The year of Marketplace & Generative AI for ISVs #1

In this article and upcoming ISV Update call we will share the most important investments Microsoft is making this fiscal year on how to grow and scale your SaaS business. Besides Global benefit programs like ISV Success this includes local initiatives like our updated TransactLab program. We are not only helping you publish your transactable offer into the Marketplace, we will continue helping you land your first deals and build pipeline. Our goal is to provide you everything you need to make the Marketplace a strategic sales channel for your SaaS business. This includes the help of new business partners like StoryBrand Nederland . Join our call September 6 (11:00 - 12:00) to learn more about the new partnerships and updated program.

"There's no question we are in the midst of a massive platform shift with the new generation of AI that's going to transform pretty much every sector and category of computing" Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft.

Besides Marketplace this is going to be the year for ISVs to start using generative AI for their own software solutions. For example with GitHub copilot to accelerate repetitive tasks or learn how to build your own copilot with Azure Open AI studio.

Open AI studio becomes available after you deploy your first Azure Open AI workload. If you are interested to learn more about this, or would like to participate in a local workshop leave a message. Be inspired by the journey of our colleague Soham who explains his learnings in his recent LinkedIn article.

If you prefer video, now available on-demand, the Azure Open AI webinar for ISVs presented by the local team. Learn about the best practices for ISVs and useful resources shared earlier from thig blog.

In July we hosted Microsoft Inspire, our biggest Global partner event. Read this post for some of the top announcements at this year’s event. We also created this curated overview for ISVs on our community page. You can use this overview for on-demand sessions. Besides the on-demand content, below a quick summary of the most relevant Microsoft Inspire announcements for ISVs.

Microsoft Inspire marks the launch of the?Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, the next generation of our partner program, which empowers every partner to deliver customer value while leveraging Microsoft AI and the Microsoft Cloud. Read more about the?Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program.

Expanded ISV Success benefits we announced general availability of ISV success, the pathway within the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program for partners who develop software, or Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).?

• New expanded benefits:?As your business grows, so do the rewards. Eligible partners can now access additional Cloud credits and up to 50 hours of valuable business and technical consultations.
• Multi-year investments:?After your first year in ISV Success, you can earn ongoing discounted benefits.
• A simplified journey: Microsoft 365, ISV Connect (D365), and Marketplace Rewards are now part of ISV Success.

New Azure capabilities and investments

We are also going to?announce?a substantial investment to increase the scale and availability of?Azure Migrate & Modernize, and to launch?Azure Innovate, an all-new dedicated investment we are making in response to the heightened demands for analytics and AI.

• GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps public preview?is generating significant excitement
• More capabilities?in our free tool, Azure Migrate.
• Expanded services?in Azure Confidential Computing.
• Vector search in Azure Cognitive Search,?now available in preview,
• Azure AI?Document Intelligence?and Azure OpenAI Service work together, bringing powerful generative AI to document processing.
• Whisper model,?coming soon?to Azure OpenAI Service
• Custom Neural Voice, now?generally available, and Real-time?Diarization in?public preview.

This is going to be the year to think about the Marketplace as your (new) sales channel for Azure customers, and the procurement platform to co-sell with Microsoft sales teams.

Jake Zborowski, General Manager Microsoft Marketplace presented the updated roadmap including upcoming features during Inspire. He told how his team is using AI to optimize procurement to help customers find your solution. Through this deep dive you will discover how to leverage these features to unlock the full potential of your solutions in the marketplace. Must watch Inspire session, available on-demand here.

Below are some other useful resources on how to get started with the Marketplace. Make sure you are part of ISV Success and use your architectural review session to get 1:1 support on how to get your transactable offer listed into the Commercial Marketplace.

• Marketplace Minis?series. These?are short videos that explain marketplace publishing concepts in three minutes or less.
• Mastering the Marketplace?is a collection of?on-demand content for all the steps towards publishing.
• Marketplace without filter, learn how to transact and how your customers purchase via the Marketplace

Summary and next steps

Thanks for taking the time to read this first update for ISVs in our new fiscal year. Below a summary on next steps, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions and/or would like to schedule some 1:1 time with the local team to tailor a plan for your business.

1. Join ISV Success, get free tools, consulting, and resources to help build your solution and reach millions of potential?customers on the Microsoft commercial marketplace.
2. Participate on our first ISV update call (September 6 - 11:00 / 12:00), learn about our new business partnerships, updated TransactLab program and other Microsoft investment to help you grow your business via the Marketplace
3. Join the local NL community to stay informed about everything relevant for ISVs and connect with the local team and your peers, see you soon!