AWS customers can now pre-book purchases and setup renewals in AWS Marketplace using the future dated agreements feature. With this feature, AWS Marketplace sellers can specify a future ‘start date’ as part of the SaaS private offer creation process. When an offer is accepted, a ‘future dated’ agreement is created, where the customer’s entitlement (or ability to use the product) starts at the specified future start date.ENnbsp;

Future dated agreements gives customers and sellers better control over how they book deals. It provides flexibility for independently managing when deals are booked, when invoices are scheduled and when the products will be used. The added ease of managing these three aspects of a purchase independently enables buyers and sellers to significantly reduce procurement time and operational burden in using AWS Marketplace.ENnbsp;

Additional capabilities include:

• The ability to pre-pay sellers and pre-charge customers prior to usage start, using the flexible payment scheduler
• Comprehensive notifications support: Including email notifications at sign date/offer acceptanceENnbsp;
• Comprehensive reporting support for sellers in standard AWS Marketplace reporting interfaces - including QuickSight dashboards and data feeds

All independent software vendors (ISVs) and authorized channel partners in AWS Marketplace will now have the ability to add a ‘future start date’ when publishing a SaaS private offer with contract or contracts with consumption pricing (with and without flexible payment scheduler) in the AWS Marketplace Management Portal or with AWS Marketplace APIs.ENnbsp;For more information on future dated agreements, please refer to AWS Marketplace Seller Guide or AWS Marketplace Buyer Guide.