Drata's strategy was to provide value to AWS first by bringing thousands of new transactions and customers to the AWS Marketplace, many of whom had never used it before. This "give before you take" approach quickly elevated their partnership status.
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Drata intentionally keeps auditors independent to maintain the integrity of compliance reports. By building a tool that helps auditors work more efficiently and with higher integrity, Drata creates a powerful referral channel without a formal reseller agreement, differentiating them in the market.
A partner's success is increasingly driven by 'how' they operate—specifically with service-led business models—rather than 'what' they sell. Partners diversifying beyond transactional resale into services are seeing the strongest growth and optimism, signaling a fundamental shift in the channel ecosystem's value drivers.
To ensure focus and drive adoption of its AWS partnership, Smartsheet defines success with a clear, specific metric: a target percentage of all indirect transactions must occur through a cloud marketplace. This simple KPI aligns sales and partner teams, moving the goal from a vague initiative to a measurable outcome.
“Partner Lifetime Value” reframes partnerships as long-term assets, not transactional wins. Companies committing to consistent, long-run partnerships achieve superior growth and profitability, creating a force multiplier effect far beyond standard customer lifetime value.
Inrix's Innovation Week goes beyond typical partner support by inviting vendors like AWS to not only assist teams but also pitch their own ideas and compete. This turns partners into active participants, giving them firsthand insight into product usage and fostering a stronger, more collaborative relationship.
Hyperscalers are new ecosystem marketplaces, not just advanced distributors. They have fundamentally changed the B2B customer journey, invalidating traditional sales and marketing playbooks. Established tech companies must adapt to new co-selling motions or risk becoming obsolete.
Instead of scaling a costly direct sales team, SpeedSize focused early on partnerships with major cloud providers. Their strategy targets platforms like AWS that lack a built-in image and video compression solution, positioning SpeedSize as the essential add-on, despite a multi-year setup time.
A successful hyperscaler partnership requires more than just technical integrations. SentinelOne's growth with AWS was accelerated by aligning on a core technology (AI) and, critically, by leveraging Channel Partner Private Offers (CPPOs) to drive scale and growth through their existing channel ecosystem.
Shift from a transactional view of partners to a long-term investment mindset. This "Partner Lifetime Value" approach, which treats partnerships like long-term assets, acts as a force multiplier for growth, leading to higher profitability and success.
Smartsheet's Scott Strubel argues that vendors who truly succeed in marketplaces like AWS are those who approach it with proactive enthusiasm. A reluctant, obligatory presence is insufficient. This mindset shift drives deeper integration, better sales alignment, and ultimately, accelerated revenue.