Neon Serverless Postgres is Now Generally Available!
We are excited to announce that Neon Serverless Postgres is now generally available as an Azure Native Integration. This milestone marks a significant step forward in providing developers with a powerful, serverless Postgres solution, seamlessly integrated within the Azure ecosystem. We’re excited to bring Neon to all Azure developers, especially AI platforms. Neon Serverless Postgres scales automatically to match your workload and can branch instantly for an incredible developer experience. And for AI developers concerned about scale, cost efficiency, and data privacy, Neon enables them to easily adopt database-per-customer architectures, ensuring real-time provisioning and data isolation for their customers. - Nikita Shamgunov, CEO, Neon. Neon as a natively integrated offering on Azure Azure Native Integrations enable developers to seamlessly provision, manage, and tightly integrate independent software vendor (ISV) software and services within the Azure ecosystem. Neon's native Integration enables developers to use Neon Serverless Postgres with the same experience as any other Azure service, fully integrated within Azure's workflows, identity systems, and billing framework. Developers can provision Neon Serverless Postgres directly from the Azure Portal, where it is listed alongside Microsoft’s database offerings in the Databases section, complete with a partner badge. Once provisioned, Neon projects, branches, and connection strings can be managed using the Azure portal, CLI, and SDK. The deep integration also simplifies security and procurement, allowing authentication using Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and consolidating Neon usage into your organization’s Azure bill. New Features Available with GA Release With General Availability release, several new features are now accessible. The intent is to make all innovative Neon features available to developers in the Azure eco-system. With GA, the following features are now added: Neon Project and Branch Creation from Azure: Developers now can create Neon projects and branches directly through the Azure portal. This enhancement simplifies team operations, facilitates tighter CI/CD integration, allows for more detailed environment management, and accelerates the transition from provisioning to production. Connect to database: The connect experience as part of Azure resource allows developers to connect Neon Serverless Postgres to their application stack directly from the Azure portal. This simplifies the process of connecting Neon databases to a few clicks from Azure portal. Azure CLI and SDKs (Java, Python, .NET, Go, JS): Developers can use the Azure CLI and SDK to manage Neon organization, projects, branches, and connection strings. This flexibility allows developers to choose the client of their preference and integrate Neon seamlessly into their current development environment. Semantic Kernel: Neon integrates directly with Semantic Kernel, enabling developers to orchestrate full Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines. Generate embeddings with Azure OpenAI, store and query them in Neon using pgvector, and retrieve relevant results in milliseconds. You can read more about this release in the Neon launch announcement as well. 🎉 Neon for Enterprises and AI startups Neon offers instant provisioning, branching, seamless integration, and cost-effective development workflows. This makes it the perfect solution which can power organizations of all sizes and growth stage, whether you are an Enterprise or a fast-scaling AI startup. For Enterprises, Neon offers efficient scalability, strong recovery guarantees, and developer workflows that align with modern software development practices. Neon’s compute layer scales automatically based on workload, ensuring smoother performance during peak traffic, lower infrastructure costs, and reduced operational overhead. For AI startups, Neon provides the speed, flexibility, and automation needed for modern AI applications. If you are part of Microsoft for Startups program, you can leverage the native integration of the serverless Postgres to experience features like scale to zero and branching for faster and a cost-effective AI solution. Try Out Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure We invite you to try out Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure. Follow the Docs and start leveraging the power of serverless Postgres in your applications. The collaboration between Microsoft and Neon has resulted in a developer-focused roadmap, ensuring continuous improvements and new features. Link to our Feedback communities If you have new scenarios you would like to propose, please share your feedback with us on Azure feedback community. You can reach out to Neon via Neon discord community or contact feedback@neon.tech. We are committed to listening to you and enhancing the Neon experience to solve your problems. We look forward to seeing how developers will leverage Neon Serverless Postgres to build intelligent and scalable Azure applications. Next steps For all the links and resources, please refer the following: Subscribe to Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure portal or Azure Marketplace Learn more about Neon Serverless Postgres at Microsoft docs Read the launch blogpost by Neon Discover more about Neon Learn about Microsoft’s investment in NeonAnnouncing Neon Serverless Postgres as an Azure Native Integration (Preview)
We are excited to announce that Neon Serverless Postgres is now available as an Azure Native Integration (in preview) within the Azure Cloud ecosystem. This integration enhances developer experience by combining the power and flexibility of Neon’s serverless Postgres database service with Azure's robust cloud infrastructure. We’re excited to bring Neon to all Azure developers, especially AI platforms. Neon Serverless Postgres scales automatically to match your workload and can branch instantly for an incredible developer experience. And for AI developers concerned about scale, cost efficiency, and data privacy, Neon enables them to easily adopt database-per-customer architectures, ensuring real-time provisioning and data isolation for their customers. - Nikita Shamgunov, CEO, Neon. What is Neon Serverless Postgres? Neon offers a serverless Postgres solution that leverages the principles of serverless computing to provide scalable and flexible database services. By abstracting away infrastructure complexities, Neon allows businesses to focus on application development rather than database administration. The key features of Neon’s Postgres service include: Instant Provisioning: Neon's architecture allows the creation of new databases in under a second, thanks to its custom-built storage engine. Efficient Scaling: Neon automatically scales resources based on load, ensuring optimal performance during traffic spikes without the need for overprovisioning. Integrated Developer Workflows: With features like database branching, Neon enables shorter software development lifecycles and cost-effective integration into CI/CD pipelines. What is Neon Serverless Postgres as an Azure Native Integration? The Azure Native integration of Neon Serverless Postgres enables users to create a Neon organization from Azure portal. Users can find the Neon Serverless Postgres offering on Azure portal and Azure Marketplace. This integration paves a way forward to effectively use Neon Postgres along with other Azure services. At Microsoft, we are committed to providing seamless and innovative solutions for our Azure developers. The introduction of Neon Postgres as an Azure Native Integration is a significant milestone in this journey. This integration not only simplifies the provisioning and management of Neon organizations directly from Azure but also enhances the overall developer experience. We are excited to see how this collaboration will empower developers to build intelligent and scalable applications on Azure with ease. - Shireesh Thota, CVP, Azure Databases. Benefits of the native integration: This Azure Native Integration brings many benefits to developers and businesses: Seamless Provisioning from Azure: Developers can create and manage Neon organizations directly within the Azure portal, without switching platforms. Single Sign-On (SSO): Users can access Neon via SSO using their Microsoft credentials, streamlining the login process and enhancing security. Enhanced Developer Experience: The integration allows developers to use Azure CLI and SDKs of their choice from .NET, Java, Python, Go, and JavaScript, to manage Neon organizations alongside other Azure resources, keeping development workflows consistent. Unified Billing: Neon usage can be included on existing Azure invoices, simplifying billing and financial management for businesses. By Purchasing Neon through Azure, customers can decrement their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), if any with Microsoft. How to create a Neon organization from Azure You can find the details of how to create a Neon organization from Azure in the Microsoft docs. The section below summarizes the key steps which will aid you in resource creation. Step 1: Discover and Subscribe to Neon from Azure You can start your journey either from Azure portal or Azure Marketplace. Search for Neon Serverless Postgres in the search bar and select the offering. This will take you to the Marketplace landing page of Neon Serverless Postgres. Choose a plan out of the 3 available public plans. If you are new and exploring, you can start with a free plan. Click on Subscribe to move forward to the resource configuration stage. Step 2: Complete your Neon resource configuration on Azure You are now creating a Neon resource on Azure. The process is similar to creating other Azure resources and requires basic details like Azure subscription, resource group and resource details. The resource can be created in the East US 2, Germany West Central and West US 3 after public preview. Please check the region dropdown to view the available regions. The creation flow also simultaneously creates a Neon organization. For that, mention the name of your Neon organization. Once all details have been filled in, you can review the information by going to Review + Create. This will trigger the deployment process and result in resource creation. Congratulations! You just created a Neon organization from Azure. Let us now visit the Neon organization we just created. Step 3: Transition to Neon from Azure portal Go to the resource created and you will land onto the overview blade where you will find the resource details. We support single-sign-on from Azure portal to Neon. Click on the SSO link to transition to Neon portal, where you can continue with creating projects and databases, inviting users and much more. Step 4: Create Projects, Branches and Databases on Neon On the Neon portal, you will land on the project creation view. Proceed to create your first Neon project. When this project is created, a default branch and database is created as well. Visit the project dashboard to view project details. You can copy the connection URL of the newly created database and use it in your Azure application stack to connect to the database. Go ahead and create more projects in the Azure regions of your choice and explore interesting features like branches and AI based query generation. Now, you are ready to use Neon Serverless Postgres in your real-world applications. Real-World Applications Neon’s Serverless Postgres service is ideal for a variety of use cases, including: AI and Machine Learning: With the ability to generate vector embeddings and integrate with Azure AI services, Neon is well-suited for AI and machine learning applications. Neon’s Autoscaling ensures that even resource-intensive AI models operate seamlessly during periods of high demand without manual intervention. SaaS Applications: The scalability and flexibility of Neon’s Postgres service make it perfect for SaaS applications that need to handle varying levels of traffic. Its serverless architecture eliminates the need for infrastructure management, allowing developers to focus on building features while ensuring cost-effective scaling to meet demand. For more use-cases and success stories, visit Case Studies - Neon to understand how Neon, now on Azure, can create value in your organization. Ready to try out Neon Serverless Postgres as an Azure Native Integration? Check out the next steps and share your feedback with us. This is just the beginning of Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure and stay tuned as we make this integration seamless with more features. Next Steps Subscribe to Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure portal or Azure Marketplace Learn more about Neon Serverless Postgres at Microsoft docs Read the launch blogpost by Neon Discover more about Neon Submit feature suggestions and questions in the Neon discord community or contact feedback@neon.tech. Please mention that you are using Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure in your messages. Learn about Microsoft’s investment in Neon Thank you for reading this blog! Please follow for more updates on Neon Serverless Postgres as an Azure Native Integration.FY24 Opportunities for Teams Publishers
What would you do with an extra $10,000? Are you a Microsoft partner who has published a Teams app in Appsource? Microsoft is offering a $10,000+ incentive when you monetize your Teams App by pairing it with a Transactable SaaS offer on the Commercial Marketplace and then transacting $10,000 through the Marketplace. We will help you understand what it takes to qualify and share the steps to activate this incentive, but you need to act fast, it ends June 30, 2024! You could qualify for free sessions to learn more - simply submit your email address and we'll be in touch.
Unleashing New Business Opportunities for Microsoft Partners with PostgreSQL & MySQL on Azure
The latest innovations announced at Microsoft Ignite 2025 for PostgreSQL and MySQL running on Azure are more than just technical upgrades—they’re a launchpad for new business growth, deeper customer engagement, and accelerated digital transformation. Here’s how these advancements can help you deliver greater value and unlock new opportunities for your clients. 1. Introducing Azure HorizonDB: Built for Performance and AI Workloads We’re excited to unveil Azure HorizonDB in private preview—a new, fully managed PostgreSQL service engineered for business and developers alike. HorizonDB is designed for ultra-low latency, high read scale, and built-in AI capabilities, offering seamless scaling up to 192 virtual cores and 128 TB of storage. Deep integration with developer tools, including GitHub Copilot, delivers performance, resilience, and simplicity at any scale. With HorizonDB, teams can: Build AI apps at scale using advanced DiskANN vector indexing, pre-provisioned AI models, semantic search, and unified support for both relational and graph data. Accelerate app development with built-in extensions, including the PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code integrated with GitHub Copilot. Copilot in VS Code is context-aware for PostgreSQL and enables one-click performance debugging. Unlock data insights through deep integrations with Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Foundry. Expect reliability with enterprise-ready features from day one, including Entra ID integration, Private Link networking, and Azure Defender for Cloud. Business Opportunity: Position your practice as an early adopter and expert in next-generation database solutions. Position your practice as an early adopter and expert in next-generation database solutions by introducing customers to Azure HorizonDB. Use this conversation to offer migration, modernization, and AI-powered application development services leveraging Azure Database for PostgreSQL with future migrations to HorizonDB. Help clients build resilient, high-performance, and intelligent data platforms—driving new revenue streams and deeper customer engagement. 2. Modernize Data Infrastructure with Limitless Scale and Performance Azure’s new Elastic Clusters in Azure Database for PostgreSQL enable organizations to scale their databases horizontally across multiple nodes, supporting virtually unlimited throughput and storage. This means you can help clients build and grow multi-tenant SaaS applications and large-scale analytics solutions without the complexity of manual sharding or the limitations of legacy infrastructure. Azure’s managed service automates shard management, tenant isolation, and cross-node query coordination, freeing up your teams to focus on innovation instead of administration. Business Opportunity: Position your practice as the go-to partner for scalable, future-proof data platforms. Offer migration services, architecture consulting, and managed solutions that leverage Azure’s unique scale-out capabilities. 3. Accelerate Innovation with AI-Ready Databases Azure is leading the way in AI integration for open-source databases. With the PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code and native Microsoft Foundry support, developers can build smarter apps and AI agents leveraging advanced AI capabilities directly in the database. Features like natural language querying, vector search, and seamless Copilot integration mean your clients can unlock new insights and automate processes faster than ever. Business Opportunity: Expand your offerings to include AI-powered analytics, intelligent agent development, and custom Copilot solutions. Help organizations harness their data for real-time decision-making and enhanced customer experiences. 4. Simplify and Accelerate Migrations from Legacy Systems The new AI-assisted Oracle to PostgreSQL migration tool dramatically reduces the effort and risk of moving off expensive, proprietary databases. Integrated into the PostgreSQL extension for VS Code, it automates schema and code conversion, provides inline AI explanations, and ensures secure, context-aware migrations. Business Opportunity: Lead migration projects that deliver rapid ROI. Offer assessment, planning, and execution services to help clients escape legacy costs and embrace open-source flexibility on Azure. 5. Enable Seamless Analytics and Real-Time Insights With support for Parquet in the Azure storage extension for PostgreSQL and Fabric zero-ETL mirroring for Azure Database for MySQL and Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure is bridging operational databases and analytics platforms. Business Opportunity: Build solutions that unify data estates, streamline analytics workflows, and deliver actionable intelligence. Position your team as experts in data integration and real-time analytics. 6. Drive Industry-Specific Transformation Ignite 2025 showcases real-world success stories from industries like healthcare (Apollo Hospitals), automotive (GM), and finance (Nasdaq), demonstrating how Azure’s open-source databases power resilient, scalable, and AI-driven solutions. Business Opportunity: Use these case studies to inspire clients in regulated or complex sectors. Offer tailored solutions that meet strict compliance, security, and performance requirements. Why Partners Win with Azure’s Latest Innovations Faster time-to-value: Help clients adopt the latest tech with minimal downtime and risk. Expanded service portfolio: From migration to AI, analytics to managed services, the new capabilities open doors to new revenue streams. Trusted platform: Azure’s enterprise-grade security, compliance, and high availability mean you can deliver solutions with confidence. Ready to help your customers achieve more? Dive deeper into the Ignite 2025 announcements and start building the next generation of intelligent, scalable, and AI-powered solutions on Microsoft Azure. Learn more here: https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/home
September update: What's new in Azure for partners
Navigate to News and Announcements, Incentives and Offers, Skilling and Events, Go-To-Market, Customer Success News and Announcements Explore Microsoft Marketplace, a trusted source for AI apps, tools, and agents and a growth engine for partners. With a dedicated AI apps and agents category, expanded discoverability and co-sell, distributor integration, and resale-enabled offers (in private preview), partners now have even more ways to connect innovation with customers everywhere. Learn more. Blog series: Catch up on our Cloud & AI Platforms blog series starting with Part 1: Capturing the market opportunity and continuing with Part 2: Migrations & modernizations. Microsoft Ignite 2025: Join us in San Francisco or virtually November 18–21, 2025, to bolster your knowledge, build connections, and explore emerging technologies to give you the edge you need to drive impact in the era of AI. Register today. Azure AI Foundry: Now featuring GPT-5, OpenAI gpt-oss, Foundry Local support, and a new browser automation tool to help you build intelligent agents using natural language. Learn more here. AKS Automatic: Managed Kubernetes is now generally available, making cloud-native and AI app deployment easier than ever. Read more. Oracle Database@Azure: Now available in Germany North—bringing availability to 23 regions worldwide. MySQL 8.4: Now generally available on Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server, MySQL 8.4 provides improved performance, observability, and replication management. Broadcom licensing update: Broadcom is changing its VMware licensing model. With the AVS VCF BYOL option, customers can now deploy AVS with their own VCF subscriptions (BYOL) in 35 regions, reducing costs. If you’re an Azure VMware Solution (AVS) partner, speak to your customers about their options. Access three new co-branded campaign in a box (CiaB) asset collections to generate demand and create more opportunities with your customers: Migrate and modernize your estate ENT & SMB and Unify your data platform ENT. Missed FabCon Europe? Learn about the top announcements and our Partner Day through these blogs from Jessica Hawk (CVP, Data, AI, and Digital Applications Product Marketing) and Arun Ulagaratchagan (CVP, Azure Data). Get ready for FabCon 2026 in Atlanta in March––register soon before they sell out. Microsoft Fabric Extensibility Toolkit: Software companies can help customers bring apps to Fabric, speed development, and integrate workloads. Get started today. Read the latest on why Databricks runs best on Azure from the Azure blog. New partner investments available for Microsoft Defender for Cloud––InfraDB and Azure: Expert MSP partners with the Microsoft Security designation are now eligible for incentives to help drive Defender for Cloud in migration and modernization projects. Access helpful resources here and sign up for our upcoming webinar on October 29, 2025, Americas/EMEA time zones or Asia time zone. Incentives and Offers Explore Azure Accelerate: A unified offering within the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, Azure Accelerate brings together Azure Migrate and Modernize, Azure Innovate, and Cloud Accelerate Factory––all built upon the foundations of Azure Essentials. Nominate your project today. Cloud Accelerate Factory provides zero-cost deployment assistance for more than 30 Azure services, with expert support and joint delivery, no matter the project size. Dr Migrate is an AI-assisted platform for cloud migration planning, available within Azure Accelerate. Eligible partners can request licenses through Azure Accelerate to run environment and proof of value assessments with customers. Join the Driving Confidence Through AI-Assisted Cloud Migrations partner webinar to learn more about the Dr Migrate offer. Invite a colleague to join the Azure Migrate and Modernize Partner Forum, your source for early access to Azure offerings, product roadmaps, and marketing updates for partners. ISV Success Advanced Package: Top-performing software companies with certified software designations can qualify for financial incentives to build AI solutions or migrate customers to Azure. The package supports every stage of ISV Success. Learn more. New end-customer migration incentives are now available to help software companies and advanced specialized systems integrators securely and efficiently move software companies’ end customers to modern applications running on Azure. See the ISV Engagements tab in the incentives guide for more information. Grow your business with Microsoft Security Envisioning Workshops to reach more customers, refine your sales, and unlock new revenue with world-class security. Skilling and Events Visit our Skilling Hub for the latest training resources to earn designations and specializations. Explore the most recent skilling blog for key skilling-related announcements. Looking for bite-sized skilling? Check out this episode of the Azure Essentials Show to learn how Azure Databricks transforms fragmented data estates into unified platforms for analytics and AI. Microsoft AI Tour for Partners is back: Join a free, one-day event to accelerate your AI journey with sales best practices, growth opportunities, hands-on labs, and technical deep dives. Upcoming stops: Toronto (September 30) and Chicago (October 8). Join the Fabric Global Hack (September 15–November 3, 2025): Build data and AI solutions with Fabric, collaborate globally, and compete for prizes up to $10,000. Participants get 50% off Fabric certifications. The Migrate and Modernize Summit replay is available now. Hear from Microsoft leaders––including Scott Guthrie, Jeremy Winter, Amanda Silver, and Cyril Belikoff––on the latest innovations around AI-assisted tooling and products to help simplify and accelerate cloud migrations. Join us at the Azure Dev Summit (October 13–16, 2025): This Microsoft-sponsored event is designed for developers, architects, and technology leaders to explore the latest in Azure, .NET, and Microsoft AI, gain insights from inspiring speakers, and connect with peers driving innovation. Participate in AgentCon 2025 by Global AI Community: Join a global series of one-day conferences designed exclusively for developers building the future with autonomous AI agents. The 2027 deadline to move SAP workloads to S4/HANA is approaching, so now is the time to activate your SAP on Azure practice Partner Ready and Sales Ready courses to help business managers unlock Azure benefits and equip sales teams to effectively position SAP on Azure solutions. The Azure Cosmos DB Partner Acceleration Program for FY26 has officially launched. Designed to upskill partners through technical enablement, monthly sessions, and self-learning resources, the program also offers customer engagement assistance—including funding for proofs of concept (PoCs) and migrations—and direct access to the product group for blockers. Enroll today and don’t miss the first training on October 14, 2025. Go-To-Market Take your marketing strategy to the next level with predesigned campaigns, resources, and ready-to-go assets. Learn more. Generate leads leveraging custom propensity lists and executing marketing initiatives with Microsoft CloudAscent and Solution Play Propensity Accelerate Revenue and KPIs (SPARK) Propensity. Looking for proven and scalable AI transformation assets that deliver value quickly? AI Solution Accelerators are proven, prebuilt PoC assets that drive successful AI implementations, enabling you to demonstrate the value of AI capabilities and accelerate time to value. Drive success in building AI apps and agents with a comprehensive set of sales tools and marketing resources, including Microsoft pitch decks, guides, solution accelerators, demos, and more. Access them here. Unify your data platform to help your customers implement a data strategy that is fit for the era of AI, including customizable pitch decks and other go-to-market resources to help you succeed. Find it all here, and explore Fabric here. Differentiate your expertise to customers with Solutions Partner designations and specializations. Customer Success Discover how Microsoft can transform your sales strategy with case studies and customer success stories that showcase how businesses, NGOs, and individuals leverage AI to transform their business. Follow the tag Azure news to stay updated on monthly Azure partner news.🚀 Join Us for the Migrate and Modernize Summit – September 23-24, 2025
Partners, mark your calendars! On September 23-24, Microsoft is hosting the Migrate and Modernize Summit, a digital event to help you and your customers accelerate cloud migrations to Azure and simplify modernization. This event is appropriate for both partner and customers. As a partner, you will hear important product announcements that will enable you to: Transform your migration and modernization practice Leverage AI to simplify and accelerate Migrations and Modernization to Azure, unlocking new projects and revenue. Drive new leads Inspire customers to engage in an assessment using your partner organization and services. Unlock Azure Accelerate funding Activate Microsoft investments / partner benefits that drive your partner services. (Specialized partners) Your customers will learn how to make their cloud migration and modernization a reality with Keynote Presentations from Microsoft leaders such as Scott Guthrie, Jeremy Winter, Amanda Silver and Cyril Belikoff Breakout Tracks tailored for decision-makers and practitioners to see migration and modernization agents in action, as well as local tracks to go deeper on specific topics Customer Stories including Sanofi, Thomson Reuters, and OneDigital Live Demos to bring to life the latest innovations around AI-assisted tooling and products Join us for the Migrate and Modernize Summit! Learn more about the event Register your teams for one of the sessions using the links below Share the event with your customers using this invite September 23, 2025 9:00 AM PT (GMT-07:00) United States http://aka.ms/mmeventusp September 23, 2025 12:00 PM ET (GMT-04:00) Latin America http://aka.ms/mmeventlap September 23, 2025 1:00 PM BRT (GMT-03:00) Brazil http://aka.ms/mmeventbzp September 24, 2025 9:00 AM BST Europe, Middle East, Africa http://aka.ms/mmeventemeap September 24, 2025 10:00 AM AEST (GMT+10:00) Australia and New Zealand http://aka.ms/mmeventanzp September 24, 2025 10:00 AM SGT (GMT+08:00) Association of Southeast Asian Nations http://aka.ms/mmeventaseanp September 24, 2025 9:00 AM KST (GMT+09:00) Korea http://aka.ms/mmeventkoreap September 24, 2025 1:00 PM JST (GMT+09:00) Japan http://aka.ms/mmeventjapanp September 24, 2025 2:00 PM IST (GMT+05:30) India http://aka.ms/mmeventindiap Registration Opening Soon (Save the Date) October 28, 2025 1:00 PM CST (GMT+08:00) Greater China Region | People’s Republic of China October 28, 2025 1:00 PM CST (GMT+08:00) Greater China Region | Taiwan October 28, 2025 9:00 AM HKT (GMT+08:00) Greater China Region | Hong KongBroadcom VMware Licensing Changes: What Azure VMware Solution Partners Need to Know
Broadcom announced a change to their VMware licensing policies that will impact Microsoft partners and Azure VMware Solution customers. These changes require customers to bring their own portable VCF subscriptions when using any hyperscaler platform. This will mean customers must purchase VCF subscriptions directly from Broadcom, or the Broadcom partner Ecosystem, to use with hyperscaler cloud services. While this announcement limits how customers will be able to purchase new VCF licenses it does not impact AVS service availability. Azure VMware Solution (AVS) already supports Broadcom’s model with the AVS VCF BYOL option which enables customers to use AVS with their own VCF subscriptions, and Azure will continue being the best cloud for customers to run their VMWare environments. AVS VCF BYOL option is priced lower than AVS with VCF subscriptions included. This is a licensing change only – there is no product change to the Azure VMware Solution cloud service. Microsoft will continue to offer AVS as a fully managed VCF private cloud service in Azure, providing Microsoft-managed infrastructure and VMware host management including patching and upgrades. This frees up IT staff to focus on more high value tasks including workload modernization and new AI projects. Recommended Actions If you have an existing AVS customer, reach out to them immediately and share the update. Automated updates will be sent by Microsoft to AVS customers on 9/9/2025. Prioritize customers with RIs that expire before January 15, 2026. Suggest extending their AVS RI term with VCF licensing included by exchanging their current RI. They must make this change by October 15, 2025. If the customer asks to move to Azure Native IaaS or PaaS, Dr. Migrate Benchmark TCO can assess, and Azure Migrate can help with their migration needs. For strategic opportunities >$500K please work with the field for additional guidance. How is AVS changing to comply with Broadcom’s policy? Microsoft will discontinue selling AVS with VCF subscriptions included after October 15, 2025. After October 15, 2025, customers purchasing new nodes of AVS will need to provide a VCF subscription purchased from Broadcom. Existing AVS RI customers purchased before October 16, 2025: Customers can continue to operate these AVS nodes without any licensing or product changes through the end of their RI term. For existing AVS VCF BYOL SKU customers, there are no changes. Starting October 16, 2025, any new VMware Firewall deployed will require the VMware Firewall add-on purchased from Broadcom. Purchasing new AVS nodes: Customers can continue to add AVS nodes with VCF included to their existing AVS SDDC, last day of sale is October 15, 2025. New nodes purchased starting October 16, 2025, will require the customer to provide Microsoft with a portable VCF subscription license key. AVS PayGo customers with VCF included: AVS PayGo customers can continue to operate existing AVS nodes without any licensing changes until October 31, 2026. Customers will then be required to provide a VCF license key before November 1, 2026, to continue using AVS. Customers may want to switch from PayGo to Reserved Instances by October 15, 2025. This allows the customer to lock in AVS with VCF included for multiple years and provides RI saving of 30-50% off the PayGo rates. New PayGo nodes starting on October 16, 2025, must use the AVS VCF BYOL SKUs and provide a VCF subscription license key. If Customers want to Trade in RIs Customers that want to trade in their existing AVS RIs can leverage the Microsoft self-service exchange process. They can exchange their RI for a new longer-term AVS with VCF included RI on or before October 15, 2025. Reservation products are interchangeable; customers can also exchange AVS reservations for other types of compute reservations including Azure Dedicated Host, Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Virtual Desktop, SQL Database services, and more. Resources AVS VCF BYOL Pricing: AVS pricing page on Azure.com (coming mid Sept) Azure RI Self-Service Exchanges AVS Docs page for How to use AVS VCF BYOL Broadcom’s Announcement Blog and Microsoft’s Response Blog Important Dates September 9, 2025: Automated emails to be sent to all AVS Customers October 15, 2025: Last day to buy AVS with VCF included October 16, 2025: New AVS Customers and expanding SDDCs will need to use AVS VCF BYOL SKUs and bring their portable VCF subscriptions to AVS. October 31, 2026: End of AVS PayGo with VCF included, customers will convert to AVS VCF BYOL PayGo SKUs and be required to bring a portable VCF subscription and license key to AVS.August update: What's new in Azure for Partners
News and Announcements We just shared our FY26 partner strategy at MCAPS Start for Partners—and it’s all about what’s next with AI. Catch up on key announcements here. Explore the latest Cloud and AI platforms and Agentic AI partner playbooks which includes key skilling resources, investments, win formulas and more. GPT-5 is now in Azure AI Foundry, offering top-tier reasoning for building intelligent and safe AI apps and agents. Learn more. Serve customers in bandwidth-constrained environments who are building autonomous assistants or embedding AI into real-world workflows, using gpt-oss-20b on Windows AI Foundry. Learn more. Watch The AI Show to hear about the latest announcements, including Observability in Azure AI Foundry, App Templates, and more. This is a show by Seth Juarez for developers and tech experts. Watch now. Your customers can now mirror Azure Databricks Unity Catalog into Fabric. Deeper integration. No clusters. No pipelines. Just insights. Help them get started––learn more here. Dive into our latest blog and research to learn how Azure-native integration, autoscaling, and unified governance make Azure Databricks the best home for your data and AI workloads, and then share the information with your customers as they consider their preferred data platform. Learn more. Incentives and offers We recently announced Azure Accelerate—a unified offering within the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program that brings together Azure Migrate and Modernize, Azure Innovate, and Cloud Accelerate Factory––all built upon the foundations of Azure Essentials. Nominate your project today. Dr Migrate is an AI-assisted platform for cloud migration planning, available within Azure Accelerate. Eligible partners can request licenses through Azure Accelerate to run customer environment assessments through Azure Accelerate. Invite a colleague to join the Azure Migrate and Modernize Partner Forum, your source for early access to Azure offerings, product roadmaps, and marketing updates for partners. Learn more. Skilling and Events Visit our skilling hub for the latest training resources to earn designations and specializations. Explore the most recent skilling blog for key skilling-related announcements. If you're a consultant or part of a Microsoft partner's sales or tech pre-sales team looking to drive AI apps and agents, join our virtual 3-day skilling event, Sept 9–11. Hear from Microsoft field and product leaders on sales best practices, product demos, and how to pitch AI CoEs—a key FY26 strategy for driving org-wide AI transformation. Register here. Join us for FabCon25 Europe in Vienna, September 15–18, for workshops, networking with customers, and insights from Microsoft leaders. Don’t miss Partner Day on September 15 to explore Fabric growth strategies and connect with the community. Learn more and buy your ticket here. Heading to VMware Explore Las Vegas? Join our exclusive partner session on August 25 to explore new Azure investments like TCO tools and migration funding. Visit booth #107 to discuss VMware workloads and register early—space is limited (max 2 attendees per organization).—register here. Join us at the Azure Dev Summit, a Microsoft-sponsored event designed for developers, architects, and technology leaders. Explore the latest in Azure, .NET, and Microsoft AI, gain insights from inspiring speakers, and connect with peers driving innovation. Reserve your spot today. SAP Specialization: Partners can now meet SAP Specialization requirements with the new Run SAP on Microsoft Cloudtraining path—aligned to SAP on Azure’s latest capabilities and validated during audits. This streamlined option simplifies the journey to specialization. Go-To-Market Take your marketing strategy to the next level with pre-designed campaigns, resources, and ready-to-go assets. Learn more. Drive success in building AI apps and agents with a comprehensive set of sales tools and marketing resources, including Microsoft pitch decks, guides, solution accelerators, demos, and more! Access them here. Unify your data platform to help your customers implement a data strategy that is fit for the era of AI, including customizable pitch decks and other go-to-market resources to help you succeed. Find it all here. Differentiate your expertise to customers with Solutions Partner designations and specializations. Introducing SAP Business Suite: Unlock mid-market growth by partnering with Microsoft and SAP. Lead with AI Innovation and leverage SAP Cloud ERP, GROW and RISE journeys, to deliver scalable cloud services, spark strategic cloud conversations, and access exclusive incentives, GTM resources, and tools to accelerate success. Access resources here. Customer success Discover how Microsoft can transform your sales strategy. Explore real AI case studies and customer success stories showing how businesses, NGOs and individuals leverage AI to transform their business. Follow the tag Azure news to stay updated on monthly Azure partner news.Announcing the Public Preview of Azure Native Pure Storage Cloud for Azure VMware Solution
We are excited to announce the public preview of Azure Native Pure Storage Cloud for Azure VMware Solution. This Azure service offers native-like integration of Pure Storage's innovative enterprise-grade fully managed block Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS) with Azure VMWare Solution (AVS) aiding seamless VMware migrations to the cloud along with scalability, simplicity and data resiliency. Azure Native Integrations enable you to easily provision, manage, and tightly integrate independent software vendor (ISV) software and services on Azure. By leveraging the power of Azure, Pure Storage Cloud Service offers you many benefits, including scaling flexibility, native Azure experience, unified billing, and cost-effectiveness. You can easily discover and sign up for this via the Azure Marketplace. "We’re pleased to see Pure Storage’s integration with Microsoft Azure Native service. Through this collaboration, Pure and Microsoft can better serve customer needs by enabling them to provision, use and manage Pure Storage on Azure just like other Azure services. With this integrated offering, Pure and Microsoft are helping customers to quickly leverage Pure's enterprise-grade storage with Azure cloud services securely to open up a whole new set of possibilities for customers bringing enterprise-scale environments to the cloud. Together, Pure and Microsoft are helping customers save time and operational overhead while driving innovation." - Scott Hunter, Vice President Product Management, Microsoft Developer Division. Gartner report from Sept 2024 states that by 2028, consumption-based storage as a service (STaaS) will replace over 33% of enterprise storage capital expenditure (capex), up from less than 15% in 2024. Pure Storage® is a pivotal storage player among the Enterprise customers in revolutionizing the storage, management and resiliency while ensuring flexibility. From AI to archive, Pure Storage delivers a seamless cloud migration experience with one unified Storage as-a-Service (STaaS) platform across on-premises, private and public cloud, and hybrid environments. They are a 11x consequent leaders in Gartner® Magic Quadrant report for Primary Storage Platforms, with highest rating in Execution & Vision. Thus proving why, they are undoubtedly the Enterprise favorites! Some key customers for Pure Storage include Meta, ServiceNow, AC Milan, Comcast and many more! Fig 1: Magic Quadrant for Primary Storage, Sep 2024, Gartner Inc. How will Azure Native Pure Storage Cloud for AVS help me? Fully managed block-storage-as-a-service solution, providing decoupled scalability and flexibility across Compute and Storage solutions. Optimized Total Cost of Operations (TCO) up to 40% with data reduction and compression tools. Seamless data mobility and migrations of VMware workloads across on-premises, hybrid and multi-cloud solutions to the Azure cloud. Enterprise-grade Data protection and Data resilience, with solutions such as Hybrid Disaster Recovery support in the roadmap. Get started with Azure Native Pure Storage Cloud for Azure VMware Solution Setup and subscribe to your Azure Native Pure Storage Cloud, available easily in the Azure Marketplace. You can start your journey free of cost and pay as you use the service. Look for “Pure Storage Cloud" in the Azure Marketplace and sign up via Contact Me button to show your interest for the preview. Fig 2: Contact Me offering on Azure Marketplace Once you have been allowlisted for the preview, you can also look for it using the search bar on Azure Portal or visit the marketplace on Azure portal to see the offer in your list of private plans. Fig 3: Searching for Azure Native Pure Storage via Azure portal Pure Storage in Marketplace private plans via Azure portal Provisioning a Storage Pool via Azure: Follow the instructions in the QuickStart to easily spin up your Pure Storage resource. Once you have created the Pure Storage resource on Azure, follow the simple steps in the Microsoft Learn docs, or navigate directly via the Overview blade to create Storage pools. 2. Quick-and-easy Connect to AVS: You can now easily connect your Pure Storage with your Azure VMWare Solution (AVS) using the “Connect” button in Storage pool. Resources Subscribe to the “Azure Native Pure Storage Cloud for Azure VMware Solution” available as Pay as You Go via Contact me in the Azure Marketplace. Create an Azure Native Pure Resource and storage pools via the service, see QuickStart: Get started with Azure Native Pure Storage Cloud Service in Microsoft Docs. To learn more, check out the Pure blog and Pure’s Press release. Learn more about the Pure Cloud Block Store and how to use it with AVS here.
