Auto Activation for SaaS Private Offers is a Game Changer!
Shout out to Microsoft Marketplace for launching AUTO ACTIVATION for SaaS private offers. This has simplified our sales operations for Microsoft Marketplace private offers, as well as dramatically improved our seller and customer experience with by eliminating the #1 reason we've historically seen block customers from completing Marketplace SaaS private offer procurement. Auto activation for private offers allows customers to skip the step of going to our SaaS landing page and activate Marketplace SaaS billing by having to SSO with their AAD. The problem with this step is that most of our customers are in regulated industries, and their AAD admins do not allow SSO on SaaS landing pages without enabling profile sharing, which requires a Global Admin to enable. We've encountered far too many times where our customer is scrambling to find their Global Admin so that they can complete the final steps to finish the steps to activate Marketplace SaaS billing. This also puts our sellers in the awkward position of having to help customers diagnose and troubleshoot the situation, which as a rule they are not equipped to, or find a Microsoft resource to help. Now, with this new feature the whole SSO to our SaaS landing page and associated problems are eliminated. Ever since we started using it our customers' procurement experience has been faster and smoother. I'm looking forward to more improvements to the Marketplace experience! Here is the feature: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/marketplace-offers/create-new-saas-offer-plans#configure-auto-activationA cautionary tale if you have customers who use Coupa
We learned the very very very hard way that next-day Marketplace invoicing does NOT play nicely with Coupa. Here's what happened: Back in April, we closed a Marketplace transaction via private offer with one of our enterprise customers. Not a new customer, either - this was for a license extension with a current customer with which we'd transacted through Marketplace twice before. 30 days go by, and Partner Center still shows the invoice as 'uncollected.' 60 days go by, and Partner Center still shows the invoice as 'uncollected.' I open a ticket with Marketplace support. And kudos to them, they pick up my ticket within an hour. "Customer hasn't paid the invoice," they tell us. So now we are forced to take on the role of collections agency for a Microsoft invoice our customer hasn't paid and for which we don't know why they haven't paid. (Partner Center's Revenue reports are rather light on useful details.) Our buyer inside the customer also has no idea why the invoice wasn't paid: She sits far away from the folks who pay the Microsoft bills. Her colleague in IT who pushed the buttons to purchase the private offer likewise has no idea why the invoice wasn't paid: He too sits far away from accounts payable. We're baffled because never before have we had any delay in getting our payouts for this customer's Marketplace purchases. Our first thought is okay, maybe they now have custom net 60 payment terms with Microsoft. (A different issue we experienced on a different delayed payout back in January!) After ten days of intensive investigations involving nearly a dozen different people, we finally discover the source of the issue: The customer pays its Microsoft bills through Coupa, BUT: they did NOT know about nor integrate into Coupa workflow the (relatively new) next-day invoicing mechanism for Marketplace transactions. For their accounts payable team, if an invoice doesn't land in Coupa, it doesn't exist. The invoice for this Marketplace purchase was generated, but it got sent . . . nowhere, I guess? So in picking up my support ticket, Marketplace Support could only say "Customer hasn't paid the invoice." They probably had no way to know the correct response was "Customer hasn't received the invoice." Moral of the story: Ask your customers if they use Coupa. And if yes, prepare them for the possibility they might not receive the invoice for your software.Unlock Channel Growth in Australia with Multiparty Private Offers through Marketplace
Multiparty private offers are coming to Australia, creating new opportunities for software companies and channel partners to accelerate growth through Microsoft Marketplace. Join this Partner Office Hours session to learn how multiparty private offers and resale-enabled offers work together, strengthen partner collaboration, and drive channel-led sales. Gain practical guidance, localized insights, and actionable next steps to help you activate your Marketplace strategy. 👉 Register now: Multiparty private offers through Marketplace: channel growth in AustraliaAccelerate channel-led growth by activating partners through Microsoft Marketplace
Unlock new revenue opportunities and scale your go-to-market strategy by activating your channel ecosystem through Microsoft Marketplace. This comprehensive sales and marketing playbook provides software companies with practical guidance, proven frameworks, and ready-to-use assets to recruit, enable, and grow channel partnerships in a modern, cloud-first marketplace. Learn how to streamline transactions, simplify procurement, and expand into new markets using Marketplace capabilities such as resale-enabled offers and multiparty private offers empowering partners to co-sell more effectively and reach customers who are actively investing in cloud and AI solutions. Whether you’re looking to build a repeatable channel-led sales motion, increase deal velocity, or strengthen partner engagement, this playbook delivers actionable insights to help you drive scalable growth through Microsoft Marketplace. Read the full article: Activating channel partners on Microsoft Marketplace: A sales and marketing playbookMultiparty private offers in Microsoft Marketplace are expanding to 30 countries across Europe
We're excited to share that beginning on May 27, multiparty private offers through Microsoft Marketplace will expand to 30 countries in Europe. Further expansion to Australia, Japan, and South Africa will be available July 15—with more markets to follow. Multiparty private offers empower channel partners to bring vetted solutions to their customers to differentiate while companies developing software can lean on the partners’ local expertise to scale to new markets. Learn more: aka.ms/MPOEEAblog Additional resource: we recently hosted a Marketplace community event on Multi‑currency private offers in Microsoft Marketplace. Given this recent announcement about multiparty private offer expansion, I encourage you to access the recording. You will learn how to confidently navigate local currency transactions, understand how timing impacts payments, and apply best practices when executing deals across geographies.Customer office hour: Dragon Copilot AI apps and agents in Microsoft Marketplace
May 28 | 8:30 AM PT Join the next Microsoft Marketplace customer office hours session to explore how AI apps and agents and Dragon Copilot can help healthcare organizations reduce administrative burden and streamline clinical workflows. In this session, you’ll learn how to move from AI exploration to real world deployment. Discover how Dragon Copilot can help accelerate time to value by connecting with trusted partner solutions that streamline workflows and embed AI directly into daily operations. Learn more and attend Dragon Copilot AI apps and agents in Microsoft Marketplace - Microsoft Marketplace CommunityKey Microsoft Marketplace insights from the Channel Partners Conference
Discover how Microsoft Marketplace is helping channel partners accelerate growth in an AI-first world. Learn key insights from the Channel Partners Conference, including how cloud marketplaces are becoming a critical go-to-market engine—enabling partners to scale, streamline transactions, and deliver differentiated customer value. Explore how evolving customer expectations, AI-driven workloads, and modern commerce models are reshaping the partner opportunity—and why Marketplace is central to helping partners expand reach, simplify selling, and close deals faster through channel-led sales motions. Read the full article: Driving channel velocity in an AI-first world: Microsoft Marketplace at Channel Partners ConferenceTurn your Azure commitments into smarter cloud investments with Microsoft Marketplace
Discover how organizations are using Microsoft Marketplace as a strategic procurement engine to optimize Azure spend, streamline purchasing, and accelerate time to value. Learn how aligning software purchases with Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) can unlock cost savings, improve visibility, and ensure every dollar of cloud investment is fully optimized—helping teams make more informed, outcomes-driven decisions. Read the full article: Optimizing Azure spend with Microsoft Marketplace | Microsoft Community Hub Watch the recorded conversation: Using Microsoft Marketplace to optimize Azure spend - Microsoft Marketplace CommunityPartner perspective: How Breakthru uses App Advisor and AI-listing optimization to drive growth
Optimizing a Marketplace listing isn’t just a marketing exercise—it directly impacts discoverability, demand, and revenue. But knowing what to change (and when) can be challenging for software development companies. In this partner‑written blog post, Marketplace software development company Breakthru shares firsthand experience using AI‑powered listing recommendations in App Advisor to move from guesswork to confident, data‑driven optimization—without risking listing performance. Dan Langille also reflects on how App Advisor became a core part of their business, what’s working in practice, and how AI is changing how teams iterate on their Marketplace presence. 👉 Read the partner story here: Improve Marketplace outcomes with AI‑powered listing recommendations in App Advisor Discussion prompts for the community: Would AI‑driven recommendations change how often you iterate on your listing? Have you used App Advisor for selling and growing app and AI agent sales? Curious to hear how other Marketplace partners are approaching listing optimization today!
How to turn co-sell readiness into consistent Microsoft Marketplace revenue growth
Achieving co-sell readiness is a critical milestone, but many software development companies struggle to translate that status into consistent pipeline and meaningful Microsoft seller engagement. Join Microsoft partner and special guest Trunal Bhanse, CEO and co-founder at Clazar, as he shares practical insights on how to move beyond readiness to build active, revenue-generating partnerships with Microsoft sellers. Drawing on real-world experience from marketplace partners, the session will explore the operational strategies, processes, and habits that drive stronger collaboration with the Microsoft field, faster deal velocity, and increased opportunity creation. Attendees will also learn how to create seller-focused collateral, improve referral response times, and work more effectively with Partner Development Managers. Whether you are refining your co-sell motion or looking to unlock more value from Microsoft Marketplace, this session provides actionable guidance to help you operationalize your strategy and drive repeatable growth. Register for the online webinar on May 7th | 8:30 AM PDT: Turning co-sell readiness into real Microsoft Marketplace revenue You can also learn more tips and best practices for by reading From co-sell ready to co-sell active: How to drive Microsoft seller engagement | Microsoft Community Hub
