Amazon Web Services (AWS) celebrated the 10th anniversary of its marketplace at re:Invent. With credited revenues of almost $2B in 2021 and growing, it’s the dominant but not the only cloud marketplace.
Both Microsoft Cloud (Azure) and Google Cloud have been upping their games.
I attended Microsoft's first-ever marketplace summit a couple of weeks ago. I was very impressed by the slew of announcements they made. I also learned a lot and put the link to the recording of the event in the first comment of this post
I got exposed to the growing importance of cloud marketplaces in general and of AWS in particular during my stint at Acqueon.
To be honest, I didn’t appreciate then their strategic role, thinking it was primarily for commoditized offerings.
I was wrong: cloud marketplaces accommodate a broad range of contracting terms and solutions, combining both software and services.
Cloud platforms from hyperscalers have become a key GTM option for enterprise software:
it’s a natural ‘watering hole’ for buyers exploring their options
they provide an initial clearance in terms of security and integration with the cloud platform
they dramatically simplify the procurement process (purchasing, contracting, billing, payment, metering, etc.)
and last but not least, they help customers fulfill their cloud purchase commitments
Microsoft commercial marketplace a.k.a. Azure Marketplace is one of several Microsoft marketplaces (the others being Microsoft Store, Teams Store, and AppSource (Dynamics).
With many announcements made (Private Offers, Multi-Party Private Offers, improving the discoverability of software, tracking usage, and reviews), Microsoft is closing the gap with AWS
For those not convinced of the critical nature of (cloud) marketplaces, I assembled a few data points.