Rules to Better Azure Marketplace - 1 Rule

Getting your product onto the Azure Marketplace isn't always straightforward, but it can be hugely rewarding.

Check out these practical tips to sharpen your go-to-market strategy and steer clear of common mistakes.

Publish your solution to the Azure Marketplace to reach millions of Microsoft customers and unlock new revenue streams. However, many partners underestimate the preparation required, which leads to rejected offers, costly delays, or poor marketplace visibility.

Video: Marketplace Mini | Creating a marketplace offer (2 min)

Prerequisites

Before you begin creating your Azure Marketplace offer, ensure you have:

Microsoft Partner Center account - Register for Partner Center if you don't have one
Verified publisher profile - Complete the publisher verification process with legal documents and tax information
Azure subscription - Required for testing your offer in a real Azure environment
Technical solution ready - Your application or service must be production-ready and meet Azure's technical requirements
Business documentation - Terms of use, privacy policy, and support contact information

Note: The publisher verification process can take several days, so plan accordingly.

The key steps to creating an offer

1. Choose your offer type

Select the most appropriate offer type based on your solution:

Azure Application (Managed app) - Solutions with managed resource deployment. See example: SSW.EagleEye
Azure Application (Solution template) - Multi-resource deployments using ARM templates
Azure Container - Containerized applications for Azure Container Instances/Kubernetes
Azure Virtual Machine - VM-based applications with pre-configured software
Software as a Service (SaaS) - Cloud applications with subscription billing

Note: See Microsoft's offer type guidance for all available types.

2. Follow offer type-specific publishing guide

Different types of offers have different publishing steps. Follow Microsoft's Publisher Guide by Offer Type for detailed steps.

Example: Azure Application offer

Publishing an Azure Application offer involves several key phases:

Plan your offer - Choose between Solution Template or Managed Application based on your management and transaction needs
Prepare technical assets - Create ARM templates, managed application packages, and configure resource deployment
Configure offer details - Set up properties, offer listing with descriptions and media, preview audience, and technical configuration
Create plans - Define pricing models, availability, and plan-specific configurations
Test and validate - Use preview mode for end-to-end testing before full publication
Market your offer - Configure co-sell opportunities and CSP program participation

For detailed guidance on each step, see the Azure Application publishing guide.

eagleeye azure marketplace — Figure: Good example - SSW.EagleEye is published to Azure Marketplace