Enhanced Threat Detection & Monitoring AI Solutions
Software development companies are moving fast with AI—so are the risks. Join us to explore advanced strategies for detecting and monitoring security threats in real time. From anomaly detection to proactive incident response, learn how to keep your AI apps secure and resilient. What You’ll Learn: 💡Detect and respond to real-time security threats using intelligent threat intelligence 💡 Identify anomalies and suspicious behavior across your AI systems 💡 Build proactive incident response strategies that strengthen your security posture 💡 Protect customer data and trust in a dynamic risk landscape 👉 Register now As part of Software Development Company Security Series, for more details head to aka.ms/asiaisvsecurityWhy being secure and transactable is a key to marketplace success
The Partner Spotlight series highlights the achievements of forward-thinking partners who are driving innovation in the commercial marketplace. These industry pioneers share how they leverage AI to develop advanced applications, create impactful solutions on the Microsoft Cloud, launch transactable offerings, and accelerate their success through marketplace sales. In this installment, I had the opportunity to chat with Ásgrímur Skarphéðinsson, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Klynke, about the companies focus on building securely on the Microsoft cloud, their motivation for publishing transactable offers, and the success they have seen on the Azure marketplace. About Ásgrímur: As CTO of Klynke, Ásgrímur Skarphéðinsson drives product innovation and technology strategy. With a strong background in engineering and full-stack development, Ásgrímur leads the design and architecture of Klynke’s time tracking platform, ensuring it delivers secure, scalable performance within the Microsoft cloud. He is passionate about building intuitive solutions that integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and Teams—helping modern teams work smarter, stay compliant, and focus on what matters most. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ [JR]: Tell us about your organization. What inspired the founding? What products/services do you offer? [AS]: At Klynke, we believe technology should feel like a natural extension of the way people work, and that belief inspired our founding. We started with a simple idea: to help organizations work smarter by building secure, cloud-based tools on the Microsoft platform, and our work proved something important: Microsoft’s cloud had the power and flexibility to bring innovative ideas to life. From there, we noticed a gap, that Microsoft 365 didn’t offer native time tracking. So, we built what we wished existed: a secure, intuitive time management solution that works directly inside the Microsoft 365 tools people already use. That’s how Klynke Time Management was born. Today, our solution connects seamlessly with Teams, Planner, Outlook, SharePoint, and Excel. It helps teams track time right where the work happens—without switching tools or breaking focus. And with the Klynke Teams app included, it’s all just a click away. [JR]: Can you tell us a bit about the application(s) you have available on the marketplace? How does it work? [AS]: Klynke Time Management, available on Microsoft Marketplace, is built to simplify time tracking within Microsoft 365. Whether you're working in Teams or Outlook, Klynke lets you log time on tasks and projects without leaving your flow. Thanks to our deep integration with Microsoft Graph, Klynke syncs across tools like Teams, Outlook, Planner, SharePoint, and Excel—so everything stays connected and up to date. The app is designed to be as intuitive as it is powerful. You can log time, track progress, and view reports through filtered dashboards—all within your familiar Microsoft environment. And since it’s all hosted on Microsoft’s cloud, customers enjoy world-class security and compliance by default. [JR]: What Microsoft cloud products did you use in your app development? What value is this enabling with your customers? [AS]: We built Klynke Time Management using a mix of Microsoft cloud services that together create a seamless, secure experience for our users. At the core is Microsoft Azure, which gives us scalability and rock-solid reliability. We use Azure Active Directory for secure authentication, Azure SQL to manage metadata, and Microsoft Graph to integrate deeply with Microsoft 365 apps like Teams, Planner, Outlook, SharePoint, and Excel. In terms of new releases, testing and deployment we use Azure DevOps. Klynke also runs directly within Microsoft Teams and Outlook, which means users can track time without ever leaving their daily workflow. This cross-cloud application integration helps teams stay productive, focused, and secure—all while working in tools they already know. [JR]: How has Microsoft supported you along your journey? [AS]: Microsoft has been our platform provider and a true partner in our growth. From development to deployment, we’ve been able to tap into Microsoft’s ecosystem for guidance, technical resources, and support. Publishing on the Microsoft Marketplace has been a game changer. It gave us the reach of a global platform, and the best part, Microsoft handles transactions. That lets us focus on what matters most: building great software and supporting our customers. Being part of the Microsoft ecosystem means we’re always building on a foundation of trust, innovation, and security. [JR]: How does your org align its business to enabling positive impact for your customers and communities? [AS]: At Klynke, our mission is to help people work smarter—and that includes organizations making a real difference in their communities. We designed our time tracking solution to be flexible and intuitive for professionals, managers, and teams, with a special focus on small and medium-sized organizations. A key feature is support for teams working across time zones and regions, where coordination is critical, and simplicity is essential. One example is a UK-based healthcare nonprofit focused on improving the diagnosis and management of chronic diseases in primary care. With a globally distributed team, they needed a simple way to stay coordinated without adding operational overhead. Klynke helps them track time consistently and collaborate more effectively allowing them to stay focused on improving patient outcomes. Another example is a U.S.-based healthcare provider with a national network of therapists and contractors. Time tracking across multiple time zones was a challenge, especially with compliance requirements. By integrating Klynke into their Microsoft 365 tools, they’ve streamlined operations and reduced administrative complexity. App Security: Building securely on the Microsoft cloud [JR]: Tell us about your approach to app security. What inspired your focus on building securely on the Microsoft cloud? [AS]: Security has always been front and center for us—it’s not a checkbox, it’s a mindset. From the beginning, we knew our app had to operate securely within our customers’ Microsoft 365 environments. That’s why we chose to build on Microsoft’s cloud. It offers powerful tools like Azure Active Directory and Microsoft Graph that make secure development not just possible, but practical. Our goal is simple: to give customers a solution they can trust—one that’s built on a foundation of compliance, data protection, and transparency. We’re proud that security is baked into every layer of our product. It’s not something we add on—it’s something we architected for from the start. [JR]: Can you describe the security features of your application(s) available on the marketplace? How do they work? [AS]: Klynke Time Management is built using Microsoft’s platform-as-a-service (PaaS) model, which means we benefit from constant security updates and enhancements from Microsoft. Key security features include: Azure Active Directory integration for secure authentication and access control Microsoft Graph API for secure data interactions within Microsoft 365 Zero data duplication—Klynke operates inside your Microsoft 365 environment, so your data stays where it belongs The result? A time management solution that’s secure by design and always evolving. [JR]: What Microsoft cloud security products did you use in your app development? What value is this enabling with your customers? [AS]: We rely on Azure Active Directory to handle secure identity and access management. It ensures that only authorized users can access sensitive time-tracking data. Because we’ve built on Microsoft’s cloud, we’re also aligned with enterprise-grade security standards out of the box, something our customers deeply value, especially in regulated industries. [JR]: What were some of the challenges you encountered while building securely on the Microsoft Cloud, and how did you overcome them? [AS]: Our primary challenge was ensuring seamless integration with Microsoft 365 without compromising security or performance. We encountered technical obstacles such as API throttling and latency. We addressed these by utilizing Microsoft's comprehensive documentation, tools like the Graph Explorer, and Azure DevOps best practices. These resources enabled us to fine-tune our implementation and ensure stability and performance. [JR]: What business outcomes/impact have you experienced as a result of building securely? [AS]: Building securely on the Microsoft cloud has allowed us to deeply integrate Klynke into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Our users benefit from working within familiar tools, and our secure-by-design approach has reinforced customer trust. Knowing their data remains within their own Microsoft 365 environment and complies with industry standards has been a key differentiator for our solution. [JR]: What security measures do you implement to protect sensitive customer data in your applications? [AS]: We do not transfer or store any customer data outside their Microsoft 365 environment. All data remains under the customer’s control and is managed according to their own security and compliance policies. This architecture ensures that the customer retains full ownership and oversight of their information. [JR]: How do you ensure the security of third-party integrations and APIs used in your applications? [AS]: We rely exclusively on Microsoft Graph API, protected by Azure Active Directory, and managed entirely by the customer’s global IT administrator. To access the directory securely, we use the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL), which is developed by Microsoft to meet the highest standards of security. [JR]: Can you share any best practices for securing applications during the development lifecycle on the Microsoft Cloud, or advice for partners who are just starting their app security journey? [AS]: Our experience would suggest Adopt Azure Active Directory as the foundation for authentication. Use MSAL for secure and scalable access to AD resources. Design for multi-tenant environments from the start. Architect your solution to avoid moving data from the customer's environment—leaving data ownership and security within their domain. Publishing transactable offers [JR]: What business outcomes have you experienced as a result of having a transactable offer on the marketplace? [AS]: Having a transactable offer on the Microsoft commercial marketplace has meaningfully streamlined our sales process. Customers can now try, buy, and deploy Klynke Time Management with just a few clicks, all within the familiar Microsoft environment. This level of accessibility has helped accelerate adoption, broaden our reach, and improve conversion rates. Since making Klynke transactable, we’ve expanded from serving customers in a single country to supporting users across eight countries, spanning four continents. One customer, based in the U.K., manages a globally distributed team that extends into Asia—highlighting how Klynke’s deep integration with Microsoft 365 makes it easy to coordinate across time zones and regions. The marketplace has played a key role in enabling this kind of international scale with minimal friction. [JR]: How has the ability to transact directly on the marketplace influenced your sales strategy and customer interactions? [AS]: Being able to transact directly in the marketplace has streamlined our sales approach, enabling customers to explore, purchase, and implement Klynke Time Management more efficiently. This ease of access has allowed us to reduce friction in the buying process, leading to quicker decisions and smoother customer interactions. It’s also helped us focus more on delivering value, as customers are empowered to manage their own journey with less reliance on traditional sales cycles. [JR]: Were there any challenges you encountered throughout the publication process? How did you overcome them? [AS]: Our biggest challenge was implementing the SaaS fulfilment APIs required for publishing on the Microsoft commercial marketplace. This task demanded more effort from our development team than we initially anticipated. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the level of quality testing Microsoft applied to our application. The feedback and support from Microsoft helped us refine and strengthen our solution, ultimately resulting in a better product for the marketplace.Neon Serverless Postgres is Now Generally Available!
We are excited to announce that Neon Serverless Postgres is now generally available as an Azure Native Integration. This milestone marks a significant step forward in providing developers with a powerful, serverless Postgres solution, seamlessly integrated within the Azure ecosystem. We’re excited to bring Neon to all Azure developers, especially AI platforms. Neon Serverless Postgres scales automatically to match your workload and can branch instantly for an incredible developer experience. And for AI developers concerned about scale, cost efficiency, and data privacy, Neon enables them to easily adopt database-per-customer architectures, ensuring real-time provisioning and data isolation for their customers. - Nikita Shamgunov, CEO, Neon. Neon as a natively integrated offering on Azure Azure Native Integrations enable developers to seamlessly provision, manage, and tightly integrate independent software vendor (ISV) software and services within the Azure ecosystem. Neon's native Integration enables developers to use Neon Serverless Postgres with the same experience as any other Azure service, fully integrated within Azure's workflows, identity systems, and billing framework. Developers can provision Neon Serverless Postgres directly from the Azure Portal, where it is listed alongside Microsoft’s database offerings in the Databases section, complete with a partner badge. Once provisioned, Neon projects, branches, and connection strings can be managed using the Azure portal, CLI, and SDK. The deep integration also simplifies security and procurement, allowing authentication using Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and consolidating Neon usage into your organization’s Azure bill. New Features Available with GA Release With General Availability release, several new features are now accessible. The intent is to make all innovative Neon features available to developers in the Azure eco-system. With GA, the following features are now added: Neon Project and Branch Creation from Azure: Developers now can create Neon projects and branches directly through the Azure portal. This enhancement simplifies team operations, facilitates tighter CI/CD integration, allows for more detailed environment management, and accelerates the transition from provisioning to production. Connect to database: The connect experience as part of Azure resource allows developers to connect Neon Serverless Postgres to their application stack directly from the Azure portal. This simplifies the process of connecting Neon databases to a few clicks from Azure portal. Azure CLI and SDKs (Java, Python, .NET, Go, JS): Developers can use the Azure CLI and SDK to manage Neon organization, projects, branches, and connection strings. This flexibility allows developers to choose the client of their preference and integrate Neon seamlessly into their current development environment. Semantic Kernel: Neon integrates directly with Semantic Kernel, enabling developers to orchestrate full Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines. Generate embeddings with Azure OpenAI, store and query them in Neon using pgvector, and retrieve relevant results in milliseconds. You can read more about this release in the Neon launch announcement as well. 🎉 Neon for Enterprises and AI startups Neon offers instant provisioning, branching, seamless integration, and cost-effective development workflows. This makes it the perfect solution which can power organizations of all sizes and growth stage, whether you are an Enterprise or a fast-scaling AI startup. For Enterprises, Neon offers efficient scalability, strong recovery guarantees, and developer workflows that align with modern software development practices. Neon’s compute layer scales automatically based on workload, ensuring smoother performance during peak traffic, lower infrastructure costs, and reduced operational overhead. For AI startups, Neon provides the speed, flexibility, and automation needed for modern AI applications. If you are part of Microsoft for Startups program, you can leverage the native integration of the serverless Postgres to experience features like scale to zero and branching for faster and a cost-effective AI solution. Try Out Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure We invite you to try out Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure. Follow the Docs and start leveraging the power of serverless Postgres in your applications. The collaboration between Microsoft and Neon has resulted in a developer-focused roadmap, ensuring continuous improvements and new features. Link to our Feedback communities If you have new scenarios you would like to propose, please share your feedback with us on Azure feedback community. You can reach out to Neon via Neon discord community or contact [email protected]. We are committed to listening to you and enhancing the Neon experience to solve your problems. We look forward to seeing how developers will leverage Neon Serverless Postgres to build intelligent and scalable Azure applications. Next steps For all the links and resources, please refer the following: Subscribe to Neon Serverless Postgres on Azure portal or Azure Marketplace Learn more about Neon Serverless Postgres at Microsoft docs Read the launch blogpost by Neon Discover more about Neon Learn about Microsoft’s investment in NeonAzure AI Foundry: Your GPS for the changing AI landscape
As you build services and software for your customers, Azure AI Foundry is your trusted guide, simplifying complex processes and empowering your team to achieve more. We released a host of new updates in Azure AI Foundry. Read the full blog for the details. Here are the highlights: Evaluate models quickly and easily: 1,917 models in Azure AI Foundry Model Catalog gives you choice, but evaluating the right model to use based on quality, cost, and throughput, or filter by industry, inference tasks like translation or text generation is important, and Azure AI Foundry makes this easy for your developers. But there's more! Find out how Evaluations API and Stored Completions API help in evaluating and refining models. New models from Meta Llama 4, eight new models from Azure OpenAI Service, Cohere, and more, including a Deep Seek R1 variant developed by the Microsoft AI team that outperforms Deep Seek R1 on responses to blocked topics and reducing harmful content while maintaining the same reasoning capabilities. You can find this model - MAI-DS-R1 - in Azure AI Foundry today. Azure AI Services to help you reduce time to market! Faster customer satisfaction! With Azure AI Agent Service in Azure AI Foundry, what originally took hundreds of lines of code can now be done in just a few lines of code. Find out how Fujitsu and NTT Data are using it! Similarly, Azure AI Search connects corporate knowledge into AI applications. New features make Azure AI Search one of the most cost-effective options on the market, delivering an enterprise-ready, full-featured retrieval system with advanced search technology without sacrificing cost or performance. Again, find out all the details in the full blog and make sure you share it all with your teams! Also, keep an eye out for the AI Show videos for a developer's take on all the cool updates!Partner Case Study | ESTsoft
AI is reshaping how we connect across cultures and languages—and ESTsoft Corp. is leading the way. With over 30 years of experience in security software and trusted by over 60% of the Korean population, ESTsoft’s latest innovation, Perso Live, uses AI avatars to enable real-time communication in 117 languages. Powered by Microsoft Azure, Perso Live ensures secure, personalized, and compliant interactions that support education, senior care, and global collaboration.What’s new in Microsoft Azure partner-led offerings: Cloud Accelerate Factory, increased AVS payouts, and SMB paths
As organizations increasingly adopt AI-powered solutions, they require scalable, secure cloud infrastructure to succeed. Azure is built to support this shift—and, through Azure Migrate and Modernize and Azure Innovate, we help equip our Microsoft partners to deliver end-to-end value to customers within the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. This quarter, we’ve made several important updates to Azure partner-led offerings designed to support your growth, streamline engagements, and expand access to benefits across customer segments. Highlights include a new benefit, Cloud Accelerate Factory, for assisted delivery; a dedicated SMB path for Solutions Partner designations; and increased incentives for Azure VMware Solution (AVS) scenarios. These updates reflect our continued investment in helping partners drive impact across segments and solution areas. Read the full blog to explore what’s new and how to take advantage of these updates.🚀 Now available: Flexible billing schedules in Microsoft marketplace
Microsoft is making it easier than ever to meet customer procurement needs with flexible billing schedules for private offers—available globally across all marketplace-supported currencies. ✅ Align deals with any virtually and contract value and billing timeframe ✅ Streamline sales and accelerate deal velocity ✅ Supports SaaS flat rate offers, VM software reservations, and professional services ✅ Available for customer private offers and multiparty private offers Over 100 partners in preview are already seeing success—now it’s your turn. 📖 Read more about how it works and explore real-world use cases: 👉 Meet customer business needs with flexible billing schedules in the marketplace
