Seller Playbook¶

Comparative positioning note

This document is written from the perspective of Microsoft Azure, Cloud Scale Analytics, and CSA Loom. Any description of third-party or competing products, services, pricing, or capabilities is derived from publicly available documentation and sources believed accurate at the time of writing, and is provided for general comparison only. We do not claim expertise in, or authority over, any non-Microsoft product or service; the respective vendor's official documentation is the authoritative source for their offerings, which may change over time. Nothing here is intended to disparage any vendor — where a competing product has genuine advantages, we aim to note them honestly. Verify all third-party details against the vendor's current official documentation before making decisions.

For Microsoft field sellers + federal account teams. How to qualify, pitch, handle objections, and close on CSA Loom.

Who CSA Loom is for¶

Segment	Why Loom fits
Federal civilian agencies (FedRAMP High / IL4)	Fabric `Forecasted` in their boundary; Loom is available today
DoD components (IL4 / IL5)	Same — plus IL5 in v1.1
Intelligence community (where on Azure Gov)	IL5 fit; IL6 out of scope
State + local government (StateRAMP / CJIS)	Standards-aligned
Federal contractors (CMMC L2/L3, ITAR)	GCC-High deploys
Regulated commercial (healthcare, regional banks)	HIPAA BAA covers Gov; pharma FDA Part 11

Qualifying questions (5)¶

Ask these in the first conversation:

"Are you blocked from Fabric by audit boundary?"
Yes → strong Loom fit
No (Commercial) → suggest Microsoft Fabric directly; Loom is primarily for blocked customers
"What's your timeline for analytics modernization?"
Now / 6 mo → Loom delivers in 60-100 min deploy + 6 mo to production maturity
18+ mo → maybe wait for Fabric Gov GA if it lines up
"Are you on Azure Gov today?"
Yes (GCC-H / IL4) → Loom v1 ready
Yes (GCC) → Loom v1 works but Direct Lake parity unavailable
Yes (IL5) → Loom v1.1 (+3 mo); deploy in GCC-H first if can't wait
No → Migrate to Azure Gov first; then Loom
"Do you have a Power BI Premium investment to extend?"
Yes → Loom integrates natively; Direct-Lake-Shim refreshes existing semantic models
No → Loom requires Power BI Premium; factor into cost
"What's your data sovereignty position?"
Strict (ITAR, IL5, sovereign-only) → Loom in GCC-H / IL5 is the answer
Flexible (hybrid Commercial / Gov) → Loom + Fabric Commercial hybrid topology

Discovery framework¶

After qualifying, dig deeper: - Data volume per DLZ (sizes capacity SKU) - Workload mix (Spark-heavy / SQL-heavy / streaming / BI / ML) - Existing Synapse / Databricks investment - Existing Power BI semantic models + report estate - Real-time / Activator-style alerting needs - AI / NL-Q&A appetite - Compliance attestation timeline

Three pitch variants¶

Each variant is a fully written, run-on-rails doc — minute-by-minute agenda, narration script, Q&A bank. Don't wing these.

30-min CIO pitch — open the script →¶

Slides 1-8, 11, 13, 14 from the pitch deck. Focus on "why now" + "how we fit your boundary" + "forward migration." Goal: get a yes to the 60-min deep-dive with their architects.

60-min architecture deep-dive — open the script →¶

Full pitch deck + per-workload parity matrix + custom parity services + live Console demo + architect Q&A bank (15 most-likely questions written out). Goal: earn the technical buy-in and book the 2-hour evaluation.

2-hour technical evaluation — open the script →¶

Hands-on azd up against the customer's test subscription, live. Pre-flight checklist + workshop preview + 35-55 minute live deploy + post-deploy bootstrap + Console walkthrough + decision-matrix worksheet + commitment ask. Goal: leave with a signed-off "we'll deploy production in [N weeks]."

Objection handling — top 10¶

1. "Why not just wait for Fabric Gov GA?"¶

"Microsoft hasn't published a Gov GA date. Based on the normal pattern, IL5 is 2027+ at earliest. Loom gives you the Fabric experience today, with a clean forward-migration path. You're not betting against Fabric — you're investing in a head-start that becomes Fabric when Fabric arrives."

2. "What if we already use Databricks?"¶

"Loom is built on Databricks (primary Spark compute). If you have existing Databricks workspaces, Loom extends them with the Console + parity services + Setup Wizard. Zero rewrite of your existing Databricks notebooks."

3. "What's the lock-in?"¶

"Bicep + open-source + Microsoft 1P services. Every byte of data is in storage accounts you own. Every secret is in your Key Vault. When Fabric reaches your boundary, OneLake shortcut + 1:1 artifact port. No proprietary format Loom-specific that you can't migrate out of."

4. "How much does it cost?"¶

"Loom IP is free in v1. You pay only for Azure consumption underneath — Databricks DBU, ADX vCore-seconds, Power BI Premium F-SKU, ADLS storage, AOAI tokens. Sample F8 deployment ~$3-5K/month in Commercial; +10-25% in Gov."

5. "Who supports it?"¶

"Microsoft federal field + customer success. GitHub Issues for public; Microsoft internal Teams channel for federal accounts. Loom is built and maintained by the CSA-in-a-Box team."

6. "What if our audit team rejects it?"¶

"Per-boundary .bicepparam files map exactly to FedRAMP High + IL4 / IL5 audit boundaries. Every Azure service in scope is documented with its audit posture. Manual SOC pipeline replaces Defender for Cloud AI Threat Protection in Gov. See docs/fiab/compliance/ for the audit-team-ready documentation."

7. "Can we deploy it ourselves?"¶

"Yes — azd up works in your own environment. Loom is open-source under the csa-inabox repo. You don't need to engage Microsoft for the platform deploy. Microsoft engagement makes sense for the 5-day workshop + initial CoE establishment."

8. "What about the Direct Lake gap?"¶

"We're honest about this. Fabric's Direct Lake gives sub-second freshness via a proprietary VertiPaq transcoder. Loom gives 5-30 second freshness via a warm-cache materializer on Power BI Premium Import. For most analytical workloads, 5-30 s is acceptable. For workloads that require sub-second, wait for Fabric Gov GA."

9. "How does this work with our existing Synapse / ADF investment?"¶

"Loom embeds Synapse Serverless as the Gov SQL surface (since Databricks SQL Warehouse isn't in Gov yet). Your existing ADF pipelines work unchanged. Loom doesn't replace your Synapse Dedicated SQL Pool today — that's a separate decision."

10. "Can it run in our existing tenant?"¶

"Yes — Loom deploys into your existing Entra tenant + Azure subscriptions. Multi-sub mode supports adding new DLZs over time as you onboard agencies / domains. Single Entra tenant + N Azure subs is the canonical pattern."

Competitive positioning¶

When a customer is weighing a non-Microsoft offering, lead with Loom's own strengths rather than attacking the alternative. Where the competitor has a genuine advantage, say so honestly and verify against the vendor's current documentation.

Alternative being considered	How Loom is positioned
Independent cloud data warehouse (Gov)	Loom is Fabric-aligned, giving a forward-migration story into Microsoft Fabric as it reaches the boundary. A standalone competitor's offering is operated independently of Fabric, so that path isn't native to it.
Independent operational-analytics platform (IL5)	Loom typically has lower TCO and is open-source under the covers, with a forward-migrate-to-Fabric path. Where a competitor's offering brings mature, opinionated mission tooling, note that honestly.
Databricks Gov standalone	Loom is built on Databricks and adds the SaaS feel, parity services, and Setup Wizard. A customer already running Databricks gains the Console, Direct-Lake-Shim, Activator, and Data Agents on top.
Competitor analytics on another government cloud	Loom keeps you on Azure (existing Microsoft EA, Entra ID, Power BI investment). Cross-cloud reads remain possible via Loom Shortcuts where the data lives elsewhere.

Pricing guidance¶

Loom is free in v1; underlying Azure consumption only.

When customer asks about future pricing: - "Pricing model is currently deferred to backlog. When we resurface, it'll likely be a flat fee per capacity SKU + metered overage per DLZ — mirroring Fabric's F-SKU billing intuition." - "v1 + v1.1 are free in your tenant; you pay only for Azure consumption. You're not making a long-term Loom-pricing commitment by deploying today."

Account-team motion¶

Stakeholder	Engage
Customer CIO / CDO	30-min pitch deck
Customer Architects	60-min deep-dive + live demo
Customer Audit / Security	`docs/fiab/compliance/` walk-through
Customer Platform team	`azd up` walk-through
Customer Procurement	Discuss Azure consumption + free Loom IP
Microsoft CSU (federal)	Engage for IL5 v1.1 promotion

Hand-off to delivery¶

After contract close: - Engage CSA-in-a-Box CSU for 5-day Cloud CoE workshop - Microsoft federal architect for initial deployment review - Support escalation: GitHub Issues + internal Microsoft Teams channel - Quarterly check-in: capacity utilization + Fabric Gov GA tracking

Trial / POV¶

F2 capacity supports trial deploys. v1 is free anyway. Suggest: - Week 1: Deploy azd up to customer staging sub - Week 2: Walk through tutorials 01-05 with customer team - Week 3: Customer designs first production workload - Week 4: Workshop kickoff for full Cloud CoE engagement

Customer success stories template¶

Per [[writing-voice-no-customer-framing]], success stories use generic federal-mission framing:

"A federal civilian agency processing CUI under FedRAMP High deployed CSA Loom into their existing Azure Government tenant in [N hours]. By [month M], they had [N workloads] migrated from their legacy on-prem analytics stack. Their projected Fabric migration window is [Q/Y] — Loom is their bridge."

Internal Microsoft enablement¶

90-day field activation plan: federal pitch deck
Technical specialist certification: pending v1 GA
Engagement tracking: GitHub Issues with csa-loom label
Pricing approval matrix (post-v1.1): TBD per CSU process