By Keri Smith, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Alliances and Market Growth
As Bob Dylan crooned in 1964 “The Times They Are A-Changin”, and nowhere is that truer than in enterprise software sales, where billings through the hyperscaler cloud marketplaces are projected to reach US $85 billion by 2028. That’s a 400 per cent plus increase from the US $16 billion transacted in 2023.
According to Canalys, vendors such as CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, Splunk and Snowflake have already achieved billion-dollar sales through this GTM route. Enterprise customers have committed north of $350 billion to hyperscaler platforms.
With statistics like this, you can’t fail to be curious about marketplaces, or better still, impressed by the growth.
What is a cloud marketplace?
Put simply, a cloud marketplace is an online platform that empowers users, both buyers and sellers, to come together to discover, evaluate, procure, deploy, and manage a wide array of solutions from various providers, all within a unified environment. These platforms make it easier to find and get software, data, and services, helping both businesses and individuals with what they need. The main cloud marketplace providers are AWS Marketplace, Google Cloud Marketplace and Azure.
Why BlueFort is investing in marketplaces
At BlueFort we’re strong believers in the functionality, flexibility, and convenience that cloud marketplaces deliver. They will afford our customers more choice and make their lives easier. We’re already listed on two of the leading cloud marketplace platforms as an approved channel partner. Statistics vary, but on average it’s widely believed that more than 50% of hyperscale marketplace sales will be via channel partners by 2027. We’re already seeing strong indicators of this as AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud expand their respective channel partner private offer models.
How our investment in marketplaces benefits our customers
- As companies embrace cloud-first operations, they often commit to substantial spending on cloud platforms to gain discounts. But, to their dismay, they end up with a significant portion of these commitments being unused. By acquiring solutions through the marketplaces offered by cloud providers, customers can better utilise spend commitments. According to its own figures, over 85% of Microsoft’s enterprise customers with Azure usage commitments, actively buy solutions through the commercial marketplace to utilise their cloud spend. Microsoft automatically counts 100% of their purchases from the Azure Marketplace to their commitments.
- Traditional tools and ways of working don’t always optimise for the pace of change and need for visibility. However, cloud contracts and marketplace purchases are one place where IT and Sourcing can align to jointly drive their common goals.
- In a world awash with cybersecurity frameworks, legislation and guidelines, marketplaces assume most of the burden. All the products listed must comply with security best practices and compliance standards, providing that all-important, trusted procurement environment.
- Ease of technology deployment is one of the key features of marketplaces, as the solutions on offer have effortless integration with cloud services at their core.
- As a buyer you can source multiple software products on a single bill, lightening the load on vendor management, procurement, and sourcing.
- There’s an instant expectation that an application, platform, device (you name it) will be easy to use. No-one has time to waste on a complicated user interface. Marketplaces are designed with an easy to navigate, intuitive UI that helps potential buyers more easily find solutions.
- Marketplaces cater for a wide range of business needs – from SaaS applications to infrastructure tools. It’s all there in one place.
What procurement leaders think
At the point where many of us were looking to take a well-earned end of year break, analyst firm Everest Group published the results of a survey of procurement professionals that delved into the benefits and challenges of using cloud marketplaces. In case you were knee-deep in holiday celebrations on 18th December when the report landed, I’ve summarised the three benefits of marketplaces highlighted by respondents of the survey (you can read the full report at the link above):
- Simplified and streamlined procurement process – 57% of procurement professionals highlighted the ease of buying and deploying software as a major advantage of cloud marketplaces. An accelerated acquisition and deployment process, resulting in reduced time to market, was also noted as a key advantage.
- 43% cited improved cost savings as a key benefit, enabling businesses to optimise their spending, and achieve better value for money.
- 43% said that the availability of pre-vetted suppliers and solutions meant they felt more confident around risk mitigation, an issue that impacts business across all sectors.
BlueFort’s partnership with AWS
We’re a member of AWS’ Consulting Partner Private Offer Program (CPPO) which means our customers can buy software solutions in AWS Marketplace directly from us and take advantage of our discounts.
It’s not just about cost efficiencies. As listed above, there are other advantages too, including customised solutions, streamlined procurement, simplified licensing, and flexible payment options.
AWS Marketplace also allows organisations to burn down their PPA (private pricing agreement) commitment. This is a great benefit that enables organisations to avoid the potential “use it or lose it” pitfall of upfront cloud usage commitments.
Added to this many of our team are accredited with AWS Market Training Academy, which means we have a deep understanding of how to get the best from this cloud marketplace. Added to that, we have multiple Marketplace Specialists whose sole focus is to drive new marketplace business.
How we work with Microsoft Azure Marketplace
As its name suggests, the Azure Marketplace is an online store that offers applications and services either built on or designed to integrate with Microsoft’s public cloud. BlueFort is an active participant in Microsoft’s “Multiparty Private Offer” (MPO), and this enables our customers to negotiate terms, conditions, and pricing, while simplifying the procurement process.
Similar to the AWS PPA burn down scheme, for customers that have a Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), all purchases via the Marketplace count towards their annual committed spend – maximising budget efficiency and minimising the chances of leaving valuable funds on the table.
Want to know more?
At the end of the day our customers want a simplified, highly secure, easy to use transaction model. Marketplaces tick those boxes.
Here are just a small handful of the partners we are working with across the AWS and Azure marketplaces to create customised private offers and discounts for our customers – CrowdStrike, Orca, Silverfort, Cribl, HackerOne, F5, OPSWAT.
Get in touch to find out how your organisation can benefit from our relationships and expertise with two of the world’s largest B2B technology marketplaces.
T: 01252 917000
E: info@bluefort.com
