top of page

Okta's Edge: Partnerships That Pay Off


Okta's shares soared 🔺20% in just a week, thanks to a better-than-expected Q2 revenue performance. CEO Todd McKinnon emphasizes, "Partners continue to be super important for Okta." Let's take a look at which partners truly make the difference?



🎯 Sharper Focus on Key Partners


Earlier in March, Okta restructured its partner program. The outcome was incremental “We're seeing good partner contribution in the pipeline.”


Crucially though, it allowed Okta to prioritize and focus, as McKinnon explains, "We wanted to get more focus on the most valuable partners."



🤝 Aligning GTM with Google Workspace


One of key Okta's partners is Google Workspace. Users can connect their Google directory to Okta and use Workspace credentials across 7,000+ apps in the Okta Integration Network.


As we talked before, tech integration is just the beginning of partnerships and GTM field alignment is equally important.


McKinnon emphasizes the key role of alignment in this partnership success:


““Particularly excited about the partnership with Google Workspace for their go-to-market.


The Google Workspace sellers around the world and in public sector can sell Okta, and that's a really natural alignment…


Google is trying to give the same message, kind of saying you can use Workspace and the Google tools to collaborate with anyone, cross company boundaries, no matter what you use for the rest of your communications and collaboration infrastructure. So, it's a very aligned go-to market."



📈 Emerging Channels: Amazon Web Services (AWS) marketplace


The cloud marketplaces is a rapidly expanding channel for Okta, especially AWS. “We're excited about the cloud service provider marketplaces. That's a new channel that's really emerging and been strong for us.”


McKinnon highlights the key customer motivation, "Customers …have big investments with Amazon. They want to retire and pay down some of their AWS credits, and they can do that on Okta through the marketplace.”



🛠️ GSIs - The Key Players in Enterprise

Global systems integrators are pivotal for Okta in the large enterprise sector. "One of the biggest opportunities... is our motion with the global systems integrators," says McKinnon.


GSIs give Okta access to large customers “to rip and replace some of these legacy technologies, especially on the governance side”.





💎 Partnerships as a Competitive Edge


It’s not a coincidence that Okta is successfully leveraging partners to drive strong performance despite the market headwinds and project strong growth next year.


Todd McKinnon explains:

“Okta is... very good at partnering... We're continuing to double down on it because it is important part of the ecosystem, part of our business.”


As leading companies like Okta put partners in the core of their GTM, what's your strategy for collaborations?


__________

📈 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.

Comments


bottom of page