Excited to spotlight Jordan Spiers, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Cloudaware. Jordan shared with us how to create đŻ internal alignment, navigate complexity and highlighted the future Cloud GTM trends.
đ Partnerships and Marketplace Journey
Iâve been working in strategic partnerships within the tech space for over 10 years, and my roles have ranged from marketing, to alliances, to partner sales, and everything in between.
Initially, I learned how critical marketplaces were in growing large strategic partnerships working with Salesforce and their AppExchange. It was impressive to see how they took a âpartner firstâ strategy to grow their ecosystem and bring partners along for the ride.
Now weâve seen cloud hyperscalers use this as their framework to replicate and Iâve been working with ISVâs in all sizes to utilize and drive exponential growth.
đşď¸ Navigating Complexity: Essential Strategies for Cloud Partnerships
Take time to learn about all the different stakeholders involved on both sides of the partnership.
There will always be multiple at different functions and seniority, with different priorities and concerns. While your own goals might be revenue/pipeline focused (as they should be), know that there might be other goals/kpiâs within the supporting teams that you will need to achieve in order to make the partnership successful.
Once you understand all of these roles, functions and goals, define them on a balanced scorecard and get approval from executive leadership and the key stakeholders (from both sides of the partnership). Use this scorecard as a compass to navigate through the complexities and push forward towards an agreed upon success plan.
đ Insight that Influenced your Marketplaces Strategy
Hyperscalers are dealing with thousands (if not tens of thousands) of partners within their cloud marketplaces, both large and small. So the processes they have developed, while in no way are perfect, are designed to be building blocks and best practices to drive joint success.
So as grueling as it is, be prepared to follow but also learn when not to and break some rules to get things done ;)
đ¤ Future of Cloud GTM Predictions
It has been great to see hyperscalers finally adopting channel partners and offering various CPPO/MPO type opportunities. As this continues to evolve, I would expect to see new types of joint partnerships available to transact via marketplace. Like joint ISV and GSI solutions/blueprints become developed and available.
đ Would you Recommend the Cloud GTM Leader Course?
Absolutely. Cloud marketplaces are complex and continually changing. This course offers a wide variety of speakers and topics to address this complexity and specifically create strategies to drive value for your companyâs partnership, no matter how large or small.
Due to these continuous changes and complexities, I donât believe you can ever become a âCloud GTM Expertâ, but this course certainly gets you closer.
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đ Accelerate your Growth in Cloud Marketplaces
Transform your marketplace strategy with first-hand insights from Cloud GTM leaders in our 5-week cohort course. Learn in a community of great alliance leaders. Join 100+ alums from companies like GitLab, Darktrace, IDC and others.
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