What’s in store for software companies at Microsoft Build 2025
Microsoft Build is just two weeks away, and there are many opportunities for software development companies interested in learning more about Microsoft technology, partnership, and the marketplace! RSVP for the Software Company Happy Hour on May 19 Join the Azure Marketing and Marketplace teams for an evening of networking, entertainment, and celebration! This exclusive partner reception will take place at THE SHOP on May 19 at 7pm, near the heart of downtown Seattle. We’ll have the backdrop of a world-class car collection, food, and drinks, as well as immersive experiences including an adrenaline-pumping race car simulator and interactive tours. You do not need a Microsoft Build pass to attend. However, for those joining from Build, shuttle buses will be provided from the Seattle Convention Center. RSVP today for up to three colleagues. Check out Recommended Sessions for Software Companies If you’re attending Microsoft Build in Seattle, marketplace product experts will host a in-person theater session, “Accelerate AI app delivery from discovery through deployment with marketplace,” on Tuesday, May 20 at 4:40pm PT. This session will be relevant to both marketplace customers and partners. We’ll share how developers are achieving significantly faster time-to-value in developing and deploying AI-powered applications when buying through the marketplace. We’ve also put together a curated list of Build sessions relevant to software companies. Check out the recommendations here. Register for Microsoft Build Today! It’s not too late to attend for Microsoft Build. Whether you’re coming to Seattle or joining online, you can register today.Exciting updates to the ISV Success Visual Studio benefit!
We have some fantastic news to share with you. 🎉 The ISV Success Visual Studio benefit is getting an upgrade! Starting in March, you will still have access to Visual Studio Enterprise and Azure DevOps and we're rolling out a host of new training and community benefits that will supercharge your development experience. These exciting new benefits will be available in Partner Center, making it easier than ever to access everything you need to excel in your development journey. Here's a sneak peek at what's coming your way: New Training Benefits - Sharpen your skills with a variety of training courses tailored to help you stay ahead in the ever-evolving tech landscape with exclusive discounts on DevForge and DomeTrain. DevForge's expert led courses, featuring renowned educator Tim Corey. Unlock a library of developer upskilling resources, from comprehensive master courses to specialized trainings. Explore DevPass Dometrain Pro led by industry veteran Nick Chapsas, Dometrain courses are designed to teach you actionable skills and real-world practices, as if you were paired with a skilled senior engineer in a real modern company. Browse Dometrain courses New Community Benefits - Engage with like-minded professionals and get your technical questions answered in our vibrant community forums. Microsoft Q&A: Have a technical product question? Find it on Microsoft Q&A – the home for technical questions and answers at Microsoft. Microsoft Tech Community: Connect and engage with fellow users and Microsoft technical experts on best practices, design architecture and the latest updates. Developer Community: Post questions, find answers and share your knowledge in the Developer Community forums. Azure Community: Get help directly from the Azure team within these select forums. Concierge Chat: Available 27/7. Chat with us for assistance finding technical documentation product information or using your subscription benefits. Chat assistance is provided in English **Important ** Please be aware that, going forward, these benefits will not be available for previous versions of Visual Studio and Visual Studio for Mac. We're thrilled to bring you these enhancements and can't wait to see the amazing things you'll achieve with them. Stay tuned for more updates and happy coding!Exciting update: New Advanced Package benefit for ISV Success participants!
We are delighted to share yet another exciting benefit for our ISV Success program participants. In our ongoing commitment to support ISVs, we are introducing a new Advanced Package Benefit that could significantly enhance your development projects. NEW – Advanced Package Benefit - $25,000 USD ISV Success participants with an Azure, Security, or Industry AI certified software designation may now be eligible for additional Azure Sponsorship, providing another $25,000 USD, totaling an impressive $50,000 USD when combined with the Expanded and Core benefits packages. This substantial sponsorship aims to help you maximize the potential of Azure and drive innovation in your projects. Determine your eligibility To find out if you qualify for this advanced benefit, please reach out to your Build and Publish Engagement Manager. They will assist you in understanding the eligibility criteria and guide you through the process of applying for this additional Azure Sponsorship. At ISV Success, we are dedicated to offering valuable resources and support to help you achieve your development goals. Don't miss out on this exceptional opportunity to enhance your productivity and bring your projects to life with the power of Azure. To learn more about the ISV Success offering, go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/isv/isv-successStart coding in minutes with the Quick-start Development Toolkit
The timeline from an idea for an app to coding is longer than most software development companies would like. Understanding the problem is only the first step in deciding what tools can be used to develop and how to code. And, with a dizzying array of development tools and approaches, time can be lost in consideration before anything is ever built. To help solve this problem, use the Quick-start Development Toolkit — collected actionable resources centered around best practice development patterns — that help software companies get targeted code packages to streamline their app development for AI, Copilot, and agents, AWS to Azure multi-cloud replication, or apps integrating Security. How does it work? As companies brainstorm apps to develop, they often know about the business benefits and purpose, the scenarios where the app would be valuable. What they might not have (without several dev cycles) is the general architecture of that app design and a quick way for their developers to iterate with code, seeing if it’s the right approach. As a result, their time to market may be slower and — when developing apps — this can be costly. With the Quick-start Development Toolkit, we’ve brought together the combined knowledge of experts at Microsoft to provide the foundations of getting developers working with applicable code within minutes: Reference solution architecture: to show how components are used and interact, Click-to-deploy reference code: cloud-ready templates get you coding in minutes, How-to articles: for context to help understand products, patterns, and tips to deploy. These streamlined resources help you and your team get ideas off the drawing board and into a tangible prototype within minutes, saving your team valuable dev cycles. Having access to these should cut time and effort from your dev cycles, helping you stay at the forefront of app development. We look forward to seeing your apps in market! Visit the Quick-start Development Toolkit to boost your code cadence today.Strengthening the software development company supply chain with DevSecOps practices
As cyber threats grow in complexity and frequency, embedding security into the product design lifecycle is no longer optional—it’s essential. In the Microsoft Security for ISV series, our fourth session, “Strengthen the software development company supply chain with DevSecOps practices,” provides in‐depth insights into how software development companies can build robust, secure, and resilient applications while accelerating development processes. By integrating security into every phase—from design to production—software development companies can protect customer data, ensure compliance, and build lasting trust. Understanding the Evolving Threat Landscape According to GitGuardian’s 2024 report, public GitHub repositories saw an alarming surge in hardcoded secrets — with nearly 24 million new secrets (23,770,171) added last year. This represents a 25% increase compared to the previous year and highlights a troubling trend: long-lived plaintext credentials such as API keys, passwords, and authentication tokens continue to proliferate in open-source projects. Despite GitHub’s efforts to filter out known credential patterns during the push process, the rise in generic secrets—which can include common usernames, unstructured passwords, or basic auth strings—remains largely unmitigated, providing attackers of any skill level with an easy entry point and the ability to move laterally within systems. Key Security Strategies for Software Development Companies Embedding Security Throughout the Software Development Lifecycle The evolution of DevSecOps is transforming how organizations approach application security. Michael Friedrich, Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, underscored two primary challenges: Growing code bases often come with increased vulnerabilities Developers need intuitive security tooling that doesn’t disrupt productivity DevSecOps is all about “shifting security left” by integrating security practices throughout development—as code is written, built, and deployed—instead of addressing vulnerabilities only after production. This approach not only saves time and resources but also reduces the likelihood of exploiting application-level vulnerabilities. Key strategies include: Early threat modelling to identify and mitigate risks before deployment Collaborative workflows that bring together developers and security teams Continuous scanning methods (static analysis, secret scanning, dependency review) to catch issues early For a deeper dive, explore Microsoft’s Secure Development Lifecycle guide (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/securityengineering/sdl). Integrating GitHub Advanced Security and Microsoft Defender for Cloud GitHub and Microsoft work in unison for a unified secure development experience. GitHub Advanced Security is embedded directly into the developer workflow to detect vulnerabilities through advanced code scanning (powered by CodeQL), secret scanning, and dependency checks. The integration means that security alerts are provided as developers code—not as an afterthought—which speeds up remediation and reduces production issues. In parallel, Microsoft Defender for Cloud (formerly Defender CSPM) offers a cloud security posture management solution that: Pinpoints and prioritizes risks with a context-aware engine Provides actionable, recommendation-driven insights for DevOps environments Delivers continuous scanning across multi-cloud environments and CI/CD pipelines Learn more about Microsoft Defender for Cloud at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud and enhance your cloud security posture. The Secure Future Initiative: Secure by Design, Default, and Operations Microsoft’s “Secure Future Initiative” (SFI) is comprehensive framework ensures that security is embedded into every stage of product development and operations through three core principles: Secure by Design Incorporate security during the planning and architecture phases Protect identities and secrets from the start with strong key rotation, hardware security modules, and no hard-coded secrets Secure by Default Enforce robust security configurations so that protection is on by default (for example, MFA enforcement and least privilege access) Secure Operations Establish continuous monitoring protocols, rapid incident response, and centralized security logs Use tools like Microsoft Sentinel for real-time threat analytics These foundational elements ensure that as software development companies develop and scale innovative solutions—including those leveraging artificial intelligence—security remains a steadfast pillar. For additional guidance on Secure Future Initiative, visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/trust-center/security/secure-future-initiative Strengthening the Software Development Company Supply Chain with Modern DevSecOps Practices Modern software supply chains often include third-party dependencies, open-source libraries, and automated pipelines. Traditional security measures can’t keep pace with today’s integrated development models. Therefore, it’s critical to: Employ code signing and package verification for third-party components Adopt continuous security scanning using solutions like GitHub’s secret scanning with push protection Integrate Microsoft Defender for DevOps for comprehensive visibility from code to cloud For more on secure supply chain strategies, check out the Secure Supply Chain Consumption Framework (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/securityengineering/opensource) Real-World Insights from BuildKite and the Role of DevSecOps Guest speaker Ken Thompson, VP of Product at BuildKite, shared practical examples from the front lines of secure continuous integration and delivery. BuildKite’s hybrid model, combining a software-as-a-service control plane with open-source on-premises agents, ensures that sensitive code and secrets never leave a customer’s infrastructure. This design enhances security while enabling: Rapid build times with hyper-parallelized pipelines Integrated security scanning within every build, thereby “shifting left” security Proven practices like the SLSA framework for artifact provenance, which verifies that code and pipelines are built in a trusted manner Ken highlighted examples where Uber have reduced build times from an hour to mere minutes while ensuring every pipeline pass incorporates critical vulnerability scanning. This demonstrates that robust security practices and efficiency can go hand in hand. Taking Action: Strengthening Your Security Posture Today Security is an ongoing journey. By adopting proactive security strategies, embracing DevSecOps practices, and integrating industry-leading tools, software development companies can build resilient, trusted applications that stand up to today’s cyber threats. Action Steps for Software Development Companies: Embed security into every phase of your SDLC Strengthen identity and access with strong MFA, conditional access, and the Zero Trust model Secure secrets using Azure Key Vault and GitHub Advanced Security for automated secret scanning Enhance supply chain security through continuous scanning and vulnerability remediation Monitor your cloud environments with Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Sentinel for real-time insights Additional Resources: Microsoft Secure Development Lifecycle – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/securityengineering/sdl Secure Supply Chain Consumption Framework – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/securityengineering/opensource Cloud Adoption Framework – https://aka.ms/caf Zero Trust Guidance Center – https://aka.ms/Zero-Trust Start with Security – https://aka.ms/trysecurity SaaS Workload Guidance – https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/well-architected/saas/ Join ISV Success – https://www.microsoft.com/isv
Exploring Azure AI Agent Service: A developer's guide
The world of AI is evolving rapidly, and at a recent TechConnect at the Azure AI Foundry Partner Council, we explored the game-changing potential of Azure AI Agent Service. This session was packed with insights for AI developers, cloud solution architects, and technical decision-makers eager to push the boundaries of agentic AI. If you're looking to simplify development, deployment, and scaling of enterprise-grade AI agents, this service is a must-know. In this blog post, we’ll summarize key topics covered during the session and provide insights into how Azure AI Agent Service can streamline your AI development process. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting, this is an exciting opportunity to learn how AI agents can autonomously execute business processes with minimal human intervention. Introduction to AI Agents The session kicked off by defining AI agents and their capabilities. Unlike traditional chatbots, AI agents are goal-driven and can autonomously execute business processes. They can reason over provided business logic, integrate with external data sources, and orchestrate actions to achieve specific goals. This marks a significant shift from simple conversational AI to intelligent, task-driven agents capable of decision-making and execution. Simplifying Development with Azure AI Agent Service Building AI agents traditionally involve working with frameworks like LangChain and Semantic Kernel and AutoGen which require developers to manage state, context, orchestration, and scaling. Azure AI Agent Service eliminates these complexities by offering a fully managed service with: Out-of-the-box tools for faster development Flexible model selection to fit diverse use cases Enterprise readiness with built-in security and scalability This means developers can focus on business logic rather than infrastructure concerns, accelerating the development cycle significantly. Function Calling and Code Interpreter Tools One of the standouts features of Azure AI Agent Service is function calling, which allows agents to interact with external systems by executing predefined functions. The session showcased how developers can: Define and use function calling to connect AI agents to other systems Utilize the code interpreter tool to enable AI agents to generate data visualizations and perform analysis These tools empower developers to create more dynamic and responsive AI agents that can process and present insights effectively. Extending Agent Knowledge with File Search AI agents are only as good as the information they can access. Azure AI Agent Service includes a file search tool that allows agents to tap into external data sources such as product catalogs, knowledge bases, or proprietary documents. This significantly enhances an agent’s ability to answer complex queries and perform in-depth analysis. Real-Time Information with Bing Search For scenarios that require real-time, up-to-date data, the Bing Search tool is a game-changer. The session demonstrated how this tool enables agents to fetch and analyze current web data for use cases like competitive analysis, market research, and trend monitoring. With seamless Bing Search integration, AI agents can stay relevant and informed in an ever-changing world. The training session wasn’t just about concepts, it was packed with practical demonstrations, live coding examples, and troubleshooting tips. You can watch the full session to help you: Understand the core capabilities of Azure AI Agent Service See live implementation of function calling, file search, and Bing Search tools Learn best practices for deploying scalable and secure AI agents Ready to Explore Further? Don’t miss out on the chance to deep-dive into agentic AI to enhance your AI development skills and streamline agent deployment. Check out the recording of the session to take your AI projects to the next level and unlock the full potential of Azure AI Agent Service! About the Azure AI Foundry Partner Council: The Azure AI Foundry Partner Council is a dynamic and collaborative initiative designed to foster innovation and drive advancements in artificial intelligence. This council brings together a diverse group of industry leaders, technology experts, and strategic partners who are committed to leveraging the power of Azure AI to solve complex business challenges. Through the Azure AI Foundry Partner Council, members are empowered to push the boundaries of what is possible with AI, ultimately driving progress and delivering value to their organizations and customers. Call to Action Learn more about how Azure AI Agent Service: Revolutionizing AI Agent Development and Deployment Start trying Azure AI Agent services in Azure AI Foundry or Start building with the SDK documentation Dive deep into enterprise knowledge extensibility in Azure AI Agent Service Learn how to design, customize and manage AI applications with Azure AI Foundry Learn how to empower data-driven decision making with Microsoft Fabric Watch this recorded breakout session from Ignite 2024 to learn more about how companies are automating key business processes with Azure AI Agent Service Watch this live demo at Ignite 2024 to learn how customers are going beyond chat-based interactions Nominate to join the Azure AI Foundry Council via aipartnerteam@microsoft.comThe Marketplace Partner Digest | March 2025
Welcome to the monthly partner release notes for the Microsoft commercial marketplace! The marketplace is central to how we help you reach more customers, simplify sales, and unlock growth. Dive into this month’s roundup of announcements and updates to stay informed about the latest marketplace developments. Don’t miss an update! Subscribe to the “Partner Digest” label to get notified whenever a new Marketplace Partner Digest hits the community blog. Check out this community post for how-to guidance on configuring your settings. 🚀 Noteworthy Highlights ICYMI: Marketplace fiscal year closes May 31, 2025! Reminder that Microsoft offers a 50% reduced agency fee for all renewals done through private offers. This fee reduction automatically applies when you claim either an existing marketplace agreement or an off-marketplace sale as a renewal in Partner Center. This helps you maximize your margins—no extra steps required—while maintaining strong customer relationships. Resources: For steps on how to receive the discount, check out the documentation. Improvements to App Advisor App advisor is a self-serve, always-on tool that provides curated guidance, resources, and benefit information right when you need it, after answering a few questions. We’ve launched an improved version of App advisor—now available in the US, with a global rollout coming soon. This update provides a more intuitive and streamlined experience, ensuring you can easily get guidance within a user-friendly interface. Explore the updated App Advisor tool and take the guesswork out of getting your app to market. 🌟 ️Partner Resources Discover exclusive resources aimed at helping you get the most out of the marketplace! Explore these helpful resources, blogs, and much more below: Partner blog series: Capturing the marketplace opportunity by selling path Check out the first two blogs of a four-part series, where we break down how to maximize your marketplace opportunity across different selling paths: Part one: Discover how making the marketplace a core part of your go-to-market strategy can help you close deals faster and increase deal sizes. Read it now Part two: Learn how always-on selling with the digital self-serve motion can help you grow your sales pipeline. Read the blog. There’s still more to come! Stay tuned for the final two blogs coming in April and May, in which we’ll share tips and strategies to maximize success when selling with partners (through multiparty private offers and CSP private offers) and with Microsoft field sellers. New Co-sell Coaching series launching on April 2 Join us for the new marketplace Co-sell Coaching, where Microsoft partners will walk you through their best practices on how to co-sell effectively through the marketplace, and host a live Q&A along with Microsoft co-sell subject-matter experts. In the first event in this series featuring Carve Partners, you will learn how to get started the right way, unlock faster growth, maximize your impact, engage Microsoft sellers, and more. Register here. Mastering the Marketplace webinars Whether you’re new to the marketplace or focused on growing sales, our Mastering the Marketplace webinars cover a broad range of business and technical session topics to help accelerate your marketplace success. Check out these upcoming webinars, register, and mark your calendars. All times are listed in Pacific Time. March 25, 9:00 am: Developing your virtual machine offer March 26, 9:00 am: Developing your container offer March 27, 9:30 am: Get your SaaS transactable offer on Azure Marketplace in two weeks April 1, 9:00 am: ISVs - Learn how to use the multiparty private offers campaign in a box April 2, 9:00 am: Creating your first offer in Partner Center April 7, 9:00 am: ISV to CSP private offers - experience walkthrough For the complete MTM schedule, visit aka.ms/MTMwebinars. April customer office hours Invite your customer to our next office hours on April 30 at 8:30 am PT, the marketplace team will walk through new marketplace functionality that helps further streamline financial operations to help organizations be more efficient. We’ll also dive into new private offer enhancements in flexible billing and more that help safeguard organizations from shadow IT while fueling innovation. Register here. Channel partner office hours: New marketplace assets and ask the experts Q&A Join us on March 27 at 8:30 am PT to explore new marketing and product assets designed to help influencers and decision-makers better understand the Microsoft commercial marketplace. We’ll also discuss how to use the Modern Procurement Playbook to navigate the procurement process when closing your marketplace deals. Register here, and submit your questions in advance when registering. Pre-submitted questions will be addressed in the Q&A portion at the end of the event. ⏰ Recent & Upcoming Events Catalyst 2025 The Microsoft commercial marketplace team will be at the Catalyst conference, hosted by Partnership Leaders in Seattle on May 13 – 15, 2025. Join Jason Rook, Sr. Director of Product Marketing, for a conversation about the value of the marketplace and learn how to activate the channel opportunity. Register here. Microsoft Build 2025 Mark your calendars! Microsoft Build returns to Seattle on May 19 – 22, 2025. Visit the event page to sign up for registration notifications and to receive the most up-to-date information about the event. 💬 Share Your Feedback! We truly appreciate your feedback and want to ensure these Partner Release Notes 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! Thank you!
