV は、卸価格 100万円から Marketplace 手数料 3% (約3万円) を差し引いた 約97万円 を受領します。 Multiparty private offer の嬉しいところは、販売パートナーが自身でマージンを設定できる こと、パートナー同士の直接精算が不要 なこと、そして IP co-sell eligible なオファーであれば取引がお客様の Azure・MACC 消費として計上される ことです。 Resale enabled offer との違い あわせて resale enabled offer も紹介しました。resale enabled offer は「ISV が再販パートナーに再販権を付与し、再販パートナーが自社商材としてお客様に販売する」モデルです。 Multiparty private offer との決定的な違いは、ISV と再販パートナー間の精算が Marketplace の外で行われる点です。流れを multiparty private offer と同じ粒度で見てみましょう (説明用の例)。顧客価格 120万円を Microsoft が回収し、Marketplace 手数料 3% (3.6万円) を差し引いた 116.4万円 を再販パートナーが受領します。その後は、ISV と再販パートナーの契約条件に応じて ISV へ支払われます。この例での顧客への販売額は 120万円です。税務責任および売上計上の扱いは、取引構造・契約条件・適用される税法や会計基準によって異なります。各社の税務・会計専門家にご確認ください。 本図では、resale enabled offer を REO と表記します。 図2. Resale enabled offer 取引フロー 日本で効いてくる「2-tier」(Resale enabled offer と multiparty private offer) 当日、日本のパートナーの皆様にとって最も重要だとお伝えしたのが、resale enabled offer と multiparty private offer を組み合わせた 2-tier 構造 です。 登場人物は、ISV、一次販売パートナー (distributor)、二次販売パートナー (reseller)、そして顧客。前半を resale enabled offer、後半を multiparty private offer で構成します。「何百社もの販売店を 1 社ずつ契約するのは現実的ではない」― だからこそ、ISV は Distributor とだけ契約し、その配下のリセラー網で一気に展開できる。日本の既存の商流にそのまま重ねられる形です。 本図では、resale enabled offer を REO、multiparty private offer を MPO と表記します。 図3. Resale enabled offer と multiparty private offer を組み合わせた 2-tier モデル Multiparty private offer、resale enabled offer とcloud solution provider private offerはどう違う? 三者の違いを、当日の比較表に沿って整理します。 項目 Multiparty private offer Resale enabled offer Cloud solution provider プライベートオファー Microsoft ライセンスプログラム Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) / Enterprise Agreement (EA) / Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) PAYG / EA / MCA CSP 対象となる販売者 全 Microsoft パートナー 全 Microsoft パートナー CSP パートナー 顧客の MACC 消費対象 (※IP co-sell eligible) ○ ○ × IP Co-Sell 対象 ○ ○ × EA・SCE (Server and Cloud Enrollment) 顧客への提供 ○ ○ × CSP 顧客への提供 × × ○ 補足すると、multiparty private offer では ISV がパートナー向け価格とオファー条件を設定し、販売パートナーがお客様への販売とマージン設定を担います。役割が分かれている点が、単独販売との違いです。※ 参加には、各プログラムの登録・適格要件を満たす必要があります。MACC への算入は適格なソリューション・購入条件に限られます。IP co-sell 適格性はソリューションごとの要件に基づきます。詳細は、公式MPO参加条件、公式resale enabled offer参加条件、公式MACC適用条件をご確認ください。 会場からのご質問 (Q&A) 当日いただいた質問のうち、代表的なものをご紹介します。 Q. 消費税の徴収モデルが Microsoft 管理になる予定はありますか? 現時点では予定はありません。これは Marketplace の仕様ではなく、日本の税制に起因するものです。multiparty private offer では、ISV・販売パートナーそれぞれが取引上の役割に応じた税務責任を確認する必要があります。税務責任および売上計上の扱いは、取引構造・契約条件・適用される税法や会計基準によって異なります。各社の税務・会計専門家にご確認ください。resale enabled offer を検討する場合も同様です。 Q. リセラーですが、既存のお客様へ multiparty private offer を提供できますか? はい、可能です。multiparty private offer は「新規のお客様のみ」といった制限はなく、既存のお客様にもご提供いただけます。対象となるのは、EA・MCA (MCA-E)・間接 EA といった Azure 契約をお持ちのお客様です。一方、CSP 契約のお客様には、multiparty private offer ではなく CSP プライベートオファーをご利用ください。 Q. Multiparty private offer が日本対応したことで、最も変わるのは何ですか? 2 つあります。1 つは、従来 resale enabled offer では扱えなかった「multiparty private offer のみ対応のソリューション」を販売できるようになったこと。もう 1 つは、2-Tier 流通が可能になったことです。従来は再販パートナーを 1 社しか入れられませんでしたが、resale enabled offer と multiparty private offer により Distributor + Reseller の構造が実現します。 まとめ ― 3 つのポイント Multiparty private offer は、日本市場で不足していたチャネルモデルを補完する新機能 です。 Multiparty private offer と resale enabled offer は、Azure・MACC 消費 + IP co-sell 対象 という強力な差別化要素を備えています。 Resale enabled offer と multiparty private offer の組み合わせ により、日本の既存ディストリビューター/リセラー型の 2-Tier 商流を Marketplace 上で実現 できます。 日本の Marketplace はいま、世界でも際立ったスピードで伸びています。multiparty private offer の日本提供開始は、その成長をパートナーの皆様とともに加速させる、大きな一歩です。ご参加いただいた皆様、ありがとうございました。ご質問やご相談は、下記のリソースや窓口までお気軽にどうぞ。 参考リソース Microsoft Marketplace 公式ドキュメント: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/ Multiparty private offer 概要 (Microsoft Learn): https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/marketplace-offers/multiparty-private-offers-overview Multiparty private offer for ISVs / Selling Partners (Microsoft Learn): https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/marketplace-offers/multiparty-private-offers-for-isvs Multiparty private offer FAQ (Microsoft Learn): https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/marketplace-offers/multiparty-private-offers-faq Resale enabled offer 概要 (Microsoft Learn): https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/marketplace-offers/resale-enabled-offers-overview Channel-led Resources Hub: https://aka.ms/channel-ledresources Eligible Selling Partner List: https://aka.ms/MPOEligiblePartnerList 顧客の適格性チェック (POP re-check): https://aka.ms/poprecheck Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/partnership/frontier-accelerate-for-marketplace お問い合わせ (multiparty private offer/resale enabled offer の適格性・申請窓口): channelready@microsoft.com — English version — Accelerating partner-led growth in Japan through Microsoft Marketplace As organizations across Japan invest in AI and cloud transformation, partners are looking for faster and more scalable ways to bring solutions to market. Microsoft Marketplace helps software companies, distributors, and resellers work together to meet customer demand, scale faster through partner ecosystems, and bring cloud and AI solutions to market more efficiently. During a recent Marketplace community partner office hour, we explored how multiparty private offers help strengthen partner-led growth in Japan. Just how fast is Marketplace growing? Ryosuke opened with the big picture and the market's momentum. Marketplace is a purchasing platform that unifies Microsoft AppSource and Azure Marketplace. Customers can go from discover → purchase → deploy in one flow. For software development companies, it is a sales channel; for selling partners it is an ecosystem to grow their business. The numbers tell the story: The cloud marketplace market is projected to grow from $30 billion in 2024 to $163 billion by 2030, with the channel taking an increasing share of sales (Omdia, 2025 1 ). Microsoft Marketplace sales have doubled year over year for the third consecutive year (Microsoft Partner blog, FY27 2 ). Co-sell is moving to a Marketplace-first model 3 , making Microsoft Marketplace the primary path for Azure IP co-sell. Japan is outpacing the global rate, matching what we feel on the ground. Why Marketplace, and why now? Microsoft is helping customers transform into "frontier companies" for the AI era, and positions Marketplace as the platform that modernizes purchasing and sits at the center of Azure consumption. Two points stand out for partners: Customers can put their commitment to work: A customer's Microsoft Azure consumption commitment (MACC) can be applied to purchases of third-party software companies solutions, and those purchases count as MACC drawdown (for IP co-sell eligible offers). Customers can leverage existing commitments to accelerate adoption, while partners can more easily position solutions within larger cloud and AI opportunities. Alignment with Microsoft's sales teams: Transactions through Marketplace are recognized in Microsoft's sales performance, which helps partners co-sell at scale with Microsoft sales teams and expand reach into new customer opportunities. In addition, solutions that earn a Certified Software designation become eligible for additional incentives. Funding to help software companies: Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace We also introduced funding programs that help software companies launch and grow their business on Marketplace. Program Funding cap Purpose AI Build & Publish — Marketplace $100K Build and publish solutions AI Build & Publish — Copilot Agent Store $125K Build and publish agents SDC Customer Assessment & Proof of value (POV) $25K Assessment / POV SDC Customer Migration & Modernization $250K Migration / modernization Each program requires registration and certain requirements for the program. For details on eligibility and how to apply, please see the end of the article. A new path to channel growth in Japan Partners in Japan now have more flexibility to grow through channel-led sales motions. The general availability (GA) of multiparty private offer supports broader collaboration among software companies, distributors, and resellers. This launch helps partners in Japan scale faster through channel relationships, expand their solution portfolios, co-sell at scale with Microsoft, and pursue larger cloud and AI opportunities. A flexible model for partner growth In a nutshell, multiparty private offer is a model where a software company sells to customers through a selling partner. The software company creates and publishes the offer and sets the partner price and offer terms; the selling partner sets its margin and customer-facing price. The flow works like this: The software company creates offer Provides it to the selling partner The selling partner adds a margin Presents it to the customer The customer approves Purchases via Marketplace Microsoft collects payment Microsoft pays the margin to the selling partner Microsoft pays the software company The graphic uses MPO to mean multiparty private offer. Multiparty private offer simplifies partner-to-partner transactions by providing a structured framework for pricing, margin management, and payments through Microsoft Marketplace. Creating new revenue opportunities, the selling partner sets its own margin. There is no direct settlement between partners. For IP co-sell eligible offers, the transaction counts toward the customer's Azure/MACC consumption. Another path to market We also covered resale enabled offer. Resale enabled offer is a model in which a software company grants resale rights to a reseller partner, and the reseller sells it to customers as its own product. A key difference between a multiparty private offer and a resale enabled offer is that settlement between the software company and the resale partner takes place outside Marketplace. Microsoft collects payment from the customer and pays the resale partner through Marketplace. For illustration, let's look at the resale enabled offer transaction. In the resale enabled offer model, reseller partners purchase and resell solutions through their own commercial relationships, giving them greater flexibility in how revenue is recognized and managed. Note: Tax responsibilities and revenue recognition depend on the transaction structure, contractual terms, and applicable tax laws and accounting standards. Please consult your tax and accounting advisers. The graphic uses REO to mean resale enabled offer. The "2-tier" model that works for Japan One of the most significant opportunities for Japan is the ability to support existing distributor-reseller business models through Marketplace. By combining resale enabled offer and multiparty private offer, software companies can extend their reach through established channel ecosystems, helping partners scale faster and engage more customers. The players are the software company, a first-tier selling partner (distributor), a second-tier selling partner (reseller), and the customer. The first half is the resale enabled offer; the second half is the multiparty private offer. Contracting with hundreds of resellers one by one isn't realistic so the software company contracts only with the Distributor and reaches the market through the Distributor's reseller network. It helps partners scale through existing distributor and reseller networks, expanding market reach without requiring one-to-one contracting relationships. The graphic uses REO for resale enabled offer and MPO for multiparty private offer. Comparing partner growth models The following table compares the partner growth model. Note: Participation is subject to the applicable registration and eligibility requirements; MACC credit applies only to eligible solutions and qualifying purchases; and IP co-sell eligibility is determined at the solution level. Please check the official multiparty private offer participation requirements, resale enabled offer participation requirements, and MACC eligibility conditions. Item Multiparty private offer Resale enabled offer Cloud solution provider (CSP) private offer Microsoft licensing program Pay-as-you-go (PAYG), Enterprise Agreement (EA), Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) PAYG, EA, MCA CSP Eligible sellers All Microsoft partners All Microsoft partners CSP partners Counts toward customer MACC (IP co-sell eligible) Yes Yes No IP co-sell eligible Yes Yes No Available to EA / SCE (Server and Cloud Enrollment) customers Yes Yes No Available to CSP customers No No Yes In a multiparty private offer, the software company creates and publishes the offer and sets the partner price and offer terms, while the selling partner handles the sale to the customer and sets the margin. The split of roles is what differs from selling solo. Note that multiparty private offer and resale enabled offer are IP co-sell eligible; cloud solution provider is not, a key differentiator. Q&A from the audience Here are representative questions from the day. Q. Will the consumption tax collection model become Microsoft-managed? Not at this time. This stems from Japan's tax system rather than a Marketplace design choice. For multiparty private offers, software companies and selling partners each need to assess their tax responsibilities according to their role in the transaction. Tax responsibilities and revenue recognition depend on the transaction structure, contractual terms, and applicable tax laws and accounting standards. Please consult your tax and accounting advisers. The same applies when considering resale-enabled offers. Q. As a reseller, can I offer multiparty private offer to my existing customers? Yes. Multiparty private offer has no "new customers only" restriction. You can offer it to existing customers as well. It applies to customers with Azure agreements such as Enterprise Agreement (EA), Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise (MCA-E), or indirect Enterprise Agreements. For customers on Cloud Solution Provider Agreements, use cloud solution private offer instead of multiparty private offer. Q. What changes most now that multiparty private offer supports Japan? Two things. First, you can now sell "multiparty private offer-only" solutions that resale enabled offer couldn't handle before. Second, two-tier distribution becomes possible. Previously you could only insert one reseller partner, but resale enabled offer and multiparty private offer helps a distributor and reseller structure. Three key takeaways Microsoft Marketplace helps software companies, distributors, and resellers scale partner-led growth across Japan. Partners can pursue larger cloud and AI opportunities through MACC-aligned Marketplace transactions and co-sell engagement with Microsoft. Distributor and reseller ecosystems can expand market reach more efficiently through Marketplace-supported channel models. Marketplace in Japan is growing at a pace that stands out even globally. The general availability of multiparty private offer in Japan is a big step toward accelerating that growth together with our partners. Thank you to everyone who joined. For questions or discussion, please reach out via the resources and contact below. Resources Microsoft Marketplace documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/ MPO overview (Microsoft Learn): https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/marketplace-offers/multiparty-private-offers-overview MPO for software companies / Selling Partners (Microsoft Learn): https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/marketplace-offers/multiparty-private-offers-for-isvs MPO FAQ (Microsoft Learn): https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/marketplace-offers/multiparty-private-offers-faq REO overview (Microsoft Learn): https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/marketplace-offers/resale-enabled-offers-overview Channel-led Resources Hub: https://aka.ms/channel-ledresources Eligible Selling Partner List: https://aka.ms/MPOEligiblePartnerList Customer eligibility check (POP re-check): https://aka.ms/poprecheck Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/partnership/frontier-accelerate-for-marketplace Contact (multiparty private offer/resale enabled offer eligibility and applications): channelready@microsoft.com 1 Source: Omdia, Partner Ecosystem Multiplier – The Microsoft Marketplace Opportunity Whitepaper, December 2025. Results are not an endorsement of Microsoft. Any reliance on these results is at the third party’s own risk. 2 Source: Microsoft internal data, measured by year-over-year Marketplace Billed Sales FY24–FY26, 3 Source: July 2026 announcements, Azure IP Co-sell Program Guide: Marketplace-First asset (Aug 19, 2026)Grow partner-led business in Japan with multiparty private offers
Explore how multiparty private offers in Japan help software companies and channel partners collaborate on customer opportunities through Microsoft Marketplace. Learn how multiparty private offers, resale enabled offers, and distributor-reseller models can help partners expand their reach and scale partner-led sales. Read the blog to learn about multiparty private offers in Japan: 日本で加速するチャネル成長: Multiparty private offer で広がる Microsoft Marketplace の可能性 | Microsoft Community Hub (Article in Japanese and English)Grow your sales on Marketplace: App Advisor helps you understand improvements to negotiated deals
Want to dive into the details of negotiated deals and how to create them? Head to App Advisor: https://aka.ms/GrowMySales Not all customers buy apps in the same way. Some need negotiated pricing. Others have specific contract or billing requirements. Some want to buy through a trusted channel partner. Microsoft Marketplace already supports these scenarios through negotiated deals. Now, several new capabilities make those motions more flexible, accessible, and scalable. How do I sell more apps and agents? The best way to sell more apps and agents is to expand your sales footprint, not build more. This means making your apps and agents available through private offers, negotiated deals, and selling through channel partners. These types of deals have always given you flexibility, but new releases have improved their functionality. No matter how you’re selling, chances are good that you could grow your sales with at least one type of private offer (each detailed in App Advisor) Sell directly without another party → To-customer private offer. Bring a channel partner into a direct customer deal → Multiparty private offers (MPO). Authorize partners to repeatedly resell your offer → Resale enabled offers (REO). Sell through a customer's Cloud Solution Provider → CSP private offer. What changed for negotiated deals Over the last two months, Microsoft has improved capabilities and availability of several types of negotiated deals: Request private offer: Customers can now initiate a conversation about customized pricing and terms directly from an eligible Marketplace listing. Partners configure this when publishing an offer and a button appears on the listing for customers to reach out, reducing the gap between discovering an offer and beginning a negotiated sale. Custom contract lengths: Software companies can create eligible private offers with nonstandard contract lengths defined in months, including terms such as 18 months, with support extending up to 10 years for eligible SaaS and Professional Services scenarios. This helps align Marketplace transactions more closely with contracts negotiated with customers. Flexible billing: Eligible private offers can use customized billing schedules rather than forcing the transaction into a standard cadence. Current Microsoft documentation supports up to 70 installments and terms up to 120 months/10 years in supported scenarios. Expanded MPO reach: After expanding into 30 European countries earlier in the year, MPO expanded to Australia, Japan, and South Africa last month, creating more opportunities for software companies and channel partners to collaborate on Marketplace transactions. Expanded REO reach: REO expanded to New Zealand, extending the channel-led resale model into another market. What comes next Interested in expanding your sales footprint with minimal overhead? Follow along in this series as we discuss each type of private offer and advantages of each. To get started today, explore your negotiated selling options with App Advisor: https://aka.ms/GrowMySales
