MSIgnite 2024 in Chicago
#MSIgnite 2024 in Chicago was an amazing event. Major investments by Microsoft are being made on AI, CoPilot and Data Center Infrastructure. If you were able to attend Microsoft Ignite 2024, I'm sure that you left inspired and ready to innovate. Satya Nadella highlighted several key advancements: AI Integration and CoPilot Enhancements Windows 365 Link Data Center Infrastructure Chips Security Initiatives Quantum Computing Milestone Looking forward to #MSIgnite 2025 in San Francisco. Save the date for the week of November 17, 2025 and sign up to get notified when more event details come out. https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/home?wt.mc_ID=ignite2024_esc_corp_soc_oo_li_MSE_SavethedateExecsSolving cloud challenges with Canonical and Microsoft Azure through Linux and open-source solutions
In this guest blog post, Jehudi Castro-Sierra, Public Cloud Alliances Director at Canonical, examines the technical and strategic benefits of deploying Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS and explains how Canonical and Microsoft Azure are working together to provide scalable and flexible infrastructure for enterprises and developers and drive increased automation and security, cost optimization, and sustainable IT practices.Key Insights from Ultimate Partner Live
Ultimate Partner LIVE - Executive Summit '24, a Microsoft sponsored event, recently took place in Dallas Texas on October 22-23 rd . The two-day event was filled with relationship-building, business growth opportunities, and learning, exceeding many attendees’ expectations in content, quality, and connections. Microsoft’s support of Ultimate Partner as an Official Community this year, along with its presence, highlighted the strength of ecosystem-led growth. A special thank you to all the Microsoft leaders who worked behind the scenes to make this event a success. Industry-leading speakers and award-winning partners shared insights that will shape the future of cloud go-to-market strategies. Over 34 leaders graced the stage brimming with world-class learning, demonstrating what thought leadership is all about. They included: Greg Sarafin, Global Vice Chair - Partner Ecosystem, EY John Jahnke, CEO, Tackle.io Sandy Gupta, VP Ecosystems of Gobal Software Companies, Microsoft Mayank Singh Bawa, CEO and founder, WorkSpan Mike Reinhart, CEO, Quisitive Regina Manfredi, Executive VP, General Manager, Crayon Dux Raymond Sy, Chief Brand Officer, AvePoint Ultimate Partner LIVE featured keynotes, panels and sessions across a range of topics including: The current tectonic shifts in the tech ecosystem State of the Ecosystem Growth opportunities with Microsoft marketplaces and AI developments Selling and co-selling with Microsoft Winning marketing tactics and effective partnering tools From broad insights into the ecosystem and market trends to award-winning partner case studies and hands-on technical workshops, the event provided valuable and energizing guidance for Microsoft partners on aligning with Microsoft’s FY objectives. If you were unable to attend this event, here are some key takeaways: 7 Principles Framework for Successful Partnerships Ultimate Partner has a unique point of view and understanding of partnerships grounded in experience and represented in our 7 Principles Framework for Successful Partnerships. A key tenant to the Framework, is understanding that Hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, are a critical component to the ecosystem transformation. Customers and their needs are central to the 7 principles framework. Canalys research shows that complex IT purchases involve up to 7 partners, known as the “7 seats at the decision table.” Hyperscalers, marketplace, and co-selling all influence the customer in the decision-making process. The Rise of the Chief Partner Officer Partnerships are no longer confined to sales functions; they are now recognized as a key business pillar. The emergence of the Chief Partner Officer role underscores this evolution, with responsibilities encompassing financial decisions, strategic alignment, and client value creation. AI is set to play a significant role, potentially replacing traditional systems of record and reshaping the SaaS landscape. During the State of the Ecoystem session, Greg Sarafin discussed the need for partner leaders to lead at a Chief Partner Officer level. CPOs need to engage the C-suite on strategy, finance at a P&L level, and GTM leadership to communicate and coordinate how businesses should engage the ecosystem opportunity. State of the Ecosystem The current partner landscape is focused on capital efficiency, driven by a need for AI integration, productivity, and operational leverage. The shift from traditional alliances to broader multi-leader alignments is reshaping how companies go to market. The marketplace is now a primary consideration, affecting how systems integrators (SIs) engage with customers. Efficiency and Innovation were central, with innovations that used to take 18 months now scaling in just 6 months. This accelerated pace necessitates a new level of financial acumen and a focus on partnerships that directly impact the P&L. Microsoft Company Priorities Microsoft's main priorities are Copilot, AI, and Marketplaces. If you are a partner in the Microsoft ecosystem and are not aligned with these three priorities, it's time to reconsider your focus to ensure alignment, especially as Microsoft is now a $3+ trillion market cap company—larger than some of the world's biggest economies. Microsoft's massive network of 17M people in their ecosystem, creates enormous scale and opportunities. Go-to-Market Priorities Microsoft sellers are incentivized not only for consumption and marketplace revenue but also for Copilot and AI design wins. Take advantage of these opportunities to strengthen your relationship with Microsoft, which may require involving your product teams to meet these priorities. For any partner manager new to managing Microsoft relationships, it's essential to learn the jargon and acronyms, understand existing programs, build relationships at various organizational levels, internalize seller incentives and metrics, navigate cultural nuances (especially if you've previously managed partnerships with Google, Amazon, or Oracle), and follow the Microsoft Customer Engagement Methodology (MCEM) process. Partner Opportunity Microsoft's biggest challenge is providing enough technical resources for partners who want to co-build customized AI and Copilot solutions. This creates a significant opportunity for partners to step in and fill this gap. A very common theme during the event is that companies must ensure their data is clean and more importantly that their tenant is secure, before rolling out. All the experts suggest going through Assessment and Governance exercises to make sure your "house is in order" before implementing new AI solutions. The Ultimate Partner Event showcased a world where adaptability, efficiency, and collaboration are crucial. The future is about leveraging partnerships to drive success and embracing the changes brought on by technology, AI, and shifting market dynamics. The Ultimate Partner Event showcased the alliance landscape evolving at a rapid pace, and those who stay agile and partner-driven will be the ones who thrive. The call to action was clear: continue to invest in partnerships, refine business strategies, and use technology to support mutual growth. Key Themes and Strategies for Success The event highlighted Seven Principles to Unlock Success, all centered on creating effective partnerships: Growth Mindset: Embrace change and see opportunities where others see challenges. Executive Commitment: Partnerships require executive-level buy-in to drive success. Vision and Value: Establish a bold mission with a long-term vision, accompanied by a well-defined strategy. Maniacal Focus: Measure what matters, set clear key results, and hold accountability. Brand and Storytelling: Clearly articulate your unique strengths and how you differentiate from competitors. Delivering Results: Focus on building a flywheel of success that amplifies your brand. Agility: Adapt swiftly to changing conditions to ensure long-term success. Partners are hungrier than ever to learn, network, and get in front of their peers. We are committed to our mission, even more than ever. If you missed Dallas, clear your calendars for 2025. You don’t want to miss what’s coming next—we are just getting started, and the best is yet to come. Join the Ultimate Partner Experience Community - it is in its early days, and we are building a community of leaders in the hyperscaler space. DM John Menzione to learn more or visit our website. We are looking for future chapter leaders as we expand in 2025.How to strengthen identity security by integrating ITDR with Microsoft Copilot for Security
In this guest blog post, Curtis Johnstone, Distinguished Engineer and Microsoft Office Apps & Services MVP at Quest, examines Active Directory security and methods to enhance it. In today’s cyber landscape, securing Active Directory (AD) and Microsoft Entra ID has never been more crucial. The days when organizations only had to worry about phishing attacks or unauthorized firewall breaches are behind us. Now, administrators face a barrage of sophisticated threats that target their directory services platforms. These include privilege escalation attacks, token replay attacks, and password-based assaults on AD domains. As attackers continue to find new ways to exploit vulnerabilities, having rock-solid security measures in place is no longer optional; it’s a necessity. This ongoing escalation highlights the importance of comprehensive Active Directory security and effective cybersecurity risk management. Whether the threats are deliberate or accidental, organizations must be prepared for the worst to protect the core of their identity infrastructure: Active Directory. What is Active Directory security? Active Directory is often described as the key to your IT castle, controlling who can access your network and what resources they can unlock. While this metaphor is effective, it’s also limited. Unlike the static nature of a castle, an IT environment is dynamic. Employees come and go, change roles, and applications are frequently added or retired. As a result, Active Directory security cannot be treated as a “set it and forget it” initiative — it must be continuously managed and updated. Securing your AD environment is a balancing act. While IT professionals must enforce stringent security measures, they must also ensure these measures don't impede business operations. Excessively strict controls can slow down critical processes and frustrate users, prompting them to seek workarounds that undermine security efforts. For example, requiring overly complex passwords may lead employees to leave them on sticky notes, creating additional vulnerabilities. Why is Active Directory a top attack target? Identity data has emerged as the new security perimeter in today's digital landscape, with 80% of breaches involving compromised identities. Active Directory remains a top target because it is the gateway to many organizations' most sensitive data and systems. Losing control of AD is akin to losing control of the entire enterprise. With cybercriminals growing more sophisticated, they are relentlessly attacking AD systems, leveraging vulnerabilities to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access. Every day, there are an estimated 95 million attempted AD attacks globally. The average downtime from a successful ransomware attack is 23 days — time in which organizations are vulnerable to losing both financial resources and reputational trust. What is ITDR, and why does it matter? Identity threat detection and response (ITDR) was coined by Gartner and focuses on addressing identity as a primary attack vector. It’s a security discipline that includes tools, processes, threat intelligence, and best practices to protect identity systems. ITDR – which can be further defined with core pillars of prevention, detection, and response – works by implementing mechanisms to identify anomalous activities, detect posture changes, and responding to attacks to restore identity infrastructure integrity. ITDR emerged because identity systems have become too complex and important to leave to traditional security disciplines like network or endpoint detection. Just as network detection and response (NDR) protects the network perimeter and endpoint detection and response (EDR) focuses on securing individual devices, ITDR has become necessary to protect the identity layer, and therefore, AD. Mapping ITDR to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework is a widely adopted set of guidelines designed to help organizations manage and mitigate AD security threats. It outlines six key pillars that provide a structured approach to improving AD security and cyber resilience: • Identify: Understand and assess existing identity security policies. • Protect: Implement controls to limit exposure to risk. • Detect: Monitor identity systems for security issues and anomalies. • Respond: Take immediate action to contain and mitigate detected threats. • Recover: Restore identity systems to a secure state after an attack. • Govern: Ensure a holistic cybersecurity approach. ITDR’s core functions — prevention, detection, and response — complement these stages effectively. Prevention enhances both the Identify and Protect areas by helping organizations assess vulnerabilities and implement safeguards that minimize the risk of identity-based threats. Detection supports the Detect stage by providing continuous monitoring and early identification of suspicious behavior. Finally, response strengthens both the Respond and Recover stages, enabling quick action to contain threats and restore identity infrastructure. By complementing the NIST framework, ITDR empowers organizations to create a comprehensive and adaptive security strategy. This ensures not only stronger protection but also faster detection and response, reducing the impact of identity-related attacks and maintaining operational continuity. How can you enhance ITDR and AD security with Microsoft AI? By integrating AI-powered solutions such as Microsoft Copilot for Security with ITDR and AD security solutions, this enhances your ability to detect, respond to, and mitigate security threats with clarity, speed, and expertise. • Clarity: Simplify complex security by transforming intricate security alerts into clear, actionable summaries, enabling faster, more informed decisions across your hybrid AD environment. • Speed: Accelerate your threat response through AI-driven insights. Rapidly detect, investigate, and mitigate AD threats, ensuring your team stays ahead of adversaries by using guided responses and automated task optimization. • Expertise: Enhance your team's proficiency by automating routine tasks and providing step-by-step guidance, allowing experts to focus on the most critical security challenges. Securing identities with Microsoft and Quest Understanding why ITDR and AD security is critical is one thing; acting on this information and establishing a strong security posture is another. At Quest, we understand that having access to the right ITDR solutions is key to staying ahead of threats and ensuring in-depth cyber resilience. Quest Security Guardian is a unified ITDR and hybrid AD security solution that meets these challenges, helping organizations protect and defend both Active Directory (AD) and Entra ID. By leveraging advanced Azure AI, Security Guardian reduces your attack surface and simplifies identity threat detection and response by spotlighting what happened, if you’re exposed, and how to fix the problem. Security Guardian empowers security teams by benchmarking your AD configurations against industry best practices and continuously monitoring for anomalous behaviors and hacker tactics. Its integration with Microsoft Copilot for Security enhances your security strategy by providing AI insights that help accelerate responses and protect tier-zero assets like group policy objects (GPOs) from compromise. Moreover, Security Guardian is available in the Azure Marketplace, making procurement seamless and efficient. Organizations can also apply their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) toward Security Guardian, streamlining the purchasing process while utilizing existing budget allocations. Learn more about how Security Guardian can help reduce your attack surface with simplicity and speed. Further reading: White paper: A journey to Zero Trust Mitigating Active Directory threats before, during and after disaster White paper: Mitigating the top 5 modern Active Directory threatsPartner Spotlight: Driving efficiency for medical researchers with Copilot agents
In our Partner Spotlight series, we tell the unique stories of partners innovating on the commercial marketplace. These partners have inspiring stories to tell on leveraging AI in app development, building across the Microsoft cloud, publishing transactable solutions on the marketplace, and maximizing marketplace selling opportunities. In this article, I sat down with Witivio's Nicolas Humann to learn more about their story and partner journey. About Nicolas: Nicolas Humann leads Witivio, an AI-driven company dedicated to enhancing employee experiences through Microsoft Teams solutions, such as GPT Pro, TeamsPro, and Copilot Factory. Under his leadership, Witivio has grown internationally, delivering products that simplify collaboration and support hybrid workplaces. With nearly two decades of experience in AI, cloud solutions, and software development, Nicolas Humann is committed to driving workplace transformation through accessible, high-impact technology. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ [JR]: Tell us about your organization. What inspired the founding? What products/services do you offer? [NH]: AtWitivio, we specialize in AI-driven solutions for Microsoft Teams, focused on enhancing employee experiences and streamlining workplace tasks. Our offerings include GPT Pro, a no-code AI Agent builder; Teams Pro, a suite of applications like Calendar Pro and KeePass Pro; and Copilot Factory, which supports clients in creating custom conversational AI solutions. An example of this is Copilot for Researcher, developed in collaboration with Institut Curie. Since our founding, we’ve benefited from support through the Microsoft for Startups program, which has helped fuel our growth and innovation through resources and guidance. We've been recognized as Microsoft's Startup of the Year (France, 2020), and our innovations with AI Copilot plugins have received endorsements from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the AI Tour in Paris. Every day, our solutions support over 590,000 employees in Microsoft Teams, and we’re continually expanding with Copilot extensions to make Teams even more insightful and powerful for developers and users alike. We’ve also been among the first partners to publish declarative agents in the Microsoft commercial marketplace, positioning Witivio as an industry leader in adapting to Microsoft’s newest technologies. [JR]:Can you tell us a bit about the application(s) you have available on the marketplace? How does it work? [NH]: GPT Pro:An advanced AI assistant fully integrated into Microsoft Teams. GPT Pro enhances team productivity by facilitating intelligent, context-aware interactions and automating tasks within the enterprise environment. Pro for Teams: A suite of applications designed to customize Microsoft Teams and boost collaboration and productivity. It includes various tools like Calendar Pro, KeePass Pro, and others to enhance the Teams experience. KeePass Pro: A secure password management tool within Microsoft Teams. KeePass Pro allows users to store, share, and generate passwords safely in their SharePoint, ensuring team-wide security and accessibility. Booking Room Pro: An application that helps organize and manage office and seating occupancy. It streamlines the process of booking rooms and workspaces, enhancing office resource management. Booking Room Pro was one of the first Copilot Agents available on the Microsoft Marketplace. Calendar Pro: A shared calendar solution within Microsoft Teams. It allows teams to manage projects, PTO, HR actions, and campaigns collaboratively, ensuring everyone stays informed and organized. Today, these solutions support over 590,000 employees daily, streamlining workflows, automating tasks, and enhancing collaboration in Microsoft Teams. [JR]: What Microsoft cloud products did you use in your app development? What value is this enabling with your customers? [NH]: In developing our solutions, we leverage a cross-cloud approach by integratingAzure and Microsoft Teams. Azure provides a robust, scalable foundation for our AI-driven solutions, enabling us to deploy powerful machine learning models, manage data securely, and maintain high availability. Using Azure's capabilities, we can incorporate advanced features like natural language processing and real-time data analytics, ensuring that our solutions meet the unique needs of diverse organizations. Microsoft Teams serves as the collaborative hub where our solutions, such as GPT Pro and Calendar Pro, seamlessly integrate. This integration enables our customers to access tools directly within their workflow, facilitating improved communication, task automation, and collaboration. For example, by using Teams as the interface, employees can engage with AI Agent, manage schedules, and share information effortlessly — all in one place. This cross-cloud architecture — combining Azure’s AI capabilities with the accessibility of Teams — empowers our customers to enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and foster a connected hybrid workplace. [JR]: How has Microsoft supported you along your journey? [NH]: Microsoft has been an invaluable partner throughout our journey, providing us with the tools, support, and connections needed to scale our solutions and reach new customers. Through Microsoft for Startups, we gained access to essential resources that have fueled our growth. A dedicated Partner Development Manager supports us directly, guiding our actions and helping us align with Microsoft’s ecosystem. This personalized support has enabled us to refine our solutions, access new market opportunities, and leverage Microsoft’s best practices for app development. In addition, our close collaboration with the Microsoft 365 Customer and Partner Ecosystem (CAPE) Team has strengthened our integration with Microsoft 365 and Teams. The CAPE Team has been instrumental in helping us optimize our solutions for Teams, ensuring a seamless experience for our users and enabling us to reach the right audiences. Our experience publishing to the Microsoft commercial marketplacehas also been highly positive, giving us a platform to showcase our apps to a global audience and simplify distribution. Through these collaborative efforts, Microsoft has supported us at every stage, helping us build scalable, impactful solutions for our customers. With Microsoft’s support, including guidance from the CAPE Team and Microsoft for Startups, we’ve expanded our reach to support over 590,000 employees daily in Microsoft Teams, providing solutions that transform the way they work. [JR]: How does your org align its business to enabling positive impact for your customers and communities? [NH]: At Witivio, we are committed to creating positive impacts for our customers and communities by developing AI-driven solutions that enhance productivity and streamline operations. Our collaboration with Institut Curie, a leading French cancer research center, exemplifies this commitment. Together with Microsoft, we developed "Copilot for Researcher," a Copilot Agent to help them to focus on research instead of administrative tasks. Additionally, we offer a 20% discount on our products to educational institutions and non-profit organizations, recognizing their unique financial needs. This initiative aims to make our solutions more accessible, enabling these organizations to benefit from advanced technologies that can improve their operations and services. [JR]: Have you collaborated with other partners in the Microsoft ecosystem? How has this collaboration been beneficial? [NH]: Yes, we actively collaborate with other partners within the Microsoft ecosystem, includingCloud Solution Providers (CSPs). Partnering with CSPs has allowed us to broaden our reach and offer more comprehensive solutions to our clients. Through these collaborations, we can better integrate our AI-driven applications within existing Microsoft environments, ensuring a seamless experience for end-users. Working alongside CSPs also allows us to share insights, stay updated on the latest Microsoft innovations, and continuously improve our solutions. This collaborative approach has been mutually beneficial, enabling us to meet a wider range of customer needs, provide additional support, and strengthen our presence within the Microsoft ecosystem. [JR]: How are you leveraging or planning to leverage AI in app development? [NH]: At Witivio, we are actively integrating AI into our app development process to deliver intelligent, responsive solutions that enhance productivity and support specialized workflows. We leverage Azure OpenAI Services to access advanced language models like GPT-4o, enabling us to build solutions with sophisticated natural language processing and data analysis capabilities. For instance, in projects like Copilot for Researcher, these models are key to providing advanced reasoning and streamlining workflows for researchers. Azure AI Studio plays a crucial role in our development, offering a collaborative environment for testing and deploying AI models. This platform allows us to rapidly iterate and adapt models to meet specific client needs, enhancing our ability to create personalized, high-quality solutions with responsible AI practices. In addition, GitHub Copilot has become a valuable tool for our developers, speeding up the coding process by suggesting code snippets and helping with routine programming tasks. This AI-powered coding assistant allows our team to focus more on complex problem-solving and innovation, reducing time spent on repetitive coding. GitHub Copilot also assists in maintaining high code quality and consistency across projects, supporting faster prototyping and implementation of new ideas. Together, these AI tools enable us to create applications that are both technically robust and highly relevant to the unique needs of our customers, helping us deliver solutions that make a meaningful impact. [JR]: What business outcomes have you experienced as a result of using AI? [NH]: At Witivio, AI has been a core part of our business since 2017, when we first began developing chatbots and exploring machine learning capabilities. This foundation allowed us to refine our expertise and stay ahead of industry trends. Over the years, advancements like Azure OpenAI Services, AI Studio, and GitHub Copilot have enabled us to expand beyond traditional chatbot solutions, creating increasingly sophisticated, responsive, and specialized solutions for our clients. With these new AI capabilities, we've seen: Increased efficiency: GitHub Copilot has sped up development timelines and enhanced productivity by automating routine code suggestions, freeing developers to focus on more complex problem-solving. Enhanced product quality: Azure OpenAI Services allow us to deliver more accurate, contextually relevant solutions, driving greater client satisfaction and stronger customer relationships. New opportunities for specialized solutions: With Copilot for Researcher, we’ve been able to apply our AI experience in new sectors, such as life sciences, allowing us to enter niche markets with a unique, AI-driven offering that resonates with specialized needs. Our long-standing experience with AI has not only delivered measurable business outcomes but has also solidified Witivio’s position as an industry leader in AI-driven solutions. [JR]: Can you tell us more about Witivio’s recent Copilot agent development? [NH]:Copilot for Researcher is a specialized application of Microsoft's broader Copilot technology tailored to the needs of life sciences researchers. Developed by Witivio in partnership with Microsoft, it leverages Copilot's core capabilities in natural language processing, search, and summarization to streamline time-consuming research tasks. The initial release of Copilot for Researcher is scheduled for December 2024. In the same way that Microsoft Copilot assists users across different fields by integrating with data sources and automating routine tasks, Copilot for Researcher draws on vast scientific databases—like PubMed and The Human Protein Atlas—and organizes that information into easily navigable, interactive research cards. By automating data collection, citation management, and summarization, it gives researchers more time for direct scientific exploration, accelerating productivity and innovation in crucial areas like cancer research at institutions such as Institut Curie. This relationship with Copilot ensures that Copilot for Researcher benefits from Microsoft’s robust AI technology, adapted specifically to serve life sciences, providing researchers with relevant, up-to-date scientific insights on demand. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resources: Join ISV Success Join themarketplace community Learn more about Copilot for Researcher: A new Copilot tool will give Insitut Curie researchers more time to focus on cancerPartner Opportunity to Contribute to the Copilot Roadmap
Microsoft Partners - We're sharing an opportunity with you to contribute to the Copilot roadmap. Voice your company's thoughts on what features and capabilities Microsoft should build to help ISVs build, deploy, and monitor Copilots. Complete this survey (5-10 mins) by EOD 11/22 to influence the Copilot roadmap: https://forms.office.com/r/nv6EPTfYFhPartner Spotlight: Meeting customers where they are, with Aran Khanna
About Aran: Born and raised in Seattle, Aran Khanna studied computer science & mathematics at Harvard. Before founding Archera, Aran was an engineer at Microsoft and Amazon Web Services and founded Glia Intelligence, a machine learning consultancy focused on the Retail industry. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ [JR]: Tell us about Archera and your mission. What inspired the founding? [AK]: The idea for Archera came from my experience launching a machine learning service on a major cloud hyperscaler in 2016, where cost was a major issue for deep learning workloads. For many customers experimenting with AI and machine learning, it’s not easy to predict what their workloads will look like in production, so they end up either running up their bill while they consume at list price, or not getting started in the first place after seeing what it would cost. I wanted to make it easier to experiment with intelligent apps by making costs more predictable and giving customers the flexibility to change their architecture as they discovered more about the needs of their business. I also didn’t want to tax customers on a percentage of total spend or savings like other cost management solutions do, because many of these calculations include optimization work the customer has achieved by themselves. So, we launched a platform that is totally free when it comes to cost modeling and booking native cloud commitments, and enables customers to purchase insurance for their commitments to give them that extra flexibility and confidence. [JR]: Can you tell us a bit about the application(s) you have available on the marketplace? How does it work? [AK]:Archera is a free cloud management platform offering the first insurance product for Azure savings plans, reservations, and private pricing. We help customers commit more confidently to Azure services by eliminating the financial risks of unused commitments. That confidence helps Azure customers using Archera accelerate their Azure migration and modernization projects. Customers tend to commit more, commit faster, and commit for longer when they know they can cover commitments with our insurance and get the best rates from Microsoft. Archera fills the gaps between existing Azure reservations and savings plans, which require one-year or three-year commitments. We enable flexible commitment tools: like 30-day commitments where Archera covers any commitment losses for up to 35 additional months. [JR]: AI is top of mind for all of us. How is Archera leveraging or planning to leverage AI in app development? [AK]: AI is central to our platform in two ways. For our end customers, cost is a major issue for deep learning workloads. Even compared to other cloud services, it’s harder to predict what you’ll spend on AI services, so calculating ROI can be a real mess. We make ROI easier to predict with our free forecasting and cost analysis platform. But, even when you’re in Production and you’ve bought your Azure OpenAI PTUs (provisioned throughput units), and you have a sophisticated FinOps practice in place, nothing is 100% certain, so our insurance is there to hedge the remaining risk. Within the platform itself, we use machine learning to help customers forecast and optimize their cloud spend across the hundreds of services available on Azure. We also use statistical models to calculate the premiums for the commitment insurance at the core of our solution. [JR]: What Microsoft cloud products did you use in your app development? What value is this enabling with your customers? [AK]: We leverage Azure Kubernetes Service to run our SaaS app, which helps us optimize our own use of cloud resources and keep the platform free for our customers. [JR]: How has Microsoft supported you along your journey? [AK]: Microsoft Founders Hub has been a great resource to us. We leveraged the Azure credits for our development on the Azure platform and are starting to use the OpenAI benefits to improve our prediction engine on the back end. It’s always helpful to get 1:1 access to Microsoft business and technical experts. [JR]: How does Archera align its business to enabling positive impact for your customers and communities? [AK]: Giving customers the ability to increase their commitment coverage makes their Azure workloads much more sustainable. Our customer-aligned model contrasts with commitment arbitrage products, offering better control for customers and no requirement to relinquish ownership of their billing accounts. We provide a secure financial model for our customers to launch their next great intelligent app. [JR]: Have you collaborated with other partners in the Microsoft ecosystem? How has this collaboration been beneficial? [AK]: We fully support Multiparty Private Offers (MPO) and ISV to CSP Private Offers. That keeps the paperwork simple for our channel and makes it easy for customers to buy from their preferred Microsoft partner. We partner with other ISVs too. Not only do we help ISVs keep their COGS in check, when customers purchase third party solutions from other publishers in the marketplace and run those solutions on their own Azure infrastructure, they can buy reservations and savings plans for that infrastructure too. That reduces the TCO for the end customer without impacting the publisher’s margins, so it’s a win-win. [JR]: What motivated you to publish a transactable offer on the commercial marketplace? [AK]: We wanted to meet customers where they are. Since our customers buy Azure reservations and savings plans in the Azure portal, we knew from the start that our product should be available on the same platform and on the same bill. So it was an obvious choice for us — It’s the closest we can get to being a truly native offering. [JR]: How has the ability to transact directly on the marketplace influenced your sales strategy and customer interactions? [AK]: We work with Azure customers of all sizes, from startups to enterprises, across industries like Healthcare, Media and Entertainment, Digital Natives, and Financial Services. All our customers buy us through a cloud marketplace, so being transactable is part and parcel of the Archera experience. The platform itself is free, and when customers purchase commitment insurance through the platform, that transaction flows through the marketplace and appears on their Azure bill, so it’s transparent and easy to understand. Our pricing model includes both pay-as-you-go and upfront options, which mirrors Microsoft’s purchase options for the underlying Azure reservations and savings plans. We wanted to introduce as little friction as possible to how customers buy from Microsoft. [JR]: Congrats on launching Archera on the Azure Marketplace! What excites you about having this offer on the marketplace, and how do you see yourself growing? [AK]: We are very excited to offer our customers the first ever Azure commitment insurance, exclusively available from Azure Marketplace. For our customers, deploying the platform and purchasing reservations through Marketplace is a seamless experience. For us, it represents a significant growth opportunity, with Microsoft customers around the world now able to leverage flexible-term commitment instruments for the first time. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resources: Join ISV Success Join themarketplace communityMarketplace at Microsoft Ignite 2024!
We're less than 2 weeks away from Microsoft Ignite 2024, happening the week of November 18!Whether you’re joining us virtually or in Chicago, we have more content than ever to help software companies, partners, and customers find success through the Microsoft commercial marketplace. The marketplace is the most partner-focused business platform, and our breakout sessions cover the latest marketplace capabilities, benefits, and tips to enable your growth. With “How to capture the marketplace opportunity” (BRK343), learn how the marketplace helps you reach more customers, simplify sales, and unlock growth. This session includes information about changes to Microsoft’s agency fee, how to identify MACC accounts in Partner Center, and how to sell through Microsoft sales channels. In “Activating the channel through the marketplace” (BRK344), explore a variety of dealmaking scenarios and get guidance on additional ways to monetize with features like multiparty private offers and professional services. With “What’s new in ISV Success – AI benefits for software companies and more” (BRK350), you’ll hear about new benefits and cash incentives available now through ISV Success, as well as learn how your AI applications can qualify you for accelerated rewards. To better understand the value of marketplace for customers, don’t miss “More than a storefront, unlocking value through the marketplace” (BRK125). This session will explain how the marketplace makes it easier for organizations to discover, try, purchase, and manage cloud and AI solutions so they can spend smarter and move faster. There will be a demo on how to build a custom copilot using a model-as-a-service and ISV solution from the marketplace. If you’re joining us in Chicago, marketplace experts will be available for questions in the MAICPP area onthe Hub floor of the convention center. Our two in-person theater sessions will go even deeper on many of the ideas discussed in breakout sessions: “10 tips for marketplace success” (THR679) “Step-by-step instructions to activate multiparty private offers” (THR681) It’s not too late to join us virtually! Register for Microsoft Ignite today.
5 Key Takeaways from the Marketplace Summit UK: Maximizing Marketplace Success
The Marketplace Summit UK, #MarketplaceSummitUK, brought together over 350+ Microsoft partners, including ISVs, system integrators, and channel partners, to explore and capitalize on the rapidly growing opportunities within the Microsoft commercial marketplace. Here are 5 takeaways from the keynote which shared marketplace opportunities and insights from Jason Rook- Senior Director, lead for channels sales for the marketplace, Andy Whyte- CEO, MEDDIC, Nick Ross- UK&I Channel leader, Wiz, and Amit Sinha- President and Co-Founder, WorkSpan.Poor video quality is costing your business more than you think—here’s how to fix it
In this guest blog post, Polina Davydova, Content & Communication Manager at Hive Streaming, explains how subpar video communication holds back enterprises, and how focusing on IT infrastructure, video experience, and overall messaging impact with help from Hive Streaming on Microsoft Azure drives employee attend and facilitates cross-organizational alignment.
