Microsoft Azure, sometimes stylized Azure, and formerly Windows Azurea is the cloud computing platform developed by Microsoft. It offers management, access and development of applications and services to individuals, companies, and governments through its global infrastructure. It also provides capabilities that are usually not included within other cloud platforms, including software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Microsoft Azure supports many programming languages, tools, and frameworks, including Microsoft-specific and third-party software and systems.

According to Microsoft, these are forward-thinking companies that blend human ambition with AI-powered technology to fundamentally reshape how they operate and create value. The merger of Azure Marketplace and AppSource into a single entity is a direct response to the growing complexity of enterprise software procurement. If you already have a tenant, why would you want to create additional tenants?

In summary, an Azure subscription contains your virtual resources in the cloud and the corresponding management interfaces. An Entra ID tenant is about identity and access management for your users, applications, and devices. A key innovation is “resale enabled offers,” a new capability in private preview.

However, there are multi-tenant scenarios – I’ll describe some reasons below. Microsoft has defended its compliance with international laws, but opponents insist that mere legal adherence is insufficient when technologies could exacerbate oppression. The debate reflects broader tensions between corporate profits, technological ethics, and accountability in conflict zones.

The marketplace is designed to provide a trusted, secure, and governable platform that empowers IT departments to manage the influx of AI tools confidently. By uniting its cloud infrastructure and business application storefronts, Microsoft is creating a cohesive ecosystem. The goal is to reduce friction for customers and to present a unified front against competitors in the enterprise software space. Microsoft has launched the new Microsoft Marketplace, a unified digital storefront that merges its previously separate Azure Marketplace and AppSource platforms. Announced on September 25, the marketplace aims to simplify how businesses discover, purchase, and deploy cloud solutions and AI tools.

Microsoft Reunites Windows Engineering Teams to Accelerate AI-Powered ‘Agentic OS’

What I haven’t pointed out yet is that there are some different paths you can take, including the starting portal. I’d like to give you some explanation as to your choices, why it makes more sense to start in a specific portal, and why it makes sense to choose a specific top-level choice based on your intentions for the future. The type of users you’re managing, the type of tenant, and information security requirements are all criteria for how to proceed. An Entra ID tenant is a cloud-based directory service from Microsoft. It is a dedicated instance that an organization or an application developer uses to house and manage their users, identities, apps, and various security services.

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• An Entra ID tenant is about identity and access management for your users, applications, and devices.
• This feature empowers software companies to authorize their channel partners to sell solutions on their behalf through private offers, effectively unlocking new and streamlined routes to market.
• There are a few gotchas or future additions that are blocked or unavailable based on what specific steps you take.
• Although there are some rather important decisions you need to make when creating a new or additional Entra ID tenant including from which portal to start, the process is relatively quick and painless.
• An Entra ID tenant is a cloud-based directory service from Microsoft.
• Also, if you’re not using an account with Global Administrator rights, you will at least need an account with the Tenant Creator role.

This feature empowers software companies to authorize their channel partners to sell solutions on their behalf through private offers, effectively unlocking new and streamlined routes to market. The new marketplace is also a cornerstone of Microsoft’s partner strategy. The company is introducing new capabilities designed to drive growth for both software developers and channel partners. This move recognizes that a vibrant partner ecosystem is crucial for scaling technology adoption. For large enterprises, the value proposition extends beyond efficiency to the critical balance of innovation and control.

Services

A nice quickstart or step-by-step guide wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include the steps to create a new Entra ID tenant, right? This vast catalog is a clear bet on the future of AI-driven business processes, offering tools designed to automate tasks, accelerate decision-making, and unlock new value. The marketplace’s most significant feature is its deep and strategic integration of artificial intelligence, designed to move customers from experimentation to scale.

How To Create an Entra ID (Azure AD) Tenant: Step-by-Step Guide

• An Azure AD tenant is a dedicated and trusted instance of Azure Active Directory (Entra ID) that Microsoft automatically creates when your organization signs up for a Microsoft cloud service such as Azure, Microsoft 365, or Dynamics 365.
• For example, Copilot agents from the marketplace are available directly within the Microsoft 365 Copilot experience through the new Agent Store, while specialized models and tools appear in Azure AI Foundry.
• A key innovation is “resale enabled offers,” a new capability in private preview.
• The new, single destination streamlines that experience with a unified taxonomy and a combined catalog, simplifying how businesses find, try, and buy solutions from a single, trusted source.
• Using ‘Azure AD B2C’ is as easy as accessing the administration controls in the Azure Portal.

Industry giants like Arrow, Crayon, Ingram Micro, Pax8, and TD SYNNEX are among the first to do so, expanding the potential customer base for vendors. The ‘resale enabled offers’ feature, in particular, addresses a long-standing request from the partner community. It allows ISVs to leverage the sales force and customer relationships of their channel partners directly within the marketplace, creating a powerful new co-selling engine that benefits the entire ecosystem. An Azure AD tenant is a dedicated and trusted instance of Azure Active Directory (Entra ID) that Microsoft automatically creates when your organization signs up for a Microsoft cloud service such as Azure, Microsoft 365, or Dynamics 365. There are a few prerequisites or requirements you should be aware of before proceeding and planning. Don’t worry if you’re only testing or managing development resources – you can easily create a free account to begin your testing.

What’s the difference between an Azure subscription and an Entra ID tenant?

This deep integration with the channel ecosystem is a strategic advantage. It allows customers to procure solutions through their existing, trusted relationships with cloud service providers (CSPs), simplifying the purchasing process and fostering stronger partnerships across the board. Through Azure44 Blockchain Workbench, Microsoft is providing the required infrastructure to set up a consortium network in multiple topologies using a variety of consensus mechanisms. Microsoft provides integration from these blockchain platforms to other Microsoft services to streamline the development of distributed applications. Microsoft supports many general-purpose blockchains, including Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric and purpose-built blockchains like Corda. Above, I walked you through a specific scenario of tenant creation with Microsoft Entra ID.

Although there are some rather important decisions you need to make when creating a new or additional Entra ID tenant including from which portal to start, the process is relatively quick and painless. You don’t need a lot of technical expertise to go through the steps. Furthermore, Microsoft is extending the marketplace’s reach by allowing major channel partners to integrate its catalog into their own platforms.

Also, if you’re not using an account with Global Administrator rights, you will at least need an account with the Tenant Creator role. Microsoft is making these solutions highly discoverable, not just on the web but also by surfacing what it calls “contextually relevant” AI apps and agents directly within the Microsoft products that azure cloud engineer users, developers, and IT practitioners use daily. At launch, the platform features tens of thousands of solutions, including over 3,000 new AI-powered apps and agents.

The new, single destination streamlines that experience with a unified taxonomy and a combined catalog, simplifying how businesses find, try, and buy solutions from a single, trusted source. Initially available in the U.S. with a global rollout to follow, the move is part of Microsoft’s strategy to accelerate AI adoption and provide a single, trusted source for its partners. If you are looking to build an environment for work or school accounts, or even personal Microsoft accounts (MSA), you can use an existing Microsoft Entra tenant or build a new one, especially for development purposes. Another quick note – when you create a new Microsoft Entra ID tenant, you become the first user of that tenant. For example, Copilot agents from the marketplace are available directly within the Microsoft 365 Copilot experience through the new Agent Store, while specialized models and tools appear in Azure AI Foundry.