These updates provide engineers with a unified framework for building, governing, and scaling AI agents. By integrating advanced models like Claude and streamlining data retrieval via Foundry IQ, Microsoft is reducing the complexity of deploying enterprise-grade agentic workflows.
At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we explored what it means for organizations to move into the era of Frontier transformation. This shift is focused on embedding AI across every part of the business to improve decision-making, increase speed, and create new value. Organizations leading in AI make it foundational. They rethink processes and integrate new technologies from the start to improve efficiency.
For partners, this move toward Frontier represents a significant opportunity to lead customers into this new era. By building AI-powered solutions, connecting data for intelligent insights, and deploying Microsoft Azure’s cloud-ready platforms, partners can deliver value faster and scale confidently through the Microsoft ecosystem.
Microsoft Ignite came with a significant number of announcements, so I’ve gathered the Azure updates that matter most for partners. These are the capabilities that can strengthen your ability to deliver intelligent solutions, drive operational efficiency, and differentiate your product or service in the market. You can also explore how partners are turning momentum into action, access highlights, and grab practical guidance from my Microsoft Ignite session.
Azure Copilot: Now in private preview
Azure Copilot introduces specialized agents to the Azure portal, PowerShell, and CLI. Powered by Azure Resource Manager (ARM)-driven scenarios and advanced AI models from Microsoft and partners, Azure Copilot streamlines migration, assessment, and modernization activities with data-driven insights, guided workflows, and improved governance across customer environments. For partners, this creates a unified way to deliver intelligent automation for cloud workloads, accelerate modernization projects, reduce operational overhead, and strengthen governance through integrated agentic workflows across Azure and GitHub Copilot.
For more information, check out these additional resources:
Blog: Ushering in the Era of Agentic Cloud Operations with Azure Copilot
Microsoft Ignite session: Agentic AI Tools for Partner-Led Migration and Modernization Success
Microsoft Ignite session: Partners: Accelerate Secure Migrations and Innovate in the Era of AI
Foundry Control Plane: Now in public preview
Microsoft Foundry Control Plane extends Agent 365 by bringing unified visibility, security, and control to AI agents operating across the Microsoft Cloud. It centralizes policy management, lifecycle governance, and observability, offering a consistent way to manage agent behavior and performance. By providing enterprise-grade governance and security capabilities that support safe, scalable, and efficient agent management for customers across varied environments, Control Plane empowers confident deployment and operation of AI-powered solutions.
For more information, review these additional resources:
Microsoft Learn: What is the Microsoft Foundry Control Plane?
Microsoft Ignite session: Build Partner Advantage: Drive Key AI Use-Cases with Azure Tech Stack
Foundry IQ: Now in public preview
Foundry IQ provides a unified endpoint for agent knowledge, automating source routing and retrieval workflows through Azure AI Search. It equips agents to work with enterprise content securely and with greater contextual grounding by connecting a unified knowledge base to multiple data sources. For partners, this creates a streamlined way to build retrieval augmented generation (RAG) solutions, link agents to customer-specific knowledge sources, and deliver consistent, context-rich capabilities that empower organizations to unlock more value from their data.
Read our blog to learn more: Foundry IQ: Unlocking ubiquitous knowledge for agents
Fabric IQ: Now in public preview
Microsoft Fabric IQ offers a live, unified view of enterprise data and AI agents, organizing information by business concepts and using OneLake to support real-time analytics across hybrid and multicloud environments. For partners, Fabric IQ creates a foundation for building intelligent, context-aware solutions that align to business processes, accelerate analytics performance, and strengthen governance to improve reliability and efficiency across customer deployments.
For more information, check out these additional resources:
Blog: From Data Platform to Intelligence Platform: Introducing Microsoft Fabric IQ
Microsoft Ignite session: Microsoft Fabric IQ: Turning unified data into unified intelligence
Microsoft Ignite session: How Microsoft’s data platform is creating value for partners
Microsoft Agent Factory: Now available
Microsoft Agent Factory is a new program designed for organizations that want to move from experimentation to execution faster. At the heart of this program is the Microsoft Agent Pre-Purchase Plan (P3), which streamlines procurement and reduces complexity. With P3, partners can offer their customers access to 32 Microsoft services through one flexible pool of funds, eliminating the need to manage multiple contracts or choose between platforms. This single metered plan not only reduces upfront licensing and provisioning but also supports greater predictability for organizations investing in AI innovation. Eligible organizations can also tap into hands-on support from top AI Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) and access tailored, role-based training to boost AI fluency across teams. Together, they unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation while encouraging customers to confidently embrace the future of AI.
Read our blog to learn more: Accelerate innovation with Microsoft Agent Factory
Microsoft Foundry: Anthropic Claude models are now available
Microsoft Foundry now offers Anthropic Claude models that support advanced reasoning for research, coding, and agentic workflows, all within the Microsoft unified governance and observability framework. For partners, this expands choice across model capabilities to develop multistep agents using the right model per task while maintaining governance and deployment consistency across Azure, Foundry, and Microsoft 365 Copilot environments.
Read our blog to learn more: Introducing Anthropic’s Claude models in Microsoft Foundry: Bringing Frontier intelligence to Azure
Resale enabled offers: Now available through Microsoft Marketplace
Resale enabled offers are now available in nearly all Marketplace-supported regions, allowing software companies to work with channel partners to manage listings and expand reach. For partners, this creates new channel-led sales opportunities by making it easier to promote and manage listings on behalf of publishers and reach more customers globally without adding operational complexity.
For more information, check out these resources:
Marketplace: Cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents
Blog: The Microsoft Marketplace opportunity for channel ecosystem
Microsoft Ignite session: Executing on the channel-led marketplace opportunity for partners
Microsoft Ignite session: Marketplace success for partners—from SMB to enterprise
Microsoft Ignite session: Partner: Benefits for Accelerating Software Company Success
Azure HorizonDB for PostgreSQL: Now in private preview
Azure HorizonDB is a new PostgreSQL cloud database for mission-critical applications and modern AI workloads, offering auto-scaling storage, rapid compute scale out, advanced vector indexing, and integration with the Microsoft AI and analytics ecosystem. For partners, HorizonDB supports the development of intelligent and resilient applications, modernization of legacy systems, and creation of high-performance data platforms designed for security, scale, and future AI workloads.
Check out these additional resources:
Blog: Announcing Azure HorizonDB
Preview sign-up: Apply for the preview here
Microsoft Ignite session: Azure HorizonDB: Deep Dive into a New Enterprise-Scale PostgreSQL
Microsoft Agent 365: The control plane for AI agents
Agent 365 extends the Microsoft user management infrastructure to AI agents, empowering organizations to govern agents across Microsoft 365, Azure, and Foundry. Available in the Microsoft 365 admin center with the Frontier program, it combines capabilities from Microsoft 365 Defender, Entra, Purview, and Microsoft 365 for unified security, productivity, and management. For partners, this creates a consistent approach to deploying, securing, and managing fleets of AI agents across customer environments with streamlined governance and operational clarity.
Read our blog to learn more: Microsoft Agent 365: The control plane for AI agents
Looking forward
Microsoft Ignite is about more than product updates; it’s a time to celebrate what we can achieve together as partners. Continue your journey and explore the Cloud & AI Platforms partner sessions at Microsoft Ignite and read the Azure at Microsoft Ignite 2025: All the intelligent cloud news explained blog post for more product updates.
Stay connected with us. Follow Microsoft Partner on LinkedIn, join the conversation in our Partner News Community, and explore the Microsoft partner site to keep your momentum going.
For details on recent announcements, please read the “What’s new in Azure for Partners” newsletter on the Microsoft Community Hub and follow the tag “Azure News” to stay updated.
November update: What’s new in Azure for Partners | Microsoft Community Hub
October update: What’s new in Azure for Partners | Microsoft Community Hub
The post Azure updates for partners: December 2025 appeared first on Microsoft Azure Blog.
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Read full articleThis integration brings Anthropic's most advanced reasoning to Azure, enabling engineers to build secure, agentic workflows with a 1M token context window. It simplifies the path to production by combining frontier intelligence with enterprise-grade governance and data connectivity.
As AI adoption scales, engineers need unified tools to manage model lifecycles, security, and compliance. Microsoft’s integrated approach reduces operational risk and simplifies the deployment of responsible, agentic AI systems across complex multicloud environments.
This integration enables engineers to build specialized AI agents for highly regulated sectors. By combining Claude's reasoning with domain-specific MCPs and Azure's secure infrastructure, teams can automate complex medical reasoning and R&D tasks while maintaining strict compliance.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 brings frontier-level reasoning and a 1M token context window to Microsoft Foundry. For engineers, this enables more efficient large-scale code analysis, sophisticated browser automation, and better cost-performance control for agentic workflows in enterprise environments.
