AWS re:Invent 2023: Key Highlights for ISVs

AWS re:Invent 2023, the biggest cloud event by AWS culminated on December 1, 2023 with some exciting announcements, insights and new launches impact AWS partners and customers alike. While several new tools, technological upgrades and overall advances were talked about, the keynote address by Dr. Ruba Borne, Vice President of AWS Worldwide Channels and Alliances, was most insightful for ISVs and software sellers on the AWS marketplace. This article seeks to uncover some of the key announcements and highlights that came to the forefront during AWS re:Invent 2023, that are likely to impact ISVs. The underlying current of the keynote focused on AWS and AWS partners (ISVs) can create shared value for customers, together.

One of the top highlights of the conference was unveiling the exponential potential of AWS marketplace as a major sales and visibility driver for ISVs. Dr. Borne’s keynote shed light on the rapid increase in customer adoption and a few success stories. Let’s look at some points that stand out for ISVs:

2.5 million+ active subscriptions on AWS marketplace, with a 287% increase in active customers in 2 years

This clearly indicates that AWS marketplace is becoming a preferred route to market to list, transact and sell, owing to the increased customer confidence, ease of procurement, overall efficiency and several incentives. ISVs not having listings on AWS marketplace are likely to suffer a huge opportunity cost, missing out on 2.5 million+ customers, growing at an exponential pace.

15,000+ transactable listings across 70+ product categories on AWS marketplace

Transactable listings enable customers to use their pre-committed budgets on AWS marketplace to procure software solutions. With 15K+ transactable listings, ISVs who are not transacting on AWS marketplace are at a competitive disadvantage.

234% return on investment for channel partners who build and scale an AWS marketplace practice with 50% faster deal closure and 5X deal sizes (Forrester)

Selling on AWS marketplace for ISVs is not only about reaching more customers. There are tangible benefits and a very high ROI. Owing to the credibility lent by AWS marketplace, due diligence at the customer end is faster, leading to an accelerated pace of deals, with bigger commitments.

4 SaaS companies exceeded the $1B software sales mark via AWS marketplace, including Palo Alto Networks, Crowdstrike, Snowflake and Splunk

The scale for growth in terms of software sales on the AWS marketplace is unimaginable with as many as 4 SaaS companies recording milestone sales. Out of the 4 names, SaaSify is proud to share that it enabled Palo Alto Networks to get listed on cloud marketplaces, with zero engineering.

6000+ co-sell opportunities were unlocked by Drata and 1000+ private offers with AWS marketplace; 5X growth in co-sell opportunities with AWS for MongoDB

The growth opportunity for AWS marketplace sales is enhanced further with co-selling and private offers. Different enterprises and startups have been able to unlock massive co-selling opportunities, leading to joint sales with AWS, attractive incentives and much more.

83% customers consider AWS specialization as one of the top 3 criteria for selecting a partner

Finally, the keynote illustrated how ISVs and AWS partners who invest in competency training and certifications offered by AWS are more likely to attract customers, indicating proficiency as a key decision driver for most customers.

Dr. Borne also announced some of the new launches aimed at maximizing the benefits for ISVs and end customers. These new launches were highly applauded and received a warm welcome by AWS partners attending the event live and virtually.

1. SaaS Quick Launch feature

This feature seeks to help customers seamlessly configure, deploy, and launch SaaS products on AWS. Each product will now come with a Quick Launch tag, and one click will deploy the product. For ISVs, this means that the customer experience of product deployment is more seamless than ever, giving it another edge over any other sales channel.

2. The Generative AI Center of Excellence for AWS Partners

The Center for Excellence will help AWS partners keep pace with generative AI space, address customer demands, familiarize themselves with generative AI offerings, etc.

3. AWS Marketplace APIs for Sellers

One of the most awaited launches, this feature enables marketplace access for AWS partners through current seller applications. Aimed at fostering higher efficiency and optimization, this feature empowers ISVs to build AWS Marketplace products, offer, resale authorization, and agreements workflows directly into their own systems.

4. AWS Partner CRM Connector Salesforce AppExchange

Another launch that turned heads was that AWS Partner CRM Connector now supports AWS Marketplace, that helps partners create private offers and resale authorizations in Salesforce CRM

5. General availability of key specializations and competency frameworks

With competency and specializations becoming drivers of customer decision making, AWS announced the general availability for certain critical competency frameworks, including AWS Resilience, AWS Cyber Insurance, AWS Built In for ISVs.

Furthering its commitment to customers and partners, AWS also announced modifications in its pricing structure, lowering the threshold for certain categories of deals. Here’s a quick snapshot of the new pricing structure which will be in effect from January 2024:

• 3% transaction fee for deals under $1 million
• 2% transaction fee for deals between $1 million and $10 million
• 1.5% transaction fee for private offers greater than $10 million
• 1.5% transaction fee for renewal fees for private software and data

Finally, the new and improved AWS Partner Central Experience was highlighted. Aimed at improving and personalizing the overall experience, here’s a quick list of the enhancements:

• AWS Partners can now create AWS Marketplace listings right from AWS Partner Central, maintaining one unified listing for marketplace listing and co-selling
• Automated guidance for AWS Partners with tasks and next best actions for different teams customized as per partner needs
• New co-sell experience through APN Customer Engagements (ACE), enabling Partners to efficiently manage their sales pipelines, prioritize AWS sales support, and streamline information across Partner and AWS referrals
• Integration of Partner ACE pipeline with AWS Marketplace Private Offers, for real time sales insights and the ability to unlock new growth opportunities more easily
• Partner Analytics in AWS Partner Central for data-driven insights for business growth

The exciting and eventful keynote, highlighting everything ISVs could take away from AWS re:Invent 2023, concluded with some insights from Adam Selipsky, CEO, AWS for all AWS partners. He suggested that AWS Partners must:

• Focus on end customers and their needs
• Understand the importance of proficiency for customer trust and invest in training, competencies and certifications
• Facilitate collaborative growth by leveraging AWS resources for GTM, centers of excellence, joint opportunities, etc.

Overall, AWS re:Invent 2023 was undoubtedly a remarkable event, depicting AWS’ increasing commitment towards their partner community and ultimately the end customers. The illustration of the huge potential is truly an eye opener for several ISVs and the new launches, announcements and experiences are steps towards shared value creation. As a leading AWS and other cloud marketplace enablement platform, SaaSify can help ISVs facilitate better customer outcomes, focus on building skills and competencies and leverage collaborative growth opportunities with AWS. With SaaSify, ISVs can:

• Get listed on AWS marketplace with API integration within a week with zero engineering and benefit from the new launches to reach 2.5 million+ customers.
• List transactable offers and make the most of reduced transaction fee with faster deal closure
• Leverage co-selling opportunities and focus on selling, leaving the technical burden behind
• Automate private offer lifecycle management from within Salesforce
• Get real-time visibility into sales, payments, subscriptions, and margins with advanced reporting and reconciliation capabilities.

Book a personalized advisory today to learn how you can best leverage AWS re:Invent 2023 announcements and grow your SaaS business on AWS marketplace.