Channel-led deals run 80% larger

Marketplace is scaling as a digital channel. But Microsoft is using partners to make that channel bigger:

• Marketplace billed sales doubled YoY in FY24, FY25 and FY26

• Channel-led sales are 80% larger on average

• Across Microsoft, deals shared with partners grew 76% YoY

​The economic engine is becoming clearer

Microsoft now calls Marketplace "the center" of its co-sell motion.

Nearly all customers holding an Azure commitment actively use Marketplace, and eligible third-party purchases receive 100% credit against that commitment. Microsoft is also increasing seller incentives for solutions with a certified software designation.

That turns enterprise sales into one motion:

Pre-committed Azure budgets → third-party software → Microsoft sellers → channel partners → customer procurement

Microsoft is simplifying it in FY27

Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace, launching later this year, will bring together ISV Success, Marketplace Rewards, co-sell and certified software designations.

The wider Frontier Accelerate program creates one offering and one nomination path, with deeper incentives and faster approvals.

Buying experience is expanding at both ends

AI-powered discovery lets customers describe a need, compare solutions conversationally and move into trials with built-in performance analytics.

That turns listing metadata into a ranking input.

At the enterprise end, customers can request a private offer directly from a listing. Partners can negotiate non-standard terms and sign contracts up to 10 yrs.

Self-serve discovery and decade-long enterprise contracts, converging on the same platform.

​Between them sits the channel.

Marketplace now supports commerce across 141 markets. MPO have expanded to Australia, Japan, South Africa and more than 30 European countries, while REO are available globally.​

Wider FY27 partner thesis is that “Core fuels Frontier”

Microsoft is replacing product-by-product solution plays with a smaller set of outcome-led conversations, and putting deeper incentives behind partners who work across them.

AI reaches production only when identity, data, applications and security are ready underneath it.

Marketplace is now the commercial layer across that journey: software, agents and services distributed through Microsoft, co-sold with its field, delivered by local partners.