At Tech Data, we developed our AWS Cloud Practice Builder (CPB) to help our partners achieve actionable, meaningful goals. Our partner engagements often included a goal to get sales staff trained on AWS business solutions, whether the reps were brand new to the business or simply needed a deeper dive to build their confidence when selling those solutions. They also often had a challenge understanding best practices and industry standards, which is another integral part in the CPB. Finally, getting familiar with Go-to-Market content and campaigns, and how best to leverage Tech Data platforms, was a goal we expected to address via our Practice Builder.
What we didn’t foresee were three incredible outcomes that have occurred time and again for our partners who have engaged with us via the AWS CPB. Due to the structure of our Practice Builder, our partners have shared that they’ve consistently built stronger relationships with key players at AWS and Tech Data, that innovation has become a part of their cloud business strategy, and that a Go-to-Market alignment has occurred across their organization. Let’s dive deeper into these three unexpected outcomes to see how they have impacted our partners.
Relationship Building
A key element in our Cloud Practice Builder is helping partners identify who the key players at AWS and Tech Data are, so they know who to rely on when questions arise. This relationship building has turned into so much more than a list of names and numbers, though. Through the CPB, our partners get introductions to AWS team members so that if and when they need to reach out, it’s not the first time they’re connecting with them. Building relationships with the AWS field sales representatives can also really help when leads come into AWS looking for partners with specific capabilities. This has paid off in many of our engagements, like the one with Strategic Communications.
Founded in 1994, Strategic Communications is an Information Technology, Cloud, and Audio-Visual consulting firm, headquartered in Louisville, KY. Through the Partner Training Program (PTP), Strategic Communications was not only able to deepen their relationship with their AWS Partner Development Manager (PDM), but they were also able to be introduced and gain relationships with other key players at AWS.
According to Kathy Mills, “One of the key factors with PTP was getting us introduced to certain key players within the AWS organization as extended resources that we did not have access to before. We were able to acquire the AWS Government Competency, which was a big deal for our AWS public sector practice. Not only does possessing the Government Competency mean more margin, but also it means more visibility and credibility within the AWS organization.”
Additionally, these relationships can help our partners in getting their specific needs addressed more thoroughly by Tech Data SMEs. Our team members become an extension of our partners’ teams, and they can leverage the SMEs’ knowledge to fill gaps they might have. This helped our partner iT1 in growing their cloud business.
iT1 is a global technology solution provider, headquartered in Tempe, AZ. iT1 gained confidence from the relationships they established with the Tech Data and AWS SMEs that advised them. They worked with these resources on topics related to going after deals – from AWS technical topics, margin optimization strategies, public sector RFP capture and response, contracts, services delivery, and agency specific guidance.
According to Guy Steinbrink, “Sales reps are much more confident about how to position and sell AWS solutions. As a result, we have been able to triple the number of opportunities in our pipeline and the dollar value of the opportunities are much larger than they had been before. We are winning deals, the practice is growing, and everyone is excited about where the business is going.”
Innovative Approaches
One of the most exciting unexpected outcomes to occur from the CPB program is the innovation that has been built into our partners’ cloud business plans. Because Tech Data helps our partners to tackle specifics related to strategy, training, and go-to-market content, our partners are freed up to focus more on their customers, and the solutions that will work for them.
Strategic Communications was one such partner to benefit from this. “Tech Data’s PTP program helped us become more robust in our offering and gave us confidence to go after larger public sector opportunities. Through the results of the Tech Data PTP program and resources, we were empowered to go after such opportunities”, shared Kathy Mills, Strategic Communications CEO.
Unlike on-premises software or hardware, cloud businesses provide opportunities to build stronger relationships and trust with customers, because they are recurring. This also allows our partners to think outside of the box and focus on how their cloud capabilities can enhance and play into their customers’ digital transformation.
Headquartered in Long Island, New York, WebHouse, Inc. (WebHouse) is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) that was founded in 1997 and has been providing Internet solutions for close to 25 years with a focus on delivering cloud infrastructure for its clients within the last five years. According to Dan Kerning, WebHouse CEO, “We had been looking at AWS as an area we wanted to expand in as we anticipated specific clients needing a global cloud infrastructure with high availability and scalable services that go beyond just compute, networking and storage. There is as big an opportunity in the public sector space to reduce traditional IT infrastructure costs and find efficiencies in the Cloud. The opportunity to partner with a market leader like Tech Data that would support our AWS practice strategy and goals seemed like the perfect solution.”
WebHouse was also provided with an opportunity to learn about tools like GovWin to build their public sector pipeline. This gave them better insight as to which opportunities are available now and will help to build a better planning strategy to scale their Cloud business. “Having a tool that allows us to see what public sector contracts are available, where their budgets are, and who the contacts are with has been a huge asset in building our pipeline,” says Dan Kerning. “It has really enabled our organization to be more targeted with our marketing efforts.”
By implementing innovation directly into cloud business plans, our partners have been able to open doors to additional service revenues with their current customers, help make their customers’ operations more efficient, and innovate more easily and rapidly down the road as they integrate with additional systems.
Go-to-Market Alignment
In business, there is often a disconnect between the sales team, presales, marketing, and delivery. These silos can cause inefficiencies in business, and can muddy messaging out to customers. It can also leave large blind spots internally that lead to missed opportunities with customers.
With the AWS CPB, we run our partners through exercises that allows them to develop a cohesive GTM strategy that aligns all four areas, and has everyone working towards the same goals. This gives the sales representatives the confidence and knowledge to sell cloud products, and is especially helpful if they are used to selling on-premises software.
Strategic Communications was able to leverage Tech Data marketing programs and execute AWS demand generation campaigns, and develop a Cloud-specific marketing strategy. This strategy included executing a number of AWS marketing campaigns centered around states where they have contracts. “Through the marketing campaigns we launched, we talked to countless end users that we never would have had the opportunity to talk to previously. It has brought more contacts through our marketing funnel which we can nurture and bring into the sales pipeline,” said Kathy Mills.
“It really brought the whole team together on working towards our common goal of helping the customer,” added Bernie Cesareo, Vice President of Business Development.
Additional benefits include helping our partners adjust their compensation plan to factor in MRR, and to receive support in areas where there might be gaps, like delivery implementation, immersion days, and well architected reviews.
“Tech Data and their methodology for delivering PTP provided us with a format to understand and focus on the right elements of a successful cloud practice and to put them together strategically, helping us to achieve clarity of vision toward our critical path to success,” said Shelliy Cymbalski, iT1 VP Marketing and Partner Programs.
Ultimately, there are many benefits we aim to provide via the AWS Cloud Practice Builder engagement. We want our partners to reach their goals, grow their business, and be confident in the steps they’re taking along the way. We’ve been thrilled to see how benefits we didn’t anticipate have sprung up as well, and are excited to continue to strengthen our program and our partners’ business.
