More ways to sell through the marketplace with professional services

Cloud marketplaces are becoming increasingly popular as a preferred way for organizations to find, try, and buy software, especially as cloud and AI demands become more complex.

The Microsoft Commercial Marketplace is at the heart of how we sell with partners, helping them reach more customers, streamline sales, and grow. Microsoft now enables partners in Canada, the UK, and the US to sell their professional services through private offers in the Marketplace, giving them more ways to serve their customers.

For software development companies, there are often a variety of services to consider to support the sale of their products. Whether it’s providing implementation assistance, customer training, or long-term support, the value of your team’s time and resources can be directly demonstrated within your marketplace sales through professional services for private offers. And for other partners, such as system integrators, managed service providers, etc., you can offer professional services (via private offers) to support customers who prefer the simplicity of purchasing through the marketplace.

Value for you and your customers

As customers turn to marketplaces to centralize their cloud portfolios, you can further streamline purchasing by streamlining software and services purchases through a single platform. Customers get: Your solution Buy directly from Microsoft and get your purchases integrated directly into your Azure invoice. As a partner, you can skip the hassle of vendor onboarding and dramatically streamline your sales while reaching global markets. You can also bundle software and services to accelerate your customers’ time to value.

“Now that professional services are available in the Microsoft commercial marketplace, we have another avenue to serve our customers with streamlined sales. And by bundling services and products together, we can help customers streamline their procurement process.” –Teamviewer

How it works

For partners in eligible regions, you can now:

• Sell ​​your professional services as a standalone personal offering, or
• Add professional services to your personalized offer along with your software.

Examples of professional services include assessments, briefings, customer support, implementations, migrations, proofs of concept, and workshops. These professional services are sold as private offers. When you build an offer, you can notify your customers directly in Partner Center that a private offer is ready. CustomersEn will receive an email directing them to the Azure portal. Assuming they have the appropriate permissions, the customer will Accept and Purchase Professional Services Personal Offer. Through Personal Offer, you can negotiate and use a flat fee billing plan, including prepaid, monthly or annual payments for up to 3 years.

Any company in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program can sell professional services. The documentation details this, but at a high level:

1. Become a member Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (Membership is free)
2. Sign Marketplace Publisher Agreement
3. Post your suggestion
4. sell Professional Services Personal Offers

Getting Started with the Marketplace

The Microsoft Commercial Marketplace is dedicated to helping you reach more customers, streamline sales, and grow. If you’re building applications and looking to maximize your marketplace success, consider joining ISV Success. Partners who join will have access to complimentary benefits designed to help you build on the Microsoft Cloud, publish faster, and grow your partnership opportunities. Learn more about how to join. ISV Hub.

To start selling professional services: Check out the technical documentation.