Self Serve Onboarding Guide

Everything you need to go live on Microsoft Azure Marketplace with Fours, step by step, at your own pace.


What to expect

This is a self-serve guide — no need to wait for a meeting to get started. Azure’s process is similar in timeline to AWS: most of the wait is Microsoft’s review period, not your work time. The full journey from account setup to your first private offer typically takes 3-4 weeks, with your actual hands-on time commitment roughly 3-4 hours spread across the process.

Use your dedicated Slack channel for questions at any point, or email [email protected] for urgent issues.

PhaseWhat you’re doingEst. time
0 — Azure setupPartner Center account, publisher profileDay 1-2
1 — Account setupCreate & get approved on the Fours console, connect Azure integrationDay 1
2 — Create your listingBuild and submit product listing for Azure reviewDay 2-3
3 — Go live & testConfirm listing, send test private offerWeek 3-4 (after Azure review)
4 — CRM integrationConnect Salesforce or HubSpotAnytime after Phase 1
5 — Co-Sell setupConnect Azure Co-SellAnytime after Phase 1

Work through Phases 0-5 in order — Phases 4 and 5 are optional, skip them if they don’t apply to you.

Before you start

  • Your business — a registered legal business entity, a company email address, and enrollment in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (formerly the Microsoft Partner Network) with a verified Partner ID — free to set up at partner.microsoft.com if you haven’t already.
  • A Microsoft account and Azure subscription — active, with billing enabled.
  • Someone with Global Administrator access — in both your Azure tenant and Microsoft Partner Center. Connecting Azure to Fours in Phase 1 requires this specific role; a lower-privileged admin role typically can’t grant the required consent and will block the integration.
  • Your product — a live, publicly accessible fulfillment URL, plus a support email, support URL, and privacy policy URL (Microsoft requires all three for listing approval).
  • A logo — a company or product logo in PNG format.

Bank account details and tax forms can be set up as you go through Phase 0.

Phase 0: Set up Azure Marketplace

Before you can create marketplace listings, register as a Microsoft marketplace publisher.

Estimated time: ~1 hour of hands-on work. Bank account verification may take a few additional business days.

Set up your Microsoft Partner Center account

Partner Center is Microsoft’s hub for marketplace publishers — you’ll create your publisher profile here, accept the Microsoft Publisher Agreement, and set up your payout account. Have a live support URL and privacy policy URL ready (Microsoft checks both, and requires the privacy policy to stay live permanently), plus bank account details and tax forms for your payout account (set this up early — verification takes a few days). See Microsoft’s Create a Microsoft Marketplace account in Partner Center.

Phase 1: Account setup & connect to Fours

Before you can create listings, you’ll need a Fours organization, access to the Fours Console, and your Azure Marketplace account connected to Fours.

Estimated time: ~10 minutes of hands-on work, plus up to 1 business day for organization approval.

  1. Go to console.suger.io and sign up using your company email domain (not a personal email).
  2. Your organization stays in a Pending Approval state until the Fours team approves it — send a quick message in your shared Slack channel once you’ve created it so we can process the approval. Once approved, you’ll get a confirmation email. Approval typically takes up to 1 business day; if you haven’t heard back after that, reach out again in your Slack channel.
  3. Once approved, invite the teammates who will participate in the implementation — see Invite Your Team.
  4. Connect Azure Marketplace to Fours. This links your Partner Center account to the Fours console. It requires Global Administrator access in both your Azure tenant and Partner Center (a narrower admin role typically can’t grant the required consent), and takes about 30-60 minutes end to end — including the eligibility checklist, enrolling in the required Partner Programs, and completing the connect flow in the Fours Console. See Integrate Azure Marketplace with Fours.

Phase 2: Create your product listing

In this phase, you’ll create your Azure Marketplace listing in Fours and submit it to Microsoft for review — this is the listing customers will see when they discover your product in Azure Marketplace.

Estimated time: ~1-2 hours of hands-on work, plus ~2 weeks for Microsoft’s review.

In the Fours console, go to Products → Create Product, select Azure, and follow the prompts — Fours uses AI-assisted templates to pre-fill a lot of the content, so use these as a starting point and refine from there. See Create and Publish an Azure Marketplace Listing.

Once your listing looks good, Fours submits it to Microsoft on your behalf. Microsoft follows up via the email on your Partner Center account if anything needs to change during review. If you have an active deal waiting on your listing, let your Fours contact know — listings can be expedited in that case.

Phase 3: Go live & test with a private offer

Once your listing is approved, confirm it’s live and validate the buyer experience end to end before working with real customers.

Estimated time: Less than 1 hour once your listing has been approved.

  1. In the Fours Console, go to Product, open your Azure product, and confirm the status is Public. You can also confirm the listing is live directly in Partner Center.
  2. Create and accept a private offer using an account you control, to verify your private offer workflow, fulfillment, and entitlement processing all work before inviting real customers. See Create an Azure Marketplace Private Offer.

Don’t skip this step — it’s much easier to catch issues here than after a real customer transacts.

Phase 4: CRM integration (optional)

If your team uses Salesforce or HubSpot, connect it to Fours to manage private offers and co-sell opportunities more efficiently. Skip this phase if you use neither — check with your Fours contact if you’re unsure whether CRM integration is included in your subscription.

  • Salesforce (~1 hour, requires a Salesforce Admin) — lets your sales team send private offers and share opportunities without leaving Salesforce. See Integrate Salesforce with Fours.
  • HubSpot (~10 minutes, requires access to install apps and grant CRM permissions in HubSpot) — enables co-sell capabilities from the Fours console. See Integrate HubSpot with Fours.

Phase 5: Co-Sell setup (optional)

If you plan to co-sell with Microsoft and your Fours subscription includes Azure Co-Sell capabilities, complete this phase — otherwise, skip it. Azure Co-Sell lets you share sales opportunities with your Microsoft account team so they can collaborate with you throughout the sales cycle.

Estimated time: ~15 minutes to configure field mapping, plus any additional time to complete Microsoft’s co-sell requirements.

Azure Co-Sell doesn’t need a separate connection step — it rides on the Azure Marketplace integration from Phase 1, along with the Referrals admin role on your Microsoft side. See Integrate Azure Co-Sell with Fours for the requirements. Once that’s in place, configure field mapping yourself in Settings → Co-Sell so opportunities sync correctly between your CRM and Microsoft’s co-sell platform — see Co-Sell Configuration. Reach out to your Fours contact only if you need help with complex custom mappings.

You’re live — what’s next

Congratulations! You’re ready to start transacting with customers through Azure Marketplace using Fours. From here, your focus shifts from setup to day-to-day marketplace operations — creating private offers, managing agreements, tracking revenue, and growing your marketplace business.

Self-serve customers

Your onboarding is complete; post in your dedicated Slack channel or email [email protected], and expect a response within 1 business day.

SMB / Mid-Market / Enterprise customers

Your Customer Success Manager will schedule a post-launch check-in to help you plan your growth strategy, manage private offers, set up co-sell workflows, and answer product questions.

ResourceWhere
Your Azure listings and offersMicrosoft Partner Center — Marketplace Offers
Create a private offerCreate an Azure Marketplace Private Offer
Edit your product listingUpdate Your Azure Marketplace Listings
Check if an invoice has been paidRevenue Records
Learn more about the Fours consoleNavigate the Fours Console

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