Look. We grew up in the Microsoft Partner Ecosystem. Our team may have even designed the original MPN “logo” so long ago that it now only comes up if you add “retro” in the search. We were in the Partner Advisory Councils when the world’s largest distribution companies learned they needed to retool their systems and processes to sell 4x4 SKUs of “online licenses,” and we led the “ISV Third-Party Offers” discussion that pioneered commercial marketplaces. To say we know our way around the ecosystem with a front-row seat to digital transformation would be an understatement. We’ve been writing co-marketing GTM kits since Compaq Computers was selling servers with “five 9s” of availability to run the world’s largest financial markets. Our data back-up and security system was a tape drive that our office manager threw in her purse and drove home with at night – just in case the office burned down. The industry has transformed spectacularly in the past 25 years. And the opportunities for partners to engage in benefits, incentives, and networking has blossomed so much in the past few years that ancillary networks (think The Ultimate Partner, The WIT Network, Women in Cloud, The Partner Masters, and many others) have emerged to provide unique value in this dynamically growing ecosystem. But I have a harsh truth to share … if you think posting your solution in a marketplace is an entire GTM strategy, you’re going to be disappointed. Listing your solution is only the first step in a robust marketing journey that will provide multiple and diverse paths to partnership.
A few years ago, building a transactable offer in a platform partner’s marketplace was a novel idea, and honestly, it took a while to enable the platforms for all types of partners to build and transact seamlessly. Although partners immediately leaped at the opportunity to list solutions in the hyperscalers’ marketplaces so they could go to market with, or “co-sell” with the global brands, becoming co-sell-ready wasn’t that easy, and even when the criteria had been met, partners still faced the issue of scale. For the same reason these platform partners need a partner channel to serve the millions of customers worldwide, they still cannot manage or co-sell directly with the hundreds of thousands of partners in the ecosystem.
And yet, transacting on their platforms is an invaluable experience in terms of not only payment processing, currency exchanges, tax calculations, and all the back-end pieces that make transactional offers function. Additionally, the brand recognition of listing on the platforms and the verification that your solution does, indeed, meet their criteria is brilliant for start-ups and established companies launching new solution offerings. So, building your brand by association with their brands is an unquantifiable benefit from a marketing, brand recognition, and industry credibility perspective. But the benefits don’t end there …
For years, tech companies have relied on hyperscalers for market access, leveraging their vast infrastructure and global reach. However, this approach often leads to limited differentiation and intense competition within the marketplaces. Instead of solely aligning with these giants, businesses are recognizing the power of partnering with other ISVs, MSPs, and cybersecurity firms to create integrated solutions that address specific customer needs.
Now, beyond the platform functionality of online marketplaces and the “brand love,” partner ecosystems open unprecedented opportunities to connect with other partners within the ecosystem. With the emergence of multi-party offers and CSP private offers, partners can build integrations with other partners easier than ever before. Competitors can collaborate on “better together” value propositions to serve the same customers better. Services partners can add software to their bundled customer offerings, and software developers can outsource services to trusted – and vetted – partners to grow their reach and scale to serve larger enterprises, new geos, and gain entry into accounts they did not have access to before – not necessarily through the platform partner, but through integration, software, and services partners.
In fact, in Channel Journeys’ Top Five Channel Ecosystem Plays for 2024, Jay McBain, a leading partner channel analyst at Canalys, points out that the average SaaS deal requires seven different vendor solutions to capture the attention of buyers who are heavily influenced by brand reputation, integrations, and a team approach to build credibility in the ecosystem.
Understanding where you fit in the ecosystem has never been more critical for your sales strategy and ultimately your revenue attainment.
Software and services companies are developing relationships and collaborating directly with complementary partners to enhance their offerings. For example, depending on your industry, you might build relationships like these:
A successful partnership is no longer just about technical compatibility – it’s about co-creating value for customers. Businesses that focus on joint go-to-market strategies and shared customer success metrics are seeing greater returns by building comprehensive GTM strategies that include:
Once your solutions have been defined and your product or service has been built and launched in the hyperscaler marketplace, you’ll need to build marketing campaigns with the right message for the right audience to be delivered at the right time via the right channels. Consider these pivots for your campaign:
With 25+ years of experience in partner channel consulting, The Odigo Group has been instrumental in helping businesses go to market with Microsoft and their channel partners. Our expertise enables companies to maximize their partnership potential at all levels of partnership across the ecosystem.
Contact us today for a free marketing assessment.