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Hyperscaler marketplaces, led by AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, have emerged as critical routes to market for software and SaaS vendors. These cloud-based platforms are reshaping procurement behavior, driving software and cybersecurity sales, and redefining go-to-market strategies for vendors across the globe. With third-party sales through these marketplaces exceeding $16 billion in 2023, analysts project this number to skyrocket to $85 billion by 2028 (Canalys report - Now and Next for Hyperscaler Marketplaces). This dramatic growth is largely fueled by enterprises leveraging cloud commitments to optimize costs and streamline purchasing processes, especially amid tightening IT budgets.
Hyperscaler Marketplaces: A New Buying Paradigm
Enterprise customers are increasingly integrating hyperscaler marketplace purchases into their broader cloud spending commitments. These platforms offer key advantages, including the ability to burn down cloud commitments, consolidated billing, and rapid procurement processes. While large enterprises have been the early adopters, driven by their substantial cloud commitments, smaller businesses are beginning to explore these platforms due to their convenience and cost-effectiveness.
From cybersecurity to business applications, hyperscaler marketplaces now offer a wide range of technology categories, helping organizations reduce procurement time and streamline vendor management. As a result, these marketplaces are becoming central to enterprise digital strategies, with procurement increasingly moving away from traditional channels in favor of these cloud-based platforms.
The Role of Channel Partners in Marketplace Expansion
Hyperscaler marketplaces are also changing the dynamics of the traditional IT channel. As more vendors prioritize channel-led strategies, partners play a vital role in managing procurement, offering technical expertise, and helping enterprises navigate the complexities of hyperscaler ecosystems. By 2027, it’s estimated that over 50% of marketplace sales will be transacted through channel partners, reflecting their growing importance in this ecosystem.
Channel partners provide value by helping enterprises maximize their cloud commitments, offering services and solutions tailored to specific needs, and supporting multi-cloud strategies. As these marketplaces evolve, the ability of channel partners to integrate services, advise on vendor selection, and offer ongoing support will be pivotal to driving marketplace adoption across various industries.
Marketplaces as a Double-Edged Sword for Distributors
While hyperscaler marketplaces present new opportunities, they also pose a threat to traditional IT distributors, who face increasing competition from the hyperscalers' own digital platforms. Distributors are being forced to rethink their value propositions in the face of this competition. Some, like AWS, are actively involving distributors through initiatives like the Designated Seller of Record (DSOR) program, which allows them to manage private offers and facilitate marketplace procurement for smaller partners. However, this approach is resource-intensive and introduces new complexities into an already challenging marketplace ecosystem.
For distributors to thrive in this new environment, they must redefine their roles—offering operational support, managing channel financing, and integrating with hyperscaler platforms to serve their partners better. The future will see distributors and marketplaces coexisting, but only those that quickly adapt to these shifts will remain relevant.
The Future of Hyperscaler Marketplaces: Integrated Platforms
Looking ahead, the next phase of hyperscaler marketplaces will focus on deeper integration with partner and distributor platforms. API-driven collaboration will allow for seamless procurement processes, enabling channel partners and distributors to offer their own services alongside marketplace products. AWS has already begun allowing partners to sell their professional services through its marketplace, and future innovations will enable distributors to embed hyperscaler marketplaces within their own platforms, allowing for greater customer control and a more unified buying experience.
This shift will enable more complex, multi-vendor solutions to be purchased and consumed via marketplaces, further consolidating these platforms as essential elements of enterprise IT procurement. As digital transformation accelerates, hyperscaler marketplaces will continue to expand, reshaping the IT landscape and challenging traditional sales models.
AppXite’s Role in the Landscape of Hyperscaler Marketplaces
AppXite provides a robust marketplace, product management, and billing automation platform that enables channel partners to access and manage hyperscaler offerings. By integrating with leading hyperscaler platforms such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, AppXite allows businesses to consolidate their sales and billing operations to a global customer base. As cloud marketplaces become central to IT procurement strategies, AppXite's platform serves as a fundamental tool for partners seeking to navigate this complex environment, ensuring they remain competitive and aligned with the latest technological shifts in the industry.
