The keynote by Ryan Storgaard, who leads the Microsoft marketplace product growth team, was the highlight of our recent online event.
📈 Microsoft marketplace is experiencing unprecedented growth, with multi-billions in transactions and a 188% YoY surge in AI and ML revenue.
This surge, coupled with the integration of AI-powered solutions and professional services, signals a transformative phase for the cloud marketplace and Microsoft partner ecosystems.
Here are insights from Microsoft's marketplace leader on the latest Microsoft marketplace trends and updates:
📊 Marketplace Growth is Surging Across Segments
With AI as a major driver, the Microsoft commercial marketplace is growing explosively. Ryan emphasized a significant acceleration:
“I can honestly say now is the most fascinating time…
The flywheel has kicked in, it's multi-billions being run through the marketplace, which is exciting.”
The marketplace itself has evolved dramatically. Ryan shared that when he joined the Microsoft marketplace team in 2017, cloud marketplaces were seen as suitable primarily for SMBs. Enterprise sales were deemed too complex due to their customized and friction-heavy procurement processes. This has radically changed.
"Really you've seen that invert the last few years. It's just been an absolute explosion in terms of enterprise and SaaS… And really what we're seeing now is actually it's all channels, it's all segments, it's all customer types."
🎯 Digital Direct Sales Acceleration
The marketplace has been gaining traction in the enterprise segment for some time, but Ryan highlighted the rapid rise of self-service purchases. This has been considered a major potential growth avenue since the marketplace’s inception.
"We're also seeing is just this explosion in terms of customers just self-serving, meaning they're buying on their own without any assisted support from a seller and oftentimes buying the public price, which is different than what you see in the enterprise purchase, where there's a lot of custom terms…"
The marketplace has come full circle, making an impact across segments. This is a call to action for alliance leaders to make their offerings accessible for purchase or trials to capitalize on this trend.
✨“Massive” Demand for AI-Powered Solution
Ryan emphasized that one key accelerant of marketplace growth is surging customer demand for AI solutions.
“Customer demand for AI-powered solutions is absolutely massive. Huge investments that are happening…
We're seeing 188% growth in AI and machine learning revenue, which we're early days here as we get this going, but exciting times to see the growth there and the customer demand, as well as our global sales organization looking for solutions that fit these customer needs."
However, with the strong customer demand for AI, their expectations are also rising significantly...
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