Inquiry About Microsoft Bidding and Business Opportunities

Microsoft separates supplier procurement from partner co-selling: use SupplierWeb for procurement directly with Microsoft, and configure Partner Center → Referrals for customer leads and co-sell opportunities; there is no documented Microsoft portal that aggregates all government and commercial RFPs or tenders.

1. Contracts directly with Microsoft

Use Microsoft SupplierWeb for supplier onboarding and account management related to doing business with Microsoft, including supplier profiles, purchase orders, invoices, and associated business actions.^1^

SupplierWeb should not be treated as a general public marketplace containing every Microsoft RFP or tender. For government contracts issued by public agencies, monitor the relevant government procurement portal in the applicable country or jurisdiction. Partner Center’s co-sell workflow concerns joint customer sales—not bidding to become a Microsoft supplier.

2. Set up Partner Center for leads and referrals

Complete these steps:

1. Enroll the organization in Partner Center and obtain a valid PartnerID.^2^
2. Assign the people managing opportunities either the Referrals admin or Referrals user role. Configuration of a Marketplace co-sell solution requires the Co-sell solutions admin role.^3^
3. Open Partner Center → Referrals → Business profile → New profile.
4. Select the appropriate CSP or Services/ISV profile type, PartnerID, publishing locations, selling markets, capabilities, and contact details. Marketplace leads are routed to the selected PartnerID.^4^
5. Keep the profile’s expertise tags, service descriptions, locations, and referral contact current. The profile makes the organization discoverable to customers and Microsoft personnel looking for partners.^5^

Incoming opportunities appear under:

Partner Center → Referrals → Co-sell opportunities → Inbound

Partner-created deals appear under Outbound. To initiate one, select New Deal, identify the customer, add the required deal details and solution, specify the requested help, and submit it. Partner-to-partner, partner-led, private, IP co-sell, and services co-sell motions are supported.^3^

This is an opportunity and referral workflow, not a public RFP bulletin board.

3. Become co-sell ready

For a Marketplace solution, Microsoft requires:

• A PartnerID and active Marketplace account in Partner Center.
• A completed business profile.
• A live Marketplace offer.
• A sales contact for every requested co-sell geography.
• Completed information under Referrals → Co-sell → Solutions, including a required one-page solution summary and pitch deck.^6^

To configure and submit the solution:

1. Go to Partner Center → Referrals → Co-sell → Solutions.
2. Select the solution associated with the Marketplace offer.
3. Add solution areas and sales plays.
4. Import the geographic sales contacts.
5. Upload the one-pager and pitch deck; add a reference architecture when required for the relevant eligibility status.
6. Select Submit for review.^7^

For professional services, at least one Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Solutions Partner designation is required for a professional-service solution to obtain co-sell-ready status.^6^ Qualified services partners with a Solutions Partner designation, Specialization, or Azure Expert MSP status can participate in services co-sell without publishing a consulting-services Marketplace offer. Microsoft sellers use the published business profile when selecting these partners.^8^

General co-sell readiness does not require every certification to be earned. The requirements depend on whether the organization offers software/IP, professional services, or eligible Dynamics 365/Power Platform solutions.

4. Customer leads and referrals

Marketplace and qualified leads can be managed in Partner Center → Referrals → Leads. After a lead is accepted and marked Won, select Convert to opportunity, review the prepopulated fields, and submit it as a co-sell opportunity.^9^

Co-selling covers collaboration with Microsoft sellers or other partners, including lead sharing, sales planning, partner-to-partner selling, and Marketplace-led commerce.^10^

5. Partner Center API scope

The Referrals API can create, update, and retrieve leads and co-sell opportunities. It does not provide a feed of general government tenders or Microsoft procurement RFPs. Referrals are classified as leads or co-sell opportunities, and API integration does not provide the Partner Center UI’s MACC eligibility or customer-matching features.^11^

Government-specific limitation

If the intended market is the Microsoft Cloud for US Government, a separate CSP enrollment applies. That environment supports reselling cloud solutions to eligible US government entities, but Referrals and Business profiles are not currently available there.^12^ Government-agency tenders must therefore be sourced through the relevant agency or public procurement system rather than this Partner Center environment.

References

1. SupplierWeb
2. Partner Center
3. Manage co-sell opportunities in Partner Center
4. Create a business profile (new experience)
5. Create a business profile for Microsoft Marketplace to get sales leads and referrals
6. Co-sell requirements
7. Configure a co-sell solution
8. Services co-sell overview
9. Convert leads into co-sell opportunities
10. Co-sell with Microsoft sales teams and partners overview
11. Referrals API Introduction
12. Partner Center for Microsoft US Government Cloud - Partner Center