“We have boots on the ground so take our guidance on what is working and what isn’t working”
Amber King, Cloud Marketplace Lead, Softcat
Does Softcat have a hyperscaler marketplace strategy?
We are actively engaged in strategic investments and collaborations with the hyperscalers. Our focus is to grow our business in line with our objectives and we are committed to achieving this through those partnerships. We believe that working closely with the hyperscalers will enable us to reach our goals and deliver value to our customers. Our approach to the cloud marketplace is customer-centric which aligns with our traditional strategy. We focus on understanding our customers’ needs and providing them with the necessary support. As more customers show interest in the marketplace, we are also increasing our involvement and guiding them on their journey. Our goal is to help them make informed decisions and prevent them from being entirely dependent on the hyperscalers. We will continue to adapt to the evolving market and customer demands.
There is plenty of apprehension in the channel about the rise of cloud marketplaces. Do you share this anxiety?
There has definitely been some anxiety felt around cloud marketplace from both our sales team and our leadership team. Marketplaces are growing at a rapid rate and it’s important we stay on top of this disruptor and manage expectations from customers. Over the last few years we have been very adaptable, growing our specialist and operational teams in line with the demand we’ve been seeing. We have spent a lot of time enabling both internally and externally to ensure we mitigate as many risks as possible, which helps protect our channel business. However, the hyperscalers must do more to support the channel and work with vendors to ensure growth and scale. We must stay ahead of this disruptor and manage customer expectations to continue to grow our marketplace business. We remain committed to adapting to the changing landscape and meeting our customers’ and vendors’ needs.
What top tips would you have for hyperscalers who are serious about growing their partner-led marketplace sales?
Create channel-led programmes that support and protect the channel, as they will help hyperscalers AND ISVs grow at scale. If the channel partners feel like they are still protected whilst using this route to market, then they are more likely to drive consumption and lean into it. Listen to the channel partners and adapt based on what feedback we share. We have boots on the ground so take our guidance on what is working and what isn’t working – you will able to grow quicker if you do.
