The Value of a Microsoft AppSource Listing
Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes
Intended Audience: Microsoft Partners
Revised August 2023
Finding the right apps or services to support business priorities can be difficult, but Microsoft aims to solve this with Microsoft AppSource. Microsoft AppSource is an online marketplace where decision-makers can effortlessly make the right decisions for their business by seamlessly browsing and testing out thousands of different apps and consulting services that enable innovation and drive business outcomes.
Microsoft AppSource delivers applications and consulting services built by industry-leading software providers. The catalog is comprised of SaaS applications, solutions built for Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, Power BI, Power Apps, consulting services offered by Microsoft Partners, and more. Users can easily filter the AppSource experience by Apps for a wide range of industries, Industry Clouds for use-case based services, Consulting Services for Microsoft solutions, and profiles of trusted Microsoft Partners that can help organizations digitally transform.
Why You Should List Your Offerings on Microsoft AppSource
Microsoft AppSource is the premier destination for Microsoft Partners, like you, to market and distribute apps and services. Backed by Microsoft, a brand that billions of customers already know and trust, you can showcase your apps that thrive across industries, departments, and the Microsoft suite of products.
By publishing your app or consulting service on Microsoft AppSource you can:
- Drive more leads: Increase your reach, discoverability, and app usage with Microsoft’s selling resources that help your apps and services stand out. You can reach customers in untapped market segments and distribute across industries, as customers are able to look for your offerings on AppSource itself, but also through in-product AppSource galleries on Microsoft products they already use.
- Connect directly with decision-makers: AppSource helps you reach potential customers more quickly and allows you to connect directly with critical decision-makers by providing a single destination for business users to discover and try applications built for Dynamics 365, Power BI, Power Apps, and more.
- Extend your sales team: By listing your apps or services on AppSource, you gain another sales channel that empowers users to find offerings that are meaningful to them without having to go through your sales team. With AppSource, you can significantly reduce the length of your sales cycle and customer journey.
- Optimize your offerings: Microsoft will provide you with consistent actionable insights on how your offering is performing, what works well, and how to improve, which will help you ensure that your app or service is optimized to its full potential.
Build your business faster by promoting your offerings on AppSource, which reassures customers that you have expertise in what they need.
How to Create Effective Listings for Microsoft AppSource
As mentioned, there are a few different ways to engage with and show up on AppSource, including building business apps or promoting your consulting service offerings.
Developing Apps for Microsoft AppSource
- Microsoft EntraID (Azure Active Directory): Your app must allow AAD federated single sign-on with consent enabled.
- SaaS app for business: Your app must be a line-of-business SaaS app, business-process focused, targeted to business customers, and enable users to sign in with work credentials.
- Free trial period: You must offer customers the ability to use your app for free for a limited time.
- Turnkey solution: Your app must be easily configurable and quick to setup with no customization required.
- Support: Your app must contain a support link for customers to find help if needed.
- Availability: Your app must maintain at least 99.9% uptime.
Promoting Consulting Services on Microsoft AppSource
- Briefing: This introduces a solution or consulting service using frameworks, demos, and customer examples.
- Assessment: This consists of an evaluation of a customer’s environment and business processes to determine the applicability of a solution and estimate cost and timeline of implementation.
- Workshop: This is an interactive hands-on engagement that can involve trainings, briefings, assessments, or demos built on the customer’s environment.
- Proof of concept: This is a limited-scope implementation to determine whether your solution meets the customer’s requirements.
- Implementation: This is a complete implementation resulting in a fully working solution.
Effectively Utilize Microsoft AppSource
Once you publish your offer on Microsoft AppSource, not only will you drive more leads and engage directly with decision-makers, but you can also work towards the next step, becoming co-sell ready to work with Microsoft sales teams and Microsoft Partners. By co-selling, you can reach a widespread audience of customers and collaborate on sales opportunities with other teams to accelerate your business growth.
We know all of this may seem daunting, but the experienced Mavens can help you craft your Microsoft AppSource listings and get you ready for co-selling incentives with ease to reach new customers and grow your revenue. Get in touch with us today!
