Get alignment early to build AI apps and agents and sell on Marketplace
Frontier firms are pulling ahead. The data is clear why. According to Microsoft research of Frontier firms: 71% of leaders say their company is thriving, compared to just 39% of workers globally, 93% are optimistic about future work opportunities, 55% say they’re able to take on more work, versus 25% globally. But the difference isn’t experimentation with AI. It’s execution. Work Trend Index Annual Report, 2025 How getting business and technical alignment with AI development helps Frontier firms are succeeding because they align business intent, technical design, and security expectations before building AI apps and agents. They don’t treat alignment as a workshop or a slide deck. They treat it as a prerequisite to building agents that actually work, scale, and earn trust. Microsoft helps you adopt this same approach through structured guidance in App Advisor, AI envisioning resources, and practical checklists designed to keep teams aligned from design through deployment. Why alignment separates Frontier firms from the rest AI apps and agents increasingly operate inside critical business workflows. That raises the bar. When alignment is missing, teams often ship agents that technically function but fail in production due to security gaps, unclear ownership, or mismatched expectations around outcomes. Teams that align early are better positioned to: Move faster through build by eliminating ambiguity, Build agents that reliably perform the job they’re designed to do, Embed security, governance, and trust by design, not as an afterthought, Reduce redesign cycles caused by unclear requirements or late-stage constraints. This is where guidance-first approach from Microsoft plays a critical role. How App Advisor helps teams align before they build App Advisor is intentionally designed to help teams put an alignment framework together at the start. To move faster later. App Advisor gives you: Tools to help your business get an AI Center of Excellence, Systems, like Azure Essentials and Cloud Adoption Framework, Checklists for every step of the way, so that teams stay informed, Toolkits and services that build in answers to friction that your team can leverage. These shared starting points helps ensure what teams build reflects real business needs and can be deployed responsibly. Using AI envisioning sessions to align outcomes The Microsoft AI envisioning sessions complement App Advisor by helping teams translate strategy into execution. The Business–Technical Alignment Checklist for Microsoft Foundry helps teams stay synchronized as they build. It ensures architecture, cost, security, and delivery choices support a clear business outcome—not just technical success. This checklist reinforces practices like: Defining shared success metrics and KPIs, Setting joint budget guardrails and cost visibility, Establishing cross-functional cadence and governance, Planning for integration testing and real-world workflows, Using a shared project workspace as a single source of truth. This alignment reduces late-stage friction when you’re preparing to publish, co-sell, or scale. This translates into offers that are easier to describe on Marketplace, more likely to attract customers, and better for those customers to deploy. Moving from aligned design to confident build to sales growth After alignment is established, teams can move into build with momentum. App Advisor showcases development toolkits, SDKs, templates, and reference architectures that reflect the decisions already made during design. That continuity matters. It keeps teams focused on execution instead of re-litigating fundamentals mid-build. Alignment isn’t a meeting. It’s a system. Microsoft provides the structure to support it. Start aligning today to sell more tomorrow Get resources to help your teams align and keep in step in App Advisor.Build an AI app or agent faster to sell on Marketplace with App Advisor
Jump right to the step-by-step curated guidance for building a well-architected app in App Advisor The development of AI apps and agents is moving fast. The data backs it up: The AI platform of choice: 90% of Fortune 500 companies use Microsoft AI, Development lifecycles speed up: Teams see up to 46% faster development with Azure, Companies realize great ROI: AI apps and agents realize an average of 90% ROI. The opportunity is real, but speed alone isn’t enough. To turn momentum into a scalable, sellable solution, software companies need a clear path from idea to architecture to Microsoft Marketplace readiness. How to build an AI app or agent and sell it on Marketplace Microsoft Foundry provides the platform to build AI apps and agents. App Advisor provides the structure, guiding you through the decisions that matter early. So, you can move fast without creating rework later. When paired with focused build and alignment checklists, App Advisor helps you ship faster and prepare your solution for the Marketplace from day one. Here’s how App Advisor, paired with material developed from the popular AI Envisioning sessions, helps you build with speed and Marketplace readiness in mind. App Advisor gives you a clear starting point to build AI apps and agents App Advisor is tailored specifically to remove ambiguity. Instead of guessing where to begin, you’re guided through key build decisions, based on five critical pillars: Security Reliability Cost optimization Operational excellence Performance efficiency These pillars are more than theory. They help you and your team think through pricing models, identity and access, resiliency, scaling, and operational integration early: before code hardens and changes get expensive. By anchoring your build in these principles, you create a foundation that supports both rapid development and future Marketplace requirements. Design well, build fast: Create an Agent MVP in 30 days After your architecture is defined, the next challenge is execution speed. The Create an Agent MVP in 30 Days checklist turns Microsoft Foundry best practices into an actionable build plan. It’s organized around the same well-architected pillars, making it easy to move from design to implementation without losing alignment. This checklist helps you: Embed security controls like encryption, RBAC, and managed identity from day one, Design for reliability with stateless services, health checks, and graceful fallback, Right-size performance and compute so you don’t overbuild the MVP, Control costs early with monitoring, budgets, and automation, Set up DevOps and CI/CD to support fast iteration. The result is a working agent that’s intentionally scoped, production-aware, and easier to evolve into a commercial offering. Built to move fast, ready to be sold at scale Used together, App Advisor, the 30-day to an MVP checklist, and the AI Envisioning sessions give you a repeatable path: Start with architecture clarity, Build an MVP quickly and responsibly, Stay aligned on Marketplace outcomes. You’re not just shipping an AI app or agent. You’re building a solution designed to be deployed, sold, and supported for your target customer. And designing well with solid core principles can help build a solid foundation for your Marketplace success. Ready to build faster with Microsoft Foundry? Explore App Advisor for step-by-step guidance to quickly design well-architected apps. Want to get development templates to start designing in minutes? View the Quick-Start Development Toolkit library for AI apps and agents. See the difference when you build with the proven framework of Microsoft Foundry and selling well-architected apps and agents in Marketplace.Discover why to build AI apps and agents with Microsoft and sell through Marketplace
Customer demand for AI is accelerating fast. And your company's AI app or agent should be there to meet it. In this fiscal year, Microsoft has already seen 2x growth in customers purchasing AI products through Microsoft Marketplace, while also being the largest catalog of AI apps and agents in the industry. Building AI apps and agents isn’t just about model performance or speed to market. It’s about meeting your customers’ needs when they have them. For software companies, success depends on whether your AI solution is secure, compliant, responsibly designed, and ready to scale in real-world work environments. That’s why App Advisor starts by showing the many reasons why building with Microsoft is the right foundation for AI apps and agents. Why building AI apps and agents with Microsoft is different Microsoft, named an AI Leader by Gartner, brings together AI innovation, Responsible AI, and enterprise-grade security into a single, integrated platform. This matters when you’re quickly building AI-powered experiences and agents that your customers can trust. When you build with Microsoft, you’re building on an AI-native platform designed for production use: Industry-leading AI and agentic capabilities supporting Gen AI, RAG, ML, predictive analytics, and multi-modal agent workflows, Integrated developer tools to help teams ship faster that you already use and trust (like GitHub Copilot, Visual Studio, and Microsoft Foundry), Seamless integration across the Microsoft stack to make it easier to connect data, services, and user experiences without stitching different systems together. This foundation helps you focus on what you’re building. Microsoft handles the complexity behind the scenes. Build confidently from day one, stay up to date with AI best practices Building with AI doesn't have to be risky. Data access, model behavior, governance, and compliance all matter more when AI and agents are embedded directly into customer workflows. Microsoft approaches this with end-to-end security and Responsible AI practices that are integrated throughout the development lifecycle. That's why App Advisor and Microsoft keep you up with the speed of designing with AI: Principles to design your own AI Center of Excellence, Sessions focused on the future of AI and agents in the AI Tour, Resources and webinars, like the AI envisioning sessions, to keep you current. This is especially critical for software companies selling into regulated or security-conscious industries. Security isn't an afterthought. You’re building on a platform where they’re already part of the system. How App Advisor can help answer questions about building AI apps and agents The first step in App Advisor is intentionally focused on clarity. Instead of jumping straight into tooling or publishing requirements, it helps you evaluate: Why Microsoft is the right platform for AI apps and agents, How building with Microsoft assists in development, scaling, and customer trust, What kinds of opportunities exist in the Microsoft Marketplace and how to maximize on them. However, App Advisor doesn’t stop at discovery or development. The same experience that helps you build AI apps and agents also supports growth through the Microsoft Marketplace—giving you access to global customers, streamlined procurement, and enterprise-ready distribution. From first line of code to go-to-market readiness, the platform is designed to support sustainable, scalable growth with confidence. Ready to build your AI app or agent? When you start with the right foundation, everything that follows moves faster—and with less risk. Start with the fundamentals: realize the potential of building with Microsoft with curated guidance in App Advisor We look forward to seeing your AI app or agent on Microsoft Marketplace!Gain clarity on your Marketplace offer type in minutes with App Advisor
Publishing your app or agent to Microsoft Marketplace is the first critical step to reaching customers, unlocking benefits, and monetizing your solution. But choosing the right marketplace offer type to match your technology and business needs can slow teams down with extensive research or trial and error. That’s why App Advisor includes an interactive offer type selection wizard, designed to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. By answering a short set of targeted questions, you can quickly identify the marketplace offer type that best fits your app or agent technology and business goals, without guesswork or context switching. How the interactive offer type selection wizard helps The wizard simplifies one of the most important publishing decisions by guiding you through a focused set of inputs. In just a few steps, it helps you: Narrow options based on your chosen product stack, Align offer types to how your solution is built and delivered, Match deployment and selling models to the right marketplace configuration. What once required hours of documentation review and comparison can now be completed in minutes, accelerating your publishing momentum. How the interactive offer selection wizard works Getting started is straightforward and fully integrated into App Advisor: Go to the Choose your marketplace offer type, Click the Guide me to my offer type button, Answer a few questions about your app or agent, Receive a recommended offer type, based on your answers, Review pricing and transaction details specific to that offer type, See what types of private offers are applicable to this type of offer. The guidance you see is tailored to your selection, helping you understand not just what to choose, but why it fits your scenario. If you want to explore an alternative path, you can restart the wizard at any time and compare outcomes. With this wizard, clear choices lead to a confident decision. Move from decision to publishing faster The interactive offer selection wizard removes friction from the early stages of marketplace publishing. By helping you choose the right offer type up front, App Advisor enables you to spend less time researching and more time building, publishing, and selling. Ready to make your next marketplace decision with confidence? Get a clear offer type choice in App Advisor today.Becoming a Frontier Firm: Accelerate custom app development with Quick-Start Development Toolkit
The theme of Ignite was undeniable: Frontier firms are transforming business with investments and projects developing AI apps and agents. And these aren’t just businesses using AI - they’re companies developing and monetizing AI apps and agents. The numbers are clear - here are a few compelling stats from a global study commissioned by Microsoft with the International Data Corporation (IDC) about Frontier firms: 67% are monetizing industry-specific AI use cases to boost revenue 58% use custom AI, and in the next two years, that will increase to 77% Those building agentic solutions will grow 3x in the next two years ROI is 3x higher for Frontier firms than slower adopters It’s no longer a question. Companies who get ahead, make and sell AI apps and agentic solutions. But it can be difficult to develop at the speed of AI. To answer the challenge of streamlining and shortening the development cycle, we’ve improved the Quick-Start Development Toolkit to help your team start coding in minutes. Getting simple guidance for custom application development To help your team go from idea to coding in minutes, we've introduced the Quick-Start Development Toolkit. Teams were spending too much time with false starts or hunting for AI app or agent code templates. With expert developer guidance, we created the Quick-Start Development patterns - a package that includes a sample solution reference diagram, custom code templates for your dev team to download and customize, and high-value resources to address common development challenges. We’ve also made it easier to find the right development pattern for your needs. Answer a few questions to see how to develop an AI app We’ve built an interactive wizard that makes it easy for software companies to go from thinking about AI or agentic solutions to solve a problem directly to creating custom code. The process is easy: Go to Quick-Start Development Toolkit Click on “Find the right pattern for your needs” Answer a few simple questions about your priority scenario, environment, and tools Land on a development pattern designed to help your team start coding in minutes With development patterns ranging from flexible AI app or agent development with Microsoft Foundry to multi-agent custom automation to integrating your data with Microsoft Fabric Unified Data Foundation, you’ll find a development pattern to get started on your next AI app or agent. Not the right fit? Keep looking at focused patterns, all created in partnership with Microsoft experts. If your project has a different focus, like migrating or replicating an AWS app to Azure or integrating Microsoft Security to an app, the Quick-Start Development Toolkit has development templates for these, too. Take the confusion out of how to make an app and then publish and monetize it After you're done developing, realize full ROI on your app or agent and help other companies advance their Frontier level by publishing and selling it on Microsoft Marketplace. Within each development pattern, you can get curated guidance from App Advisor to package, publish, and sell your app. Ready to get started with your next AI app project? Visit the Quick-Start Development Toolkit today!December edition of Microsoft Marketplace Partner Digest
Microsoft Ignite 2025 - Marketplace highlights Microsoft Ignite was packed with announcements and insights for Marketplace partners. From new commerce capabilities to AI-driven innovations, here are some key takeaways: Global expansion of Microsoft Marketplace - Microsoft announced that the reimagined Microsoft Marketplace, which launched in the U.S. earlier this year, is now globally available. This expansion includes new APIs for distribution partners, enabling them to link their own cloud marketplace with Microsoft’s, opening significant opportunities for software companies in SMB and mid-market segments. 🎬 Watch a recorded webinar with TD SYNNEX on the power of distribution to accelerate SMB marketplace sales. Global availability of Resale Enabled Offers - This capability allows software development companies to and channel partners to resell software solutions directly through Marketplace, simplifying transactions, expanding reach, and scaling revenue. 👉 Read more about this announcement and get started Introducing App Accelerate - A unified offer that brings together incentives, benefits, and co-sell support across the Microsoft Cloud. App Accelerate provides end-to-end technical guidance, developer tools, and go-to-market resources so software development companies can innovate and scale. Previews are beginning now, with full availability planned for 2026. ✅ Sign up to receive updates Enhanced Partner Marketing Center - Discover, customize, and launch campaigns faster with intelligent search and AI-powered tools—all on one connected platform. The current Partner Marketing Center will remain available as the new and enhanced Marketing Center platform launches in early 2026 with 24 campaigns-in-a-box, aligned to FY26 solution plays. ✨ Get ready for the new era of partner marketing Frontier Partner badge – New customer-facing badges recognize top services, channel, and software development company partners that are driving AI transformation with customers and offer them an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition. 🛡️Differentiate your AI-first leadership Catch up on Microsoft Ignite sessions Ignite 2025 delivered powerful insights and announcements for Marketplace partners, and now you can catch up on the sessions you missed. Explore these recorded keynotes to learn about new capabilities, partner programs, and strategies to accelerate growth through Microsoft’s ecosystem. Ignite opening keynote Ignite partner keynote: Powering Frontier Partnerships Additionally, we’ve compiled recordings of relevant Marketplace partner and customer sessions so you can watch on-demand. Revisit Marketplace-focused sessions and resources. Just look for the ✨ icon below. Partner sessions: PBRK415 Grow your business with Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Find out how the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program helps you grow with new benefits, designations, and skilling opportunities. This session covers updates like the Frontier Partner Badge, Copilot specialization, and streamlined Marketplace engagement—all designed to accelerate your AI transformation journey. PBRK416 Accelerate Growth through Partner Incentives Explore how Microsoft is boosting partner growth with streamlined incentives, AI-first strategies, and new designations like Frontier Distributor. This session covers expanded investments in Azure Accelerate, Copilot solutions, and security practices—plus insights on how to capitalize on evolving programs and co-sell opportunities. PBRK417 Partner: Connect, Plan, Win – Enhancing Co-sell Engagement Discover how to enhance collaboration, optimize joint efforts, and drive success in shared initiatives. Gain insights into improving interactions with Microsoft sellers and leveraging opportunities, along with guidance on proactive co-selling to align your goals with Microsoft's for sustained growth. PBRK418 Partner: Benefits for Accelerating Software Company Success Learn about the resources and benefits available for software development companies across all stages of the build, publish and grow journey in MAICPP. Whether you’re developing a new agent solution or working toward a certified software designation, there are targeted skilling opportunities, technical resources, and GTM benefits to help. Tap into new investments for AI apps and agents and hear from your peers on how they’ve used rewards such as customer propensity scores and Azure sponsorship. PBRK419 SI & Advisory Partner Readiness: Accelerating the Journey to Frontier Understand how Microsoft is empowering our SI and advisory partners to accelerate frontier firm readiness for our Enterprise customers by driving AI transformation with agentic solutions and services. ✨PBRK420 Executing on the channel-led marketplace opportunity for partners See how Microsoft’s unified Marketplace drives partner growth with resale-enabled offers, creating scalable channel sales and co-sell opportunities. This session shares practical steps to build a sustainable Marketplace practice and leverage the partner ecosystem for greater reach and profitability. PBRK421 Enabling a thriving partner ecosystem: New CSP Authorization Criteria Dive into what’s new for Cloud Solution Providers, including updated authorization requirements and designations that help you stand out. This session covers steps to choose the right tier, build trust as a customer advisor, and prepare for growth with AI-driven solutions and Copilot offerings. PBRK422 The Future of Partner Support: Customer + Partner + Microsoft Discover ‘Unified for Partners,’ Microsoft’s new support model designed for CSP partners to deliver customer success at scale. This session introduces the Support Services designation, offering faster response times, financial incentives, and integrated tools to strengthen your support capabilities. PBRK423 Partner Execution at Scale with SME&C Explore growth opportunities in the high-potential SME&C segment. This session highlights investments in co-selling, AI-first strategies, and what it means to become ‘customer zero,’ with examples of frontier firms driving innovation at scale. ✨PBRK424 Marketplace Success for Partners—from SMB to Enterprise Learn how to build, publish, and monetize AI-powered solutions through Microsoft Marketplace. This session shares a proven approach to align your Marketplace strategy with your sales motion and unlock new revenue opportunities. PBRK272 Accelerate Secure AI: Microsoft’s Security Advantage for Partners Explore Microsoft’s integrated security solutions and learn how to help customers strengthen their defenses in the AI era. This session highlights partner opportunities, resources to grow your security practice, and what it takes to lead as a next-generation security partner. Customer Sessions: ✨Microsoft Marketplace: Your trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents | STUDIO47 Hear from Cyril Belikoff, VP of Commercial Cloud & AI Marketing, sharing the reimagined Microsoft Marketplace—the gateway to thousands of AI-powered apps, agents and cloud solutions—all built to accelerate innovation and drive business outcomes. Discover how customers benefit from faster deployment, seamless integration with Microsoft tools, and trusted solutions, and how partners can scale their reach, accelerate sales, and tap into Microsoft’s global ecosystem. Azure Accelerate in action: Confidently migrate, modernize, and build faster Join Cyril Belikoff for a rapid Q&A that spotlights real-world customer success and the transformative impact of Azure Accelerate. Hear how customers like Thomson Reuters achieved breakthrough results with our powerful offering that provides access to Microsoft experts and investments throughout your Azure and AI journey. ✨BRK213 Microsoft Marketplace: Your trusted source for cloud and AI solutions Discover how the reimagined Microsoft Marketplace is reshaping the future of cloud and AI innovation. In this session, we’ll explore how Microsoft Marketplace—unifying Azure Marketplace and Microsoft AppSource—empowers organizations to become Frontier Firms by streamlining the discovery, purchase, and deployment of tens of thousands of cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents. ✨BRK215 Boost cloud and AI ROI using Microsoft Marketplace As organizations embrace an AI-first future, cloud adoption is accelerating to drive innovation and efficiency. This session explores practical strategies to optimize cloud investments—balancing performance, scalability, and cost control. Learn how Microsoft Marketplace enables rapid solution deployment while maintaining governance, compliance, and budget discipline. Build a resilient, cost-effective cloud foundation that supports AI and beyond. Community Recap Partner of the Year Award Winners Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards in the Marketplace category! 🏆 Explore all winners and finalists Fivetran earned the top honor as Marketplace Partner of the Year for its innovation in automating data movement on Microsoft Azure, enabling enterprises to accelerate AI and analytics initiatives. Varonis Systems Inc. and Bytes Software Services were recognized as finalists for delivering exceptional solutions and driving customer success through Marketplace. What’s Coming Up AI-powered acceleration: Scale faster in Microsoft Marketplace 📆 Thursday, December 04, 2025, at 9:00 AM PST Microsoft Marketplace is no longer just a procurement convenience; it’s a strategic revenue engine. Dive into operational readiness, CRM-native automation, seller engagement, trust signals, and AI-enabled acceleration. Whether you're just getting started or looking to optimize your Marketplace motion, this session will provide you with information that will turn your first sale into a repeatable growth engine. Scale smarter: Discover how resale enabled offers drive growth 📆 Friday, December 05, 2025, from 11:00 - 12:00 PM GTM+1 Discover how resale enabled offers help software development companies to scale through the Microsoft Marketplace by simplifying transactions, expanding reach and accelerating co-sell opportunities. Chart your AI app and agent strategy with Microsoft Marketplace 📆 Thursday, December 11, 2025, from 8:30 - 9:30 AM PST Organizations exploring AI apps and agents face a critical choice: build, buy, or blend. There’s no one-size-fits-all—each approach offers unique benefits and trade-offs. Tune in for insights into the pros and cons of each approach and explore how the Microsoft Marketplace simplifies adoption by providing a single source for trusted AI apps, agents, and models. Office hours for partners: Marketplace resale-enabled offers 📆 Thursday, December 18, 2025, at 8:30 AM PST Tune in to explore resale enabled offers through Microsoft Marketplace. This recently announced capability enables software companies to expand into new markets globally, at scale, and without additional operational overhead. Dive deep into the workflow and requirements for these deals. Learn about reporting and best practices from those that are already selling globally with resale enabled offers. Microsoft Ignite will return to San Francisco next year 📆 November 17-20, 2026 Sign up now to join the Microsoft Ignite early-access list and be eligible to receive limited‑edition swag at the event. 💬 Share Your Feedback! We truly appreciate your feedback and want to ensure these Partner Digests deliver the information you need to succeed in the marketplace. If you have any feedback or suggestions on how we can continue to improve the content to best support you, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
Boost SaaS revenue with Microsoft Marketplace: A step-by-step guide
About the author: Manesh Raveendran is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Spektra Systems, a partner-focused cloud solutions company that simplifies cloud sales adoption and helps cloud-based businesses accelerate their growth. He specializes in thought leadership and in building end-to-end technology solutions across cloud computing, data platforms, and DevOps, with a strong focus on hybrid workloads. Manesh works closely with CXOs to understand business problems and designs systems that drive customer success through Spektra Systems’ innovative cloud solutions and services, including SaaSify, CloudLabs and CSP Control Center. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For SaaS companies, the Microsoft Marketplace has evolved from being a procurement convenience to becoming a strategic revenue engine. But while publishing a listing is easy, closing the first transaction quickly is what separates software development companies who scale on Marketplace from those who stall. That first transaction isn’t just revenue. It’s a signal: Your offer flows through Microsoft’s procurement rails. Your finance, legal, and operations stack is aligned. Microsoft sellers trust they can bring you into deals. Buyers trust Marketplace as their procurement path. Furthermore, transactable offers close faster because they simplify legal review, leverage committed cloud spend and integrate into enterprise procurement. Many software companies go live on Microsoft Marketplace but fail to reach their first transaction quickly. Some stall for months because of fragmented processes, delayed financial setup, or a lack of alignment with Microsoft’s co-sell engine. Others underutilize the marketplace’s full potential because they treat it as a digital storefront rather than an integrated revenue channel. This blog aims to close that gap. It goes beyond “how to list” and focuses on what really drives velocity: operational readiness, CRM-native automation, seller engagement, trust signals, and AI-enabled acceleration. In this blog, we’ll walk through: The step-by-step journey from publishing your transactable offer to your first Microsoft sale. Common pitfalls that delay the first transaction and how to avoid them How CRM-native automation can accelerate finance, legal, and operations readiness for transactable offers Why field seller alignment and partner incentives are critical to activating the Microsoft ecosystem. How AI copilots and agents are changing the game for marketplace GTM. By the end, you’ll have a clear, actionable blueprint for moving from “just listed” to “revenue in hand” and turning your first sale into a repeatable growth engine. Listing readiness and execution: Step-by-step for publishing your offer Most first-sale delays don’t happen after publishing. They happen before the offer goes live. Getting listing readiness right can cut weeks off your timeline. Get the account setup right Have a Partner Center publisher account with your company verified and enrolled in the Microsoft Marketplace. Assign the right roles in Partner Center (e.g., Owner, Marketplace Admin, and for payments Finance Contributor). These are required to configure payments and publish offers. Decide offer type and monetization strategy early Pick your offer type carefully (SaaS, VM, Managed App, Container). If your goal is to accelerate revenue, transactable SaaS offers using Microsoft’s Standard Contract tend to have the lowest procurement friction. Align your pricing model (seat-based, usage, flat, or hybrid) with enterprise buying behavior and potential private offer flexibility. Complete legal, finance, and tax setup upfront Configure and validate payout and tax accounts before creating the offer. Decide whether to use the Standard Contract (fastest buyer approval) or a custom EULA (more control, more delays). Define internal ownership between finance, legal, and GTM teams. Create the offer shell in Partner Center with listing details Create a new SaaS offer in Partner Center and provide the Offer ID and Offer alias to create the shell. Complete the offer listing details with name, description, categories, keywords, logos/screens, (optional) videos. These are what customers see in the storefront. Select markets/regions, audience, and any reseller/CSP availability where supported. (Exact toggles vary by offer type; the goal is to ensure the offer is visible where you sell.) Build the listing like a sales asset A Marketplace listing is not a product brochure, it’s the first deck Microsoft sellers and buyers see. Open with a sharp value proposition. Add pricing clarity or private offer options. Include visuals (architecture diagrams, screenshots, etc.). Add security and compliance details. Link to deployment guides and onboarding documentation. Test before you publish Run through test purchases and fulfillment callbacks. Validate offer visibility, legal terms, pricing flows, and payout readiness. Involve your finance and ops teams before pressing “Submit.” Software companies that complete listing readiness thoroughly typically reach first sale in a few days post-publish, versus weeks or months when key steps are deferred. Making an offer transactable: Speed starts here Publishing a Marketplace listing is like setting up a storefront. But a transactable offer turns that storefront into a fully operational sales channel. Technical execution: Fulfillment & integration For SaaS offers, integrate the SaaS Fulfillment API v2: Implement landing page and webhook endpoints to handle provisioning. Automate activation, change, and cancellation flows. Ensure your finance systems can reconcile Marketplace invoices and payouts. Commercial execution: Pricing & packaging for enterprise buyers Offer transparent, scalable plans buyers can commit to confidently. Design for private offers: custom pricing, terms, or multi-year deals. Ensure deployment is frictionless; buyers expect immediate activation. Aligning with seller & buyer behavior Transactable offers allow Microsoft sellers to retire quota faster which can be a huge incentive. Buyers prefer using committed cloud spend on pre-approved contracts. Simplicity wins: fewer legal redlines, faster billing, and predictable usage. Using Microsoft’s Standard Contract instead of custom terms can cut procurement timelines drastically. Co-sell readiness ensures sellers can bring you into opportunities quickly. Common pitfalls that delay first sale velocity Not every software company reaches their first sale smoothly. In fact, many delays stem from operational and technical issues, not lack of demand. Some of the most common pitfalls include: Delaying payout and tax setup: Without validated financial configuration, your offer can go live but won’t be able to transact. This is one of the biggest and most common delays. Weak or incomplete listings: If your listing doesn’t clearly communicate value, pricing, deployment, and security posture, neither sellers nor buyers will engage confidently. Fulfillment gaps: A broken or manual provisioning flow can derail the first transaction at the worst possible moment. Automation here is essential. Lack of CRM integration: Marketplace opportunities stuck in a separate portal often get ignored or delayed, leading to poor forecasting and slower deal cycles. No seller activation: Simply going live won’t bring in deals. Without proactive enablement, Microsoft field sellers won’t prioritize your offer. Legal complexity: Custom legal terms add friction for buyers and sellers. Using Microsoft’s Standard Contract accelerates procurement significantly. Over-reliance on “organic” traffic: Marketplace is not a “list and wait” channel. The first sale almost always needs to be driven intentionally. Most of these pitfalls are fully preventable with early planning, operational alignment, and a revenue-first listing strategy. Here’s how modern software companies are solving these common challenges, with AI copilots and CRM-native workflows. CRM-native automation to streamline first marketplace sale Once your offer is live, speed to first transaction depends on how efficiently you can move from buyer intent to recorded revenue. This is where CRM-native automation bridges the gap, connecting Marketplace activity with your core GTM and operational systems. When Marketplace deals don’t connect to your CRM, they fall into operational dead zones that slow execution and create unnecessary manual work: Data entry and updates are done twice, once in CRM and then again in the Partner Center Manual processes introduce errors and inconsistencies. Seller response time slows because opportunities aren’t visible. Finance teams chase payouts and reconciliation weeks after closing. GTM leadership lacks visibility into true pipeline attribution and revenue impact. In short, disconnected systems mean disconnected teams and that’s the biggest drag on first-sale velocity. But CRM-native automation streamlines the transactable offer process in more than one way, including: Automated offer creation For most software companies, the first Marketplace transaction happens through a private offer, not a public click-to-buy. CRM-native automation lets you generate, customize, and track private offers directly inside your CRM, eliminating manual Partner Center steps and accelerating deal velocity. Advanced workflows also integrate co-sell automation, so partner managers and Microsoft field sellers are looped in automatically. Real-time deal visibility As soon as a buyer initiates a transaction or engages through a private offer, the status is instantly logged in your CRM through bi-directional sync. Sellers and RevOps no longer have to check Partner Center manually. This eliminates lag between buyer intent and seller follow-up, often shaving days off deal cycles. Unified forecasting and attribution Marketplace opportunities flow directly into your primary CRM pipeline. GTM and revenue leaders can forecast Marketplace deals alongside direct sales, using the same dashboards and metrics. Marketplace revenue is no longer a black box sitting outside the funnel. Financial reconciliation without chaos Payout reports, tax records, and revenue recognition tie directly to opportunity records. Finance teams don’t need to manually match spreadsheets or chase payouts. Marketplace revenue is reconciled automatically with clean data, reducing delays and errors. Better seller incentives and co-sell alignment When Marketplace deals show up in seller dashboards and reports, they’re treated like legitimate, quota-retiring opportunities. This increases seller participation and encourages field teams to bring software companies into opportunities earlier. Co-sell notifications can be automated, ensuring partner managers, sellers, and Microsoft teams are always aligned. A fully operational CRM-native Marketplace motion typically includes: Automated private offer generation through Marketplace Streamlined co-sell opportunity signals from CRM to align Microsoft sellers and accelerate joint pipeline. Deal stage mapping aligned with GTM and RevOps workflows. Automated approval, legal, and finance processes. Integration with payout and tax reporting for real-time revenue recognition. Alerts and dashboards for sellers, RevOps, and partner managers. Direct linkage with co-sell opportunities and field seller engagement. AI agents & Copilots: Driving faster listing readiness For most software development companies, listing and selling on Microsoft Marketplace is complex because the steps are fragmented. Legal, technical, operational, and GTM readiness often move at different speeds. This is exactly where AI agents and copilots transform the motion from manual and reactive to predictable and orchestrated. AI Agents can act as a purpose-built companion for software companies, like SaaSify AI Companion can generate tailored, prioritized roadmaps based on your GTM maturity, offer type, and launch goals. Here’s how AI agents can accelerate GTM readiness: Personalized Roadmaps: AI generates a launch plan with 50+ tasks, customized to your offer type, stage, and objectives. These aren’t static lists, they adapt dynamically as you progress. Guided Execution: Every task includes step-by-step guidance, deep links to Microsoft resources, contextual recommendations, and real-time AI assistance. Dependency & Risk Management: Visual progress indicators, dependencies, and conditional logic ensure you never miss a critical step. Potential blockers are flagged early with no need for external consultants Flexible Engagement: Software companies can choose between self-service (full control) or assisted onboarding (expert + AI), allowing different team structures to move at the same velocity. AI copilots don’t just accelerate readiness; they reduce errors, compress planning cycles, and create predictability. Listing to first sale on Microsoft Marketplace: An inflection point The first Marketplace sale isn’t just a transaction. It’s the moment your GTM motion proves it can run on Microsoft’s procurement rails. It’s the point where sellers start to pull you into deals, buyers see Marketplace as a trusted procurement path, and your internal teams gain confidence in a repeatable channel. The software companies who reach this point fastest aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or teams. They’re the ones who: Treat listing readiness as a strategic launch, not an operational checkbox. Invest early in transactability to minimize friction for buyers and sellers. Avoid common operational pitfalls that slow most launches down. Use AI copilots to orchestrate readiness instead of relying on manual project management. Implement CRM-native automation so every signal flows seamlessly into their revenue engine. Marketplace is not a “list and wait” channel. It’s a GTM motion that rewards precision, alignment, and speed. That’s where SaaSify plays a catalytic role. SaaSify AI Companion enables self-service readiness with guided, step-by-step launch roadmaps, while the SaaSify GTM Platform automates the operational backbone of transactable offers, from private offer creation to co-sell workflows and payout reconciliation. This combination helps software companies cut time-to-first-sale dramatically, reduce execution overhead, and scale Marketplace revenue motions with confidence. In today’s Marketplace-driven economy, the winners aren’t just those who list fast, they’re the ones who operationalize faster, automate smarter, and sell through Microsoft as a scalable, repeatable growth engine. To learn more and ask questions, attend the AI-powered acceleration: Scale faster in Microsoft Marketplace | Microsoft Community Hub session on December 4 th . If you are unable to attend, the session will be recorded for on demand viewing after. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resources Microsoft Marketplace Trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents Microsoft Marketplace - Marketplace publisher | Microsoft Learn How to guides for working in Microsoft Marketplace ISV Success Discover offers and benefits of ISV Success to help you take your apps and agents to the next level.AI architecture: Powering the next generation of business agents
In this installment of our Partner Spotlight series, we’re continuing to showcase the innovators’ driving app and agent development forward on the Microsoft Marketplace. Each feature highlights the distinct journeys of partners who are pioneering AI-powered solutions, building across the Microsoft ecosystem, and delivering transactable applications that are shaping the future of the marketplace. In this article, I sat down with Imran Mahmood from KAISPE to learn more about their story and partner journey. About Imran: Imran Mahmood is the Chief Executive Officer of KAISPE, leading the company’s vision to deliver AI-powered, secure, and scalable business applications through Microsoft technologies. With over 20 years of experience in enterprise technology and digital transformation, Imran has guided KAISPE’s growth as a global Microsoft Partner with 20+ IPs listed on Microsoft Marketplace. He also oversees KAISPE AI for AI Center of Excellence, driving innovation in AI agents, intelligent automation, and Microsoft ecosystem integration. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [JR]: Tell us about your organization. [IM]: KAISPE is a Microsoft Partner and software development company focused on developing intelligent, secure, and scalable business applications that help organizations accelerate their digital transformation. Our core expertise includes AI and cloud-based business applications built on Microsoft technologies such as Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Azure. With a growing portfolio of over 20+ IPs listed on Microsoft Marketplace, KAISPE’s solutions help businesses automate processes, enhance decision-making, and improve user experience. [JR]: What inspired the founding? [IM]: KAISPE was founded with the vision to bridge the gap between complex enterprise systems and user-centric experiences. We recognized that many organizations were still managing manual, time-consuming processes, and saw an opportunity to build smarter, AI-driven solutions that make technology feel like an extension of the team not a barrier. This commitment to solving real business pain points through innovation and simplicity continues to drive our product strategy. [JR]: What products/services do you offer? [IM]: Our portfolio includes industry-specific and horizontal business applications and offer several SaaS and PaaS based solutions and services including such as AutoRecruit (AI-powered recruitment automation), Supplier Relationship Management, Field Service (intelligent field operations), MyFieldAgent, and Employee Self Service. Beyond apps, we are investing heavily in our AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE), which drives innovation in developing intelligent AI agents for recruitment, field service, procurement, and customer support all powered by Microsoft Azure AI and OpenAI technologies. KAISPE’s journey with AI agents Building autonomous agents that think, act, and deliver across industries [JR]: What does your app or agent do, and who is it designed for? [IM]: KAISPE develops AI-powered business applications and intelligent agents that help organizations automate workflows, enhance productivity, and make smarter decisions. Our solutions serve a wide range of users—from field engineers and recruiters to suppliers and enterprise employees. Examples include: MyFieldAgent: Real-time AI support for field engineers with role-based access ensures focus and data security. AutoRecruit & Recruitment Hub: AI-driven hiring tools for job descriptions, resume parsing, skills matching and candidate assessments. MyJobMate: AI-powered job matching and applicant engagement. MyProcureBot: A conversational and autonomous assistant that helps suppliers easily create quotes, manage contracts, and update vendor information automatically. AutoAPX, Travel & Expense & Sales Field: Automate invoice processing, utilize OCR for receipt scanning and leverage AI to auto-categorize expenses based on recognized text and patterns and capture customer data from business cards. Field Service: Uses AI to detect anomalies or irregularities from site images, identify objects automatically, and with Copilot, quickly check inventory, fulfillment dates, and summarize data. All solutions are built under KAISPE’s AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) and leverage Microsoft Azure AI, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, and Dynamics 365 for secure, scalable, and deeply integrated experiences. [JR]: How has your solution evolved since its initial launch? [IM]: Our journey began with single-use applications tailored to specific customer needs. Over time, we transitioned to standardized, scalable SaaS models with embedded AI features and marketplace deployment. With the launch of our AI CoE, we now build modular agents that personalize and automate workflows at scale—each iteration bringing stronger security, better UX, and deeper integration with Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem. [JR]: What motivated you to start building agents, and what business outcomes have you seen? [IM]: We wanted to make business applications more intelligent and human-like. Users needed faster assistance and guided workflows without relying on back-office teams. That’s why we introduced Agentic AI task-oriented, conversational agents that act and decide autonomously to improve efficiency and create intuitive user experiences. As a result, our customers experience fewer operational delays, faster decision-making, and higher satisfaction. [JR]: How do you prioritize standalone agents versus embedded (in-app) agents in your roadmap? [IM]: We take a strategic approach. Embedded agents enhance existing app experiences—for example, integrating Copilot into Field Service or Travel & Expense Management. Standalone agents like MyProcureBot serve broader use cases across multiple apps. The decision depends on customer needs: if it’s about improving a specific workflow, we embed; if it’s about offering an assistant across systems, we go standalone. [JR]: How have your customers responded to conversational or task-based agents compared to traditional app interfaces? [IM]: Enthusiastically. Solutions like MyFieldAgent, MyJobMate, and MyProcureBot show that users prefer natural interaction over complex menus. Conversational agents simplify tasks and drive higher adoption rates. For many organizations, they’ve transformed routine operations into quick, AI-assisted experiences. [JR]: Which Microsoft tools or frameworks have been most valuable for building agents? [IM]: Microsoft’s stack has been essential: Copilot Studio: For building conversational flows and task logic. Azure AI Studio & Azure OpenAI: For natural language understanding and generative capabilities. Azure Cognitive Services: For speech recognition, translation, and vision features. These tools help us design intelligent, scalable agents that integrate seamlessly with Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform. [JR]: What challenges have you faced in designing context-aware agents, and how have you overcome them? [IM]: Users expect agents to remember intent and switch topics smoothly. To meet this expectation, we built a context management layer that tracks conversation history, remembers user actions, and connects to backend systems like Dynamics 365. This ensures our agents feel natural and aware—not robotic. [JR]: How do you see agents driving differentiation and discoverability on Microsoft Marketplace? [IM]: Our agent-powered solutions showcase practical AI innovation. When customers explore the Marketplace, they see our focus on conversational, intelligent experiences. This builds trust and aligns with Microsoft’s vision for AI-powered workplaces—helping KAISPE stand out as a partner delivering measurable impact. [JR]: What’s next for KAISPE in terms of agent innovation? [IM]: We’re expanding our AI CoE to focus on multi-agent orchestration and industry-specific templates—starting with healthcare. Our new offerings, KAISPECare and TherapyCare, will deliver agentic AI experiences for small and medium-sized healthcare centers. AI Copilot for Doctors: Auto-generate patient visit summaries Risk flagging for chronic diseases Voice-to-EMR note assistant Drug interaction checking AI Copilot for Patients: Smart appointment suggestions Symptom checking (pre-visit triage) Voice-based booking and registration AI Copilot for Admins: Flag inconsistent or duplicate charges Auto-apply billing codes Generate invoice drafts from consultation notes These Autonomous Agents will empower healthcare professionals with intelligent, voice-driven workflows that save time and improve care. [JR]: How are agents impacting business decision-making for customers? [IM]: Built on AI Foundry, these Agentic AI–powered autonomous agents analyze context, history, and trends to deliver real-time insights and take action based on user intent. In areas like procurement or recruitment or during inspection, they recommend next steps, flag risks, and even handle routine tasks helping businesses make faster, smarter decisions with minimal effort. [JR]: How do you ensure agents stay relevant and continuously learn? [IM]: Through our AI CoE, we continuously update agents based on feedback, performance data, and new Microsoft features. Using Copilot Studio and Azure OpenAI, we feed structured and unstructured data to agents and connect to external knowledge sources. We retrain models regularly to refine responses, improve tone, and adapt to evolving business needs. Marketplace journey & transactable offers [JR]: What motivated KAISPE to publish a transactable offer on the Microsoft Marketplace, and what impact has it had on your business? [IM]: KAISPE saw Microsoft Marketplace as a trusted global platform to reach enterprise customers and simplify procurement through Microsoft’s billing ecosystem. Publishing transactable offers boosted our visibility, credibility, and positioned KAISPE as a verified Microsoft Partner with scalable, ready-to-deploy solutions. This move expanded our global customer base, generated new leads, opened co-sell opportunities with Microsoft field sellers, streamlined sales operations, shortened the sales cycle, and enhanced customer confidence. [JR]: What advice would you give to new partners who are just starting to publish? [IM]: Start with a clear value proposition focused on solving customer problems. Use Marketplace Rewards early, engage with co-sell tools, and make your offers transactable! Treat Marketplace as a strategic growth platform—not just a listing. We leveraged App Advisor, Marketplace Rewards, and co-sell resources to optimize listings, improve visibility, and align with Microsoft’s best practices. Navigating compliance requirements and configuring transactable offers was complex, but support from Microsoft’s Marketplace and Partner Success teams helped us overcome these challenges through technical guidance and collaboration. Lessons learned [JR]: What key takeaways would you share with other partners considering a similar path? [IM]: Invest early in building transactable and secure offers. Leverage Microsoft’s ecosystem and maintain strong communication with your Partner Development Manager. If we were to start over, we’d invest in transactable readiness sooner and engage Marketplace Rewards earlier in the journey. [JR]: Any unexpected wins or challenges? [IM]: A major win has been global visibility — customers from regions we hadn’t directly targeted discovered us through Marketplace. The main challenge was keeping pace with Microsoft’s evolving listing requirements, which improved our processes. [JR]: How has your Marketplace experience shaped your future roadmap? [IM]: It has solidified our focus on building scalable, AI-driven products under the AI Center of Excellence (CoE), strengthening our integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and expanding our IP portfolio across industries. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resources Join ISV Success - Build and publish applications and agents faster with powerful AI developer tools, consultations, and technical guidance—then grow your sales through Microsoft Marketplace Join the marketplace community - Access resources for every stage of the journey on the Microsoft Marketplace, provide feedback, and engage with other partners and Microsoft subject-matter experts focused on your success. Microsoft Marketplace - Your trusted source for cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents Paths for partnership - Learn more about the ways you can partner with us—from building and selling solutions to differentiating your business with a Solutions Partner designation.Build smarter, publish faster: Here’s what’s new in App Advisor
App Advisor just got a major upgrade - and it’s changing the game for software development companies building apps and agents for the Microsoft Marketplace. Since its MVP launch in January 2024, App Advisor has helped thousands of partners like you streamline their journey. 💬 What partners are saying App Advisor isn’t just a tool - it’s a game-changer. Here’s what partners have shared about their experience: “I appreciate that App Advisor curates the content for the partner since the amount of data available is just so vast. It does a great job of curating for them based on their goals.” Frank Valdivieso, President & CEO, Gryphon Consulting ⚡What’s new? Smarter focus, faster execution, and scalable growth Now, with six new features launched in the US (and global availability coming soon), App Advisor is making it easier than ever to stay focused, move faster, and scale smarter with apps and agents. Here’s what’s new: 🛠️ In-app marketplace offer creation Start your marketplace journey directly within App Advisor - no context switching required. You can now initiate offer creation for popular offer types without leaving the platform. Not signed up to publish - no problem! App Advisor can get you signed up and on your way to creating your offer. 🚀 Tailored recommendations by marketplace offer type Confidently align your app with the right marketplace offer and pricing model using our interactive wizard. Get personalized recommendations based on your app profile and program membership - and fast-track publishing to launch sooner. 📁 Multi-project save with Partner Center linking Advance multiple apps and agents from a single, centralized experience. Save guidance across projects and link each to its Partner Center offer for seamless continuity. 🎯 Membership-based guidance Receive personalized guidance based on your ISV Success or Marketplace Rewards membership. App Advisor adapts its recommendations to help you make faster, smarter decisions. ✅ ISV Success sign-up integration Sign up for ISV Success and resume your workflow without disruption. Unlock benefits like cloud credits, technical consults, and go-to-market resources - all without breaking your build flow. 🎥 Embedded video playback Explore how to build, publish, and grow your apps and agents with step-by-step video guidance. Watch demos and guidance videos directly within App Advisor. Stay in flow with seamless, distraction-free learning, all while keeping the AI-powered assistant visible and ready to help. Ready to accelerate your marketplace success? Dive into App Advisor today to build, publish, and sell transactable offers with clarity, speed, and confidence. Make sure you check out the new Microsoft Marketplace - the single destination to find, try, and buy AI apps, tools, and agents. Read the blog to learn more. Ready to level up with App Advisor? Watch this quick video and unlock what’s next!Try a Microsoft Build demo search app with LLM functions from Azure Marketplace partner Elastic
In this guest blog post, Jonathan Simon, Sr. Product Marketing Engineer at Elastic, a longtime Microsoft and Azure Marketplace partner, presents a hybrid search solution that addresses unique challenges by using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Maps, and GitHub Codespaces in conjunction with Elasticsearch.
