At DigitalOcean, with >640K users, the focus is on 🧰 simplifying cloud for developers and startups, while steering clear of direct competition with hyperscalers. We sat down with Fer Oliveira, VP of Ecosystem & Partnerships, to explore his unique approach to growing its marketplace, ecosystem, and co-selling.
Before joining Digital Ocean(DOCN) in 2023, Fer was leading GTM and creating cloud solutions for developers at Google. His extensive experience also spans roles at JFrog, Canonical, and Cisco.
Here are 3 insights on from his strategy:
🕸️ Creating Network Effects with Ecosystem
Fer describes DOCN’s partnerships strategy as creating a pull rather than a push. "Partnership here in Digital Ocean is more like an ecosystem where we want to tap into what I love to say, network effects.” he says, outlining his focus on creating a flywheel.
The ecosystem at DOCN consists of 4 pillars:
Marketplace
hashtag#Partnerships
Technology Alliances
Startup Program
📈 Leveraging the Marketplace for Growth
The Marketplace at DOCN isn’t just a growth tool for the company; it's vital for customer success, particularly for ISVs.
Fer explains, "Our major focus… is helping ISVs to build on Digital Ocean and launch their products to market very fast….
The marketplace becomes the lower cost of acquisition for a founder; they don't need to build a sales organization."
Unlike hyperscalers, whose thousands of sellers drive the marketplace adoption, DOCN’s strategy focuses on turning its marketplace into a self-service platform.
"Marketplace is not just a fulfillment for your sales organization, but it's exactly the place that is definitely your e-commerce for your customers."
"We are not a hyperscaler, but we are discovering that you start and build a business from zero, doing self sales."
💰 Driving Marketplace Adoption with Co-Sell and Cloud Commits
While targeting PLG for its marketplace growth strategy, DOCN is also integrating co-selling. "ISV co-sell became a very important focus for us," Fer notes.
They direct their 640K customers with digital marketing to its marketplace to help ISVs monetize their offerings.
DOCN is also adopting cloud commit strategies similar to those used by hyperscalers, enabling customers to sign multi-year deals and burn cloud commits with the marketplace offerings.
Finally Fer highlighted the role of DOCN traditional partners like digital agencies, MSPs, and SIs in marketplace co-selling.
Partners are crucial in implementing customer solutions and now can leverage both DOCN core offerings and ISV solutions from the marketplace and co-sell complete solutions to customers.
🎯 Fer emphasizes the niche focus of DOCN, avoiding direct competition in the upper market dominated by hyperscalers:
"We don't compete with hyperscalers. We compete about the segment that we are, and trying to be the best of that segment."
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