Here's why leading with co-innovation can be your most powerful Cloud GTM tool.

The insights come from Latif Hamlani, who led strategic ISV partnerships at Amazon Web Services (AWS) before driving cloud GTM growth at Synopsis, Informatica and SUSE.

His perspective from both sides of cloud partnerships offers a rare glimpse into what actually drives traction with hyperscalers.

Here are 5 key insights from Latif’s recent session in Cloud GTM Leader course:

1️⃣ Alliance KPIs: Design Wins as a Leading Indicator

His most counterintuitive insight from his AWS days challenges how we measure cloud partnership success.

"My KPI was not revenue," he shares. "I was measured on two things: what we called design wins... and customer lighthouse wins... The wisdom behind those KPIs is that when you're chasing revenue as a salesperson, revenue is really a lagging indicator of success but the leading indicator of success is really the co-innovations."

This highlights how crucial are architectural alignment and customer success stories over short-term revenue targets.

2️⃣ Engaging Cloud Specialists Over Generalists to Co-Sell

Latif's advice on co-sell also defies conventional wisdom, showing a more high engagement.

Focusing on service specialists whose incentives align with your solution's technical capabilities could be very beneficial.

"It's very hard to get the attention of the generalist seller... but it's much easier to get the attention of the [add your service/]... sales specialist because their KPI is driving the use of the services they're associated with."

3️⃣ Starting with MVP and Test Traction

Latif recommends a pragmatic approach to cloud transformation and GTM.

"If you have minimum viable product... start generating some business, listen to what customers are saying and then iterate - transform, modernize, move to SaaS. That needs to happen in stages."

4️⃣ Combine Executive Sponsorship with Field Alignment

Success requires both executive sponsorship and field alignment. "I always believe in taking both a top down and a bottom up approach. I don't think one or the other works. I think you've got to do, as the Americans say, walk and chew gum at the same time."

5️⃣ Building Initial Pipeline Momentum

Most importantly, the pipeline building requires both patience and strategy.

"The first five or ten opportunities, you're almost always going to have to bring those to AWS... but then once you've had success and you build some case studies around it... then the word spreads."

💡 As cloud partnerships become central to GTM strategy, getting these foundations right - from KPIs to co-innovating with clouds to field engagement - will separate winners from the rest.

Are you using co-innovation to accelerate your cloud GTM?