Following the launch of the Microsoft Azure Certified for Virtual Machines program and the Azure Marketplace, we have experienced an incredible amount of interest from our customers and partners. Building on the momentum generated at WPC, TechED Europe, and the recent expansion of the Azure Marketplace to more enterprise customers in 86 countries, we are excited to announce new features and enhancements for Azure Marketplace.

More apps, more choice

Over the past few months, we’ve made a number of key investments to streamline on-boarding and certification processes. Now it is easier than ever to on-board a single virtual machine into the Azure Marketplace. Our partners benefit from increased capacity, automated processes, and reduced time to market. Our customers benefit from choice, flexibility, and access to a growing portfolio of integrated offerings that extend the functionality of Azure services to get more done. A few weeks back at Microsoft Convergence, we announced the availability of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 and LCS Solutions in the Azure Marketplace. Within a single portal, you can discover, deploy, and manage Microsoft Dynamics on Azure. This reduces operating costs, provides the speed and flexibility you need to support new business initiatives, and enables more rapid business transformation and growth. In addition to an improved on-boarding process and integration of Microsoft Dynamics AX and LCS Solutions, we are excited to announce the availability of API Apps and new Virtual Machine offers in the Azure Marketplace, including offers from Infomatica, Salt, Chef, Zend, Apprenda, Citrix, and NetApp.

Enhanced discovery

There are more than 3,000 offerings in the Azure Marketplace, and we’re making it even easier for you to quickly find what you need to build your application or run your business on Azure with the availability of enhanced search functionality and filters for better search results, suggestions, and recommendations to help you find exactly what you are looking for.

Evaluation made easier

Many Azure Marketplace publishers offer free versions of their applications and services. Trying before you buy is an important element of the buying decision process. Azure customers without a payment instrument (e.g., credit card) on record can now access and use free Marketplace applications and services in Azure. Evaluating offerings from the Azure Marketplace has never been easier! Please note, customers are still required to have a payment instrument on record for free trial offers (paid offers are promotionally free for a limited period of time).

The power of social media

Want to share or tweet about the latest application or service deployed from the Azure Marketplace? Now you can. Within the Azure management portal, share, post, like, or tweet about offers in the Azure Marketplace. Use the Azure Marketplace community to learn more about the applications and services you need.

Get Started Today

With today’s announcement, we are continuing to make progress on our commitment to not only better serve our customers and partners, but also enhance your Microsoft Azure experience. Get started today and learn more about the Azure Marketplace and the thousands of offers pre-configured and ready to deploy in Azure. If you are a publisher and you are interested in on-boarding your application or service into the Azure Marketplace, visit the Marketplace Partner Program page to learn more. The Azure Marketplace is an online store and one-stop shop to discover, purchase, and deploy integrated applications and services built for Microsoft Azure.