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Report: Cloud Marketplaces a 'Defining Characteristic' of Modern Software Sales

• By David Ramel
• May 05, 2025

The modern software channel is becoming increasingly dependent on cloud marketplaces and co-sell programs, according to a new report from Clazar.

In the company's 2025 State of Cloud Marketplace & Co-Sell Report released last month, Clazar examined how software vendors are driving revenue, accelerating deals and deepening collaboration with hyperscaler sales teams.

Cloud marketplaces are online stores operated by cloud service providers (like AWS Marketplace, Microsoft Azure Marketplace and Google Cloud Marketplace) where partners list and sell their cloud-based products and services. Comparing the Big 3's cloud marketplaces, Amazon's was dominant, trailed by Microsoft and Google.

"The data reveals a compelling story about marketplace participation," said the report's authors. "Among companies already using marketplaces (an emphatic 89%), AWS Marketplace leads in adoption, thanks to its maturity and established customer base. However, [Microsoft] Azure and Google Cloud are gaining ground, showing a diversification trend in cloud marketplace strategies."

The report seeks to help teams understand where they stand in their cloud go-to-market journey and what levers they can pull to drive better outcomes in 2025 and beyond. It serves as both a benchmark and a map for assessing, rethinking, and sharpening their next move in the cloud marketplace.

The cloud membership statistic above figures into one of the five key themes of the report as presented by the company, which offers a cloud sales acceleration platform.

• Marketplace adoption is nearly universal, but maturity is not: 89% of companies are transacting on one or more hyperscaler marketplaces, but only 22% generate over 20% of their revenue through them, signaling that while adoption is high, deep operational maturity is still rare.
• Cloud marketplaces are driving net-new growth, not just deal shifts: 62% of companies report that marketplace revenue represents net-new business, showing that these platforms are engines for expansion, not just procurement convenience.

  

• Co-sell is high-potential, but complexity is holding teams back: While 71% are participating in co-sell motions, only 32% have structured cadences in place, and 51% cite co-sell complexity as a major blocker to scale.

  

• RevOps alignment is the missing link: 42% of RevOps teams remain unconvinced about cloud marketplaces, and 55% of those without buy-in lack automation -- stalling scalability.

  

• Top performers aren't doing more, they're doing it better: The highest performers automate more processes (63% vs. 30%) and engage hyperscaler field teams more consistently (94% vs. 77%), showing that execution depth, not breadth, drives success.

  

Here are the report's conclusions as listed by Clazar:

• Marketplace-first will become a default sales motion: As more buyers seek to burn down cloud commits and simplify procurement, sellers will shift to leading with marketplace from the very first interaction. Marketplace availability won't be a checkbox, it will be an expectation.
• Cloud co-sell will get deeply integrated into sales orgs: No longer a partner-led or AE-only motion, co-sell will become embedded into frontline sales, supported by revenue operations, and driven by shared KPIs. Cloud sales strategy will be owned across the org with centralized ownership.
• A new cloud sales stack will emerge: Companies will invest in purpose-built tools that connect the dots across cloud partner systems, internal CRM, and marketing workflows. The winners will be those who automate the mundane, measure what matters, and enable every rep to engage cloud partners with confidence.

"The rise of cloud marketplaces and co-sell programs is no longer a future-state trend, it's a defining characteristic of modern B2B software sales," said the report's executive summary. "But as adoption hits an all-time high, a more complex story is emerging underneath the surface.

"We analyzed responses from partnerships, sales, and revenue leaders to understand how marketplace and co-sell motions are being adopted, scaled, and operationalized. The results show strong momentum, but also a widening gap between companies that are seeing real revenue impact -- and those still figuring it out."