Microsoft AppSource - Simply Explained

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Have you ever heard someone say, "Just get it from AppSource"

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and felt like you were supposed to know what that means?

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I've been there. It sounds simple enough.

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An App Store, right?

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But then you open it and suddenly you're looking at consulting services,

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Azure Infrastructure and templates,

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and you have no idea where to start.

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Here's the real problem. Microsoft has a lot of products.

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And I mean a lot.

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Years ago, finding the right one for your businessmen,

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googling around, calling different vendors,

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signing up for trials that didn't work,

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and burning a ton of time.

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There was no single place to go.

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That's exactly what AppSource is supposed to fix.

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By the end of this episode, AppSource will actually make sense.

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You'll know what it is, what kinds of things live there,

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and why it's way more than just an App Store for Outlook plugins.

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It's much bigger than that.

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We'll break it into the three types of offerings you'll find.

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How they connect to Dynamics 365,

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Power Platform, Azure, and Microsoft 365,

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and then we'll tackle the common myths and best practices.

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So let's start with the most basic question.

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What exactly is AppSource?

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What AppSource actually is?

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AppSource is Microsoft's online marketplace for business solutions.

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Think of it like a mall.

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But instead of selling clothes or electronics,

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every store sells software, services,

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and templates that work with Microsoft products.

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That's the simplest way to picture it.

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Here's an important distinction.

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This is not for consumer apps.

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You won't find games, media players, or photo editors.

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Everything on AppSource is built for organizations.

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Small business, enterprise, nonprofit.

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If it's on AppSource, it's meant to solve a business problem.

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Now here's something that catches people off guard.

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In September 2025, Microsoft unified AppSource

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and Azure marketplace into a single platform

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called Microsoft Marketplace.

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That means when you go to AppSource now,

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you can also find Azure infrastructure solutions

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and consulting services right there in the same place.

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It used to be two separate stores,

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one for business apps, one for technical infrastructure.

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Now it's all one.

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The scale is pretty impressive.

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As of 2026, there are over 19,000 solutions

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on the platform spanning more than 150 countries.

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That's a lot of options, which is why knowing how to navigate matters.

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But before we get into navigation,

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let's understand what those 19,000 solutions actually are.

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Those 19,000 solutions break down into a few clear categories.

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Let's look at the three big ones.

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The three kinds of offerings.

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Welcome to another episode of Microsoft Knowledge Nuggets.

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I'm Mirko Peters.

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Today we're breaking down AppSource.

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Let's start with the three kinds of offerings you'll find.

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First, apps and extensions.

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This is the category most people know.

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Fulza's applications like a finance tool

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built on Dynamics 365.

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Or small add-ins that extend what you already have.

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Think of a Gmail to Outlook Migration tool.

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It's not a new system.

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It just fills a specific gap.

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Apps and extensions are the bread and butter of AppSource.

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That's what most people come looking for.

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Second, consulting services.

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This one catches people off guard.

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You don't just buy software.

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You can hire a Microsoft partner to help set it up.

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Workshops, assessments, implementations, training,

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a real example would be a Dynamics 365 sales implementation

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workshop or a power platform adoption assessment.

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These are services, not software,

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but they're listed right alongside the apps

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in the same marketplace with the same trial and purchase flow.

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Third, templates and data services.

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Pre-built solutions for common business scenarios.

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Industry-specific templates for health care, retail, finance.

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Remember that patient feedback app I mentioned?

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That's a template.

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You take it, customize it for your clinic

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and deploy it with no coding from scratch.

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Data services work a little differently.

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There's enriched data sets you can pull into your applications

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like demographic data or industry benchmarks.

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So why does this matter for a business buyer?

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Instead of hiring a developer

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to build a custom solution from scratch,

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you can often find a ready-made template

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that does 80% of what you need

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or find a partner who has already implemented

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the same solution for 10 other companies.

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That saves time, saves money and reduces risk.

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You're not reinventing the wheel.

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You're standing on someone else's shoulders.

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And that's what you'll find on app source.

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But what Microsoft products do these connect to?

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Let's start with the biggest one, Dynamics 365.

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How it connects to Dynamics 365?

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Dynamics 365 is Microsoft's suite of business applications,

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ERP, CRM that whole world, and app source acts

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as its extension store.

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You can add address verification, warehouse management,

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field service tools, all directly from within the Dynamics

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interface or through the web browser.

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No hunting for a separate vendor, it's right there.

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The extension model is what makes this work.

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These apps follow a low-code architecture.

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Install them without complex coding.

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Click a button, choose your environment, and it's live.

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You don't need a developer to wire things up.

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You don't need to modify your core system.

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It's an extension, not a replacement.

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Here's a real example.

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Imagine a company using Dynamics 365 sales.

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They wanted tools that automatically

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enriches leads with company data from LinkedIn.

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So they go to app source, search for a lead enrichment solution,

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find one that works, install it, and it integrates seamlessly.

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The data flows into their existing sales pipeline

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without any custom integration work.

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Why is this a game changer?

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Because traditional ERP expansion meant long vendor

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negotiations, complex integration projects, and months

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of waiting.

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You'd call a vendor, negotiate a contract, schedule

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an implementation, test everything, and hope it worked.

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Now it's a few clicks.

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That's the low-code, no-code movement at work.

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It's making enterprise software as easy to extend as adding

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an app to your phone.

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Dynamics 365 is the big one, but AppSource also

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extends the power platform in a big way.

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We'll look there next.

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How it connects to Power Platform and Azure.

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So let's talk about the Power Platform.

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Microsoft calls it their low-code toolkit.

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And here's what that means in plain English.

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You build custom apps with Power Apps,

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automate workflows with Power Automate,

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create chatbots with co-pilot studio.

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AppSource is where you find pre-built solutions for all

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of those tools ready to customize or deploy right away.

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Think of it like buying a kit instead of building from scratch.

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Let me give you a real example.

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Say a healthcare provider needs a patient feedback app.

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20 years ago, they'd hire a developer wait weeks for the build

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test everything, then deploy.

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Now they go to AppSource, find a Power Apps template,

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build exactly for patient feedback,

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customize it for their clinic.

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Change the logo, adjust the questions, tweak the colors,

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and deploy it in hours.

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Not weeks, hours.

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That's what a pre-built template can do.

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Now Azure is where things get more technical.

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We're talking infrastructure, virtual machines, databases,

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AI services.

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But here's the thing.

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On AppSource, these show up in a business-friendly way.

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You're not searching for Kubernetes cluster configuration.

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You search for AI document processing

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and find a managed app that runs on Azure,

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handles the infrastructure for you

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and shows up with a clear price and a trial button.

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The technical complexity stays hidden behind a simple listing.

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This is where the unified marketplace really shines.

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You can go from a Dynamics 365 add-in to a power-automate workflow

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to an Azure VM all in the same search

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with consistent billing across everything.

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No need for three-vendor relationships.

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No need for three-procurement processes.

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One place, one invoice, one relationship with Microsoft.

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AppSource also reaches into Microsoft 365.

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Teams, Outlook, SharePoint.

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Let's see how that works.

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How it connects to Microsoft 365 and Teams.

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Here's something worth knowing.

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There are over 400 million Microsoft 365 users worldwide.

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And all of them can find AppSource apps

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from inside Word, Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, and the admin center.

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You don't need to leave the app you're already working in.

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The marketplace comes to you.

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Let's break down what that looks like.

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Teams apps are probably the most visible example.

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You've seen them.

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Project management boards that appear as a tab inside Teams,

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polling tools that show up in a chat, compliance checkers,

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that run as a bot.

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These aren't separate websites you open.

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They live inside Teams right where you're already working.

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Then there are Office Add-ins.

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These are tools that appear in the ribbon of Word or Excel.

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A document signing service, a translation add-in,

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a data visualization tool, they show up as a button in your toolbar.

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Click it and it works inside your document.

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No switching windows, no copy paste.

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Now this is where AI comes in.

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As of 2026, there are over 20 million paid Microsoft 365 co-pilot seats.

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That's a lot of people using AI inside their daily workflow.

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Many AppSource listings now offer co-pilot plugins.

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Extensions that bring AI capabilities directly into the flow of work.

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Instead of opening a separate AI tool,

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you get a co-pilot plugin that summarizes your emails,

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drafts responses, or pulls data from your business systems,

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all from inside Outlook.

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That's the direction things are heading.

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That's the what in the where.

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But how do you actually get these solutions?

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Let's talk about the marketplace mechanics.

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The marketplace.

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Mechanics.

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Trial by Co-Sell.

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So how do you actually get these solutions into your hands?

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Let's break it down because the process is simpler than you might think.

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You find a solution you like.

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Look for the free trial button right on the listing page.

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Click it, sign in with your work.

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Microsoft account, not your personal one, your work one.

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Choose the environment you want to install it into and it deploys.

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No credit card needed for many of them.

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You can test drive a solution before spending a single dollar.

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That's huge when you're evaluating enterprise software.

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It lowers the risk of trying something new.

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Now if you decide to buy, that's where transactable offers come in.

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These are listings where you can purchase directly

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through AppSource using your existing Microsoft billing agreement.

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No separate invoice, no new vendor setup,

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but it all goes on the same bill you already pay for your Microsoft services.

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And here's the part that surprises many people.

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Those purchases can count against your Microsoft Azure consumption commitment or maxi.

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That's basically pre-committed spending that you get discounts on.

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So if your organization has already committed to spending a certain amount with Microsoft,

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buying an AppSource solution can eat into that commitment instead of costing extra.

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That's a huge incentive for enterprise buyers.

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Then there's co-sell.

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This is probably the most powerful feature that most people don't know about.

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If an offering is co-sell eligible,

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Microsoft's own sales team can recommend it to their customers.

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Think about what that means.

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You're a small software vendor with a great solution.

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Normally you'd have to build your own sales team, your own pipeline, your own relationships.

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But with co-sell, Microsoft's thousands of field sellers become an extension of your sales force.

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They're already talking to customers every day.

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They already have trust.

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They can recommend your solution alongside Microsoft's own products.

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That's a massive distribution channel that most partners underutilize.

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And for the more complex deals, they are private offers.

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Independent software vendors can create custom pricing deals for specific customers within AppSource.

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So instead of sending quotes back and forth over email,

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the whole thing happens inside the marketplace.

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And the customer sees the custom price accepted and it goes through the same billing flow,

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no friction, no procurement headaches.

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All this sounds great on paper,

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but there are some common misconceptions that trip people up.

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Let's clear those up.

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Common myths and mistakes.

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First myth.

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AppSource is just for Microsoft products.

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I hear that one often, but it's not true.

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AppSource is a marketplace for third-party solutions that work with Microsoft products.

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Independent software vendors publish there.

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In fact, the vast majority of listings are from specialized firms you've probably never heard of.

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Tools built for specific industries or business functions.

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Microsoft's own products are in there too,

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but they're not the main attraction.

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The real value is the ecosystem of partners.

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Second myth.

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Once I install an app, I have to keep it forever.

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No, you can uninstall just as easily.

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The extension model means no permanent changes to your environment.

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If it doesn't work for you, remove it and move on.

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No data lock in, no migration project, no sunk cost.

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That's the great thing about this model.

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It lowers the risk of trying new things.

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Third myth.

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AppSource and Azure marketplace are different.

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There used to be back when they were separate storefronts for different audiences,

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but as we covered earlier,

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Microsoft unified them in September 2025.

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One listing can now appear in both.

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So if someone tells you they're different,

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they're working with outdated information.

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It's all one marketplace now.

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Now for the folks creating listings.

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A common mistake.

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Poor visuals, walls of text,

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and outdated descriptions.

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One expert put it bluntly.

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Don't set it and forget it.

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You can't publish a listing in 2021 and expect it to still work in 2026.

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Microsoft changes product names,

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new competitors emerge,

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customer needs evolve.

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The advice is to review your listing quarterly.

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Is it still accurate?

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Is it still relevant?

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Does it still look professional?

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If not, updated or take it down.

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A stay-alisting hurts your credibility more than no listing at all.

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So now you know what AppSource is,

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what you can find and how it works.

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Let's wrap it up with a big picture synthesis and your takeaways.

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The big picture and aha moment.

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So here's what I want you to hold on to after all of this.

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AppSource is not just a storefront.

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It's a system.

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Think of it like the App Store on your phone.

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Except instead of one device,

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it covers your whole business tech stack.

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You don't open the App Store just to buy one thing.

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You open it because it's the front door to everything your phone can do.

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AppSource works the same way for your Microsoft investment.

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The real aha moment comes when you realize it connects dynamics,

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power platform, Azure and Microsoft 365 in one single search.

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You don't need to know which product category your solution lives in.

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You don't need to figure out the difference between a power app and a dynamics extension.

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You just describe the problem you're trying to solve

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and the marketplace surfaces the right answer.

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Whether that's an app, a service or a template.

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And this is where the magic of everything working together really kicks in.

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Picture this, you're working inside teams and you think,

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"I need a better way to track customer feedback."

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You search AppSource from right there inside teams.

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You find a power app's template built for exactly that.

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One click and it deploys to dataverse.

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Then you realize you could make it smarter with AI sentiment analysis.

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So you search the same marketplace, find an Azure AI service,

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add it to the same solution and pay for everything through your existing Microsoft billing.

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One search found it all, no leaving your workflow.

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One invoice covers it.

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That's what a unified marketplace does.

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It removes the friction between spotting a need and solving it.

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Why does this matter to you?

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Maybe you're an IT pro trying to extend your stack without breaking anything.

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Maybe you're a business owner looking for a quick fix to a real problem.

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Or maybe you're a consultant helping clients navigate Microsoft's connected platform.

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Either way, AppSource is the front door.

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It's how you add to your Microsoft investment without starting from scratch.

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The solutions are already built.

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The partners are already certified.

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The billing is already set up.

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You just need to know where to look.

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All right, let's wrap up with three things you can actually do starting today.

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What you can do now.

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Here's what I want you to do once this episode ends.

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First, go to appsource.microsoft.com right now and search for your industry.

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Type in manufacturing and healthcare, retail, whatever fits your world.

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Just see what comes up.

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Look at the templates.

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Browse the consulting services.

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You don't have to install anything.

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Just look around.

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That one step will show you how much is actually out there.

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Most people never take it because they don't know what exists.

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Second, if you're evaluating a solution for a real problem, use the free trial.

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No commitment.

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Pick something small, a reporting tool,

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a workflow automation, a data connector, and install it.

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Experience that one click deployment yourself.

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Feel what it's like to go from I need this to

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its running in my environment in under five minutes.

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That experience alone will change how you think about extending your Microsoft stack.

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Third, if you're a partner or an ISV building for the Microsoft ecosystem,

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make app source your go-to-market channel.

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But do it the right way.

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Use clear visuals right for the customer, not your product team.

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Focus on their pain points, not your features.

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Update your listing every quarter.

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Don't set it and forget it.

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The partners who treat their listing as a living asset,

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not a static brochure,

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are the ones who get found, get tried, and get bored.

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App source is the most underused tool in the Microsoft stack.

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Now you know how to use it.

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Subscribe for more knowledge nuggets,

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and I'll see you in the next episode.