Did you know the global cloud computing industry is expected to grow to roughly the size of the annual U.S. Defense Budget by 2030?
That’s right. According to Fortune Business Insights and Grand View Research, the global cloud computing market will be $1.6 Trillion in just a few short years. One of the most significant shifts driving this explosive growth is the rise in cloud marketplaces. Cloud marketplaces are reshaping how businesses access and manage cloud services. And for resellers or managed services providers who tap into these platforms, cloud marketplaces offer a goldmine of rewards and opportunities.
In this post, we’ll uncover the key benefits of selling through cloud marketplaces and why embracing them could revolutionize your sales strategy.
What Are Cloud Marketplaces?
Cloud marketplaces are online platforms where cloud service providers (CSPs) list their products and services. Businesses can browse, compare, and purchase cloud solutions tailored to their needs.
Popular examples include the hyper scalers’ in-house marketplaces like AWS Marketplace, Microsoft Azure Marketplace, and Google CloudMarketplace. While other third-party cloud marketplace platforms, like Apptium’s Cloud Commerce Platform, allow aggregators, resellers, and managed services providers to launch their own cloud marketplaces.
These marketplaces offer a self-service buying experience for buyers to obtain a vast array of services, ranging from software as a service (SaaS) to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS). For vendors, cloud marketplaces provide a streamlined way to reach a wide range of potential customers and grow their business.
Advantages of Launching Your Own Cloud Marketplace for Your Customers
For resellers, VARs, and MSPs, there are two approaches to using cloud marketplaces: listing your own products and services on an existing cloud marketplace and launching your own cloud marketplace to resell others’ products and services to your customers.
And with specialized platforms like Apptium’s Cloud Commerce Platform, you can tackle both approaches at once (launch your own cloud marketplace that lists your own products and services alongside the products and services of others, such as the hyper scalers).
And there are a number of operational benefits and competitive advantages to both approaches.
First, we’ll discuss the benefits of launching your own cloud marketplace for your customers to use.
Simplified Sales Process
Selling to your customers with a cloud marketplace can simplify the sales process for both you and your buyers. The platform helps you provide a standardized format and processes for listing, purchasing, and managing services. This ease of use can lead to higher conversion rates and repeat customers.
A marketplace is also a lower-touch self-service sales model, saving you operational time and costs throughout your sales cycle and helping you convert a buyer from the research phase to the purchase phase at the buyer’s own convenience.
Scalability
Cloud marketplaces offer scalability that traditional sales channels may not. As your customer base grows, you can easily scale your services to meet demand without having to scale your sales team or processes nearly as quickly.This flexibility allows you to expand your business without significant overhead.
Streamlined Billing and Payments
Managing billing and payments can be a headache for your team. Some cloud marketplace platforms handle some or all of these processes for you, ensuring timely payments and reducing administrative burden. Apptium, for example ,offers multi-cloud, multi-tier billing that handles all pricing models(including auto-tracked usage-based pricing). This means you can focus more on growing your business and less on financial logistics, skipping or significantly reducing reconciliation times.
Bundling Services with Cloud Products
Launching your own cloud marketplace allows you to bundle your managed services and in-house products with popular cloud products, offering your customers an all-in-one solution tailored to their needs. This can enhance the value of your services, simplify the purchasing process for customers, and increase your sales by offering a more comprehensive package tailored to their needs.
Creating Private Offers
Some cloud marketplace platforms give you the flexibility to create private, customized offers for specific clients. These offers can be created, pushed, and managed through the platform, reducing the need to go back and forth with an individual customer over negotiated discounts. This personalization can help you close deals faster, build stronger client relationships, and provide unique pricing or features that cater to individual customer requirements.
Advantages of Listing Your Products and Services on a Cloud Marketplace
There are also a number of benefits to launching your products on an existing 3rd party cloud marketplace.
Increased Visibility and Reach
One of the primary benefits of listing your services on existing cloud marketplaces is the increased visibility. You are able to take advantage of existing infrastructure and audiences of the marketplace host to get more eyeballs on your products and services quickly. These platforms are frequented by businesses actively searching for cloud solutions, which means your products are exposed to a large, targeted audience.
Trust and Credibility
Being listed on a reputable cloud marketplace lends credibility to your offerings. Customers trust platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, which can translate to trust in your products. This credibility can be crucial, especially for new or lesser-known vendors.
Conclusion
Selling with cloud marketplaces offers numerous benefits, from increased visibility and simplified sales processes to scalability. By leveraging these platforms, resellers and managed service providers can tap into a vast, reduce operating expenses, scale sales and marketing functions, and grow their business more efficiently.
With the right strategy and approach, cloud marketplaces can be a powerful tool in your sales arsenal.
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