In a strategic move to help it continue dominating the cloud business landscape, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has expanded its Marketplace to now include third-party professional services.
A company announcement confirmed Marketplace sellers, along with independent software vendors (ISVs), consulting partners and channel partners, can now sell third-party services.
This latest release allows AWS Marketplace sellers to grant resell authorization to other sellers, essentially allowing them to receive wholesale pricing on professional services.
AWS opens up Marketplace to third parties
AWS summarized: “The authorized partner can then use the resell authorization to customize pricing, duration, and legal terms to offer professional services that best meets customers’ needs.”
This update empowers customers to procure software and professional services directly from their preferred and trusted providers, creating an opportunity for customers to choose a provider that knows their business already, has localized support, or specialist expertise in the area.
Amazon says that, because third-party sales are now allowed on the Marketplace, customers can continue to expect the same fast purchasing experience that they’re already used to, just with greater flexibility.
AWS plays its cards very closely, but it is believed that its Marketplace accounted for more than $1 billion in sales in 2021 (via Protocol). In the same year, around 325,000 customers had more than two million active subscriptions purchased through AWS Marketplace, according to the same report.
Amazon didn’t allude to the reason behind its decision to open up its Marketplace to third parties in its announcement, however the cloud industry has been under the microscope in recent months.
Both Amazon and Microsoft have each been the subject of scrutiny over their dominance, however Microsoft seems to have borne the brunt of the investigations, and Amazon could be prospectively tackling any future claims about vendor lock-in.
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