Microsoft Marketplace Adds Private Offer Requests & Expands MPO Globally

Microsoft has announced several key updates for July 2026 within its Partner Center, focusing on enhancing the sales experience on Microsoft Marketplace and evolving its AI Cloud Partner Program. These changes aim to simplify transactions, expand market reach, and align partner skills with current technology trends.

Streamlining Private Offers on Microsoft Marketplace

Starting July 20, 2026, partners can enable a new "Request private offer" feature directly on their Microsoft Marketplace listing pages Source. This allows customers to initiate pricing and terms discussions by submitting a request with details about their intended use case. This capability is designed to accelerate the sales process for eligible transactable offers, including:

• SaaS offers
• Azure application offers
• Azure container offers
• Azure Virtual Machines offers

Lead management for these requests will flow through existing Marketplace referral systems, supported APIs, and integrated CRM systems, ensuring partners receive requests via their established channels.

Expanding Global Reach with Multiparty Private Offers

Effective July 16, 2026, multiparty private offers (MPOs) on Microsoft Marketplace have been expanded to include Australia, Japan, and South Africa Source. This expansion builds upon existing markets and aims to foster greater collaboration within Microsoft's partner ecosystem. For software companies, this means new avenues to reach customers and drive growth without adding operational complexity. Channel partners can differentiate their offerings with validated solutions while maintaining customer relationships across an expanded international footprint. This strategic move facilitates cross-border transactions and enables partners to deliver more comprehensive end-to-end solutions to a wider customer base.

Updates to the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is seeing several adjustments to its specializations and certification requirements, reflecting the evolving landscape of AI and cloud technologies Source.

Adoption and Change Management Specialization Retired

As of June 25, 2026, the Adoption and Change Management specialization has been retired. This is because adoption and change management capabilities are now embedded within product-aligned specializations. Existing specializations remain active until their anniversary date, but new enrollments and renewals are no longer accepted.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Specialization Updated

Responding to shifts in customer demand and advancements in Microsoft 365 Copilot, the specialization has been updated and renamed to the Microsoft 365 Copilot specialization. Key changes include:

• Performance Measurement: Requirements now focus solely on paid Microsoft 365 Copilot monthly active usage (MAU).
• Certification Changes: The Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) certification requirement has been removed, along with Applied Skills: Prepare security and compliance to support Copilot (APL-4002) and Create custom agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio (APL-7008). New certifications, Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect (AB-100) and AI Agent Builder Associate (AB-620), have been introduced.
• Capabilities Audit: Customer references have been replaced by a third-party capabilities audit, which requires real customer examples and is valid for two years. An audit checklist is available for reference.

Certification and Skilling Updates

Several certifications are being retired and replaced with newer, more relevant ones to align with current technology and partner needs. These changes impact various specializations and Solutions Partner designations, including Data & AI, Business Applications, and several others. Partners should review the detailed lists provided by Microsoft to understand how these changes affect their current accreditations and future skilling plans. For example, the Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate certification is being replaced by the Machine Learning Operations Engineer Associate for the AI Platform on Microsoft Azure specialization and the Data & AI Solutions Partner designation.

New audit checklists for FY27 H1 Azure Specializations are also available, incorporating the latest changes as of July 1. Partners are advised to consult the Microsoft Partner Center for specific details and to ensure compliance with updated requirements Source.