Microsoft Ignite’s message last week: channel is not just at the table — you are the growth driver.

Here’s what I took away from sessions focusing on Marketplace + Channel + AI opportunities.

1) Marketplace is driving impressive growth

Nicole Dezen framed Marketplace as “our scale growth engine for the ecosystem”, backing it with recent Omdia data:

• 75% ISVs say deals close faster

• 69% land larger deals

• 88% see recognizable revenue growth tied to Marketplace

This makes the Marketplace a natural place for ISVs and channel partners to drive GTM, co-sell and invest in growth.

2) ISV + channel on Marketplace is where the biggest deals live

When an ISV and a channel partner come together on Marketplace:

• That slice of the business is growing 3.5X, and

• Producing deals that are 75% larger than the average Marketplace deal.

Jason Rook highlighted that not only is the marketplace overall doubling, but the ISV + channel subset is compounding on top.

Translation: any Marketplace strategy that doesn’t include ISV + channel is leaving serious growth on the table.

3) The Marketplace multiplier heavily favors partners

New Marketplace study by Omdia quantified the upside of using Microsoft Marketplace:

• ISVs see $1.75 of additional value for every $1 transacted via Marketplace

• Channel partners see $6.26 of extra value for every $1

That extra value comes from service attach, renewals, bundling, etc. – where channel partners are strongest.

4) Deal economics are shifting toward partner-funded, AI-heavy motions

Jay McBain forecasts that 59% of Marketplace deals by 2030 will include partners. That aligns with Microsoft’s broader pattern: ~95% of their deals are partner-assisted already.

Jay also highlighted that the majority of customers already use partners for agentic AI - 47% rely on partners (+24% adopt hybrid approach).

Result? Marketplace is the place where AI, partners and commercial flows are wired together.

5) Resell Enabled Offers (not so) quietly put channel back in control

This was the most “channel-changing” piece for me. Darren Sharpe explained that with Resell Enabled Offers (now GA worldwide):

• ISVs keep one public transactable listing

• they authorize specific partners to run a reseller version

• the partner controls price, terms and lifecycle, sends the offer directly to the customer, and owns the relationship

• Microsoft bills the customer and pays the partner, who then pays the ISV

This is Microsoft re-creating traditional channel power structures inside Marketplace:

partners keep contracting primacy and can add other services & products – but now on Marketplace rails.

What this means for Alliance leaders:

Marketplace is the platform for how Microsoft, ISVs and channel do business together.

The next wave of growth with Microsoft will be captured by partners who are both AI and Marketplace-fluent.