Marketplace Partner Digest
Welcome to the February edition of the Marketplace Partner Digest. This month’s roundup brings together the most important Microsoft Marketplace updates, program changes, and partner‑focused resources to help you strengthen your co‑sell motions, optimize your listings, and accelerate revenue through Microsoft Marketplace. Inside, you’ll find insights from Microsoft leaders on Marketplace’s role in driving partner profitability, key updates to specializations and Partner Center workflows, new App Advisor capabilities to streamline publishing, and a full lineup of upcoming events designed to support your Marketplace and AI go‑to‑market strategies. Whether you're planning your next offer, refining operations, or prepping your teams for FY26 execution, these updates will help you take clear, actionable steps to grow your business. Microsoft Marketplace as a modern growth engine A recent Marketplace blog post from Microsoft’s own Darren Sharpe explores how Microsoft Marketplace has become a core engine for business growth—enabling earlier co-sell alignment, accelerating deal velocity, and expanding partner reach through ecosystem channel-led sales motions. Unlocking scalable growth through Microsoft Marketplace Register for the February 18 Marketplace office hour: How to build a Microsoft Marketplace channel practice In his blog post yesterday, Mason McCoy, Director of Partner Experiences at Microsoft, highlighted why Microsoft Marketplace has become a true profitability multiplier for partners. As organizations build AI first strategies, Marketplace is accelerating how partners scale solutions, reach customers, and shorten time to value. To better understand the overall value of Marketplace, we asked Omdia to study the partner revenue opportunity. The Omdia study found that among partners that sell through Marketplace (compared to direct go-to-market and sales motions): 88% report revenue growth 75% close deals faster 69% secure larger deals 👉 Unlocking the profitability multiplier: Maximizing revenue with Microsoft Marketplace 👉 Explore the full Omdia report App Advisor updates Choose the right offer type when publishing your solution App Advisor now helps partners quickly determine which Marketplace offer type best aligns with their solution, business model, and go-to-market approach. With App Advisor, partners can: Receive scenario-based offer type recommendations Save time during planning and pre-publishing Reduce uncertainty when aligning to the right Marketplace motion Read how to leverage App Advisor from Microsoft's Brady Bumgarner 📱Try App Advisor for yourself Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program updates SAP on Microsoft Azure specialization ⚙️Microsoft is updating the SAP on Microsoft Azure specialization to make it more accessible while maintaining strong capability standards. Key changes: 🔽 Lower ACR requirement: ACR threshold reduced from $30,000 → $7,500 over three months. ⚡ Streamlined skilling verification: Required Microsoft learning coursework can now be validated directly within Partner Center, eliminating the need to provide evidence during the third-party audit. Microsoft Azure VMware Solution specialization ⚙️The skilling requirements for the Microsoft Azure VMware Solution specialization will change in January 2026. Microsoft is updating this specialization to make it easier to obtain. Key changes: ❌Technical Assessment removed: The Azure VMware Solutions (AVS) Technical assessment requirement will be removed from the skilling requirements ❌ Broadcom Certification requirements removed: The Broadcom certification requirements will also be removed, which were previously checked as a portion of the audit 👉 Learn more Partner Center updates Smarter referral submissions The first phase of enhancements to the Referrals workspace launched in January and will continue over the coming months. A couple noteworthy updates include: ⚙️ Automated completeness checks Inbound co-sell referrals now undergo automated validation to ensure required data is included before they progress—no additional partner action needed. This update improves data quality and lays the groundwork for future capabilities such as: Real-time referral insights Quality scoring More intelligent routing 👉 Learn more ✅ Marketplace purchase intent now mandatory for API-submitted co-sell referrals As of January 5, the "Marketplace Intent" field is required for all API and connector‑based submissions of IP co-sell opportunities. This field captures the customer’s intention to purchase via Microsoft Marketplace, with accepted values: Yes; No; Have not decided This change improves data consistency, downstream reporting, and alignment with Microsoft field sellers. 👉 Learn more Events Ultimate Partner session with Microsoft’s Cyril Belikoff On January 13, Ultimate Partner hosted a livestream conversation where Omdia’s Chief Analyst Jay McBain unpacked his 2026 predictions across cloud, AI, co‑sell, Marketplace, and broader ecosystem shifts, while Microsoft’s Cyril Belikoff, VP of Commercial Cloud & AI Marketing, outlined key Microsoft changes coming in 2026 and how partners can align their go‑to‑market strategies to stay ahead. 🎥 Watch on demand Marketplace office hours Microsoft continues to host regular Marketplace office hours for both partners and customers. We've highlighted the most recent topics below. To register for upcoming sessions and find a list of past events available on demand visit the Marketplace training and events calendar. 💡Tip: Forward these session links to relevant team members within your organization. Marketplace reporting in Partner Center Streamed live on January 21, 2026, Justin Royal and David Najour Jr. kicked off the new year with a focused walkthrough of Microsoft Marketplace reporting in Partner Center. The session broke down how partners can use the Insights and Earnings workspaces, which roles and permissions unlock access, and how to interpret the most important reports—including Earnings, Customers, Orders, Usage, and Revenue—to better understand performance and identify growth opportunities across their Marketplace motions. This session is great for alliance managers, sales operations and finance teams. 🎥 Watch on demand Cloud cost optimization for customers Streamed live on January 28, 2026, this session—presented by Kristyn Maddox and Justin Royal—focused on practical strategies customers can use to optimize cloud cost and improve workload performance. The conversation walked through actionable techniques and Microsoft cost management tools built into Azure portal that help organizations take control of resources, reduce unnecessary spend, and ensure their cloud environments are operating efficiently. This session is great for FinOps leaders and IT directors. 🎥 Watch on demand Upcoming events Register for the next Partner Marketplace office hour for partners scheduled February 18, 2026 Inside Azure IP co-sell: What high-performing software developers do differently February 25, 2026 Join guest speaker Barbara Treviño, Labra, to get an inside look at signals Microsoft uses to evaluate Marketplace and Azure IP co-sell readiness. 📅 Microsoft AI Tour February brings a series of in‑person opportunities for partners to connect with Microsoft experts through the Microsoft AI Tour. 📍February 2026 Tour Locations: 🇸🇦 Riyadh — February 11 🇧🇷 São Paulo — February 11 🇲🇽 Mexico City — February 12 🇬🇧 London — February 24 🇩🇪 Munich — February 25 🇳🇴 Oslo — February 25 🇪🇸 Madrid — February 26 👉 Find your city and register Partner actions for February Top 5 actions to take this month Align GTM and sales teams on the Omdia Microsoft Marketplace findings to sharpen FY26 Marketplace motions. Use App Advisor before publishing any new offers or offer updates. Update your co-sell submission workflows to ensure Marketplace Intent is captured. Re-evaluate specialization plans in light of updated SAP on Azure and AVS requirements. Register for relevant events—especially AI Tour stops and Marketplace office hours.Issues with Support
Hi we have been a partner for years, but lately there has been some issues with our account we have a few support tickets and the tickets stay open with no activity, we also tried to get our partner manager to help, (we got a new one this Jan) and they could/did not do anything either, just wanted to check with the community if y'all had any advice on this and how we can get this escalated since some of the tickets do have some business impact to our day to day businessHow do you actually unlock growth from Microsoft Teams Marketplace?
Hey folks 👋 Looking for some real-world advice from people who’ve been through this. Context: We’ve been listed as a Microsoft Teams app for several years now. The app is stable, actively used, and well-maintained - but for a long time, Teams Marketplace wasn’t a meaningful acquisition channel for us. Things changed a bit last year. We started seeing organic growth without running any dedicated campaigns, plus more mid-market and enterprise teams installing the app, running trials, and even using it in production. That was encouraging - but it also raised a bigger question. How do you actually systematize this and get real, repeatable benefits from the Teams Marketplace? I know there are Microsoft Partner programs, co-sell motions, marketplace benefits, etc. - but honestly, it’s been very hard to figure out: - where exactly to start - what applies to ISVs building Teams apps - how to apply correctly - and what actually moves the needle vs. what’s just “nice to have” On top of that, it’s unclear how (or if) you can interact directly with the Teams/Marketplace team. From our perspective, this should be a win-win: we invest heavily into the platform, build for Teams users, and want to make that experience better. Questions to the community: If you’re a Teams app developer: what actually worked for you in terms of marketplace growth? Which Partner programs or motions are worth the effort, and which can be safely ignored early on? Is there a realistic way to engage with the Teams Marketplace team (feedback loops, programs, office hours, etc.)? How do you go from “organic installs happen” to a structured channel? Would really appreciate any practical advice, lessons learned, or even “what not to do” stories 🙏 Thanks in advance!IP Co-Sell best practices: What high performing SDCs do to accelerate Microsoft Marketplace success
Barbara Treviño (BT) is Director of Strategic Partnerships & Alliances at Labra. She is a seasoned partnership leader with more than a decade of experience across sales, partner operations, alliances, enablement, programs, and cloud marketplace go-to-market. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For Solution Development Companies (SDCs) building on Azure, Marketplace listing and IP Co-Sell eligibility are foundational milestones. But the SDCs who accelerate fastest—and generate meaningful traction with Microsoft—are the ones who understand that eligibility is only the beginning. Drawing from a decade working across the Microsoft ecosystem and leading Marketplace and Co-Sell readiness across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, I’ve seen a consistent pattern: high-performing SDCs prepare differently. They approach readiness as a strategic, architectural, and operational effort—not just a form submission. This article highlights what those SDCs do differently, why it matters, and the signals Microsoft looks for when evaluating partners beyond the checklist. Eligibility is the starting line—not the win SDCs often assume that once their offer is live and their IP Co-Sell submission is approved, Microsoft sellers will engage and pipeline will follow. In practice, Microsoft evaluates far more than the required fields. Seller confidence depends on deeper indicators of readiness, including: Technical alignment with Azure Architectural clarity in how the solution runs Customer outcomes that map to Azure value themes Consistent messaging across Marketplace assets SDC maturity in supporting joint customer conversations These factors influence whether a Partner Development Manager (PDM) or account executive sees a path to meaningful co-sell engagement. What high-performing SDCs do differently Across clouds and across maturity levels, top-performing SDCs consistently demonstrate five distinct behaviors: They lead with architectural clarity Azure‑aligned architecture is one of the strongest signals of technical readiness. High‑performing SDCs provide clear diagrams and narrative context that show exactly how their solution complements Azure services. They align their narrative to Microsoft’s sales motions Microsoft sellers need a replicable story. The strongest SDCs use language, outcomes, and framing that match how Microsoft positions value internally and externally. They present relevant customer evidence The best SDCs focus on customer outcomes that reinforce Azure consumption, modernization, or workload migration—not generic case studies. They sequence their readiness intentionally Rather than uploading every asset at once, high performers focus on what’s required now, save optional materials for later phases, and minimize rework cycles. They prepare for what happens after approval Eligibility is a threshold. Momentum requires internal readiness for co‑sell motions, customer engagement, and Marketplace operations. Why readiness staging accelerated IP Co-Sell approval Most delays during IP Co-Sell review come from misalignment—not missing assets. Common issues include: Architecture that contradicts the listing Evidence that doesn’t reinforce the solution’s value Positioning that isn’t Azure-aligned Assets uploaded “just in case” instead of intentionally Internal teams unprepared for post-listing motions High-performing SDCs move faster not because they rush, but because they prepare strategically. How Labra supports SDCs through SCAP-M Labra’s SCAP-M (SaaS Co-Sell Accelerator for Microsoft) program focuses on the deeper readiness drivers that influence Microsoft engagement, including: Azure-aligned reference architecture development Marketplace and solution-story coherence Customer evidence refinement Readiness sequencing to reduce review cycles Internal preparation for post-approval co-sell motions This is where structured support has the greatest impact—accelerating both eligibility and long-term field engagement. How can you learn more? Join me on February 25th for a live session where we will take a deeper look at: What Microsoft evaluates beyond the form How readiness staging reduces delays Where SDCs unintentionally create friction Why architecture, evidence, and narrative matter for seller adoption Practical insights drawn from Labra’s multi-cloud experience A live Q&A will follow for SDCs interested in accelerating their Marketplace and Co-Sell motion on Azure. Follow this link to add the session to your calendar: Inside Azure IP co-sell: What high-performing software developers do differently - Microsoft Marketplace Community If you miss the live session- don't worry, you can use the same link to view a recording of the session. High performing SDCs succeed in Azure’s IP Co-sell program because they treat readiness as a strategic initiative – not an administrative task. By aligning architecture, narrative, and customer evidence with Microsoft’s expectations, SDCs accelerate approvals and increase field engagement.
Unable to pass Employment Verifcation step in Partner Center
Hi, I have been trying to enroll in the partner center since January. I am stuck at the step Employment Verification. I have uploaded all requested documents like domain name registration, domain name invoice, TXT file, etc, but everytime I get the message ' Based on the information you have provided to date, we have determined that your organization does not currently meet the requirements to pass verification' without any further explanation what exactly is wrong or why I am not meeting the requirement and how to fix it. It is driving me crazy, and making me very frustrated to be frank, that Microsoft is not able (or not willing) to help me in a decent way by letting me talk to a real life person. Because in my honest opinion the issue would be solved quite easily. I have opened several tickets already, but the answer is every time the same without any clear explanation what the problem is and how to solve it. Can please someone help me. I am a self employed developer who wants to enroll in the partner center and buy the partner benefits to use them for my every day work. Best regards, ErikHarness the power of Partner Center reporting for Marketplace success
Having timely, actionable data is critical for publishers operating in Microsoft Marketplace. A recent Microsoft Marketplace blog post highlights how Partner Center's reporting capabilities - across the Insights and Earnings workspaces - equip organizations with the visibility needed to refine go-to-market strategies, manage financial performance, and better understand customer engagement. These analytics tools help publishers track offer performance, monitor revenue, cycles, and make informed decisions that strengthen overall marketplace operations. Read the full article to explore how these insights can elevate your marketplace success. Unlocking the power of Partner Center reporting: Why these insights matter for Marketplace success | Microsoft Community HubUnlocking the power of Partner Center reporting: Why these insights matter for Marketplace success
For publishers in the Microsoft commercial marketplace, having the right data at the right time is essential. Understanding how customers engage with your offers, how revenue flows through billing and payout cycles, and how subscriptions or usage evolve over time directly influences your go‑to‑market decisions, financial planning, and customer management strategies. During a recent Microsoft webinar focused on Partner Center reporting, David Najour from the Marketplace Fast Track team walked partners through how these reporting tools work—and more importantly, why they are a critical part of operating effectively in the marketplace. This article distills the heart of that session, shifting away from step‑by‑step walkthroughs and instead exploring the purpose of each reporting workspace, how they support publisher operations, and the real value they bring to your marketplace business. To get the full depth and demos, we still recommend watching the complete session—but this overview will help you understand the strategic value these reports offer. Why Microsoft built reporting Workspaces into Partner Center Partner Center is the operational hub for managing your relationship with Microsoft—from listing offers to managing customers to getting paid. Because marketplace transactions involve multiple processes (ordering, invoicing, usage, payouts), Microsoft organizes reporting into two dedicated workspaces: Insights and Earnings. Each workspace answers a different business question and serves a different operational audience. The Insights workspace is your business intelligence engine—designed to provide a multidimensional view of how your marketplace business sales are performing. Meanwhile, the Earnings workspace is your financial source of truth, detailing what Microsoft owes you, what has already been paid, and what adjustments or deductions apply. Together, they create a full picture of both commercial health and financial outcomes. The Insights workspace: Your commercial visibility engine The Insights workspace houses the dashboards publishers rely on to understand how offers are performing across customers, geographies, channels, and billing models. It is the foundation for growth analysis, forecasting, customer intelligence, and product decision‑making. Far more than a collection of numbers, it is a structured lens into how your marketplace business behaves over time. Revenue reporting: The unified story of Marketplace performance The Revenue dashboard is often regarded as the centerpiece of Insights, because it gathers data from orders, usage, customer activity, invoicing, and payout progression into a single view. For publishers, this unified model provides the clearest indication of which offers are gaining traction, who your most valuable customers are, and how different sales channels or billing models shape revenue flow. It also reflects the nuances of marketplace billing—for example, the distinction between Enterprise Agreement (EA) and Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA/MCA-E) customers. EA transactions become eligible for payout once billed, whereas MCA-E transactions only qualify after the customer pays their Microsoft invoice. This difference directly influences Publisher’s payout timing and makes the Revenue dashboard an indispensable tool for evaluating earnings. More information about the Insights revenue dashboard can be found here: Revenue dashboard in Microsoft Marketplace analytics - Partner Center | Microsoft Learn Order intelligence: Understanding your subscription footprint SaaS publishers depend on subscription lifecycle clarity. The Orders dashboard provides visibility when subscriptions start and end, whether they are set to auto‑renew, and how quantities or reservations evolve. Because the auto‑renew indicator is only visible here across Partner Center reporting, this dashboard becomes essential for managing renewals, reducing churn, and supporting customer success motions. More information about the Insights orders dashboard can be found here: Partner Center Orders dashboard in Microsoft Marketplace analytics - Partner Center | Microsoft Learn For teams focused on retention, forecasting, and renewal management, the Orders dashboard is one of the most operationally valuable tools available. Usage Insights: Making sense of consumption‑based models For metered or usage‑based offers, understanding consumption trends is foundational. The Usage dashboard enables publishers to see real metered activity and interpret how consumption translates into billed revenue. This helps teams identify adoption patterns, detect anomalies, and support customers before usage drops—or before a period of increased consumption turns into a surprise invoice. More information about the Usage Insights dashboard can be found here: Usage dashboard in Microsoft Marketplace analytics - Partner Center | Microsoft Learn Customer intelligence: Connecting the dots The Customer dashboard links transaction activity to the organizations purchasing your solutions. Because customer identifiers remain consistent even when names change, this dashboard becomes vital for mapping revenue to specific organizations, and their customer details More information about the Customer dashboard can be found here: Customers dashboard at Microsoft Marketplace analytics on Partner Center - Partner Center | Microsoft Learn The Earnings workspace: Your source of financial truth While Insights helps publishers understand the “why” behind commercial performance, the Earnings workspace answers a different but equally critical question: What has Microsoft actually paid us, and what is eligible for payout? This workspace is relied on heavily by finance and accounting teams because it contains the authoritative record of payments Microsoft has sent or will send, complete with: Payment IDs that match bank remittance statements, Payout dates and statuses, Withholding tax details (when applicable), and Store service fee taxes or adjustments. Earnings also reflect Microsoft’s payout policy: it includes EA transactions and only MCA-E transactions that customers have fully paid. Unpaid MCA-E transactions remain outside the Earnings view until it becomes eligible. This helps prevent reconciliation errors and clarifies why revenue totals in Insights may exceed what’s visible in the Earnings dashboard at any given point. For any publisher reconciling revenue to payouts—or managing financial reporting cycles—this workspace is indispensable. More information about the Earnings dashboard can be found here: Earnings in Partner Center - Partner Center | Microsoft Learn Why these reports matter for Marketplace publishers Marketplace success depends on understanding both the commercial and financial sides of your business. Microsoft designed these reporting capabilities to help publishers: Make data‑driven product and sales decisions With clear revenue, usage, and customer insights, teams can pivot offers, target high‑value accounts, and optimize go‑to‑market activities based on real patterns—not assumptions. Support customers through their lifecycle Subscription and usage analytics make it easier to identify renewal opportunities, anticipate support needs, and maintain strong customer relationships. Strengthen financial control Earnings reporting provides the clarity needed to reconcile payouts, communicate with internal finance teams, and verify tax or fee deductions with confidence. Align internal teams around a single source of truth Whether you’re in sales, marketing, engineering, finance, or operations, these dashboards provide shared visibility into the same metrics and definitions, reducing confusion and improving cross‑team decision‑making. The bottom line: Better reporting leads to better Marketplace outcomes Partner Center reporting is more than a backend tool—it’s the intelligence layer that helps publishers understand performance, forecast revenue, support customers, and confidently manage financial operations. The marketplace introduces unique billing and payout considerations, and these reports translate that complexity into actionable insight. If you want to see how these dashboards work in practice, with live examples and Q&A discussion, be sure to watch the full webinar session available on Microsoft Marketplace Community site. The live demonstrations provide additional context and are especially useful for teams new to marketplace reporting or looking to optimize their internal processes. Watch the recording here: Office hours for partners: Microsoft Partner Center reporting - Microsoft Marketplace Community
Azure customer usage attribution (CUA) - report or validate it is working?
Per this article - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/marketplace-offers/azure-partner-customer-usage-attribution#example-azure-powershell If we use Azure PowerShell along with the ISV/SDC's Tracking GUID (created earlier in Partner Centre), to provision Azure VM's and other resources in end-customer tenants directly related to our IP as an ISV/SDC - how do we report or validate that this CUA is working?
Microsoft Partner Center Account Verification Issues - Steps Unresponsive
Hello fellow members, I am currently facing an issue with the Microsoft Partner Center's account verification process, and I'm reaching out to see if anyone else has encountered a similar problem or if there's a workaround that I might have missed. I have been trying to verify my account as guided by their official documentation (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/verification-responses). Here are the steps I followed: I went to Account Settings and clicked on the Legal Info, then clicked on the "Fix now" button as instructed. The next step mentions "In Account Verification, from Select document type to upload, select the type of document you want to upload for verification". This is where the problem lies. After Step 1, the "Account Verification" tab or option simply doesn't appear for me. It feels as though the process just halts there. I tried to find a way around it, assuming maybe it's a browser issue or some temporary glitch, but multiple attempts yielded the same result. Through different browsers, different computers at different times. I also raised support tickets regarding this matter, but unfortunately, I haven't received any concrete responses yet. They only keep directing me back to the same steps that are unresponsive. And this has been over a month now and I kinda get stuck. Has anyone here faced a similar challenge or has any insights on how I can proceed with this? I appreciate all the help and suggestions I can get. Thanks in advance!
