Azure IP co-sell eligibility: the real requirements

Getting Azure co-sell-ready is easy. Getting IP co-sell eligible — the tier that actually gets Microsoft sellers bringing you deals — requires revenue you probably don't have yet.

Two tiers: co-sell ready, then IP co-sell eligible

Microsoft's co-sell program has two stages. The first, co-sell ready, is a relatively low bar: an active Partner Center account with a complete business profile, a live offer on Microsoft Marketplace, a named sales contact for each co-sell-eligible geography, and the required listing documents (including a one-pager and pitch deck, for which Microsoft provides templates).

The second stage, IP co-sell eligible, is where it gets harder.

What IP co-sell eligibility actually requires

• Revenue threshold — at least $100,000 in trailing 12-month Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) or Marketplace billed sales. Azure credits and ACO don't count toward this.
• Technical validation — your solution has to pass Microsoft's technical review, be primarily platformed on Azure, meet Marketplace certification policy, and be actively deployed on Azure at the time of any transaction.
• Reference architecture — an architecture diagram submitted for Microsoft's review (waived for some simpler offer types like Azure App, Container, or VM offers).
• Marketplace transactability — new offers have to actually be transactable on Microsoft Marketplace, not just listed.

Why $100K in trailing Azure revenue locks out early-stage companies

This is the same pattern as AWS, with a specific number attached: Microsoft wants proof you've already driven meaningful, sustained Azure consumption before its sellers are incentivized to bring you into their accounts. A Series A company six months into its Azure go-to-market motion simply hasn't had time to produce that revenue history yet, no matter how strong the product is.

What to do while you're building toward the threshold

Co-sell-ready status is achievable early and is worth getting right immediately — a clean Marketplace listing and complete Partner Center profile cost time, not revenue history. In parallel, the same relationship-first approach that works with AWS applies here: Microsoft Partner Development Managers and specialists have visibility into which partners are worth watching well before the ACR threshold is met, and a good relationship there shortens the distance between "co-sell ready" and actually getting deals.