Executive Summary
Seeq, a data visualization, collaboration, and analytics platform, decided to adopt a Cloud go-to-market strategy by leveraging AWS Marketplace and Microsoft commercial marketplace in late 2019 to meet their customers where they wanted to transact. With Tackle’s support and partnership, Seeq quickly went from struggling to launch a listing to now being a top Marketplace seller in its industry category.
Key Highlights
20%
of Seeq's total ARR transacted in Marketplace
215%
year over year growth (2020-2021)
30 Days
First Marketplace transaction within 30 days of launch
Early Cloud Marketplace Adopters Faced Challenges
In 2019, Seeq was one of the first manufacturing-focused ISVs to start work on selling through a Cloud Marketplace–and being first comes with unique challenges. Early on, the company recognized the value it could deliver to customers by making the process to buy the software easier.
While Seeq had a clear vision for what Marketplace could mean to buyers (and sellers), it was one of just a handful of industry ISVs leading the way on Marketplace. This meant forging a new path and the team spent five months trying to get their first listing live on AWS Marketplace. In 2019, Cloud Marketplace was still unknown territory for most industry ISVs, and limited capacity from the in-house engineering team made the do-it-yourself approach even more challenging.
AWS referred Seeq to Tackle, resulting in a partnership that enabled Seeq to quickly execute its Cloud go-to-market strategy.
Sprinting to Launch with Tackle
After partnering with Tackle, Seeq launched on not just one Marketplace, but two in the fall of 2019: AWS Marketplace and Microsoft commercial marketplace. “I wish I had known about Tackle in the first month,” says Megan Buntain, Seeq’s VP of Cloud Transformation. “I’m sure we would have cut our listing onboarding time by more than half.”
As soon as Seeq’s AWS Marketplace listing went live, the team quickly got to work positioning this new transaction avenue with their prospects. Within the first 30 days, Seeq transacted its first deal with a mature Marketplace customer. “That was the first sign to the sales team that there was value to be gained from transacting in the cloud,” Megan says, noting that the team hosted many Sales enablement sessions and motivated the team to increase their co-selling efforts. “After just a year, we had a seven-figure multi-year deal come through Marketplace and that had our whole team excited.”
Transacting through Cloud Marketplaces enables businesses to accelerate deals with easier procurement–a common bottleneck of direct sales. As an approved vendor with AWS marketplace and Microsoft commercial marketplace, Seeq’s customers can use pre-committed cloud spend to purchase Seeq. This enables easier procurement for Seeq’s customers, leading to accelerated time to value for the buyer.
Joey Meucci, Manager of Cloud Partner Operations for Seeq and 2022 Tackle Marketplace Masters Award winner, shared how a Marketplace deal made by a new sales hire with a 3-week tenure propelled the rest of the sales team into action. “The legal evaluation stage is often a bottleneck in the sales process, but just 3 weeks in, he was able to close a deal through Marketplace for half a million dollars,” he says, “by leveraging flexible contract options including Marketplace standard contracts, one of the key benefits of selling through the Cloud Marketplaces.” That transaction drove the sales team to want to learn more about Cloud Marketplaces and how they could steer prospects towards a new method of purchase.
Gaining Momentum with Partnerships
In 2021, approximately 20% of Seeq’s total ARR was transacted through AWS Marketplace and Microsoft commercial marketplace, a 215% year over year increase. “To top it all off,” Megan says, “Seeq was recognized as a top Marketplace seller in industry category in a keynote given by AWS’s VP of AWS Marketplace, Partner Engineering, and ISVs, Stephen Orban at Re:Invent 2021.”
VP of Cloud Transformation, Seeq
