What is Co-selling with Microsoft Azure?

Co-selling with Azure is an opportunity-based engagement between your sales team and their Azure counterparts, channel partners, or other ISVs to solve a customer’s solution needs. It begins when a qualified sales opportunity is identified by Microsoft or Partner, and shared through Partner Sales Connect or Partner Center. If the receiving party finds the opportunity compelling, they accept it and collaborate throughout the sales cycle to close the deal.

How Does Microsoft Azure Co-Selling Work?

To navigate the dynamics of the Microsoft Azure co-sell ecosystem, we need to be clear with some key concepts. These include:

Co-sell Opportunities on Microsoft Azure Marketplace

Co-sell opportunities are potential sale instances or projects where ISVs and Azure sellers, channel partners, or two Azure partners collaborate to study and analyse the customer’s need and solve it with a tailored offer, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

There are various levels of engagement, defining the type of collaborations, called Co-sell Categories, available under the co-sell program. These include:

• Co-sell with Microsoft sales teams: ISV and Microsoft sellers work together on the identified opportunities to close the deal with an offer that suits the business needs of the customer.
• Partner to Partner (P2P): Two Azure partners collaborate to solve customers’ needs with one of their solutions.
• Private Deal: ISVs share their independent workings with Microsoft for analysis and forecasting. No sales collaboration happens here.
• Solution Assessment (SA): Partners work with vetted partners by the Assessment Business team to assess the technology needs of customers.

Co-sell Status

Co-sell status is a way to label the solutions with an identity that defines the co-sell eligibility of the solution and the benefits it is eligible to receive under the Microsoft Azure co-selling program. This classification helps ISVs understand the current co-sell status of their offers and the requirements they need to meet to qualify for a higher co-sell level. Let us explore these various co-sell statuses one by one:

• In-Market: This is a status for solutions that are listed but haven’t yet met the requirement for co-sell ready, signifying that ISVs with In-Market status are not eligible to collaborate with Microsoft sellers for co-selling. However, they can collaborate with other Azure partners to solve a customer’s need as attached solutions.
• Co-sell Ready: Co-sell ready status is the baseline for co-selling with Microsoft sellers- where your solution meets the basic co-sell requirements, making them visible to Microsoft sellers in their internal systems.
• Azure IP Co-sell Eligible: This is the advanced Microsoft Azure co-selling level offering deeper engagements with Microsoft sellers and unlocking access to MACC funding (Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment) buyers for SaaS selling. Designed for partners who have developed intellectual property (IP) on Azure, solutions under this co-sell program receive prioritized attention from Microsoft sellers, allowing ISVs to work closely with Microsoft sellers to identify and pursue joint customer opportunities.

Key advantages of co-selling with Microsoft Azure

Through co-selling efforts, Microsoft aims to simplify the software buying and selling experience through dedicated support from the Azure sellers. Though there are multiple possibilities, here are some key benefits of co-selling with Microsoft Azure:

• Increased Reach and Visibility- Co-selling with Azure enhances the exposure of your offers to global buyers, increasing your prospect territory and SaaS sales.
• Accelerated Sales Cycles- Microsoft Azure co-selling enables your sales team to collaborate with regional Azure sellers to build co-sell strategies and boost sales effortlessly without any language hindrance or barrier, accelerating your sales cycles and enhancing your deal closure rate.
• Revenue Growth and Profitability- Joint selling with Microsoft results in higher win rates, as both sales teams work together to drive conversions. Additionally, eligible partners may receive incentives or funding through Microsoft’s co-selling programs, further enhancing profitability.
• Enhanced Credibility and Trust- Being a co-selling partner means your solution has been vetted by Microsoft, which adds credibility and instills trust in potential customers. Buyers are more likely to invest in a solution backed by an industry leader.
• Access to Resources and Support- Your co-sell eligibility empowers your sales team to access tools and resources that Microsoft provides to enhance their co-selling capabilities. These include comprehensive training, marketing tools, and technical resources such as learning materials or live sessions with domain experts.

SaaSify encourages ISVs to explore the eligibility criteria for participating in the Microsoft Azure Co-Sell Program by visiting the official Microsoft website: Co-sell requirements – Partner Center | Microsoft Learn

Co-Selling with Microsoft Azure vs. Without Co-Selling: A Comparative Breakdown

Challenges with Microsoft Azure Co-Sell

Co-selling with Microsoft Azure can significantly boost ISVs’ SaaS revenue if implemented correctly. The process requires addressing several activities that ISVs often find resource-intensive and time-consuming. This makes co-selling success a distant game for the ISVs operating with limited resources.

A study revealed that 80% of the marketplace revenue is shared by 20% of the software sellers. These 20% ISVs have developed a challenge-proof cloud GTM strategy that enhances the operational efficiency of their sales team by leveraging tools and innovations.

Let’s address some key challenges that ISVs face in their Microsoft Azure co-sell journey:

Navigating the Complexity of Various Co-sell Programs

Microsoft offers multiple co-selling programs (Co-sell Ready, Azure IP Co-sell, etc.), each with different requirements, benefits, and eligibility criteria. Identifying the right program for your business and staying updated with evolving policies can be overwhelming for ISVs.

While the co-sell eligibility can be a hurdle for some ISVs, the platform still provides channels for partnership with other partner ISVs on deal promotion and providing customer-specific solutions.

Aligning Sales and Marketing Efforts

Successful co-selling requires seamless collaboration between your sales teams and Microsoft counterparts. Managing communication across multiple teams and synchronizing joint execution plans can be challenging. Top ISVs are utilizing SaaSify’s CRM connectors and the unified dashboard to streamline their communication with partner sellers and scale joint efforts under a single experience.

Context Switching and Operational Efficiency

Many ISVs rely on CRM systems like HubSpot and Salesforce but integrating them with Microsoft’s co-sell platform can be difficult. Without seamless data syncing, ISVs struggle to track co-sell opportunities, manage shared leads, and maintain visibility into deal progress, leading to missed revenue opportunities. This is a major challenge with most of the ISVs, especially those with limited resources, affecting their operational efficiency and elongating sales cycles.

SaaSify’s CRM connector for HubSpot and Salesforce simplifies this integration without any engineering change, making it easy for the ISVs’ teams to manage the entire co-sell workflow from their native CRM with switching context or any upskilling.

Meeting Requirements and Ensuring Compliance

Becoming Co-sell Ready—especially achieving Azure IP Co-sell status—requires significant investment in solution assessments, sales enablement, and marketing collaboration. Maintaining compliance with Microsoft’s evolving requirements adds to the complexity.

SaaSify helps in meeting revenue criteria by streamlining the co-sell process and empowering the ISVs with data-driven insight to build strategies that close deals faster. Our group of experts has regular updates on the marketplace’s evolving compliance needs and induce solutions to keep you focused on other important business verticals.

Measuring ROI and Demonstrating Value

Tracking co-selling activities and measuring their impact is crucial but not always straightforward for ISVs. As a result, ISVs face the challenge of identifying areas of improvement or creating a tailored strategy that boosts conversion rates.

With SaaSify, ISVs get access to real-time performance analytics, helping ISVs measure their co-sell effectiveness by tracking deal status, engagement metrics, and revenue impact. Our platform, further, provides key performance benchmarks, such as deal velocity and win rates, enabling ISVs to refine their strategies, improve engagement with cloud partners, and optimize their sales pipeline for higher returns.

Best Practices for Microsoft Azure Co-Sell Success

Despite the technical complexity, domain experts have achieved unprecedented success since the inception of the Microsoft Azure co-sell program in 2017. Our deep experience and growth-redefining journey have led us to develop a few winning strategies to help our SaaS partners achieve co-sell success with Azure effortlessly. Here are a few key best practices for you:

• Understand the Co-sell Programs Inside and Out
  Understand the fundamental requirements of the co-sell programs, such as Co-sell ready, and Azure IP Co-sell eligible. Know what’s expected in terms of solution assessments, sales enablement, marketing collaboration, and performance metrics. This will help you prioritize your efforts and maximize your ROI.
• Set a Tailored Narrative
  Clearly articulate how your solution solves specific customer pain points and delivers measurable business value. Avoid technical jargon and focus on the outcomes. Customize your messaging for different audiences, including IT professionals, business decision-makers, and Microsoft sellers. Each group has different priorities and concerns.
• Build Strong Relationships with Microsoft Sellers
  Proactively identify sellers who focus on your target market and reach out to them. Offer Microsoft sellers valuable resources, such as sales enablement materials, customer success stories, and technical expertise. Stay in regular contact with your Microsoft sellers to keep them updated on your progress and ensure alignment on joint opportunities.
• Leverage the Microsoft Marketplaces Effectively
  Create compelling and informative listings on Azure Marketplace or AppSource. Use relevant keywords, highlight key features and benefits, and include customer testimonials. Have a system in place to manage leads generated through the marketplaces and follow up promptly.
• Invest in Sales and Technical Enablement
  Ensure your sales and technical teams are thoroughly trained on your solution, Microsoft’s sales processes, and co-selling best practices. Participate in joint training sessions with Microsoft sellers to ensure that both teams are aligned on messaging and sales strategies.
• Collaborate on Joint Marketing Activities
  Develop a joint marketing plan with your Microsoft counterparts that outlines specific activities, target audiences, and success metrics. Create co-branded marketing materials, such as brochures, white papers, and webinars, to leverage the credibility of both brands.
• Track Your Progress and Measure Your Results
  Identify key metrics that will help you measure the success of your co-selling efforts, such as lead generation, deal registration, and revenue growth. Track your progress against these metrics and provide regular reports to your team and Microsoft counterparts. Use the data to identify areas for improvement and adjust your co-selling strategy accordingly.

How SaaSify Helps ISVs Streamline Co-Selling with Microsoft Azure

We begin by helping your team to meet the technical requirements for Co-sell Ready status and drive progress towards Azure IP Co-sell eligibility by ensuring your SaaS offers are properly listed, managed, and optimized on the Azure Marketplace, and maximizing sales through streamlined marketplace operations, CRM integration and actionable insights.

Here’s how our experts help you navigate the co-selling lifecycle effortlessly and maximize your opportunity-to-cash conversion ratio:

Co-selling Readiness on Microsoft Azure Marketplace:

At SaaSify, our customer success team recognizes the complexities and challenges associated with the Azure co-selling lifecycle. As such, our experts ensure that our partners understand the intricacies of the process and are equipped with the tools, knowledge, and necessary collaterals besides being co-sell eligible.

Breaking down the various requirements for closing co-sell deals efficiently, our experts help your sales team to:

• Preparing sales and marketing collaterals.
• Guiding them with essential study materials suggestions, such as Microsoft’s MCEM program to understand the dynamics of the co-selling ecosystem precisely and build tailored strategies.
• Identify co-sell opportunities.
• Build effective co-sell narratives.
• Analyze the solution requirements of the buyer using data-driven insights.
• Prepare the right private offer that resonates with the buyer’s intent.
• Fast-track private offer creation leveraging field mapping.
• How to fully automate the complete offer creation cycle.
• Raise co-sell requests effortlessly leveraging automation.
• Collaborate with your cloud partners on closing deals faster.

Automated Metering and Billing

For SaaS solutions, usage-based billing is a crucial feature that allows businesses to offer flexible pricing models and maximize deal closure. With SaaSify, ISVs get the option to two pricing structures when creating private offers:

• Unit Pricing, and
• Subscription offers

SaaSify integrates with Azure’s metering services to automate usage tracking and invoice generation, simplifying the billing process for ISVs. This automation reduces operational overhead and ensures accurate billing for quick approval and revenue recognition, making it easier for Microsoft sellers to work with you.

Data-Driven Insights

With SaaSify, ISVs have real-time access to marketplace metrics through CRM integration and bidirectional synchronization, advanced reporting and analytics- allowing ISVs to generate a history record for customer’s need analysis, and ability to offer tailored private offers.

Altogether, this makes a deal-driving combination with the potential of giving your team an enhanced deal closure exposure. Your team can leverage real-time marketplace metrics to identify the right co-sell opportunities, analyze their history records to understand their solution needs and a suitable pricing structure, refining your co-selling strategies to Maximize conversions.

Instant Alerts on Deal Status

SaaSify platform enables ISVs to receive real-time alerts on deal status on their chosen platform for communication like Slack, MS Teams, or emails, ensuring that sales teams can take immediate action to maximize conversions. The transparent deal tracking system gives the entire sales team visibility into deal progress, allowing them to act on their own without waiting for directives from another division.

Automate Co-Selling with Microsoft Azure

For many ISVs, managing co-sell motion manually on the Azure marketplace feels more like operational overhead than a growth enabler. Switching between systems, entering the data manually, struggling to get data insights for opportunity creation, and maintaining communication alignment with partner sellers can drain both time and resources.

Challenges of Manual co-selling with Microsoft Azure

In its manual form, managing co-sell pipelines on Microsoft Azure presents the following challenges for ISVs and software sellers:

Context Switching

Manually switching between CRMs (like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho) and Microsoft Partner Center to create or submit co-sell opportunities is time-consuming and inefficient. It creates friction in the sales process, often leading to delays and missed collaboration opportunities with Microsoft sellers.

Steep Learning Curve

Submitting co-sell opportunities through Microsoft Partner Center requires specific knowledge of the platform. ISVs may need to train their sales teams or hire experienced resources, which increases operational costs and slows down adoption.

Manual Data Entry Errors

Copying opportunity data manually from CRM to Microsoft Partner Center increases the likelihood of errors. Sales and operations teams can spend hours each week fixing issues, which impacts opportunity accuracy and weakens trust in the co-sell process.

Building Custom Integrations

To streamline the co-sell workflow, some ISVs attempt to build custom integrations between their CRM and Microsoft Partner Center. However, this approach is resource-heavy, requiring engineering time that could be better spent on core product development.

Inconsistent Tracking and Visibility

Monitoring co-sell opportunity progress in Microsoft Partner Center is cumbersome without automated status syncing. Sales teams often toggle between systems to get updates, which reduces visibility, slows responsiveness, and hampers collaboration with Microsoft’s field sellers.

How SaaSify’s Co-sell Automation Makes the Difference

Automating Microsoft Azure Co-selling Workflow

Simplifying Azure Partner Center-CRM Integration with SaaSify CRM Connectors:-

With SaaSify’s native CRM connectors for Salesforce and HubSpot, sales teams can manage the entire co-sell workflow directly within their CRM. Here’s a brief overview of how this integration streamlines and automates the co-sell process.

Bi-Directional Opportunity Sync

Create, update, view, and assign opportunities, as well as accept invitations to engage on Microsoft Azure co-sell referrals directly within your CRM. Enjoy near real-time synchronization with Microsoft Partner Center’s Co-sell platform, ensuring every opportunity is always up-to-date.

Effortless Opportunity Creation

Easily convert CRM opportunities into Microsoft Azure Co-sell deals. Retrieve a list of your published solutions from Microsoft Partner Center and associate specific solution listings, Azure services, or Azure Marketplace offers with each opportunity as needed.

Real-Time Collaboration with Microsoft Sellers

ISVs can engage with Microsoft field sellers in real time, enabling seamless co-sell collaboration and eliminating the need to switch between systems or platforms.

Instant Updates and Notifications

Stay aligned and proactive with real-time status updates and notifications via Microsoft Teams, email, or your preferred communication channel—keeping your team informed and responsive throughout the deal lifecycle.

Dynamic Insights Dashboard

Access an intuitive, customizable dashboard that provides clear insights into co-sell performance. Make strategic decisions faster and strengthen your partnership with Microsoft.

Cost Optimization and Impact

Accelerate your co-sell pipeline without increasing operational overhead. Optimize resources, reduce manual effort, and improve revenue potential through efficient Azure co-sell workflows.

Decentralized Co-sell Pipeline Management

Empower teams to view and manage opportunity statuses without requiring deep familiarity with Microsoft Partner Center. Improve visibility, accountability, and reporting across business units.

Co-selling with Microsoft Azure: The SaaSify Advantage

Undoubtedly, Microsoft’s co-sell program has become a cornerstone of success for ISVs selling through the Azure Marketplace. However, keeping pace with ongoing developments—especially with programs like the Microsoft Commercial Marketplace and the multiparty private offers (MPOs)—can be challenging. That’s where having a knowledgeable partner by your side becomes invaluable.

As Microsoft continues to evolve its co-sell programs and partner engagement models, SaaSify is committed to providing end-to-end support to ISVs—empowering them to seize new opportunities and scale effectively within the Azure ecosystem. With SaaSify, ISVs can:

Stay Updated with Zero Effort

SaaSify is backed by a dedicated team of cloud marketplace professionals who are deeply aligned with Microsoft’s partner and marketplace programs. The platform is built to seamlessly adapt to updates and shifts in Microsoft’s co-sell and listing structures. This ensures that ISVs don’t need to spend time deciphering new policies or programmatic changes—they can rely on SaaSify to keep everything updated and streamlined on their behalf.

Automate Co-Sell Operations with Microsoft

SaaSify offers seamless integration with Microsoft’s Partner Center and CRM systems to help ISVs automate every stage of the co-sell lifecycle—right from opportunity registration, lead referrals, deal tracking, and reporting, to managing private offers and multiparty deal structures.

SaaSify’s no-code Microsoft CRM connector eliminates the need to build and maintain custom integrations with Microsoft APIs. It automatically syncs partner and opportunity data, adapts to changes in Microsoft’s co-sell models, and frees up ISV teams to focus on building strategic partnerships rather than managing technical complexity.

Tap Into SaaSify’s Microsoft Co-Sell Expertise

SaaSify’s deep experience with Azure Marketplace and Microsoft’s co-sell ecosystem gives ISVs a strategic advantage. From understanding how to optimize listings for co-sell readiness to leveraging programs like Azure multiparty private offers (MPOs), SaaSify experts provide hands-on support and guidance at every step. They help ISVs stay ahead of changes, implement best practices, and accelerate their co-sell momentum with Microsoft.

Wrapping Up

Co-selling with Microsoft Azure is a strategic growth enabler for ISVs looking to increase their marketplace visibility and scale sales. With 230% growth in digital direct sales and billions in marketplace transactions, Azure Marketplace is becoming the go-to platform for enterprises buying SaaS. Microsoft’s 35,000+ sellers, actively promoting co-selling, and the growing Azure partners, together are the forces driving this growth, solving the customer’s need and giving ISVs a fast track to high-value deals, simultaneously.

Though the process requires careful planning, execution, and alignment with Microsoft’s sales priorities, partnering with SaaSify streamlines the Azure co-sell journey, reduces complexity, improves co-sell readiness, and accelerates deal closures. Whether you’re just starting or looking to enhance your existing co-sell strategy, SaaSify empowers you to make the most of Microsoft Azure’s marketplace ecosystem without the setup hassle.

Ready to redefine your Azure co-sell drive? Connect with SaaSify experts to learn more!

Book A Demo | SaaSify