“At Crayon we see this as a must”
Mark Woodhouse, Global ISV Director, Crayon Group
Does Crayon have a hyperscaler marketplace strategy?
Yes we do, we have been working with the hyperscaler marketplaces for years, both at a global and local level, with customers and partners from all segments acquiring software through this digital procurement process. At Crayon we work with over 2,500 ISVs globally, and the hyperscaler marketplaces offer new possibilities for not only our customers but our partners to expand their portfolios.
Could you quantify how important a route to market this currently is for Crayon?
As mentioned before, our customers and partners are looking to acquire solution via hyperscaler marketplaces and therefore Crayon need to be able to provide this also as a service. We have developed APIs to integrate with one of the hyperscaler marketplaces into our very own procurement platform, Cloud IQ, for our customers and partners to acquire all their solution needs in one place, creating a simple and faster procurement process, and providing many more benefits.
Also within Crayon’s ISV Innovation Hub and Incubation Centers we work with ISVs across the global enabling them to get listed and sell their software through the hyperscalers marketplaces and drive this through a joint go-to-market with Crayon.
Which of the hyperscalers do you feel is currently the easiest to deal with (for instance around fees, admin, or the ability to make private offers)
That is a very hard question to answer as all of them have similarities but also slight differences. One has multiple offerings for example private offers (margin sharing) that can go for our direct customers and indirect customer via partners and others have a more deal-by-deal approach which can be simpler for a direct customer, however does not cater for the indirect customer market as well. We are happy working with all to advise on the benefits and difference depending on the needs of the customer and partner.
There is plenty of apprehension in the channel about the rise of cloud marketplaces. Do you share this anxiety?
I can understand that there is some apprehension due to this being a new way for many companies to acquire solutions. However at Crayon we see this as a must and are also educating our own customers and partners on the benefits of acquiring solution via the hyperscaler marketplace. We have been transacting through the hyperscaler marketplace for years, so have lots of great experiences and knowledge to share with our customer and partners.
With regards to the fees and admin, these of course vary per hyperscaler and also per vendor solution, however so far from our experience this offers flexibility in terms of negotiations and deal construction and does not seem to be a cause for apprehension.
What top tips would you have for hyperscalers who are serious about growing their partner-led marketplace sales?
More education of the benefits and how to transact through the marketplaces. Enable more sales by increasing the flexibility for incentivising partner-led sales, including the ability to transact via channel partners for indirect customer (T2) in all hyperscaler marketplaces.
