Drive local growth with Microsoft Marketplace

Innovation is global, but buying is local. A breakthrough in AI can reach many global markets within weeks, but the way customers realize value from that technology still depends on local realities. Procurement norms, trusted advisors, buying preferences, and routes to market differ by country.

That local reality is the premise behind our latest expansion of channel-led selling through Microsoft Marketplace. In May, Microsoft expanded multiparty private offers to more than 30 countries across Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Now we are building on that momentum by expanding multiparty private offers to Australia, Japan, and South Africa, a significant step into Asia Pacific and African markets and continued investment toward meeting customers and partners where they already are.     

Global capabilities, built for local markets

Across Asia Pacific, the opportunity is substantial: Gartner forecasts Australian organizations will spend A$33.6 billion on public cloud services in 2026, up 17.9% year over year.¹

That momentum is reflected in the Microsoft investment in the region. In April, Microsoft announced its largest-ever investment in Australia: A$25 billion (USD$18 billion) through 2029 to expand in-country AI and cloud capacity, strengthen cybersecurity, and equip three million Australians with AI skills by 2028. Partners and customers will put this capacity to work together.

Australian organizations are also investing ahead of the next wave of AI. But investment alone doesn't guarantee business outcomes. As AI moves from experimentation into production, customers are looking for trusted partners for the expertise, local relationships, and guidance that turn AI ambition into operational value.

For those in Australia, multiparty private offers match how customers want to buy with how our ecosystem creates value, while unlocking the scale of Marketplace. As we head into FY27, this is the next phase of partner-led growth in the region.

Japan offers another clear example, as its technology economy is channel-first by design. An estimated 70% of enterprise software sales flow through, or are significantly influenced by distributors, system integrators, and other channel partners who are central to how customers evaluate, deploy, and scale new solutions.² IT consulting and implementation alone lead the market with a 31.45% revenue share in 2025.³

For partners selling into Japan, local relationships, Japanese language engagement, and relationship-based selling are central to how customers evaluate and scale new solutions. Multiparty private offers make that motion easier by bringing software, partner services, and customer purchasing into a single Marketplace transaction.

In addition to Australia and Japan, multiparty private offers are now available in South Africa—one of the first in Africa. Customers in South Africa are adopting AI quickly and doing it alongside local partners whose expertise accelerates their impact. That partner-led buying motion is what multiparty private offers are built to support.

For companies that build software: A simpler path to new markets

For software companies, multiparty private offers through Marketplace can create a more direct path to grow through accelerated partner-led sales that reach new customers. Instead of managing separate agreements market by market or reconciling disconnected transactions, Marketplace gives you one commercial platform.

Microsoft manages core commerce capabilities such as billing, tax, and currency, so cross-border selling becomes simpler. That means you stay focused on differentiated products while your partners bring market knowledge, customer relationships, and implementation expertise. In practice, multiparty private offers and other partner-led deal constructs through Marketplace give you support to:

• Enter new markets without standing up country-specific processes
• Accelerate deal velocity by aligning pricing, margin, and terms in a single offer
• Co-sell with partners who bring services depth and local context

The Microsoft 100% match for Azure benefit eligible solutions can turn pre-committed cloud budgets into larger Marketplace opportunities. Eligible Marketplace purchases count toward a customer's Azure consumption commitment, supporting you and your partners as you align around customer priorities at scale.

For channel partners: A bigger role in deals

For channel partners, including distributors and systems integrators, this expansion opens new ways to participate in Marketplace sales while continuing to deliver the services and local expertise your customers value.

Multiparty private offers make it easier to work across your software vendor ecosystem while keeping the customer relationship at the center, helping you bring differentiated solutions to market faster. You can bring your solutions, services, and customers together with your software vendors' offers in a single transaction.

The commercial upside is significant. Partners and software companies report deals that are, on average, 85% larger when transacted through Microsoft Marketplace compared to traditional sales motions.⁴ You keep the customer relationship, reduce sales overhead, and lead co-sell engagements that create larger, more durable opportunities.

How to get started

Whether you build software or take it to market, there's a clear next step. Start by joining the Microsoft Cloud and AI Partner Program and enrolling in Marketplace. Then use the sales and marketing playbook to access frameworks, ready-to-use assets, and step-by-step guidance for building a repeatable, channel-led motion.     

If you're a software company:

• Get your solutions transactable and become co-sell eligible, then prioritize the markets where you have revenue potential and existing partner traction. Build a target partner list, focusing on partners with the right market coverage and Marketplace readiness.
• Set up your preferred deal construct, such as multiparty private offers, resale enabled offers, or both, and confirm partner prerequisites in Partner Center.
• Equip your partners' sellers with enablement kits and incentives and align your own sales team around the motion.

 If you're a channel partner:

• Complete enrollment for multiparty private offers in Partner Center.
• Find the solutions that align to your customer needs and activate your software vendor relationships. Eligible solutions can also align to co-sell motion.
• Structure offers that reflect your services, expertise, and value-add.

For onboarding guidance, contact Channel Ready. Partners can also join the Marketplace Community and attend monthly office hours to stay connected and learn from Microsoft experts and the broader ecosystem.

Building what's next, together

These global channel-led sales motions represent continued investment from Microsoft in Marketplace as a commercial platform where partners can co-build, co-innovate, and co-sell, together. The goal is not geographic coverage for its own sake. The goal is to make it easier for customers to buy innovation through the local relationships and routes they already trust. By connecting software companies, channel partners, and customers through one commercial platform, Marketplace lets us meet each market on its own terms.

The next chapter of channel-led growth will be shaped by partners who bring together local expertise, trusted customer relationships, and global reach. For partners across Australia, Japan, and South Africa, that opportunity starts now.

¹ _{Source: Gartner, “Gartner Forecasts Australian Organizations Will Spend More Than A$33 Billion on Public Cloud in 2026,” press release, May 11, 2026.}

_{² Source: Nihonium, Systems Integrators (SIers) in Japan: SaaS Channel Guide, February 2026. Approximately 70% of enterprise software sales in Japan flow through SIer and partner channels.}

_{³ Source: Mordor Intelligence, Japan IT Services Market, 2026. IT consulting and implementation led Japan's IT services market with a 31.45% revenue share in 2025.}

_{⁴ Source: Omdia, Microsoft Marketplace Partner Ecosystem Monetization (PEM) Whitepaper, December 2025. Partners and software companies that generated larger deals reported deals that were, on average, 85% larger via Microsoft Marketplace compared to traditional sales motions. Results are not an endorsement of Microsoft. Any reliance on these results is at the third party's own risk.}