What is co-sell?
Co-sell is the motion where ISVs and cloud provider field teams work together to identify, validate, and close deals. The ISV registers an opportunity in the cloud's co-sell system; the cloud rep provides customer intel, technical validation, and procurement support; the deal closes through the marketplace, giving the cloud rep credit against their quota.
Co-sell is not a passive benefit of being a cloud partner. It's an active sales discipline that requires dedicated headcount, structured processes, and integration with your existing sales motion. Teams that treat it as "nice to have" leave 30-50% of marketplace pipeline on the table.
Why co-sell works
Cloud provider field reps carry quota. Their quota is typically tied to customer cloud consumption — how much AWS, Azure, or GCP revenue each account generates. Marketplace purchases drive consumption by drawing down EDP, MACC, and CUD commitments.
This creates a direct economic incentive for cloud reps to help you sell:
- Your deal drives a marketplace transaction
- The marketplace transaction burns EDP/MACC/CUD spend
- Cloud consumption counts toward the rep's quota
- The rep wins — by helping you win
This is why cloud reps take meetings. This is why they share account intel. This is why they'll fight procurement battles on your behalf. When their incentives align with yours, they become an extension of your sales team.
Co-sell systems by cloud
Each hyperscaler runs its own co-sell system. The mechanics differ but the core loop is the same.
| Cloud | System | Entry criteria |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | ACE (APN Customer Engagements) | Advanced tier AWS Partner Network + active marketplace listing |
| Microsoft | Partner Center co-sell solutions | Transactable offer + IP Co-Sell Ready status |
| Google Cloud | Partner Advantage deal registration | Build or Premier tier + marketplace listing |
Each system has its own data model, UI, approval workflow, and seller incentive structure. Managing all three manually is a full-time job — most ISVs hit operational pain at 15-20 active deals.
Account mapping — the foundation
Account mapping compares your target account list against the cloud's customer base to identify overlap. It's the single most valuable exercise in co-sell.
The process:
- Export your target accounts from your CRM — typically by segment, region, or ICP fit
- Share with your cloud alliance manager — they'll return a cross-referenced list showing which accounts are active cloud customers and at what spend level
- Prioritize the overlap — accounts with large committed cloud spend (EDP/MACC/CUD) and active AWS/Azure/GCP field coverage are your highest-leverage co-sell targets
- Plan joint outreach — pair your AE with the cloud rep for introduction, discovery, and validation
Most ISVs run account mapping quarterly. Teams that do it monthly see significantly higher co-sell pipeline because they catch changes in cloud rep ownership and new customer wins faster.
Deal registration — the sales discipline
Deal registration is the act of submitting an opportunity to the cloud's co-sell system. It's the foundational discipline of co-sell because:
- Unregistered deals are invisible to cloud reps — they can't help what they don't see
- Registration creates an opportunity ID that binds the deal to the cloud's pipeline tracking
- Unregistered deals that close via marketplace don't earn the cloud rep any credit, so the rep deprioritizes you next time
Registration should be a hard gate in your sales process — every qualified opportunity gets registered in the relevant cloud(s) before the first demo. Build it into your opportunity stage workflow, your deal desk checklist, and your rep comp plan.
The co-sell loop
The operational loop across all three clouds:
- Register the opportunity with customer, deal size, timeline, stage
- Cloud rep validates — confirms the account, marks opportunity as approved
- Joint planning — ISV and cloud rep align on strategy, messaging, technical validation, and procurement path
- Execute — run the sales cycle with the cloud rep as an embedded team member
- Close through a marketplace private offer; cloud rep earns quota credit
- Win wire — share the closed-deal outcome back to the cloud rep and their manager, including the marketplace transaction detail
The last step matters. Cloud reps compete for internal recognition. Public credit for closed deals — via win wires, executive briefings, or marketplace success stories — creates a feedback loop where reps want to work with you again.
CRM integration — where everything breaks
The biggest operational failure in co-sell is data fragmentation. Opportunities live in your CRM. Co-sell registrations live in ACE / Partner Center / Partner Advantage. Reps have to update both, manually, and they rarely do.
The consequences:
- Unregistered deals because reps forget to submit
- Stale co-sell data because status updates don't sync back to CRM
- Broken attribution — leadership can't measure partner-sourced vs partner-influenced
- Missed pipeline visibility when cloud reps surface referrals that never reach your AEs
Integration is the fix. A proper Cloud GTM platform bidirectionally syncs opportunities between your CRM and every cloud's co-sell system — reps work in Salesforce or HubSpot as normal, and the platform handles the cloud-side propagation. Suger unifies co-sell across AWS, Azure, and GCP inside your existing CRM.
Comp neutrality — or reps will sandbag the channel
Cloud marketplaces charge 3-5% transaction fees. If you let that fee pass through to rep commission, reps will actively avoid marketplace deals — because their take-home drops on the exact same ACV.
Comp neutrality means:
- Reps earn identical commission on direct vs marketplace deals
- The company absorbs the marketplace fee as cost of distribution
- Rep incentives align with buyer preference — which is usually marketplace
Companies that don't enforce comp neutrality report the same outcome: reps steer customers away from marketplace procurement, despite buyer preference. Fix comp before you scale co-sell.
Co-sell KPIs
Track these five metrics:
- Co-sell registration rate — % of qualified opportunities registered in the relevant cloud(s). Target: 90%+
- Co-sell win rate — close rate on registered deals vs direct deals. Co-sell should outperform
- Inbound vs outbound co-sell ratio — share of co-sell opportunities that cloud reps bring to you vs ones you register with them. Growing inbound means partners trust you
- Co-sell revenue attribution — ARR sourced or influenced by cloud partners, reported quarterly
- Time-from-registration-to-close — measures how fast co-sell accelerates deals vs direct
Unified reporting across all clouds is what makes these measurable in practice.
Common co-sell mistakes
1. No comp neutrality
Reps avoid marketplace deals. Fix before scaling anything else.
2. Registering late
Registering only after the deal is committed means cloud reps couldn't help during discovery or technical validation — where their help mattered most.
3. No 'better together' collateral
Cloud reps need a one-pager that explains what your product does, what cloud consumption it drives, and what joint customer outcomes look like. Without collateral, they can't position you to their own accounts.
4. Ignoring inbound referrals
When a cloud rep surfaces an opportunity to you, respond within 24 hours. Delayed response signals deprioritization and reps learn not to bring you deals.
5. No data sync
Manual CRM updates break. Attribution breaks. Leadership loses visibility. Integrate co-sell systems with your CRM from day one.
Frequently asked questions
What is co-sell? +
Co-sell is the motion where ISVs and cloud provider field teams work together to identify, validate, and close deals. The ISV registers opportunities in the cloud's co-sell system, the cloud rep provides customer intel and procurement support, and the deal closes through the marketplace — giving the cloud rep credit toward quota.
Why do cloud providers co-sell? +
Cloud reps carry quota tied to customer cloud consumption. Marketplace purchases drive that consumption by drawing down EDP / MACC / CUD commitments. Co-selling lets the cloud rep hit quota through partner deals rather than only direct cloud-product sales — it's a revenue multiplier for them.
What is deal registration? +
Deal registration is the act of submitting an opportunity to the cloud's co-sell system (ACE for AWS, Partner Center for Microsoft, Partner Advantage for GCP). Registering the deal makes it visible to cloud reps, assigns it an opportunity ID, and sets up the collaboration workflow.
What is account mapping? +
Account mapping is the exercise of comparing your target account list against the cloud's customer base. The overlap identifies accounts where both you and the cloud are actively selling — and where co-sell can be highest-leverage. Typically done quarterly with cloud alliance managers.
What is comp neutrality? +
Comp neutrality means your sales reps earn the same commission on marketplace/co-sold deals as they do on direct deals. Without comp neutrality, reps avoid marketplace deals because the 3% fee shrinks their payout. With it, reps have no reason not to use the marketplace channel.
How long before co-sell starts producing pipeline? +
Expect 3-6 months before meaningful co-sell pipeline appears. The first 90 days are about enrolling in programs, building 'better together' collateral, and running initial account mapping. Months 3-6 produce the first inbound referrals. Beyond month 6, co-sell becomes a repeatable pipeline channel.
What's the difference between partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline? +
Partner-sourced means the opportunity originated from the cloud partner (e.g., an AWS rep introduced the buyer to you). Partner-influenced means the deal existed already but the cloud rep supported procurement or technical validation. Both count toward co-sell value but track separately for attribution.