Softools helps customers automate business processes and maximize cloud spend investments through the Microsoft commercial marketplace

Softools helps enterprises automate business processes. Its advanced no-code web application platform runs on Microsoft Azure, helping customers achieve digital transformation by automating business processes with hundreds of off-the-shelf apps or by creating custom no-code applications within minutes. 

Softools applications are immediately secure, scalable, and operational on any device with offline capabilities and multiple languages supported. 

Since joining ISV Success in 2022, it has deepened the partnership, gained exposure, and, in a three-month period, secured numerous enterprise deals through the commercial marketplace.

Founded in 1998, Softools is a UK-based company with a global client base spanning Europe, North America, Japan, and India. Originally a process consultancy, it adopted technology early to deploy digitization quickly across multi-site operations, resulting in standardized ways of working. The solutions evolved as business requirements changed and ultimately led to the creation of a no-code platform that enables a consultant or business process owner/operator to make changes without being dependent on IT skills.

The Softools platform is built on Microsoft Azure, and it first listed solutions, such as its RAID (Risks, Actions, Insights, Decisions) Register application, in Microsoft AppSource. This provided visibility to end customers but required a high-touch and individualized transaction journey. Softools engaged with ISV Success in August 2022 and began taking advantage of a variety of program benefits as soon as possible.

“From a technology perspective, we were well supported by ISV Success to achieve the integration work needed to publish a transactable offer,” said Vipul Lakhani, Chief Commercial Officer for Softools. “We worked closely with the UK ISV teams to optimize the listing, get all the approvals, qualify quickly for badges, and achieve Azure IP co-sell incentivized status.”

When partners engage through ISV Success, they have access to benefits including co-sell opportunities that help ISVs scale growth and reach new markets. ISVs can also create private offers to extend margins to partners in the Cloud Solution Provider program—instantly activating an ecosystem of 90,000+ eligible partners and initiating new sales channels. The Azure IP co-sell incentivized status gives Softools additional benefits, including sales of its offer contributing to customer Microsoft Azure consumption commitments (MACC) and a Microsoft preferred solutions badge. The badges are signified in the commercial marketplace for ISVs with solutions that have been validated by a team of Microsoft experts, have a focus on specific solution areas, and have proven business impact for customers. The badges allow customers browsing in Microsoft AppSource and the commercial marketplace to visually identify those offers.

Doing better together

By the start of 2023, Softools began closing deals via the commercial marketplace and working on deeper engagement through the ISV Success benefits.

“The ISV Success program offered financial and technical marketing incentives for achieving milestones and listing qualifying SaaS offers, which we managed to achieve. Our marketplace offers are all Azure IP co-sell incentivized, which deprecates Microsoft account team sales targets when Softools sells into enterprise clients—provided deals are registered in Partner Center and meet specific criteria,” said Lakhani. “The deal flow is raising Softools’s profile across Microsoft in a crowded marketplace full of ISVs, and we anticipate new business through this engagement. We are now working towards top-tier status, which will further incentivize Microsoft account execs to help sell Softools.”

The Softools team is now embarking on additional engagement options via Microsoft seller webinars, which will provide additional visibility to the field to drive more proactive, Microsoft-led lead generation.      

Helping customers achieve more

Recently, a multinational food company engaged Softools via the commercial marketplace.

This customer has a corporate Strategy Transformation Team that tracks strategic initiatives across each of the business units globally. Its processes were managed in a variety of spreadsheets and PowerPoint decks with approvals and communications over email. This led to unnecessary hours of manual work in order to provide a cohesive view of the strategic initiatives across countries.

Softools helped this customer standardize, digitize, and align how the company’s strategy and financial key performance indicators (KPIs) were managed and reported. A series of applications were created, enabling a “single source of truth” that all countries use as a collaborative environment where they share information, roadmap processes, budgets, and more with senior management.

By working through the commercial marketplace, Softools helped secure a large Azure renewal, leveraging the customer’s cloud consumption commitment. Not only did this marketplace sale benefit the customer, but Microsoft also manages the sale taxes and the billing cycles for the transactions. As a result, Softools receives payments from Microsoft on a fixed and predictable timetable (five to eight weeks depending on when the transaction takes place in a month) which avoids the need to negotiate payment terms with the client.

“Moving forward, one of the benefits of transacting through the marketplace is reducing manual effort in chasing payments, which will release time for higher value activities,” said Lakhani.

Partnering for the future

By embracing the commercial marketplace as a critical go-to-market channel and taking advantage of ISV Success benefits, Softools is expanding the visibility, accessibility, and ease of procurement for its advanced no-code application platform.

Softools is already embracing the fast-paced emergence of AI services on Microsoft Azure and has already hit the ground running with additional interoperability with Azure Cognitive Services and Azure OpenAI Service. The power of AI can be rapidly infused into business processes to create advantages, and Softools is also exploring how AI can further simplify and accelerate the app build process.

By expanding its global reach and providing more companies with the ability to learn in hours, build in minutes, and deploy in seconds, Softools is helping Microsoft realize its vision of empowering every person and organization on the planet achieve more.

For more information: Softools on the commercial marketplace