Best practices for scaling channel-led growth in Microsoft Marketplace
Vathsalya Senapathi leads Partner GTM at Tackle, blending co-sell, co-marketing, and operations to drive top of funnel revenue and customer value through cloud and ecosystem partnerships _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For software development companies selling through Microsoft Marketplace, working with channel partners can expand your reach to more prospective buyers and drive marketplace revenue as part of a well-orchestrated Cloud GTM strategy. Multiparty private offers (MPO) are a key enabler of that strategy. What are multiparty private offers? Multiparty private offers enable software companies to tap into Microsoft’s global partner ecosystem—more than 400,000 partners strong—including Solutions Integrators (SIs), Managed Services Providers (MSPs), and Value-Added Resellers (VARs). MPOs work similarly to standard private offers but are sold to the customer via a channel partner rather than directly by the software company. The software company sets the wholesale price, and the channel partner adds their margin when creating the offer. Importantly, channel partners are not charged a marketplace fee for participating in an MPO transaction. The result is a streamlined path to market: software companies and channel partners collaborate to create customized offers, and customers purchase through Microsoft Marketplace with simplified procurement. MPOs are currently available to customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. MPO as part of your Cloud GTM strategy Channel partners bring far more to the table than simplified procurement. They maintain deep, trust-based customer relationships and often specialize in specific industries or verticals—giving them the domain expertise to position and customize solutions for distinct customer segments. They can also facilitate integration with other technology vendors, creating more comprehensive offerings that address a broader range of customer needs. For software companies, working through channel partners enables faster, more cost-effective distribution. Partners can absorb tasks like lead generation, sales enablement, and customer support—freeing up internal resources while accelerating market penetration, customer acquisition, and revenue growth. Benefits of Microsoft’s MPO For software companies: MPO opens new sales avenues by enabling a broader partner ecosystem to sell on your behalf. Software companies can reach new customers through channel partners, collaborate on joint solutions, and scale distribution without a proportional increase in direct sales headcount. For channel partners: MPO gives partners the ability to work with software companies, create customized offers, and sell directly to Microsoft customers through Marketplace—expanding their own portfolio without building software from scratch. For customers: Customers can maintain their trusted partner relationships while streamlining software procurement and deployment through Marketplace. For customers with an Azure cloud consumption commitment, eligible MPO purchases—specifically those tied to Azure IP co-sell solutions—count toward that commitment, helping them maximize their cloud investments and simplify consolidation of transactions. How it works The MPO process follows three straightforward steps: Collaborate: The software company and channel partner identify the right solution for the customer and negotiate terms. The software company extends a private offer to the channel partner, who then adds their details to create the multiparty private offer. Sell: The channel partner sends the offer to the customer. The customer accepts and purchases through Marketplace in the same way they would with a standard private offer. For customers with an Azure consumption commitment, eligible purchases count toward that commitment. Payment and payouts: Microsoft manages collection and payment, ensuring all partners are paid accordingly. Requirements to participate Multiparty private offers (MPOs) are available to software companies that meet Microsoft Marketplace eligibility requirements, including: Enrollment in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Enrollment in the Microsoft Marketplace program with an active Marketplace seller ID in Partner Center Completion of required tax profiles in Partner Center for the geographies where the offer is sold and transacted (for example, U.S.; additional tax or VAT profiles may be required for the UK or Canada depending on the selling entity) A publicly published and transactable Marketplace offer Customer must have a valid Microsoft commercial billing account (EA or MCA), be enabled to purchase through Microsoft Marketplace, and be located in a supported market (currently the U.S., UK, or Canada) An Account owner or Marketplace manager role associated with the Marketplace seller ID in Partner Center. These roles are required to create, submit, withdraw, and manage private offers (including MPOs). A Developer role may work on offer setup, technical configuration, and draft private offers, but cannot submit or publish private offers. How Tackle can help you manage MPO Tackle offers full support for MPOs, helping software companies efficiently scale their reach through the partner ecosystem while simplifying the sales process. Integrate and manage listings. Tackle helps you manage the marketplace listing that makes MPOs possible. Tackle Offers enables you to create, customize, track, and recognize revenue from private offers with ease—whether sold directly by your team or through a channel partner. The platform processes entitlements and sends notifications via email, Slack, and more. Report on MPO deals. Tackle’s reporting dashboard provides in-depth visibility into every financial transaction, giving your sales and accounting teams insight into the full transaction lifecycle—paving the way for repeatable processes, shortened timelines, and faster closes. Not a fit for MPO? Consider resale-enabled offers (REO) MPO is purpose-built for complex, high-touch deals with a specific partner and customer—but it isn’t the right fit for every situation. If your goal is to quickly authorize many partners to resell your solution at scale, resale enabled offers (REO) may be better suited for scaled partner resale scenarios, subject to Marketplace and CSP country availability. Where MPO is a three-party, negotiated contract between a software company, a single partner, and a customer, REO enables a “many-to-many” model—allowing you to authorize a broad network of partners to resell your products globally with minimal overhead. The two tools are also complementary: REO can be used to facilitate MPO deals, making it a useful foundation for software companies building out a full channel strategy. In short, use REO when you want to scale your channel quickly and broadly; use MPO when you’re working with a specific partner to close a high-value, bespoke deal. Tackle helps hundreds of the world’s best software companies build and scale their Cloud GTM revenue through Microsoft Marketplace and beyond. To learn more join us on March 24, 2026, at 8:30 AM PDT for Best practices for scaling Marketplace channel-led sales - Microsoft Marketplace Community and Q&A. If you miss the session, you will be able to watch it on demand through the same link.Microsoft Marketplace Partner Digest
March marks a strong quarter of momentum across the Microsoft Marketplace ecosystem, with partners scaling their businesses while delivering high quality customer experiences—directly, through the channel, and alongside Microsoft. From monetizing AI innovation to streamlining post purchase workflows and co-selling motions, partners continue to turn Marketplace readiness into real, repeatable growth. This month’s digest highlights the insights, updates, and opportunities helping software companies meet customers where and how they choose to buy. Articles worth reading As more partners race to build AI apps and agents, the real differentiator is turning that innovation into recurring revenue through scalable sales motions. Microsoft’s Brady Bumgarner shares how App Advisor helps teams think about monetization well before they publish an offer, empowering partners to launch with confidence and scale faster. 🚀 Learn more about AI app and agent monetization Brady also breaks down how combining Marketplace transactable offers with Azure IP co-sell readiness turns co-selling into a true growth engine. More partners are leveraging the insights and guidance available through App Advisor to build repeatable co-selling muscle memory. 🔄️See how co-selling with Microsoft can accelerate your business growth As customers move to AI‑first architectures, cloud cost optimization is becoming a core decision lens—not just an operational concern. In this post, Justin Royal explores how customers are rethinking cost, performance, and governance as continuous disciplines. For sellers, this has clear implications: customers increasingly expect flexibility in how solutions scale, perform, and are paid for, and those expectations should shape how software companies build, package, and position offers on Marketplace. 💸 Explore how customers are optimizing cloud spend as AI adoption scales Accelerate your Marketplace growth by delivering a seamless customer experience after the click. Marketplace Fulfillment APIs automate activation, entitlement, and subscription management so you can reduce friction, speed time‑to‑value, and scale globally with confidence. Explore how these APIs—and new Microsoft reference code—help product teams integrate faster and support every customer at every stage. 🔍 Discover how Marketplace Fulfillment APIs streamline and automate critical post purchase workflows Marketplace updates Dragon Copilot solutions in Microsoft Marketplace On March 5, we announced preview of Dragon Copilot solutions for Microsoft Marketplace. This enables software companies to build and sell AI apps and agents that integrate with Dragon Copilot, while allowing customers to discover and purchase solutions that work with their existing Microsoft investments. Software companies can build and publish their solutions using one of three offer types: Dragon Copilot Physician Apps and Agents (in preview now) Dragon Copilot Clinical App Connectors (coming soon) Dragon Copilot Radiology Apps and Agents (coming soon) Dragon Copilot is built for care teams including physicians, nurses, and radiologists and is already operating with more than 100,000 clinicians relying on it daily to support care for millions of patients each month. Steps you can take to get started: Read through our documentation on how extensions for Dragon Copilot work and how to build your own Check out the sample repo with sample code, and more Contact dragon_extensions@microsoft.com to inquire about joining preview 🐉 Learn how Dragon Copilot solutions are modernizing Healthcare Recent events How to build a Microsoft Marketplace channel practice In his recent webinar, Darren Sharpe highlights how partners are increasingly building their channel businesses with Microsoft Marketplace at the core—using it as a channel-led, Marketplace delivered growth engine. As buying shifts toward lineofbusiness leaders and decentralized procurement, Marketplace brings together discovery, governance, and enterprise purchasing in one place. Darren shares how partners that align sales, alliances, and operations around Marketplace are better positioned to drive repeatable growth, meeting customers where and how they choose to buy. 🎥 Watch on demand Inside Azure IP co-sell: What high-performing software companies do differently Get an insider’s view of what truly moves the needle for Microsoft Marketplace and Microsoft Azure IP co-sell success. Guest speaker Barbara Treviño breaks down the signals Microsoft prioritizes when assessing submission strength—helping software development companies understand what great looks like across architecture, messaging, evidence, and sequencing. You’ll learn why high performing software development companies approach readiness differently, and how that difference translates directly into smoother approvals and stronger GTM impact. 🎥 Watch on demand AI-powered automation for Marketplace private offers and IP co-sell Learn how software development companies can use AI-powered automation to simplify buying through Microsoft Marketplace, streamline Microsoft Marketplace private offers, and maximize the effectiveness of co-selling opportunities. Join Jon Yoo, Co-Founder & CEO at Suger, as he explores how reducing operational friction in Partner Center can help you accelerate deal velocity, improve collaboration with Microsoft sellers, and drive Azure adoption. 🎥 Watch on demand 📅 Coming up Partner office hour Build, publish, and optimize Marketplace offers with App Advisor Wednesday, Mar 18, 2026, 8:30 AM PDT Tune in for live demos and proven best practices on using App Advisor, Microsoft’s guided experience for Microsoft Marketplace success! Learn what App Advisor is, how it works, and how it can help partners accelerate Marketplace offer creation. Walk through key stages of the experience from validating value to publishing and optimizing your listing. ➡️ Get the meeting details Customer office hours Charting your AI strategy for manufacturing with Marketplace Wednesday, Mar 25, 2026, 9:30 AM PDT Build, buy, or blend? Gain the insights you need as a manufacturer to scale AI apps and agents across the factory floor using Microsoft Marketplace. We’ll go beyond AI theory and focus on practical manufacturing scenarios—connecting factory equipment, IoT, and enterprise systems into a unified foundation that enables analytics, digital twins, and AI agents. ➡️ Get the meeting details In-person events Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2026 Microsoft Marketplace is sponsoring Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2026 in Las Vegas, with interactive sessions, booth conversations, and private meetings focused on helping channel partners understand how Marketplace can simplify software purchasing for their customers. Partners can expect to learn how the expansive catalogue of products and services available from thousands of software companies delivered through channel-led sales capabilities are Marketplace enabled and accelerate AI‑ and cloud‑led sales through Marketplace. 📆 April 13-16, 2026 📍The Venetian Resort, Las Vegas ➡️ See the details and learn how to register Microsoft AI Tour Our series continues, coming to more cities around the globe. Bringing in‑person opportunities for partners to connect with Microsoft experts, explore innovation and get inspired. ➡️ Find your city and registerTracking transaction to payout in Partner Center reports
We’ve captured the why and how behind the data in an on‑demand video based on the recent Partner Center reporting office hours—plus a blog that breaks down how these insights support marketplace growth and operations. Have a video topic you want next? Drop it in the comments 👇 ▶️ Watch the 7‑minute video (embedded) 📖 Read the blog: Unlocking the power of Partner Center reporting: Why these insights matter for Marketplace success | Microsoft Community Hub
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!How to streamline Microsoft Marketplace private offers and IP co-sell with AI-powered automation
Kyle Heisner is a veteran GTM and Cloud Marketplace leader at Suger with extensive experience helping software companies scale through strategic partnerships and co-sell programs. He is known for transforming complex cloud ecosystems into clear, repeatable revenue motions. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For software development companies selling through Microsoft Marketplace, the operational path from publishing a listing to closing a Marketplace private offer often feels like managing two separate businesses. You have your internal sales motion in your CRM, then you have the structured, plan-driven world of Partner Center. Bridging the gap between these two worlds — specifically configuring plans, managing billing terms, and maintaining accurate IP co-sell referrals — can create significant operational overhead. This guide walks through the key operational challenges of Marketplace private offer and IP co-sell workflows and shows how Suger's automation and AI capabilities reduce manual effort at each step. Mastering Microsoft’s Marketplace private offers The most common friction point for sellers new to Microsoft is the concept of the plan. In the Microsoft ecosystem, you cannot simply define a loosely structured contract with arbitrary dates; you must define explicit plans, billing terms, and pricing per term within Partner Center. If your CRM quote does not align perfectly with a pre-configured Microsoft plan, the transaction fails. The key is creating a reliable translation layer between your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar) and Microsoft Partner Center — one that maps your negotiated commercial terms to Microsoft’s required structure without forcing your sales team to become experts in portal navigation. Here's what that looks like in practice: Map deals to pre-defined Microsoft plans Whether your pricing is flat rate or per user, the goal is to ensure every CRM opportunity maps correctly before an offer is generated. With a CRM-native integration (such as Suger's Salesforce connector), a seller can click "Create Private Offer" and the system automatically: Identifies the correct Microsoft Plan ID Matches the negotiated term duration Aligns the offer with Microsoft's billing engine, no manual configuration required Close the loop from quote to cash Suger connects your CRM directly to Partner Center. Here's what the flow looks like: Opportunities are converted into Marketplace private offers without switching tools Once a customer accepts, the resulting entitlement syncs back to your system automatically Subscription data maps to your revenue recognition workflows and ERP The loop between the Microsoft commercial marketplace and your finance stack is closed, no re-keying required How to automate IP co-sell referrals and reduce rejection rates Achieving IP co-sell incentivized status is one of the most effective ways of unlocking access to Microsoft sellers and Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitments (MACC). However, maintaining the operational rhythm of sharing referrals is often a manual burden involving repetitive data entry and frequent validation errors. Microsoft requires specific data hygiene — missing a solution ID or targeting an unmanaged account can cause a referral to fail or be routed to the wrong Microsoft account team. Validate before you submit When your sales team advances a deal in a CRM, the integration should validate the data against Microsoft's schema requirements before the referral is submitted to Partner Center. Suger does this automatically, checking for: Valid solution IDs Required contact details Overall field completeness This significantly reduces "Referral Declined" rates. Know whether you're working with a managed or unmanaged account One of the most common co-sell challenges is knowing who at Microsoft to work with. Managed accounts (those with a dedicated Microsoft account team) and unmanaged accounts require different approaches. A system that surfaces this distinction in your CRM — as Suger does — ensures your deal is routed to the correct seller, which accelerates deal support and improves approval rates. What's next: AI agents that operate your Microsoft GTM for you Suger is expanding these automation capabilities into fully AI-powered agents designed to handle the remaining manual steps in the Marketplace private offer and co-sell workflow, so software companies selling through Microsoft Marketplace can focus on closing deals, not configuring portals. Here's a summary of how Suger's AI agent capabilities map to the manual work they replace: Capability Manual work it replaces Impact for sellers AI-assisted listing creation Writing plan descriptions for every variation Better searchability, faster publishing Co-sell signal detection Reps manually flagging deals for co-sell Higher referral acceptance rates Automated field mapping Configuring CRM-to-Partner Center mappings Setup in minutes, not hours Partner intelligence Tracking which Microsoft relationships drive pipeline Data-driven co-sell strategy Pre-submission validation Troubleshooting failed referrals and offers Higher first-pass approval rates Together, these capabilities make Suger's AI agent an operational co-pilot for software companies on Microsoft Marketplace, reducing complexity, surfacing the right opportunities faster, and helping teams execute co-sell workflows with greater accuracy. For software companies looking to get started today, the practical steps above (plan mapping, referral validation, managed account detection) are where automation delivers the most immediate impact. To learn more and ask questions, attend the AI-powered automation for Marketplace private offers and IP co-sell session on March 11th. If you are unable to attend, the session will be recorded for on demand viewing after.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.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, Erik
