Today's roadmap session covered the upcoming functionality for Microsoft's commercial marketplace across Partner Center, Microsoft AppSource, and Azure Marketplace. These capabilities are expected to release in Q3 2019.
Watch it here: commercial marketplace updates and roadmap - August 2019
(Powerpoint slides can be downloaded at the bottom of this post.)
- Publisher account migration to Partner Center
- Profile information will be mastered in Partner Center for all partners who signed up there initially and those who created the profile in Cloud Partner Portal. Email communications were published in mid-August and migrations are expected to complete by the start of September.
- Offer creation and management in Partner Center
- Transition to Partner Center from other publishing portals (Cloud Partner Portal and Seller Dash) started with SaaS offers. Dynamics 365 offers are moving through August, and Office 365 add-ins will follow next. Through the beginning of 2020, all the remaining offer types will transition into Partner Center. Publishers receive email communications in advance, and the Microsoft team is standing by to assist with any questions.
- Navigation between Partner Center and Cloud Partner Portal will also be simplified in the interim. Cloud Partner Portal UX will be integrated into Partner Center for a consolidated experience. This does not affect end points or backend systems.
- Improvements to sales reporting
- Enhancing insights and analytics information available to publishers within Partner Center. Upcoming releases include web telemetry, ratings and reviews, and API access to systematically consume data.
- Managing co-sell engagements in Partner Center
- Bi-directional communication between partners and Microsoft will be managed within the Referrals section of Partner Center. Marketplace leads will be supported, and deal registration for IP co-sell will also take place here.
- To expand the extensibility of this information, Microsoft is releasing Flow templates so that the Partner Center Referrals content can be incorporated in other CRM systems with a no-code solution.
- Marketplace Rewards in Partner Center
- When you create a new offer and as it gains momentum with customers, you earn benefits through the Marketplace Rewards program. Your earned rewards, the catalog of options, and activating a benefit will be managed within Partner Center directly.
Upcoming sessions:
How to sell through Microsoft’s commercial marketplace
September 4 at 7pm Pacific
https://aka.ms/TransactWorkshop2
Commercial marketplace insights & analytics
September 12 at 10am Pacific
https://aka.ms/AnalyticsWebinar
I’ve published. Now what?
September 30 at 10am Pacific
https://aka.ms/MarketingBestPractices
