The way businesses buy and sell software is undergoing a significant change. Cloud marketplaces, once considered niche procurement channels, are now at the forefront of digital transformation. Major players like Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud are changing how businesses get, use, and manage software.
The benefits for both customers and partners are too compelling to ignore.
The Modern Buyer: Digital-First, Integration-Focused, and Flexibility-Driven
Over the years, the enterprise buyer has changed. Earlier buyers focused on vendor relationships, support, and long-term contracts. Today’s buyers value speed, independence, and a digital experience.
They like to do their own research instead of talking to sales early. They also want to test products to see how well they fit with what they have. Flexibility is important to them. Modern buyers prefer subscription or usage-based models. They expect procurement to be quick, secure, and match their infrastructure choices.
Cloud Commitments Are Changing How Organizations Buy
Organizations are committing to multi-year cloud spend in exchange for steep discounts from cloud providers. A main advantage is that you can use this spending for infrastructure. You can also use it for approved third-party software in cloud marketplaces.
For example, Microsoft allows 100% of eligible Azure Marketplace purchases to count toward its Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC). This flexibility is influencing organizations’ procurement decisions, shifting them toward cloud marketplaces.
Simplifying Procurement and Amplifying Value
Cloud marketplaces streamline the traditionally complex procurement process by offering a single platform for discovering, purchasing, and deploying software. They lower costs with combined billing. They also remove the need for long vendor onboarding. Plus, they support private offers with custom prices and terms. This simplicity enhances visibility for IT and finance teams while significantly reducing time to value.
Easy and Automated Activation
Marketplaces enable fully automated onboarding, managing resource allocation, provisioning, and configuration without manual intervention. This allows customers to become operational within minutes rather than days. Free trial options and cloud infrastructure credits make the evaluation process easier. This reduces the need for long proofs of concept.
Channel Partners Are Driving This Digital Transformation
Cloud marketplaces are important for ISVs and customers. They are also becoming essential for channel partners. These partners play a key role in this change. Partners tailor solutions to unique customer needs and provide value-added services. They also offer multi-cloud expertise and procurement support, especially in regulated environments.
As cloud marketplaces change how software is bought and sold, they create new value for customers, vendors, and partners. Deals are closing 40% faster, growing 80% larger, and achieving 27% higher close rates than traditional channels. Industry analysts predict that by 2027, more than half of all marketplace sales will be partner-led.
Embracing the Future with CTERA
CTERA Intelligent Data Platform is proud to be part of this seismic shift in software procurement and deployment. CTERA is a MACC-qualified software solution and is available on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. CTERA also takes part in Microsoft’s multi-party private offer (MPO) program. By working closely with partners, CTERA provides custom solutions. These solutions help organizations manage the fast growth of unstructured data at the edge.
