A Complete Guide to Co-Selling with Azure (2026)

Co-selling with Azure has become one of the highest-leverage growth motions for B2B SaaS companies. With close to $900 billion in enterprise cloud commitments sitting across hyperscalers and Microsoft Azure holding a significant share, the opportunity to tap into pre-committed buyer budgets through the Azure co-sell program has never been greater.

This guide is designed for GTM leaders, partnership managers, RevOps teams, and ISV founders who want to build a repeatable, scalable co-sell motion on Azure. We cover every stage: from understanding the program structure and eligibility requirements, to executing joint sales motions, unlocking MACC deals, and automating operations with Clazar’s co-sell automation platform.

What is co-selling with Azure?

Co-selling with Azure (also referred to as Microsoft co-sell or Azure Marketplace co-sell) is a collaborative sales motion in which Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Microsoft’s field sales teams jointly identify, pursue, and close customer opportunities. 

It begins when a qualified sales opportunity is identified by either the ISV or Microsoft and shared through Partner Sales Connect or Partner Center.

Microsoft’s field sellers are motivated to champion ISV solutions that drive Azure cloud consumption, while ISVs gain access to Microsoft’s enterprise customer relationships, trusted brand, and joint-selling resources.

The Azure co-sell framework

Co-selling with Azure typically involves:

• Opportunity registration: ISVs register referrals in Partner Center or receive inbound referrals from Microsoft via Partner Sales Connect.
• Account mapping: Partners collaborate with Microsoft field teams to identify overlapping customer accounts and prioritize joint pursuit.
• Joint selling motions: Microsoft sellers provide introductions, validate technical fit, and navigate procurement, while ISVs deliver product expertise.
• Marketplace transactions: Most co-sell opportunities culminate in Microsoft Marketplace transactions, enabling customers to use Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) spend.

Why co-selling with Azure matters for B2B SaaS companies

Enterprise software procurement is shifting dramatically toward cloud-native buying. Enterprises increasingly prefer to procure solutions through their cloud providers, leveraging pre-committed cloud budgets and streamlined approval processes. 

For SaaS companies, Azure co-selling creates multiple structural advantages.

Unlock enterprise MACC budgets

Large enterprises sign multi-year Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitments (MACC) to lock in significant cloud spend. When your offer achieves MACC eligibility (via Azure IP Co-Sell Eligible status), enterprise buyers can apply purchases of your solution toward their existing Azure commitment, dramatically reducing procurement friction and accelerating deal cycles. 

Accelerated deal cycles

Co-sell deals benefit from streamlined enterprise procurement. Microsoft acts as a trusted intermediary; buyers skip new-vendor onboarding, and all costs are consolidated into a single Azure invoice. The result: shorter approval chains, fewer legal reviews, and faster time-to-close compared to direct procurement.

Microsoft Preferred Solutions badge

Offers that achieve Azure IP Co-Sell Eligible status, or are enrolled in ISV Success with co-sell-ready status, receive a Microsoft Preferred Solutions badge on their Microsoft Marketplace listing. This badge signals validated quality, performance, and industry alignment to enterprise buyers actively browsing the marketplace.

Access to Microsoft’s field sales network

Microsoft’s field organization includes hundreds of thousands of sellers with deep enterprise relationships across every vertical. When you co-sell, you gain warm introductions, validated technical positioning, and deal support from sellers who are directly incentivized to champion MACC-eligible ISV solutions.

Strategic credibility and market access

Association with Microsoft provides instant credibility in enterprise buyer conversations. When a Microsoft seller introduces your solution, it signals technical validation and strategic alignment with the Microsoft ecosystem, particularly valuable when selling into risk-averse enterprises or regulated industries.

The Microsoft Marketplace in 2026 and beyond

On September 25, 2025, Microsoft unified Azure Marketplace and AppSource into a single platform called the Microsoft Marketplace. This consolidation is important context for any ISV building a co-sell strategy today.

• One hub for all solutions: From Azure infrastructure apps to SaaS extensions for Microsoft 365, all solutions now live in a single catalogue
• 6M+ monthly visitors: The unified marketplace brings together the buyer audiences of both Azure Marketplace and AppSource
• New AI Apps and Agents category: A dedicated section for agentic AI solutions, reflecting Microsoft’s strategic investment in AI-native software
• Co-sell requirements unchanged: Co-sell statuses, Partner Center workflows, and eligibility requirements remain the same post-unification

App Accelerate: coming in 2026
Microsoft announced App Accelerate at Ignite 2025 (November 2025) — a new unified program expected to launch in 2026 that consolidates ISV Success, Marketplace Rewards, and other benefits into a single streamlined pathway. It will also include an early co-sell access route for ISVs that haven’t yet reached the $100K ACR/MBS threshold, via a nomination-based pathway that considers MACC traction, pipeline strength, and partner readiness.

The 4 Azure co-sell statuses explained

Microsoft defines four progressive co-sell statuses for ISV solutions. Each level unlocks additional benefits, visibility, and seller engagement. Understanding where your offer sits and what you need to progress is foundational to your Azure cloud GTM strategy.

Read more about Azure co-sell statuses: Azure Co-Sell vs. IP Co-Sell Eligible: The Complete Guide for ISVs

Requirements for Azure co-sell-ready status

Co-Sell Ready status is the first milestone where your solution becomes visible to Microsoft’s sales organization. It is achievable relatively quickly and is the foundation for all further co-sell progression. 

According to Microsoft’s official co-sell requirements documentation, your offer must meet all of the following:

• PartnerID and Partner Center account: You must have an active PartnerID and commercial marketplace account in Microsoft Partner Center
• Complete business profile: A full business profile must be completed in Partner Center, including company description, solutions, and competencies
• Published offer on Microsoft Marketplace: Your offer must be live — whether transactable, free, or BYOL
• Co-sell documentation: Upload a one-pager (solution overview) and pitch deck via Co-sell > Solutions in Partner Center. Microsoft provides templates
• Sales contacts per geography: A sales contact must be provided for each co-sell-eligible geography where you want Microsoft sellers to engage

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Requirements for Azure IP Co-Sell Eligible status

Azure IP Co-Sell Eligible status is where the greatest revenue benefits are unlocked. This is the tier where Microsoft sellers are incentivized to sell your solution, your offer becomes MACC-eligible, and you earn the Microsoft Preferred Solutions badge. 

After achieving Co-Sell Ready status, ISVs must meet four additional requirements:

• Revenue threshold: $100,000 in trailing 12 months
  At the organization level, generate at least USD $100,000 of Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) or Marketplace Billed Sales (MBS) over the trailing 12-month period. As of July 2024, Microsoft monitors revenue at the publisher level (not per individual listing), so multiple listings contribute to the same threshold. Azure credits and ACO do not count.

• Microsoft technical validation
  Your solution must pass Microsoft’s Azure-platformed technical validation, confirming that the offer is primarily built on Azure and meets Microsoft Marketplace certification policies. This is a subset of the reference architecture diagram review process.

• Reference architecture diagram
  You must upload a reference architecture diagram with your co-sell documents in Partner Center. This diagram visually demonstrates how your solution integrates with Azure services — showing data flow, security, scalability, and Azure dependencies. 
  
  ‍Note: not mandatory for Azure App, Container, or VM offer types.

• Offer transactability on Microsoft Marketplace
  Effective July 11, 2023, new offers must be transactable (Microsoft processes billing and payment) to qualify for IP Co-Sell Eligible status. Free and BYOL offers do not qualify. Transactability is also a prerequisite for MACC eligibility.

What is MACC for Azure?

The Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) is a multi-year, pre-committed cloud spend contract that enterprises sign with Microsoft. MACC deals are typically multi-million-dollar agreements where customers commit to spending a defined amount on Azure services over one to three years.

When your offer achieves Azure IP Co-Sell Eligible status and becomes MACC-eligible, enterprise buyers can apply purchases of your SaaS solution toward their existing Azure commitment — a process often referred to as “MACC burn-down.”

Why MACC changes enterprise deal dynamics
For an enterprise with a $5M Azure commitment, buying your MACC-eligible SaaS product means using budget that’s already been committed and approved — not requesting new capital. Procurement is simplified because Microsoft acts as reseller and all costs appear on the Azure invoice. This removes one of the biggest blockers in enterprise sales: budget approval friction.

How to make your offer MACC-eligible

MACC eligibility is a direct outcome of achieving Azure IP Co-Sell Eligible status. Specifically, your offer must be:

• Transactable on Microsoft Marketplace (not a “Contact Me” listing)
• Azure IP Co-Sell Eligible (meeting all four requirements above)
• Enrolled in Azure consumption commitment enrollment in Partner Center
• Primarily platformed on Microsoft Azure

Winning MACC deals: Best Practices

Once MACC-eligible, target accounts are late in Microsoft’s fiscal year (Q4 runs April through June), when buyers are motivated to deploy committed spend. Most large MACC deals close through private offers, which allow custom pricing and terms while still qualifying for MACC burn-down. Work closely with your Partner Development Manager (PDM) or Partner Sales Executive (PSE) to confirm your listing’s MACC approval before deals enter procurement.

What are the primary teams involved in co-selling with Azure?

Successful co-selling requires coordination across multiple stakeholder groups, both within Microsoft and inside your organization. Understanding these roles and building strong relationships with each is essential for scaling co-sell motions.

Microsoft-side stakeholders

Internal ISV teams involved in co-selling

• Partnership / Alliance Team: Owns the Microsoft relationship strategy, manages co-sell programs, conducts account mapping, tracks co-sell pipeline, and serves as the liaison between internal sales and Microsoft field teams.
• Sales Team: Account Executives execute co-sell opportunities, register referrals in Partner Center, collaborate with Microsoft sellers, create and manage marketplace private offers, and drive deals to close.
• Revenue Operations / Sales Operations: Manage CRM integration with Partner Center, track co-sell metrics and attribution, automate opportunity registration workflows, maintain data hygiene, and build reporting dashboards for leadership.
• Marketing Team: Develop ‘better together’ messaging, create co-marketing campaigns with Microsoft, produce enablement materials for Microsoft field teams, and generate demand through Azure ecosystem channels.
• Product and Engineering Teams: Ensure marketplace listing compliance, build Azure service integrations, implement metering and billing, maintain security documentation, and provide technical validation during pre-sales.
• Finance Team: Owns pricing strategy for marketplace offers, discount approval workflows, billing reconciliation, and revenue recognition for marketplace transactions.

Azure co-sell programs and tools

Microsoft has built a comprehensive ecosystem of programs and platforms to facilitate co-selling. Understanding how to leverage each is essential for maximizing partnership value.

Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (formerly MPN) is the foundation of your Microsoft partnership. Membership provides access to co-sell programs, Partner Center tooling, training and certifications, and go-to-market resources. Joining is free and is the first step toward any co-sell engagement.

Partner Sales Connect

Partner Sales Connect is the operational backbone of Azure co-selling - Microsoft’s system for registering and tracking co-sell referrals, sharing deal information with Microsoft field sellers, and collaborating on joint opportunities. It is directly equivalent to AWS’s ACE system. Every qualified opportunity should be registered here to maximize Microsoft seller engagement.

Best practice: integrate Partner Sales Connect with your internal CRM (Salesforce or HubSpot) via a platform like Clazar to automate registration and maintain bidirectional data synchronization.

Talk to a Clazar expert today.

Microsoft Partner Center

Partner Center is the main hub for managing your Microsoft partnership. Here you can manage marketplace listings, access co-sell program benefits and documentation, complete training and certifications, track co-sell metrics and performance, and request Azure support and resources. All co-sell profile management and offer publishing happens through Partner Center.

ISV Success Program

ISV Success provides dedicated technical and business resources to help ISVs build, grow, and sell on the Microsoft commercial marketplace. It offers priority technical support, architecture reviews, and go-to-market benefits. ISV Success enrollment is a prerequisite for Business Applications Co-Sell eligibility and is a key route to achieving co-sell status for Dynamics 365-based solutions.

Marketplace Rewards

Marketplace Rewards provides incremental marketing and sales benefits tied to marketplace revenue milestones. ISVs that reach $100K in eligible ACR within the fiscal year qualify for a $20,000 rebate; listings reaching $4M in eligible ACR unlock an additional $50,000. Activating Marketplace Rewards requires assigning a marketing contact in Partner Center and opting in — a step many ISVs overlook.

How startups can co-sell with Azure effectively

Early-stage startups face unique challenges when building co-sell motions with Azure. Limited resources, smaller customer bases, and less brand recognition create barriers that enterprise ISVs don’t encounter. 

However, startups also have advantages - agility, focused execution, and often deeper Azure service integration. 

Here’s how to leverage co-selling as a growth lever even with constrained resources.

• Build deep Azure service integration from day one
  Startups often build on Azure infrastructure from the start, creating opportunities for tight service integration. Solutions that meaningfully leverage Azure services through native integrations, serverless architectures, specific Azure service dependencies, or workloads that drive significant Azure consumption become more attractive to Microsoft sellers. Your depth of integration becomes a competitive differentiator in co-sell conversations.

• Focus on narrow, high-impact use cases
  Rather than trying to co-sell broadly, identify specific verticals or use cases where Microsoft has a strategic focus. If Microsoft is investing in healthcare, fintech, or manufacturing and your solution serves those industries, your co-sell pitch becomes more compelling. Narrow targeting also makes it easier to build field enablement materials and demonstrate ROI to Microsoft sellers.

• Invest in marketplace listing early
  Many startups delay marketplace listing, viewing it as a later-stage initiative. This is a mistake. Early marketplace presence signals commitment to Microsoft, starts your path toward Co-Sell Ready status, creates demand generation opportunities, and simplifies procurement for early customers. List your product as soon as you have commercial traction even if most deals still close directly.

• Build relationships before you need them
  Don’t wait until you have a big co-sell opportunity to engage Microsoft. Proactive relationship-building with PDMs, sharing customer success stories, participating in Microsoft partner events, and contributing to Azure ecosystem initiatives all build relationship capital that pays dividends when you have deals to register.

• Automate co-sell workflows from day one
  Startups can’t afford to manage co-sell manually. Use Clazar’s automation builder to automate Partner Center registration, CRM integration, private offer creation, and co-sell reporting. Automation ensures consistency even with small teams and prevents co-sell from becoming an administrative burden that diverts resources from core selling.

How to build your Azure co-sell playbook

A repeatable co-sell playbook transforms ad-hoc partner collaboration into a predictable revenue engine. The best playbooks include clear processes, defined roles, and measurable success criteria. 

Here’s how to build yours:

Define your Azure co-sell Ideal Customer Profile

Not every opportunity is a good fit for Azure co-selling. Identify accounts and deals that benefit most from Microsoft involvement. 

Characteristics of strong Azure co-sell opportunities include:

• Enterprise accounts with existing Microsoft Enterprise Agreements or MACC commitments
• Customers where Azure services are integral to deployment or workloads
• Deals involving Azure-specific technical requirements or migration projects
• Accounts where Microsoft seller influence can accelerate decision-making
• Late-in-fiscal-year timing when buyers are motivated to deploy committed Azure spend

Create standard opportunity registration workflows

Manual Partner Center registration leads to inconsistencies and missed opportunities. Build automated workflows that trigger registration when opportunities meet co-sell criteria, capture required deal information in your CRM, sync data bidirectionally between CRM and Partner Center in real-time, and alert relevant stakeholders. 

With Clazar, automate the co-sell workflow, including routing inbound Microsoft referrals directly into your CRM pipeline.

Develop Microsoft field enablement materials

Microsoft sellers need to quickly understand what you do, why it matters to their customers and quota attainment, and how to position you in conversations. Essential enablement materials include:

• One-page solution overview with customer value proposition and Azure integration story
• ‘Better together’ deck highlighting Azure service integration and consumption impact
• Customer case studies demonstrating Azure consumption growth and business outcomes
• Technical reference architecture diagram showing Azure service dependencies
• Competitive differentiation talking points vs. alternatives on the Microsoft Marketplace

Establish account mapping cadence

Regular account mapping with Microsoft field teams uncovers opportunities before they’re fully formed. Schedule quarterly sessions with key Microsoft territory teams, prepare target account lists in advance with context, share mutual customer insights and intelligence, and align on joint pursuit strategies. Account mapping is relationship-building - the more Microsoft sellers understand your value, the more likely they are to think of you when relevant opportunities arise.

Build private offer templates

Private offers are the critical path to marketplace transactions, including MACC deals. Create standardized private offer templates for common deal types (including Flexible Payment Schedules for installment-based enterprise contracts), define discount approval thresholds and workflows, and automate offer generation from CRM opportunity data. 

Clazar’s private offer automation capabilities turn a multi-day manual process into a minutes-long automated workflow.

Common Azure Co-Selling Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Stopping at Co-Sell Ready

Many ISVs achieve Co-Sell Ready status and treat it as the finish line, missing the most powerful co-sell benefits that only unlock at Azure IP Co-Sell Eligible. MACC eligibility, seller incentives, and the Preferred Solutions badge require the full IP Co-Sell Eligible tier. Prioritize the path to $100K in ACR and completing the technical validation process.

Mistake 2: Weak or absent ‘better together’ story

Generic value propositions that don’t connect to Azure services or cloud consumption fail to motivate field engagement. Your “better together” narrative must clearly articulate the specific customer problems your solution solves, the Azure services it leverages, how it drives Azure consumption, and why it’s differentiated from alternatives on the Microsoft Marketplace. Without this clarity, Microsoft sellers have no reason to prioritize your opportunities.

Mistake 3: Slow response to inbound Microsoft referrals

Missing or delaying responses to inbound Microsoft referrals is one of the most common and costly co-sell failures. Microsoft sellers lose confidence in ISV partners that don’t respond quickly. Automate inbound referral routing so Microsoft-sourced opportunities immediately trigger CRM workflows and owner assignment, ensuring fast response times and zero dropped leads.

Mistake 4: Manual co-sell operations

Attempting to manage co-sell through spreadsheets, manual Partner Center updates, and disconnected systems creates operational chaos. Data inconsistency, missed opportunities, reporting gaps, and administrative burden all stem from manual processes. Investing in co-sell automation through platforms like Clazar transforms operations from fragile and time-intensive to reliable and scalable.

Mistake 5: Failing to activate Marketplace Rewards

Many ISVs qualify for Microsoft Marketplace Rewards but never claim the benefits. Activating simply requires assigning a marketing contact in Partner Center and opting in. This is one of the easiest quick wins in Azure co-sell program management and unlocks co-marketing funding and joint demand generation support.

Mistake 6: Treating the PDM relationship as transactional

Your Partner Development Manager is your most important Microsoft relationship. ISVs that only reach out to PDMs when they need something — rather than building ongoing strategic alignment, sharing customer wins, and investing in the relationship — get far less field seller engagement and program support.

Measuring Microsoft Co-Sell Success: Key Metrics and KPIs

Effective measurement transforms co-selling from a qualitative partnership activity into a quantifiable growth driver. The right KPIs provide visibility into program health, identify optimization opportunities, and demonstrate ROI to leadership.

Pipeline metrics

• Co-Sell Influenced Pipeline: Total pipeline value of opportunities where Microsoft sellers are engaged. Your top-of-funnel co-sell health metric.
• Co-Sell Sourced Pipeline: Pipeline value of opportunities originated through Microsoft seller introductions or inbound referrals via Partner Sales Connect.
• Partner Center Registration Rate: Percentage of qualified opportunities registered in Partner Center. Low rates indicate sales team adoption issues or unclear co-sell criteria.

Conversion and velocity metrics

• Co-Sell Win Rate: Percentage of co-sell opportunities that close successfully. Compare to your overall win rate to quantify co-sell impact on deal outcomes.
• Referral Response Time: Average hours from Microsoft inbound referral to ISV response. Target under 4 hours; slow response destroys Microsoft seller trust.
• MACC Transaction Rate: Percentage of co-sell opportunities that close as MACC-eligible marketplace transactions, indicating how effectively you’re unlocking committed Azure spend.

Revenue metrics

• Co-Sell Influenced Revenue: Total revenue from deals where Microsoft sellers provided support. Your primary co-sell revenue metric is tracked quarterly and annually.
• Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) Contribution: Azure consumption driven by your solution, tracked toward IP Co-Sell Eligible status threshold.
• Marketplace ARR Percentage: Percentage of total ARR transacted through Microsoft Marketplace. Mature programs typically reach 20–30%+ over time.

Engagement metrics

• Microsoft Seller Engagement Rate: Percentage of registered co-sell opportunities where Microsoft sellers actively engage. Low engagement suggests better together story issues or weak PDM relationships.
• Account Mapping Frequency: Number of account mapping sessions conducted with Microsoft field teams per quarter. Regular mapping correlates with a stronger pipeline.

Top platforms for co-selling on Azure (and why Clazar is the #1 choice)

There are a handful of platforms — including Clazar, Tackle, Suger, Labra, and SaaSify — that help companies co-sell on Azure, each focused on different parts of the workflow, from partner CRM and deal registration to marketplace operations and reporting.

Clazar stands out as the #1 choice because it’s built specifically for end-to-end Azure Marketplace and co-sell execution. 

From launching and managing listings, to creating private offers, syncing your CRM bidirectionally with Partner Center, routing inbound Microsoft referrals, detecting MACC eligibility, and enabling partner sales teams with clean automated workflows — Clazar helps GTM teams turn Azure co-sell into a repeatable revenue engine, not a manual process.

If you’re serious about capturing the Azure Marketplace opportunity, Clazar is the platform built to scale it. See it in action.

How Clazar Accelerates Azure Co-Selling

While Microsoft provides the programs and relationship infrastructure for co-selling, operational execution determines whether partnerships actually drive revenue. This is where Clazar transforms Azure co-sell from a manual, fragmented process into an automated growth engine.

Automated Partner Center sync and referral management

Clazar provides bidirectional synchronization between your CRM (Salesforce or HubSpot) and Microsoft Partner Center. Co-sell opportunities are automatically pushed to Partner Center with complex field mapping, intelligent account matching, and instant notification when Microsoft referrals arrive. Inbound Microsoft referrals are automatically routed into CRM workflows - so no deal ever falls through the cracks.

MACC eligibility intelligence

Clazar auto-fetches MACC eligibility data from Partner Center and surfaces it directly in your CRM, giving sellers instant visibility into which accounts are most likely to procure through marketplace. This prioritization turns your pipeline into a MACC-aware list, focusing co-sell resources where they’ll close fastest.

Private offer and Flexible Payment Schedule automation

Clazar generates Azure private offers and Multiparty Private Offers (MPOs) directly from CRM opportunity data using pre-configured templates, supports Microsoft’s Flexible Payment Schedules (FPS) for installment-based enterprise contracts, routes offers through approval workflows, and tracks acceptance in real-time. What used to take days of coordination now happens in minutes.

Unified co-sell analytics and reporting

Clazar consolidates all Azure co-sell data into unified dashboards: co-sell pipeline and revenue, Microsoft seller engagement metrics, marketplace transaction performance, ACR contribution trends, and win rate comparisons. Custom dashboards are available for partnerships, RevOps, finance, and leadership.

Cross-cloud marketplace management

Most ISVs co-sell with multiple cloud providers, not just Azure. Clazar provides unified management across AWS, Azure, Snowflake, and GCP - centralized private offer creation, consolidated revenue recognition, multi-cloud analytics, and consistent co-sell workflows regardless of hyperscaler. As you scale from one cloud marketplace to three, operational complexity doesn’t multiply.

Salesforce-native experience

Sales teams live in CRM, not partner portals. Clazar’s Salesforce integration brings co-sell capabilities directly into the sales workflow, allowing reps to register Partner Center opportunities without leaving Salesforce, create and send private offers from opportunity records, view Microsoft seller engagement and co-sell status inline, and access marketplace analytics within familiar dashboards. This drives adoption and reduces co-sell friction.

Ready to transform your Azure co-sell motion?
Clazar provides the platform, integrations, and automation you need to scale Azure co-selling efficiently — from first listing to MACC-backed enterprise deal. Get started today.