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Frequently asked questions about ISV-to-CSP private offers

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This article addresses frequently asked questions about Independent Software Vendor (ISV) to Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner private offers in Partner Center.

General - ISV-to-CSP private offers overview

What are ISV-to-CSP private offers?

Independent Software Vendor (ISV) to Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner private offers allow ISVs to provide margins that motivate the CSP partners to sell the ISVs transactable solutions in the marketplace. This enables ISVs to expand their reach to small and medium-sized customers by collaborating with CSP advocates globally on a scale. For CSP partners, it gives them the opportunity to package ISV solutions with their own offerings to provide unique customer value. To learn more, see ISV-to-CSP partner private offers and Marketplace margin.

What are the key differences between the ISV-to-CSP private offers and multiparty private offers?

ISV-to-CSP private offers helps ISVs to efficiently market and sell their products to small and medium-sized customers through Microsoft's extensive ecosystem of CSP partners in the marketplace. These customers have their CSP subscriptions managed by the CSP partners, who handle customer relationships, pricing, and billing outside of the Microsoft commercial marketplace.

Multiparty private offers are an effective deal-making tool for Enterprise customers with an Enterprise Agreement (EA) or a Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA). The channel partner oversees the customer relationship, while Microsoft directly bills the customer through the marketplace. For more detailed comparison, refer to the following table.

Multiparty private offers CSP private offers
Target partners ISV partners, selling partners ISV partners, partners in the CSP program
Availability Available in US, UK, and Canada Available now
Target customers Enterprise SMB/C
Customer subscription EA or MCA CSP
Bills the customer Microsoft CSP
Ability to select multiple partners and/or customers in one private offer No (1:1 deal-based) Yes
ISV extends the private offer to multiple CSP partners, and then the CSP partners can sell to many customers at scale. No Yes
MACC decrement for customer's eligible solutions purchase Yes No
Customer buys from CSP partners No Yes
Who receives private offers ISV to Channel Partner, then Channel Partner to customer ISV extends to CSP (Direct Bill or Indirect Provider)
Private Offer Management experience for customers on Azure portal Yes: Same as the customer private offers experience. No: No acceptance steps. For SaaS, customer (or CSP) visits ISV's SaaS landing page via activation link.

Note

There are always exceptions, and the different private offers are viable for all segments, but to prioritize, private offers and multiparty private offers are best suited for the enterprise, and margin sharing private offers are best suited for the SMB/C market.

What are the qualification criteria for partners to sell via ISV-to-CSP private offers?

Refer to the following table:

Qualification Criteria
ISV - You are enrolled in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program.
- You are enrolled in the Microsoft commercial marketplace.
- Must have a transactable offer with public plans in the Microsoft commercial marketplace (no free, contact me, BYOL offer, and so on).
- You have target CSP partners to sell with using CSP private offers.
- Your offer is opted into reselling through CSP partners (optional)
CSP partners - You're a Direct Bill or Indirect Provider in the CSP program. ISV can extend a private offer to CSP direct bill or indirect providers only. Indirect Resellers need to work with their Indirect Providers. CSP partners can check their CSP enrollment status in Partner Center.
- You are able to manage customer pricing, billing, and so on, which needs to be handled by the CSP partner outside of the Microsoft commercial marketplace.
- You manage target customers' Azure Plan and CSP subscriptions.
- You have target ISVs to sell with and willing to share margins using CSP private offers.

What is the purchasing experience of CSP partners via ISVs for private offers?

CSP partners can purchase the ISV's product offers under the customer's CSP Azure subscription that they manage.

  • For SaaS or Business Central offers, CSP partners can purchase the products in Partner Center. For VMs/Azure apps, CSP can purchase in Azure portal.
  • CSP can also sell through their own storefront, integrating with Microsoft APIs. CSP partners set end customer pricing and sell to customer outside of the marketplace.

After purchase, the product offer needs to be provisioned and activated:

  • SaaS offers: End customer or CSP partner needs to visit ISV's site after purchase and enter required information, and then ISV will provision and activate the product to complete the purchase.
  • Non-SaaS offers: Can be provisioned via Azure portal after purchase.

For more information, visit Purchase marketplace offers.

Important

For CSP private offers, there's no customer Private Offer Management experience in the Azure portal for private offer acceptance and purchase, unlike customer private offers or multiparty private offers. Customers don't see discounted pricing through the CSP private offer purchase experience in the Microsoft commercial marketplace. CSP partners should handle reseller and customer custom pricing and billing outside of the Microsoft commercial marketplace.

Note

If the CSP partner extends admin or contributor rights to an end customer on the CSP subscription, the end customer can go into the Azure portal and view and purchase public product offers at retail pricing on the CSP subscription.

  • The customer doesn't see resources unless the CSP partner gives them access.
  • If the CSP wants to offer custom pricing for the end-customer or reseller, they need to handle it on the backend, outside of the Microsoft marketplace.
  • If there's a valid CSP private offer for the products under the CSP tenant, the CSP partner can still get the margin extended from the ISV for the customer's purchase.
  • If the end customer purchases for themselves, it's still the CSP who is billed by Microsoft. The CSP then bills the end customer outside of the marketplace.

As a CSP partner, is it possible to modify the end customer pricing within the Partner Center or Azure portal as part of the CSP private offer experience?

No. CSP partners need to set the final end-customer pricing by adding their markups to the ISV provided price, and handle customer billing all outside of the marketplace.

FAQs for ISVs

How can I find CSP partners to extend margin using CSP private offers?

ISVs can find CSP partners on Partner Center.

  1. Sign in to Partner Center and select Marketplace offers.
  2. Select Private offers from the left-nav menu to open the dashboard.
  3. Select the CSP partner tab and then + New private offer.
    • ISVs can select + Add CSP partner, then search for CSP partners (Direct bill or Indirect Provider) by name or tenant ID.
    • ISVs can also search by applying filters such as regions, skills, or competencies.

SETTING UP A PRIVATE OFFER

For what offer types can ISVs extend a private offer?

The offer must be transactable and opted in for selling through the CSP channel. This applies to both license-based and consumption-based offer types.

Dynamics 365 Business Central offer type is newly available for selling through the CSP channel. An add-on app is the only Business Central package type that supports the creation of transactable offers. For details, see Add-on apps. To learn more, check out Create a Dynamics 365 Business Central offer on Microsoft AppSource.

Does a CSP partner negotiate a margin with an ISV or does the ISV just apply a blanket margin to all CSP partners?

ISVs and CSP partners should negotiate the margin. ISVs can also provide a margin without consulting with a CSP partner. There's a limit of 50 CSP tenants per offer.

What is the duration of a private offer? Is it the same as the offer term?

Each private offer has a start and end date. For offer types with monthly billing and term, the margin applies until the end date of the private offer. At the next billing event after the end date of the private offer, the CSP partner is charged at the price without margin, unless the ISV has created a new private offer for that CSP partner.

For offer types with an annual term billing, the CSP is charged at the price with margin applied if the billing event occurs during the term of the private offer.

There are currently no monthly billing, annual term offers.

How can an ISV find a CSP partner to create a private offer and share their margin?

ISVs can find CSP partners on Partner Center.

  1. Sign in to Partner Center and select Private offers from the left-nav menu to open the dashboard.
  2. Select the CSP Partner tab and then + New Private offer.
    • ISVs can select + Add CSP Partner, then search for CSP partners (Direct bill or Indirect Provider) by name or tenant ID.
    • ISVs can also search by applying filters such as regions, skills, or competencies.

ISVs can share their margin to Direct Bill partners and Indirect Providers in the CSP program through CSP private offers. Indirect Resellers in the CSP program can work with their Indirect Provider to resell ISV's private offers. To learn more about the CSP partner model, see the CSP Overview page on Partner Center.

Can the ISV apply the margin at the customer level or only at the CSP partner level?

With the general availability of the partner private offer capability, ISVs can optionally extend a private offer to a specific customer of the CSP partner. ISV can choose whether the margin applies to all customers or selected customers of the CSP partner.

Does the ISV have to create a private offer in each region?

No. When an ISV publishes an offer, they choose which countries/regions the offer can be sold in. When an ISV creates a private offer for a CSP partner, they can choose CSP tenants from any region in the same private offer.

Can an ISV provide different margin percentages to different CSP partners?

Yes, the ISV can configure a margin at the offer/plan level per CSP partner. Different percentage margins require separate private offers.

Once created, how long does it take for a private offer to become active?

It depends:

  • If the ISV opted into the offer, and the ISV selected the CSP partner to sell their offer, then the change is almost immediate (within 15 minutes).
  • If the ISV didn't opt in to be sold, or if ISV didn't authorize the CSP partner to sell the ISV's offer, then the offer can take longer (up to six hours).

What happens if an ISV tries to provide a margin to a CSP partner they didn't opt in to, or an offer they didn't opt in to sell via CSP?

Creating a private offer for a CSP who you didn't select to sell your offer enables that CSP to be able to sell your offer. Similarly, if an offer isn't opted in to be sold via CSP and the ISV creates a margin for a CSP partner, that offer is opted into CSP to be sold via that CSP only (not All CSP partners).

If an ISV searches for but can't find a partner to provide a margin to, can they be added?

No. Partners must be part of Microsoft's CSP program and need to be a Direct CSP or Indirect provider to be provided a margin. If a partner doesn't return in the search, it's likely they're either not part of Microsoft's CSP program or they're an indirect reseller. CSP partners can review information on how to enroll in the program at Enroll in the Cloud Solution Provider program.

If an ISV works with an indirect reseller who purchases through a Distributor/Indirect provider, how can an ISV sell their offer via the Indirect Reseller?

The ISV needs to select the Indirect Provider who the Indirect reseller purchases from and the Indirect Provider needs to choose whether to sell the ISV's offer via their indirect resellers.

An ISV can't provide a margin/private offer to an indirect reseller directly but the indirect provider can decide to pass a margin through to their indirect reseller.

If an ISV has opted in to sell to all CSP partners, can they provide a margin to only a select group of CSP partners?

Yes, ISV can select multiple specific CSP tenants that they want to extend their margins when they create a CSP private offer.

If an ISV chooses to add a margin at the offer level, does it include all plans underneath the offer?

Yes, all existing and future plans under the offer selected are included.

Which partners in the CSP program are eligible to receive the CSP private offers extended by ISVs?

ISVs can create CSP private offers by selecting CSP tenant IDs in the Partner Center during the CSP private offers creation process. ISVs can only search for and select the CSP tenant IDs of Direct Bill and Indirect Provider partners in the CSP program. If an ISV wants to work with a reseller managed by an Indirect Provider, they need to extend a CSP private offer to the Indirect Provider, and the indirect provider can work with the reseller outside of the marketplace by handling pricing, billing, and so on.

If you're unsure about your CSP partner's enrollment type in the CSP program, you can ask your partner to check their CSP enrollment status in Partner Center.

EDITING A PRIVATE OFFER

What if an ISV wants to change the term of a private offer?

Once an ISV extends a private offer, they can't alter the term of the private offer prior to the end date, nor change the end date. Once the CSP partner receives a private offer, it's locked in until its end date.

If the ISV adds a new private offer that provides the CSP partner a greater margin percentage and the timeline overlaps the current offer, the higher margin percentage applies.

If the ISV made a mistake and created a private offer with the incorrect margin percentage, can they edit it?

Once the private offer is submitted, it can't be edited until the end of the term. The ISV can only request to cancel (via withdraw request) the original private offer if the CSP partner didn't yet transact the offer.

Can an ISV remove a CSP partner from an existing private offer?

No, an ISV can't remove a CSP partner if the partner has transacted an offer.

If no partner has transacted an offer from the original private offer, the ISV can create a new private offer excluding the CSP they wish to remove. They then need to cancel the original private offer.

If another CSP partner from the private offer has transacted the offer but the CSP to be removed hasn't, the ISV can create a new private offer without the CSP they wish to remove. They can then cancel the original private offer via the Withdraw functionality.

Can the ISV add more partners to an existing private offer?

No. To add a new CSP partner, the ISV must create a new private offer.

Can an offer subscription be canceled? What's the cancellation policy for CSP marketplace?

You can cancel traditional license-based SaaS subscriptions from ISV publishers within the Partner Center commercial marketplace. As long as you cancel within the cancellation period, you receive a full refund.

For ISV offers billed monthly:

  • If you cancel less than 24 hours after you place the order, you receive a full credit on the next invoice.
  • If you cancel more than 24 hours after you place the order, the cancellation is scheduled to occur at renewal

For offers billed annually:

  • If you cancel less than 14 days after you place the order, you receive a full credit on the next invoice
  • If you cancel more than 14 days after you place the order, the cancellation is scheduled to occur at renewal

For more information, see Cancel a subscription.

Can I use Absolute price?

ISV partners can apply a percentage-based discount on publicly available plans using the discounted price option. However, specifying an absolute price isn't supported for ISV-to-CSP private offers.

As an ISV, how can I confirm if CSP partners have accepted the private offers I extended?

By design, an ISV-to-CSP private offer doesn't require a discrete private offer acceptance step either from a CSP partner or a customer. ISVs can check the private offer status in the Partner Center, and then check the orders status in the Marketplace Insights reporting.

REPORTING

How is payout reporting affected by margin?

There will be no changes to the representation of payout reporting. The payout amount and agency fee that Microsoft charges will be based on the price after margin is applied for line items that have associated margin. ISVs can track and monitor sales using Marketplace Insights as follows:

  • Analytics: Order, revenue info through CSP marketplace and private offers are available in the commercial marketplace insights dashboards, reports, and through programmatic access. You can filter Sales Channel = CSP.
  • Payouts: Sales through CSP marketplace and private offers are in Earnings, under earnings and reports. For more information about payout schedule, visit Marketplace payout schedule documentation.

FAQs for CSP partners

How can I get ready to sell ISV applications through the marketplace as a CSP partner?

  • First, you need to define your marketplace strategy, target ISVs, and offers.
  • Second, you need to understand how ISVs selling with CSP partners in the marketplace works and get ready for your operational process. To learn more, visit CSP marketplace overview.
  • You can connect with target ISVs to sell their solutions with and receive margins from the ISVs through ISV-to-CSP private offers.

What are the benefits of private offers for CSP partners?

CSP partners can discover the margins available to them, set their customer price, and invoice their customer outside of the marketplace. This allows them to grow their revenue and manage customer interactions more effectively. More customers are purchasing solutions via the marketplace. It provides growth opportunities for CSP partners based on customer demands and how customers want to transact. With the marketplace, you can integrate once and access over 2.5 K CSP transactable apps today. It allows you to expand your solution portfolio easily at scale and significantly simplify the process of onboarding solutions through a standardized experience.

Why should I sell through the marketplace if I already have relationships with ISVs directly outside of the marketplace?

More customers are purchasing solutions via the marketplace, providing growth opportunities for CSP partners based on customer demands and transaction preferences. With the marketplace, you can integrate once and access thousands of transactable apps available for CSP partners to sell today. This allows you to easily expand your solution portfolio at scale and significantly simplify the process of onboarding solutions through a standardized experience.

CHECKING PRIVATE OFFERS

How can a CSP partner check margins extended from an ISV through the ISV-to-CSP private offers?

CSP partners can check the ISV-to-CSP private offers margins in Partner Center by following these steps:

  1. Sign in to Partner Center.
  2. Navigate to the "Private offers" section from the left navigation menu.
  3. Select the "CSP partners" tab.

Here, CSP partners can view all the margins available to them for the private offers created by ISVs. This allows CSP partners to discover the margins and make informed decisions about the offers they want to sell with ISVs.

PURCHASING EXPERIENCE

How can I find pricing information for the marketplace third-party translatable apps?

CSP partners can find price list for marketplace offers in Partner Center extended from ISVs using ISV-to-CSP private offers. To learn more, visit Understand pricing for marketplace offers. The marketplace price list can also be retrieved using an API. See Get a price sheet for guidance. The Partner Center price list only contains products available for purchase through Partner Center. If you can't find marketplace products on the CSP marketplace price list in Partner Center, check with the Azure portal price list and price sheet download API.

What's the CSP cancellation policy for third-party apps in the marketplace?

CSP partners can cancel a subscription for a third-party app within the first seven days of any term and receive a prorated refund, except where otherwise required by law. After the initial seven days, cancellation isn't available. For more information, see Sell software subscriptions through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.

What is the step-by-step CSP purchase experience with Dynamics 365 Business Central offers?

  1. CSP partners can check view a private offer and check the margin.
  2. The CSP partner discovers the ISV's offer in the Partner Center and purchase a subscription to the offer on behalf of the customer.
  3. The customer admin or their delegated admin partner can manage their licenses by assigning licenses for these add-ons on the license pages under the billing node in the Microsoft 365 admin center. They can assign licenses to users or groups. They can assign licenses to users or groups. Doing so enables these users to launch the ISV app, and they can find a direct link and install the app in Business Central. Alternatively, customers can also install the app within AppSource once the app is purchased.

What should I do if my offer isn't displaying for CSP partners to purchase?

If your offer isn't displaying for CSP partners to purchase, there might be a delay. You can contact support if you believe your offer isn't available for your CSP partner to transact. If an offer doesn't appear as you expect in Partner Center, it might be because:

  • The ISV chose not to sell the product through the CSP program. You might find these transactable products in the Microsoft commercial marketplace or Azure Marketplace, but they don't appear in Partner Center marketplace for CSP partners to browse.
  • The offer type might not be transactable through Partner Center, as Partner Center supports purchasing experience for SaaS offers. Check if the offer type is non-SaaS, such as VM or Azure Applications. You can try to purchase on Azure portal.
  • The offer might not be available for purchase in your region.
  • The ISV decided to make the offer exclusive to select CSP partners. Learn more about exclusive offers.

BILLING, INVOICING, AND RECONCILIATION

As a CSP partner, how can I identify the items related to the marketplace offers in the Recon file?

  1. Sign in to Partner Center and select the Billing workspace.
  2. Go to the Billing overview (NCE) task menu.
  3. Select the year on the Billing | Billing Overview (NCE) page.
  4. Select the invoice number.
  5. Find the reconciliation file on the side panel, then select Download report.

The PublisherName column shows whether the purchase is from Microsoft or a non-Microsoft (third-party ISV) publisher. To learn more, visit Access billing information for commercial marketplace products

As a CSP partner, how can I identify the items in the Recon file with private offer margins?

  1. Sign in to Partner Center and select the Billing workspace.
  2. Go to the Billing overview (NCE) task menu.
  3. Select the year on the Billing | Billing Overview (NCE) page.
  4. Select the invoice number.
  5. Find the reconciliation file on the side panel, then select Download report.

Use the following information in the reconciliation file to understand whether a private offer margin was applied to a billing line item:

  • UnitPrice shows the original price set by the ISV.
  • EffectiveUnitPrice shows the price after a margin is applied.
  • PriceAdjustmentDescription displays Private offer margin applied if a margin was applied on that purchase or renewal.

To learn more, visit Understand billing for products with private offer margins.

APIs

Can APIs be used to automate the selling process on marketplace apps?

Yes, CSP partners can automate their operational process using APIs. For more information, please visit CSP marketplace overview and Partner Center API scenarios.

OTHERS

If there are associated Azure consumption charges, does the margin also apply to those charges?

No, the margin only applies to the price of the software set by the ISV for their product, not to the associated Azure consumption charges.

After a private offer expires, what happens if the CSP partner increases licenses for a customer with an annual subscription?

Annual subscriptions only apply to entitlement-based offers. The newly added licenses still get the discounted price as they purchased the subscription during the original private offer term. It continues until the end of the annual subscription term. If the CSP partner increases licenses for offers with metered billing, the pricing for the entitlement-based portion of the charges will maintain the discount until the end of the annual subscription term but the margin applied to the price for the metered billing won't be maintained after the end period of the private offer. A workaround for this is for ISVs to create a new private offer for that CSP partner until the end of the subscription term. The same concept applies for monthly subscriptions (and billing). If a private offer ends in a month, the CSP partner is charged at the full price the following month. The end date for a private offer is always the end of the month.

Customer purchase experience

How can a customer with a CSP subscription purchase a third-party app in the marketplace?

Customers can connect with their CSP partners and purchase from them.

  • CSP private offers and the margins from an ISV are for CSP partners directly, not for their customers. Customers won't see discounted pricing through the CSP private offer purchase experience in the Microsoft commercial marketplace. For CSP private offers, there's no customer Private Offer Management experience in Azure portal and no private offer acceptance step, unlike customer private offers or multiparty private offers. CSP partners have full control of customer experience and should manage reseller and customer custom pricing and billing outside of the Microsoft commercial marketplace.
  • If the CSP partner extends admin or contributor rights to an end customer on the CSP subscription in Azure portal, the end customer can go into Azure portal and view, purchase, and manage solutions on that CSP subscription. The CSP partner's customer doesn't see resources unless the CSP partner has given the customer access. The customer purchase experience on the Azure portal will be the same as their experience with public offers purchasing. Customers might see public retail pricing on the Azure portal. Any custom pricing by CSP partners must be managed through their backend process, outside of the marketplace.
  • If the end customer purchases for themselves on Azure portal, it's still the CSP who is billed by Microsoft because the purchase is happening on the CSP subscription. The CSP partner then bills the end customer outside of the marketplace.

Can a customer or a CSP partner with a CSP subscription use Private Offer Management experience in Azure portal for the ISV-to-CSP private offers?

No. For CSP private offers, there's no customer Private Offer Management experience in Azure portal and no private offer acceptance step, unlike customer private offers or multiparty private offers. CSP partners have full control of customer experience and should manage reseller and customer custom pricing and billing outside of the Microsoft commercial marketplace.

Who sends a billing to my customer for ISV apps purchases through the marketplace commercial marketplace?

CSP partners have full control of customer experience and should manage reseller and customer custom pricing and billing outside of the Microsoft commercial marketplace.

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