How Enterprise Customers Can Streamline Procurement with AWS Marketplace

2024-12-18 AWS Timothy Patterson

When it comes to Enterprise-level procurement of software, selecting and managing vendors, services, and budgets at scale can be complex 🏢. This is where AWS Marketplace comes in handy. It simplifies procurement, governance, and cost management, making it easier for your teams to quickly access the tools they need—while giving you the oversight required to maintain control over enterprise-wide purchases.

One key advantage for Enterprise customers: software purchased through AWS Marketplace counts as spend toward any existing AWS Enterprise Discount Program (EDP). This allows you to consolidate your cloud costs and maximize savings 💸.

Additionally, AWS Marketplace offers managed entitlements, making it easier to manage license distribution for server software and third-party data products across accounts in your organization. With managed entitlements, enterprises can grant and track software licenses from AWS Marketplace automatically, simplifying compliance and control.

For more information on using AWS Control Tower, AWS Service Catalog, and managed entitlements to deploy license subscriptions across multiple accounts, check out this AWS blog post .

In this post, I’ll cover how Enterprise customers can leverage AWS Marketplace to manage procurement efficiently, from private offers to custom governance frameworks, financial reporting, and EDP savings.

Why AWS Marketplace for Enterprises? 🌐

For enterprises, the AWS Marketplace delivers several key advantages that can help streamline procurement processes:

Centralized Procurement 🛒: Instead of having multiple teams or departments purchase tools independently, AWS Marketplace allows for centralized, organization-wide procurement with standardized terms and conditions.
Private Offers 🤝: You can negotiate custom pricing and terms with vendors and trusted resellers / systems integrators, tailoring solutions to meet your organization’s needs.
Spend Towards EDP 💼: Software purchases made through AWS Marketplace contribute to your overall AWS spend, helping you meet the commitments of your AWS Enterprise Discount Program (EDP) and unlock even more savings.
Managed Entitlements 🔑: Simplify license distribution and compliance by managing software entitlements centrally and automatically across all your AWS accounts.
Governance and Compliance ✅: AWS Marketplace supports governance and compliance policies, allowing you to maintain control over procurement without slowing down innovation.
Custom Catalogs 📚: Enterprises can build a Private Marketplace, curating a list of pre-approved software and services that meet corporate standards. See: Private AWS Marketplace

Managing the Procurement Experience

AWS Marketplace offers multiple tools and processes that allow Enterprises to streamline and optimize procurement. Let’s take a closer look at each key feature:

1. Private Offers for Enterprises 🤝

One of the key benefits of AWS Marketplace for Enterprises is the ability to negotiate private offers with software vendors. This allows you to secure customized pricing, payment terms, and usage conditions that align with your organization’s unique needs.

Here’s how it works:

Custom Pricing: Negotiate pricing based on your usage, volume, or multi-year commitments.
Tailored Terms: Define contract terms that meet your legal and procurement requirements.
Purchase Flexibility: Spread payments over time or through a schedule that matches your cash flow.

Steps to Engage in a Private Offer:

Identify Software Needs: Work with your teams to understand the specific software requirements for your organization.
Reach Out to Vendors: Contact the vendor directly via AWS Marketplace’s listing page to request a private offer.
Negotiate Terms: Collaborate with the vendor to finalize pricing, payment schedules, and terms.
Approve and Deploy: Once the private offer is agreed upon, it can be approved and deployed directly through the AWS Marketplace.

👉 Learn more about Private Offers .

2. Private Marketplace for Enterprises 🏦

Enterprises can create a Private Marketplace, allowing procurement teams to control which products are available to different departments or teams. This ensures that employees only access approved software that aligns with the organization’s security, compliance, and budget requirements.

Key Features of a Private Marketplace:

Pre-Approved Software: Choose which products appear in your custom Private Marketplace to meet internal standards.
Enhanced Control: Set permission levels, so only authorized buyers can purchase certain products.
Compliance Assurance: Ensure that all purchases comply with corporate governance policies.
Spend Contributions: Purchases made through your Private Marketplace still count toward your AWS spend, helping you meet your EDP goals.

Steps to Create a Private Marketplace:

Define Product Criteria: Work with legal, security, and finance teams to define the software that meets your enterprise’s criteria.
Select Products: Choose software and services that meet the requirements, and create a custom catalog for your Private Marketplace.
Assign Permissions: Control which teams or individuals can make purchases from your Private Marketplace.
Monitor Usage: Use AWS reporting tools to track what products are being purchased and by whom.

👉 Learn more about creating a Private Marketplace .

3. Managing Governance and Compliance ✅

For enterprises, maintaining governance over cloud purchases is essential. AWS Marketplace provides built-in tools to help ensure compliance across the organization:

Approval Workflows: You can set up approval workflows to require managers or finance teams to approve purchases before they’re made.
Vendor Governance: Use vetted and approved vendors in your Private Marketplace to ensure you meet compliance and security standards.
Cost Allocation Tags: Track spending across different teams or departments with cost allocation tags, making it easier to manage budgets and report on cloud costs.

Steps to Implement Governance Controls:

Set Policies: Work with your procurement and legal teams to define purchasing policies.
Establish Approval Workflows: Use AWS tools to set up multi-tier approval processes for larger purchases.
Tag Purchases: Use cost allocation tags to associate purchases with departments or projects for easy tracking and reporting.
Audit Regularly: Regularly review your AWS Marketplace purchases to ensure compliance with your governance policies.

4. Tracking Usage & Financial Reporting 📊

Tracking procurement spending is crucial for enterprises, and AWS Marketplace makes it easy to generate detailed financial reports:

Usage Reports: Get detailed insights into your software usage and associated costs, broken down by department, project, or product.
Financial Reports: Run custom reports to see what’s being spent on software and services across your organization, allowing for better budget forecasting and control.
Integration with AWS Cost Explorer: Use AWS Cost Explorer to further analyze your software expenses over time and track usage patterns.

Steps to Run Financial Reports:

Access Reports: From the AWS Marketplace console, access the financial reports section.
Customize: Choose filters for time period, product type, or department to generate a custom report.
Export: Download or export the report for further analysis or sharing with stakeholders.
Review & Optimize: Use the reports to identify areas where you can optimize costs or improve usage efficiency.

👉 Learn more about AWS Cost Explorer .

What’s Next? 📅

In our next post, I’ll focus on Solutions Integrators and how they can leverage AWS Marketplace to offer assessments, implementations, and managed services to their customers. Selling through the AWS Marketplace is a powerful way to take your business to the next level!

In the meantime, start exploring AWS Marketplace to streamline your enterprise procurement processes. The power to manage cloud software across your entire organization is just a few clicks away!

👉 Get started today: Explore AWS Marketplace .