Activating channel opportunities through the Microsoft commercial marketplace
Microsoft commercial marketplace supports partners in addressing customers’ cloud needs through various deal-making scenarios. In the Ignite session titled “Activating the Channel Opportunity Through the Marketplace,” Alison Buggia, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft; Jason Rook, Senior Director of Product Marketing for the Commercial Marketplace at Microsoft; and Rob Phillips, Senior Director of Microsoft Sales at Presidio, explore how to activate the ecosystem with partner-to-partner selling opportunities. They share valuable insights into leveraging the Microsoft commercial marketplace to drive business growth. Key Points: Microsoft commercial marketplace is experiencing significant growth, with over 100% year-over-year growth in marketplace-billed sales, a 43% growth in the number of ISV solutions that are IP co-sell eligible, and 110% growth in customer cloud commitment spend. This indicates a robust and expanding platform that offers substantial opportunities for partners. There are three primary ways to unlock this growth and sell through private offers: CSP private offers, multiparty private offers, and professional services private offers. Each of these offers unique benefits and can be tailored to different business models and customer needs. Benefits: CSP Private Offers: CSP Private offers allow channel selling at scale. They help partners unlock scale, maintain customer billing relationships, and provide comprehensive solutions. This allows ISVs to work with partners in the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider program and resell their products through them to reach more customers. It also allows Cloud Solution Provider partners to leverage partnerships with ISVs and continue to serve customers through the Microsoft commercial marketplace. This is particularly beneficial for reaching a global customer base and leveraging existing partnerships. Multiparty Private Offers: Available in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, multiparty private offers help partners leverage cloud commitments and maintain customer relationships, leading to larger deals. This is a significant opportunity for partners to access pre-committed cloud budgets and drive substantial sales. Professional Services Private Offers: Available in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, selling professional services through the Microsoft commercial marketplace creates new selling opportunities, simplifies invoicing and payment for customers, and enables partners to offer complete solutions on a single platform. This streamlines the sales process and enhances customer satisfaction by providing a more seamless procurement experience. Marketplace Rewards Program: This program offers benefits like Azure Sponsorship, press release support, and customer case studies to help partners grow their marketplace business. These incentives can significantly boost your marketing efforts and enhance your visibility in the marketplace. Opportunities for Growth: The rapid growth of the marketplace presents a significant opportunity for partners to expand their customer base and increase sales. By leveraging private offers, you can reach more customers and simplify the sales process. Multiparty private offers provide a substantial growth opportunity by allowing partners to harness the entire power of the Microsoft ecosystem and drive larger deals. This can lead to increased revenue and stronger customer relationships. The Marketplace Rewards program provides additional incentives and support to help partners grow their business and achieve success. By participating in this program, you can access valuable resources and support to enhance your marketplace presence and drive sales. Actionable Steps for ISVs: Enroll in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program: This is the first step to becoming eligible for private offers and accessing the benefits of the marketplace. https://aka.ms/MAICPP Get Transactable: Publish an app that is transactable in the marketplace and complete the necessary steps in Partner Center. This will enable you to start selling through the marketplace and leverage the benefits of private offers. https://aka.ms/ISVSuccess Focus on Azure IP Co-Sell Incentivized Status: Achieving this status will unlock co-sell opportunities and allow you to leverage cloud commitments. Co-sell requirements - Partner Center | Microsoft Learn Educate and Equip Your Sales Teams and Your Channel Partners: Ensure your sales teams understand the benefits of the marketplace and how to promote it to customers. This will help drive sales and increase customer engagement. https://aka.ms/PartnerMPOCampaign Leverage Marketplace Rewards: Take advantage of the benefits offered by the Marketplace Rewards program to enhance your marketing efforts and grow your business. Manage marketplace rewards - Partner Center | Microsoft Learn Actionable Steps for Channel Partners: Enroll in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program: This is the first step to becoming eligible for private offers and accessing the benefits of the marketplace. https://aka.ms/MAICPP Enroll in Commercial Marketplace and Multiparty Private Offers: Channel partners must enroll in Microsoft commercial marketplace then complete a tax and payment profile in Microsoft Partner Center. Need help? contact channelready@microsoft.com https://aka.ms/MPO-channel-partner-onboarding Leverage Marketplace Rewards: Take advantage of the benefits offered by the Marketplace Rewards program to enhance your marketing efforts and grow your business. https://aka.ms/MarketplaceRewardsforChannelPartners Leveraging the growth opportunities presented in the Microsoft commercial marketplace, you can accelerate growth for your business and achieve success in the digital marketplace. You can watch the full Ignite session, “Activating the Channel Opportunity Through the Marketplace,” and learn more about driving growth through the marketplace.Comparing the Customer Payment Experience: Microsoft AppSource vs. Azure Marketplace
Microsoft AppSource: Audience: Primarily business users, decision-makers, and managers seeking SaaS solutions for productivity and business operations. Payment Process: Portal: Payments are made directly through the AppSource portal, integrated with the user’s Microsoft 365 or Dynamics 365 account. Payment Plans: Limited to simple monthly or annual subscription plans. Users can easily select a plan, enter billing information, and manage payments through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Billing: Users receive invoices via their Microsoft account, with transparent pricing shown before purchase. The straightforward subscription models make it easy for business users to manage recurring payments. Customization: There’s minimal need for customization, with AppSource focusing on ease and simplicity. Only monthly or annual options are available, and users can manage subscription renewals or cancellations through their Microsoft 365 portal. Azure Marketplace: Audience: IT professionals, developers, and large enterprises looking for technical solutions with greater control over payments and infrastructure. Payment Process: Portal: Payments are made through the Azure Portal, where users manage all subscriptions and billing under the Azure Cost Management + Billing section. Payment Plans: More flexible options, including pay-as-you-go, usage-based, and multi-year contracts (e.g., 2-year, 3-year pricing plans). Azure supports complex billing scenarios for long-term cloud solutions. Billing: Detailed billing and cost tracking through the Azure Portal. Customers can configure and monitor spending, allocate budgets, and review detailed invoices for SaaS, infrastructure, and other services. Customization: Azure Marketplace allows for more tailored payment solutions, enabling customers to mix and match SaaS and other cloud services into their payment plans. Enterprises can set up custom budgets, payment alerts, and detailed cost analysis. This tailored payment system makes AppSource ideal for business users wanting ease of use, while Azure Marketplace is suited for enterprises needing flexible, long-term payment options and detailed cost management.New Mastering the Marketplace webinar: ISV to CSP private offers - experience walkthrough
Join us on January 9th for our first new Mastering the Marketplace webinar offering of 2025: ISV to CSP private offers - experience walkthrough. This session will provide a comprehensive walkthrough of the CSP Marketplace and private offer experience. ISV to CSP private offers empower ISVs and partners in the CSP program to grow their revenue by creating time-bound customized margins that suit each entity's business needs through the Microsoft commercial marketplace. This webinar is ideal for ISVs and CSP partners who are looking to partner with and sell their solutions through the marketplace for small to midsized customers. Attendees will: *Gain a comprehensive understanding of the CSP marketplace and CSP private offers, including how to create, manage and sell. *Learn how to operationalize processes that can help manage CSP private offers and transactions more efficiently. *Learn how to expand market reach and access a global customer base to increase visibility. Register here.
AI's Transformative Impact on ISVs
Discover how AI is revolutionizing the software industry in our latest article,“Unveiling the Future of AI Innovation for ISVs.” Gain insights on how independent software vendors (ISVs) are leveraging AI to drive growth, enhance customer experience, and stay ahead of the competition. Explore product innovations announced at Ignite 2024, new AI offerings, and personalized resources designed to empower software companies. Some of the product announcements unveiled at Ignite were to help you grow in the AI -powered experience are below: Azure Machine Learning Updates: New features and integrations, including Azure’s collaboration with Weights & Biases for enhanced model tracking and optimization. Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service Enhancements: Improved tools for developing and deploying AI models, making it easier for ISVs to leverage generative AI. Microsoft Fabric Innovations: Updates designed to help ISVs stay ahead with advanced AI capabilities. AI Readiness Programs: Introduction of Microsoft ISV AI Envisioning workshops and other resources to help ISVs build AI-powered applications. Azure AI Foundry SDK: A new preview tool chain for building, testing, deploying, and managing AI applications with enterprise-grade control. GitHub Copilot for Azure in VS Code: Simplified cloud development with integrated AI assistance directly in the VS Code editor. Read the full article to unlock the potential of AI for your business and join the next wave of digital transformation Unveilingthe future of AI innovation for ISVs | Microsoft Azure BlogLeveraging Azure Sponsorship to Drive ROI and Customer Value
Azure sponsorship credits are available to ISVs participating in ISV Success and Marketplace Rewards are a powerful way to grow sales on the marketplace, to allow customers to try solutions at no initial expense, and to sweeten deals with customers. Here's a little snippet of how we've used the credits at Wiz. Our team executed a three-month campaign to promote offers through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace and utilized over $350,000 in Azure sponsorship credits to close over a dozen competitive deals, driving an ROI over 1000%. We then used our remaining credits to create an Azure Marketplace pipeline for our customers. This helped us save time and close deals quickly. The Azure sponsorship credits allowed us to showcase to our customers the great partnership we have with Microsoft and provide them with even more value to their cloud and security teams. To learn more about how we are maximizing the value of Marketplace Rewards, read our success story: Wiz case study.A story about our journey on the marketplace. I hope it will inspire and help on your journey
I would like to share my experience with publishing transactable apps on the Microsoft commercial marketplace, the Microsoft 365 App Certification Program, Marketplace Rewards, and certified software designations. Starting with publishing our apps on to the marketplace: We have several apps that operate within the context of Microsoft 365, including apps for Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Copilot Agent, Office, and SharePoint. We have been in AppSource for many years and have customers worldwide. We developed an in-house license application to manage our customers' licenses. Before the commercial marketplace, we managed all invoicing and license management manually. Now, everything has become much easier. We have published monetized SaaS apps connected to the AppSource apps. Using the SaaS Fulfillment API, we integrated the purchasing process with our in-house license application. We have gained numerous benefits, including: Significant time savings in the invoicing and billing process, as purchasing, adding, removing, or cancelling licenses is automated and managed by Microsoft Customers appreciate the ability to manage licenses themselves, finding it easier Improved market awareness due to promotion in the marketplace And new customers are joining regularly. It is also important to mention Marketplace Rewards, which offer various benefits. For example, customer case stories can be published through Marketplace Rewards on Microsoft customer case stories. Here is a link to our latest story: Microsoft Customer Story - Design for Leisure improves efficiency 30% with iGlobe solutions and Microsoft Planner. Additionally, the Transact & Grow Incentive Campaign has provided us with financial incentives through marketplace sales, as well as Azure sponsorship credits to offset deployment costs. Considering these advantages, there is potential to make the apps CSP Ready as well: https://aka.ms/P2PeBook. Equally important is obtaining the Microsoft 365 App Certification. Certification confirms that an app solution is compatible with Microsoft technologies, compliant with cloud app security best practices, and supported by Microsoft. This is significant because: It provides certification from Microsoft, confirming app security and compliance It saves time in the sales process, as security and compliance are already verified It makes the app easier to find on AppSource, the Commercial Marketplace, and in the Teams App admin portal, where it will be listed in a special category Achieving sales in the marketplace, having customer case stories, and obtaining the Microsoft 365 App Certification provides the foundation to obtain Certified Software Designations, which come with additional benefits and opportunities for co-selling with Microsoft. Today two of our apps have achieved the Certified Software Designation for Modern Work. Soon iPlanner Pro for Teams that includes a Copilot Agent will follow as well. I share this story not to boast but to inspire and motivate others. There is nothing exceptional about us or our experience here – it can be completely replicated by leveraging the resources that Microsoft provides.Was it all very easy…. No. Is it doable? Yes!Partner Opportunity to Contribute to the Copilot Roadmap
Microsoft Partners - We're sharing an opportunity with you to contribute to the Copilot roadmap. Voice your company's thoughts on what features and capabilities Microsoft should build to help ISVs build, deploy, and monitor Copilots. Complete this survey (5-10 mins) by EOD 11/22 to influence the Copilot roadmap: https://forms.office.com/r/nv6EPTfYFhFAQs from ISVs – learn how to use the Multiparty Private Offers Campaign in a Box
ISVs – learn how to use the Multiparty Private Offers Campaign in a Box is a webinar offered regularly through theMastering the Marketplace series. In this webinar, Alliances, Marketing, and Sales leaders can learn more about how to use this campaign to: Educate internal sales and channel teams on multiparty private offers Recruit and enable channel partners to sell with multiparty private offers Promote your marketplace capabilities to your Microsoft contacts Market your applications to customers through channel partners Attendees can also participate in a short Q&A following the session. Below is a list of recent and frequently asked questions on this topic. Please add your additional questions related to Campaign in a Box in the comments section! _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q1: is there a difference in the experience for direct or indirect partners? will the offer show up the same way for the direct partners and the indirect partners in PartnerCenter? A1: There is no difference between direct and indirect providers in how the offer shows up in Partner Center. Q2: Where can we learn more? A2:https://aka.ms/PartnerMPOCampaign Q3: How do we know MPO availability by EMEA country? A3: It is currently (as of November 2024) available in the UK, Canada, and USA. EU and Japan are coming next, but there are no specific dates at this time.) Q4: Where can I access the MPO Partner list? A4: You can access it here after signing in to your partner account. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Additional Resources: Multiparty private offers overview - Marketplace publisher | Microsoft Learn Multiparty private offers (for ISVs) - Marketplace publisher | Microsoft Learn Multiparty private offers (for channel partners) - Marketplace publisher | Microsoft Learn5 Key Takeaways from the Marketplace Summit UK: Maximizing Marketplace Success
The Marketplace Summit UK, #MarketplaceSummitUK, brought together over 350+ Microsoft partners, including ISVs, system integrators, and channel partners, to explore and capitalize on the rapidly growing opportunities within the Microsoft commercial marketplace. Here are 5 takeaways from the keynote which shared marketplace opportunities and insights from Jason Rook- Senior Director, lead for channels sales for the marketplace, Andy Whyte- CEO, MEDDIC, Nick Ross- UK&I Channel leader, Wiz, and Amit Sinha- President and Co-Founder, WorkSpan.
