Leveraging 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: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/case-studies/wiz-rewardsA 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:https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/1820562770190814501-designforleisure-excel-retailers-en-germany. 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 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-app-certification/docs/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 https://aka.ms/CertifiedsoftwarepartnerFAQ, 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!How we increased trials 200% with Marketplace Rewards
Hi All, Kitameraki Limited's TeamsWork brand provides intuitive and collaborative apps for Microsoft Teams that cater to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses and has successfully launched https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/product/office/WA200003945?tab=Overview and https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/product/office/WA200004511?tab=Overview apps, and just recently https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/product/office/WA200007702?tab=OverviewApp on the Microsoft Marketplaces. As a Microsoft partner for nearly four years, TeamsWork recognized the importance of maximizing visibility and reach within the Microsoft ecosystem. Our team has been able to leverage many of the benefits available through Marketplace Rewards to help drive significant growth and quantifiable results, thanks to expert guidance and the broad range of resources available to better market apps on Microsoft marketplaces. Just a few of these benefits included: The listing optimization allowed us to receive expert recommendations from Microsoft about how to optimize our marketplace offer pages. Azure sponsorship credits cut down on our costs of marketplace solutions. Press release support featuring a quote from a Microsoft executive helped amplify the announcement of our marketplace availability Our customer success story demonstrated how one of our customers increased administrative efficiency by 20 percent using our marketplace solution. featured category placement on the Azure Marketplace, which spotlighted TeamsWork and drove more users to view offer pages. Marketplace Rewards has helped drive a 200% increase in new trials for our marketplace offerings! Read the full story here: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/case-studies/kitameraki-rewards What success has your organization seen with Marketplace Rewards?Partner Alert: FY25 Partner Activities Update
Summary Partner engagement with Business Applications Partner Activities was at an all-time high in FY24, with a record number of workshops delivered to customers to ensure successful partner-led implementation and adoption of Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. Looking ahead to FY25, we’ll be building on this momentum with improvements to the partner and customer experience. Based on partner feedback, we are making the following changes: Extending access to partner engagements to the full fiscal year Aligning the engagement portfolio with solution plays Providing more consistent access to activities across markets FY25 updates Extension of partner engagements to full fiscal year FY24 engagements will close on June 30, and FY25 engagement nominations will open on July 1. This change eliminates any pre-commit period, providing uninterrupted access to claiming and executing workshops from the first day of the fiscal year to the last day of the fiscal year. Solution play-aligned engagements Starting July 1st, we will be transitioning our portfolio of funded engagements to align to our solution plays. New engagements to watch for July 1, include: Low Code Vision & Value: Build customer intent to innovate with AI in low-code environments. Provide guidance on how to develop a transformation vision, prioritize scenarios, define value, and accelerate adoption. ERP Vision & Value: Drive customer intent to modernize their on-premises ERP systems with Dynamics 365. Develop a well-crafted vision of the customer’s future state with clear business outcomes and success metrics. Customer Engagement Vision & Value: Build customer confidence by showcasing the vision and strategy for an AI-powered transformation through CRM migration to Dynamics 365. Low Code Solution Accelerator: Accelerate post-sales adoption of low-code solutions and ensure customer value realization. Develop stakeholder buy-in through prioritized scenarios and demonstrated solution value. *To view all available engagements in FY25, refer to the updated MCI Program Guide launching July 1. More consistent access across markets In FY25 we want to ensure customers in all geographies have access to the benefits offered by partner-led workshops. To achieve this, we’ll be implementing caps on the number of workshops eligible for credit per partner in any single country. These caps will be announced on July 1. Immediate FY24 updates To help facilitate the transition to the new FY25 activity portfolio, we are making some changes to FY24 engagements. Effective immediately, the following engagements are being retired: Solution Assessment Dynamics 365 Sales – Needs Assessment Dynamics 365 Success Planning Dynamics 365 Success by Design Performance Check Dynamics 365 Value Realization Power Platform Center of Excellence Power Platform Pro Dev Success Enablement Partners will no longer be able to submit new claims for the above workshops. However, these changes do not impact active claims. Partners can complete delivery of any workshops that have already been approved in accordance with the program rules. The Dynamics 365 Solution Optimization engagement has reached its budget limit for FY24 and is closed immediately for new claims until July 1. We have capped the number of Envisioning and Business Value Assessment workshops that a partner is allowed to complete in any single country. These caps, outlined below, are effective immediately. Workshop Name Cap for Market A Countries Cap for Market B Countries Cap for Market C Countries Business Value Assessment – Variable Payout 20 15 10 Envisioning – Variable – Variable Payout 30 15 10 Please review the MCI Incentives Guide for a list of Market Area Countries (page 149) Next Steps Thank you for your continued engagement with Business Applications Partner Activities. We’re excited about all the improvements coming in FY25 and look forward to sharing more information in the coming weeks. Please attend the June 14 Partner Office Hours and Partner Activities webinar series happening at the end of June to learn more about the upcoming changes. In the meantime, you can keep claiming and executing FY24 engagements for the remainder of June. You’ll be able to submit nominations for FY25 engagements starting July 1! Call to Action Register for the June office hours and deep-dive webinar series to learn about FY25 updates: June 14 (8am PST): Partner Activities Office Hours June 24 (8am PST): Low Code Vision & Value Deep Dive June 25 (8am PST): Customer Engagement Vision & Value Deep Dive June 26 (8am PST): ERP Vision & Value Deep Dive June 27 (8am PST): Low Code Solution Accelerator Deep Dive Bookmark the Business Applications Partner Activities page to stay updated with the latest resources and program announcements for FY25 Submit a query for Partner Activities Tier 1 support and any other feedback or questions Bookmark the Partner Center – Microsoft Commerce Incentives (MCI) Engagements Workspace Review the MCI Program Guide and Resources Stay Connected with Business Applications Partner Resources NEW! Sign up for the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Partner Newsletters Follow the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform partner LinkedIn channels Bookmark the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Partner Hub pages Join and engage in the Business Applications Microsoft Partner Community$10K+ FY24 offer for Teams publishers
Does anyone here have a Teams transactable offer in the Marketplace? If you do, you could be eligible for $10K+ incentives. Great video and insights from Elena Kennedy (Microsoft partner leader) on how Teams solutions developers to take advantage of FY24 incentives https://lnkd.in/gUczm_FZ Get your step-by-step guide hereBusiness Applications Partner News: Week of January 29
What to register for: THIS WEEK! https://aka.ms/SalesEnablementHub: Jan. 30-Feb. 1 (PST) https://aka.ms/AIMwebinarSMB https://vshow.on24.com/vshow/FY24_BADepth/registration/23174?partnerref=DP_BA_ORG_NL_MINDG Jan. 30-Feb. 1 https://aka.ms/CopilotStudioPartnerTraining (PST) https://aka.ms/FY24TechSummit: Feb. 27-28 What to download: Partner Alert: https://dynamicspartners.transform.microsoft.com/download/protected?assetname=protectedassets/Business%20Applications%20Partner%20Alert%20-%202024%20Release%20Wave%201%20plans%20now%20available.pdf&download=1&protected=1 Updates to https://aka.ms/PartnerActivitiesOverview What to review/like/share: https://aka.ms/D365PartnerHub/https://aka.ms/PPPartnerHub Partner Hub Relaunch City of Kelowna Partner Blog: https://lnkd.in/etwhRDAQ | https://powerplatformpartners.transform.microsoft.com/resources/partner-blog/powerplatform/rsmcityofkelowna Reminders: Register for the upcoming events! Webinars: https://globalpbocomm.eventbuilder.com/event/80198?source=SP: Feb. 14 https://aka.ms/AIMMCwebinar: Feb. 20 Trainings: https://forms.office.com/r/YxVtZDpCQ6 (in-person event): Feb. 12-13, Redmond, WA https://aka.ms/AAlquzi Mar. 21New FY24 Incentives for ISVs including richer earning opportunities
Our FY24 ISV incentives feature richer earning opportunities for driving billed sales of transactable offers on Marketplace and driving Azure consumption growth through core and strategic workloads. Please read this message carefully, review relevant links, and sign up for one of the upcoming ISV partner incentives webinars.
Can Marketplace Become the Trusted Delivery Ecosystem for Specialized Microsoft Services?
Over the past several years, Azure Marketplace has become an increasingly important mechanism for connecting customers, partners, publishers, and Microsoft. As Marketplace adoption grows, I have been reflecting on one aspect of ecosystem collaboration. Many customer initiatives involve multiple organizations, each with different responsibilities, commercial models, onboarding requirements, and procurement processes. This raises an interesting question for the community: Can Azure Marketplace play a larger role in reducing operational friction between Marketplace participants who are already transacting through the platform? Potential outcomes could include: Faster customer project execution. Simpler cross-organizational collaboration. Greater adoption of Marketplace-transactable solutions. Reduced administrative overhead. Increased Marketplace transaction activity. From a Marketplace ecosystem perspective, reducing friction between participants may create value for customers, partners, publishers, and Microsoft alike. I would be interested in learning: Whether others have encountered similar challenges. Whether existing Marketplace capabilities already address this area. Which future improvements would have the greatest impact. Looking forward to hearing the community's perspective.Claiming EA customers -> always claim TWICE!!
In the last couple of weeks, we have been struggling with the number of Deployments in the Business Applications designation (section Customer Success). Customer adds are present, but no flow towards Deployments. It appears that since the moment that Incentives on Usages of licenses (OSU) have been deprecated (about two years ago?), you have to claim the EA customer TWICE!! Not only should you claim a customer as CPOR for Build Intent – Advisor to get the former OSA incentives on bought licenses, but you also have to claim the Usage Recognition – Non Incentivized (Microsoft calls it CPOR OSU) as shown below: We think it is strange that you have to claim a customer twice! It is what it is, we have no choice until Microsoft realizes that this is a mistake on their part and changes the claim system....we from our part are pushing on that!There are no benefits to being a MS Partner
The absolute absurdity of being a Microsoft Partner is beyond insanity. Some of us have built businesses around the Microsoft Ecosystem (STUPIDLY I MUST ADD). And for what? For Microsoft to block us from our accounts and give zero explanation of the issue? As I am sure others have seen since there are posts everywhere of other people having the same issues, its mind blowing that Microsoft does nothing to assist its partners who are the ones generating them the revenue. Supporting their crappy products over and over and over again being the ones on the front lines getting beat up by their customers because of constant outages, constant issues. Back in September my account was blocked. Not one bit of an explanation. Not one email telling me why. The only thing I got was a notice saying my visual studio enterprise license was removed. Upon checking I couldn't find anything. I open a support ticket. And so far, the only thing I have been told is my account has been blocked. Yet not one person can apparently tell me why? Not one person can tell me what I need to do to fix it? Not one person can even get on the phone to assist on this. Before I lost numerous customers because of this. I was selling 30k a month in licenses. And now because my account was blocked, I have lost access to a crap ton of my development, I have lost access to any and all of the benefits. I have lost access to basically everything even though when you look at my partner center account. Every single thing still shows active / approved. Etc. My suggestion, if you are considering becoming a Microsoft Partner. DONT. SIMPLE AS THAT. The fact they can block you from doing business, block access to products and services you have paid for. And give you zero ability to fix it so you lose numerous customers and don't even tell you what happened or what needs to be done to rectify the issue. Partnering with Microsoft is the single biggest mistake I have made as a business owner. The second biggest would be that I built my development side of the business fully integrated into the MS ecosystem. Which made it so they cost me countless amounts of money and ability to even do business with my customers.
