Microsoft Inspire was an incredible conference with tens of thousands of attendees from around the world, inspiring keynotes from Microsoft and industry leaders, and many product and program announcements. So many, in fact, that it can be very difficult to keep track, so I've consolidated a list of the new commercial marketplace functionality we've introduced.
Here is a simple list with links to documentation, and keep an eye out in the coming days and weeks for deep dive articles on each one that highlights our early adopters and best practices.
Microsoft AppSource purchase experience
Customers can now find, try, and buy software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings directly from Microsoft AppSource! Needing nothing more than a work account (aka Azure Active Directory) and a valid credit card, users can purchase software subscriptions that are managed in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Customer documentation for the purchase experience
Commercial marketplace offerings in the Cloud Solution Provider program
Transactable offerings that are sold through Microsoft's commerce platform can be made available to the network of approximately 70,000 Cloud Solution Providers to bundle and resell. With simply the click of a box, your product is included in the catalog of software available through CSP.
Publisher documentation for Cloud Solution Provider
CSP documentation for commercial marketplace offers
Marketplace rewards program
A new benefits program which will enhance the success of publishers with transactable offers in the commercial marketplace. Through this program you can unlock sales, marketing, and technical benefits to help accelerate success.
Per-user and metered billing for SaaS
New monetization models for SaaS offerings! With simple API integration and support for AAD single-sign on, you can leverage new billing models software designed in a web app model. Like Office 365, you can charge on a per-user basis, or using the new metering service, you can define any unit dimension you wish. This is great for overages, add ons, or consumption based monetization, and some of the most popular examples are bandwidth, emails, instances, and devices.
Create a SaaS offer for the commercial marketplace
SaaS fulfillment API documentation
Metered billing API documentation
SaaS free trials that convert to subscription
With the check of a box, you can now add a free month trial to the start of a SaaS subscription. This lowers the barrier for customers to try your solution and fall in love before they commit to a full paid subscription. After the month period ends, it will automatically convert to a normal subscription unless the customer disables auto-renew. This is compatible with per-user or flat fee offerings with support for metered billing in the future.
Add a free trial to paid SaaS subscriptions
Managed Services in Azure Marketplace
The newest offering type for Azure Marketplace, Managed Services integrates seamlessly with Azure Lighthouse and Partner Admin Link for simplified discovery, engagement, fulfillment, management, and influence recognition. Azure Delegated Resource Management - a function of Azure Lighthouse - provides you with automated provisioning for access to the customer's infrastructure so that you can manage Azure on their behalf.
Create a Managed Service offering
Offer creation and management in Partner Center
Starting with SaaS and then on a per-offer type basis, we are transitioning from legacy management portals into the new commercial marketplace experience in Partner Center.
Commercial marketplace publishing in Partner Center
Business Applications ISV Connect Program
ISVs that build on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and PowerApps can offer their customers innovative apps they couldn’t build elsewhere using connections to industry-leading cloud services on Azure and developer tools built just for them. The new Business Applications ISV Connect Program from Microsoft brings together platform and program benefits created especially for ISVs to support their success.
Business Apps ISV Connect Program
ISV Connect enrollment documentation
Have questions or need help?
Please reply in the comments, check out the commercial marketplace publisher guide, and don't hesitate contact marketplace publisher support.
