Recap: Earlier this year at its flagship event, Microsoft Inspire, the tech giant announced some key changes in its programs. While there were many announcements that ISVs need to take note of, what needs your urgent attention are the changes announced to the Azure IP Co-sell eligibility. It is critical to adhere to these changes by December 31, 2023, or you will have to say goodbye to co-sell benefits.
‘Having a transactable offer published on the commercial marketplace is a new baseline requirement to access co-sell benefits’Here’s what it means. From January 1, 2024:- Having a transactable offer on Microsoft commercial marketplace is a prerequisite for ISVs to be eligible for Azure IP Co-sell benefits
- ISVs that only have a contact me offer or a listing on the commercial marketplace, which is not transactable will no longer be able to access co-sell benefits.
This move has largely been driven by the growing adoption of cloud marketplaces among major software customers and an increasing demand from this ecosystem to buy software online, in a seamless manner. This announcement came in July 2023, giving ISVs 6 months to identify their next plan of action and prepare effectively to publish transactable offers. With December 31, 2023, around the corner, ISVs now have only a few weeks to ensure they have a transactable offer. Glossary: A transactable offer is defined as a published offer on the marketplace in which Microsoft facilitates the exchange of money for a software license on the publisher’s/ ISV’s behalf.
Here’s a quick recap of what Azure IP co-sell eligibility includes effective from January 2024: - Transactable solution published on the commercial marketplace
- Meet or exceed $100K Azure Consumption Revenue (ACR) in a trailing 12-month OR meet or exceed a billed revenue of $100K in a trailing 12-month period
- Meet the Azure Marketplace policies, be primarily platformed on Azure, and pass the Azure platform technical validation process
- Published quality co-sell bill of materials, including an offer one-pager and offer pitch deck
Complying with these new Azure IP Co-sell eligibility requirements comes with its own set of benefits, enabling ISVs to: - Foster growth by selling in the global cloud marketplace and leverage partner networks via co-selling
- Accelerate sales process by reaching customers directly through Microsoft commercial marketplace, where Microsoft takes care of all purchase formalities and operations
- Offer solutions that count toward customers’ cloud consumption commitments, expanding the revenue pipeline
Furthermore, ISVs can choose to remain Azure IP co-sell eligible or unlock top-tier benefits following two strategic pathways, i.e. through marketplace performance and consumption commitment. Once ISVs meet the top tier eligibility, here are the additional benefits they receive: - Microsoft sellers will be incentivized for sales of these offers in the commercial marketplace
- Microsoft will also promote such offers or solutions to sellers so they can easily identify them for joint-selling opportunities
- Optimization of customers’ committed cloud budgets which is available via Azure IP co-sell eligibility
- Access to Partner Reported Azure Consumption Revenue (PRACR)
Way forward: Meet the Microsoft Co-sell Deadline with SaaSify
The next few weeks are extremely critical for ISVs to switch to transactable offers to continue leveraging co-sell benefits and foster SaaS business growth. With SaaSify, ISVs can achieve a cost-effective transition to transactable offers before the clock strikes the deadline: - Create new transactable offers from scratch and go live within a week
- Convert existing contact me offers to transactable offers
- Access cloud consumption commitments and strengthening your deal pipeline
To know about how to make your offers transactable and eligible for Azure IP Co-sell Incentives, you can book a personalized demo with our cloud marketplace experts. Get all your questions answered about these latest changes, their impact on your ISV business and how creating transactable offers with SaaSify, can enable you to leverage exclusive benefits like access to customers’ committed cloud budgets and seller incentivization towards eligible Azure solutions.