The way organizations buy technology is changing quickly. As AI moves from experimentation into production, customers want to source solutions, services, and the expertise to deploy them through the routes they already trust. Increasingly that means cloud marketplaces.
The momentum behind Microsoft Marketplace reflects this shift, with sales doubling year-over-year, for the third consecutive year.* For partners, this creates a near-term opportunity to meet customers where they want to buy, while connecting software innovation, services expertise, and the Microsoft reach through one commercial platform.
The next wave of transformation will not be driven by AI alone. It will be driven by ecosystems. As organizations enter the era of Frontier Transformation, they are looking beyond technology vendors to partners who can help turn AI investments into measurable business outcomes.
In an AI-driven economy, Marketplace is becoming the commercial engine that connects innovation to customer value. Software companies bring innovation. Channel partners bring customer intimacy, services expertise, and local reach. Marketplace brings them together, creating a single platform where the ecosystem can co-build, co-sell, and deliver end-to-end solutions at scale.
That shift is the focus of the conversation Sandy Gupta, Vice President, Global ISV Ecosystem, and I had at MCAPS Start for Partners. We shared where Marketplace is headed in FY27 and why this is the moment to treat it as a core growth engine. This blog recaps that session and outlines the priorities partners can act on now.
Meeting customers in the markets and moments where they buy
Technology innovation can scale globally almost overnight, but customer buying behaviors remain deeply local. AI solutions may reach the market quickly, but adoption is still shaped by regional procurement practices, trusted advisor relationships, and established routes to market. Global reach matters, but it must be paired with local relevance.
Today, Microsoft Marketplace powers commerce across 141 markets, creating a global platform for innovation while enabling customers to buy through the channels and partners they trust. As Microsoft continues to expand channel-led selling motions, software companies can reach new customers, channel partners can take a larger role in transactions, and organizations can adopt innovation in the way that works best for them.
Multiparty private offers are now available in Australia, Japan, South Africa, and more than 30 countries in Europe, building on existing availability in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Combined with resale-enabled offers available globally, these motions give software companies and channel partners new ways to grow together through Marketplace.
Software companies can enter new markets without recreating commercial infrastructure country by country. Channel partners can take a more active role in enabling customers to discover, procure, and deploy solutions. Customers gain the flexibility to buy through the partners and purchasing models they already trust.
Marketplace serves as the connective layer, bringing software companies, channel partners, and customers together through a single commercial platform while managing the complexity of billing, tax, and currency worldwide. That allows the ecosystem to stay focused on what creates the most value: enabling customers to achieve outcomes faster.
"Microsoft Marketplace gives us a way to meet our customers where they are, and help them align to their outcomes in a streamlined way... For partners, it creates a clear path to co-sell with CDW and Microsoft, while keeping the customer experience front and center. Our role is to curate the right combination of partner solutions, cloud capabilities, and CDW services around each of our customers’ unique business outcomes.”
- Karen Thorson, Head of Azure Services and Solutions, CDW
Activating the channel at scale
Global reach only matters if every partner type can act on it. Microsoft Marketplace growth depends on how effectively Microsoft supports software companies and channel partners to participate with confidence and consistency. In FY27, Microsoft is investing in clearer pathways to make Marketplace easier to use across partner motions.
First, Microsoft is launching dedicated, persona-based skilling pathways built for the channel, so all partners have clear guidance on how to transact through Marketplace.
Second, Microsoft is scaling onboarding and deal support through the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, so partners can get started faster and engage earlier in opportunities. To learn more, contact our concierge desk.
Third, we're investing in Marketplace activation and sales transformation across the channel, including an expansion of Marketplace Rewards with cloud credits, marketing benefits, and more designed to fuel your growth.
These investments support partners to engage in the motions that work best in their markets while connecting to a unified commercial platform. When the channel is activated at this scale, Marketplace becomes more than a route to market. It becomes a repeatable engine for partner-led engagement.
"Microsoft Marketplace is really important: it gives us a platform to co-sell with Microsoft and partners in a way that’s faster and simpler, and more aligned to... how customers want to buy and meeting them where they are. So, for Blue Yonder, staying ahead of the curve means continuing to innovate with AI, validating workloads in real customer environments, and using more and more of Marketplace as a growth platform—to bring the right solutions, partners, and commercial motions together for the customer."
- Kelley Lear, CVP, GM of Global Alliances, Blue Yonder
Making co-sell simpler and more effective
Microsoft Marketplace is the center of the Microsoft co-sell motion. As customers move from AI experimentation to Frontier Transformation, they are looking for solutions that deliver measurable business outcomes, not technology alone. That requires software innovation, partner expertise, and Microsoft seller alignment coming together in a single motion. Marketplace makes that easier.
Microsoft continues to provide a 100% match on a customer's Azure commitment when they purchase eligible co-sell solutions through Marketplace, unlocking value in committed cloud budgets. For customers, this can create a faster path to value from existing cloud investments. For partners, it creates an opportunity to expand deal potential, accelerate growth, and reach new buyers.
Microsoft is also expanding participation. Through Azure IP Co-sell Acceleration, emerging AI companies can engage Microsoft sellers earlier and accelerate their path to Marketplace growth. Microsoft is also increasing investment in partners that achieve the Solutions Partner with certified software designation, strengthening seller alignment and recognizing proven innovation.
In addition, Microsoft is bringing together ISV Success, Marketplace Rewards, co-sell, and Solutions Partner with certified software designations through Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace, a unified offering for software companies launching later this year.
When software companies, channel partners, and Microsoft sellers align around Marketplace, co-sell becomes more than a go-to-market strategy. It becomes a practical growth motion that enables customers to adopt AI faster, partners to build larger businesses, and the ecosystem to capture the opportunity of Frontier Transformation together.
Additional investments in your Marketplace success
As we enter FY27, we continue to evolve Microsoft Marketplace to support how customers discover, evaluate, and buy cloud and AI solutions.
To help drive customer demand, we announced intelligent discovery in Marketplace. AI-driven search capabilities now give customers an intuitive way to find, compare, and select solutions faster, streamlining the path from discovery to deployment. Enhanced trial capabilities provide expanded coverage, greater flexibility, and built-in insights for offers with trials. This helps bring more qualified customers into your pipeline and convert demand into revenue.
We’re also doing more to accelerate transactions. The new “request private offer” call-to-action on a Marketplace offer jumpstarts customer conversations, better connecting you to buyers who are earlier in their purchase journey. Additionally, partners can now secure deals for up to 10 years and use non-standard terms, allowing you to match the custom contract length negotiated with your customer while maintaining a single private offer for the full term.
The opportunity ahead
We're still in the early stages of what AI will make possible, but one thing is already clear: no company will navigate this transformation alone. Success will come from ecosystems working together, combining innovation, expertise, and trusted customer relationships to turn AI investments into business outcomes.
That's why we're continuing to invest in Microsoft Marketplace as the commercial platform that brings software companies, channel partners, and Microsoft together. Whether you're building solutions, delivering services, or helping customers navigate their AI journey, Marketplace creates new opportunities to reach customers, grow your business, and scale your impact.
The next chapter of growth won't be defined by technology alone. It will be defined by how effectively we come together as an ecosystem to deliver outcomes for customers. That's the opportunity in front of us, and I couldn't be more excited about what we'll achieve together in FY27.
* Source: Microsoft internal data, measured by year-over-year Marketplace Billed Sales FY24–FY26.