How much do Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) charge software partners for cloud marketplace sales? The answer involves third-party software companies paying a percentage of revenue for application subscriptions that are sold through AWS, Azure and/or Google Cloud.
The latest fee structures, according to a CNBC article, are as follows:
- The Google Cloud Platform is cutting its percentage revenue share to 3% -- down from 20%.
- Microsoft Azure cut its percentage rate to 3% -- also down from 20% -- in July 2021.
- AWS charges a listing fee of about 5 percent, according to a UBS estimate from May 2021 -- though Amazon has not publicly confirmed the figure.
The figures are important to note, since end-customers and channel partners increasingly purchase third-party software subscriptions through the AWS and Azure cloud marketplaces -- though Google Cloud also has some partner traction of its own.
Popular third-party options include backup and disaster recovery (BDR), data protection and cybersecurity software to protect cloud workloads running on AWS, Azure and/or Google Cloud.
Cloud Fees: Google and Microsoft Perspectives
Google has not officially announced the cloud fee reduction, but told CNBC:
“Our goal is to provide partners with the best platform and most competitive incentives in the industry. We can confirm that a change to our Marketplace fee structure is in the works, and we’ll have more to share on this soon.”
Microsoft, meanwhile, emphasized channel partner relationships in a statement to CNBC:
“Our fees are only intended to offset our operational costs of invoicing and billing customers, and operating the marketplace. We are not trying to take a share of our partners’ revenue. Our ecosystem is a channel for us to help partners sell their solutions, not the other way around, unlike other cloud vendors.”
Will Amazon Web Services (AWS) respond with a revenue share reduction of its own? That's doubtful, based purely on a ChannelE2E hunch. After all, AWS has critical mass with end customers and ISVs (independent software vendors). Moreover IT consulting firms are launching applications in the AWS marketplace, and/or tapping into third-party applications from the service.
Cloud Marketplaces for MSPs and VARs
Meanwhile, traditional distributors and cloud-centric distributors continue to expand their ISV marketplaces -- which are designed mainly for MSP and VAR consumption. Key names to know include Ingram Micro Cloud, D&H Distributing, Pax8, Sherweb, and TD Synnex solutions such as Tech Data StreamOne and Synnex Stellr.
Still, the Big Three cloud providers also continue to strengthen relationships with MSPs and MSSPs. For instance, the Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs typically work with AWS, Azure and/or Google Cloud. Also, AWS launched an MSSP partner competency in August 2021. And the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA) works with roughly 67 MSSPs as of August 2021 or so.
