The cloud sales industry is undergoing a transformation.

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As cloud adoption accelerates and businesses prioritize flexibility and scalability, the role of cloud marketplaces and resellers has evolved dramatically. What once was a straightforward sales channel has become a dynamic ecosystem, driving innovation and redefining how businesses consume and deliver cloud services.

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With so much changing, it’s easy to lose sight of the trends shaping the industry: the explosive growth of cloud adoption, the rise of multi-cloud strategies, and the increasing demand for streamlined purchasing experiences. Below are 24 game-changing statistics that defined the growth, drivers, and strategies of the cloud marketplace and reseller ecosystem in2024.

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The What: Growth

The cloud market is experiencing massive growth.

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1. The global cloud computing market size is expected to grow from USD 626.4 Billion in 2023 to USD 1,266.4Billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 15.1% (Markets and Markets)
2. This year, specifically, worldwide public cloud end-user spending is projected to reach $679 Billion. (Gartner)
3. Customer multi-year cloud contracts (commits) across the three primary hyper scalers reached a high of $380B in Q4 2024, a 25% YoY gain. (Canalys)

And that’s impacting the whole ecosystem.

1. As of Q3 2024, global spending on cloud infrastructure services, specifically, increased by 21% YoY, reachingUS $82.0 billion. (Canalys)
2. As of Q3 2024, total combined spending with the three primary hyper scalers grew by 26% year on year, and all three reported sequential growth. (Canalys)
3. Canalys predicts that global sales of third-party vendor software and services through cloud marketplaces will hit US$45 billion by 2025, up 84% CAGR over five years (Canalys)
4. The reseller channel sales market is set to hit $1.7 trillion by the end of 2024. (Channel as a Service)
5. Channel growth in the IT services space is predicted to be 5% this year, slightly down from 2023, with growth rate forecasted to increase to 9% for 2025. (Canalys, MSP Landscape 2024)

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The How: Marketplaces and Channel

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1. 92% of MSPs identified cloud marketplaces as a crucial tool for strengthening their go-to-market strategy. (Barracuda’sThe Evolving Landscape of the MSP Business Report 2024)
2. Cloud marketplaces are now mainstream. The number of cloud users reporting using marketplaces to purchase products and services crossed 50%,hitting 51% this year. (Roman Kirsanov, Partner Insight)
3. 47% of MSPs are using cloud marketplace already. 50% are exploring the option. (Barracuda’sThe Evolving Landscape of the MSP Business Report 2024)
4. Canalys predicts that more than 50% of hyper scaler marketplace sales will be via channel partners by 2027. (Canalys)
5. Approximately 90% of IT sales are partner-assisted, indicating the significance of marketplaces in channel sales. (Channel as a Service)
6. Partners building marketplace practices achieve 234% return on investment, 50% faster deal closures, and 4-5 times richer deal sizes. (Forrester Consulting, AWS)
7. Partners building marketplace practices saw a 133% growth rate in new business specifically attributable to private offers. (Forrester Consulting, AWS)
8. 75% of enterprise leaders explicitly link their operating a formal partner ecosystem to accelerating their growth. (KPMG,Ecosystem Partnerships Report)
9. 80% of enterprise leaders are planning to expand their partner ecosystems in the coming year. (KPMG,Ecosystem Partnerships Report)
10. Companies with greater than 30% of revenue coming via channel were able to cut the length of sales cycles by up to 25%. (Roman Kirsanov, Partner Insight)

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The Why: Drivers

Unsurprisingly, AI emerged as a top driver of growth from top to bottom this year, with security and investment in multi cloud appearing as drivers as well.

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1. Azure attributed 8% of its 29% QoQ growth to AI. (Roman Kirsanov, Partner Insight)
2. Security is driving growth for MSPs, with 10% growth in cybersecurity products, 13% growth in cybersecurity services, and 15% growth in managed cybersecurity services estimated for 2024. (Canalys, MSP Landscape 2024)
3. The top three reasons why customers use cloud marketplaces are: (Roman Kirsanov, Partner Insight)
   
   1. Consolidated billing (64%)
   2. One stop for all offerings, first and third-party (56%)
   3. To research, discover, and compare products and services (50%)
4. Consolidated billing assists with a multi cloud approach, which is on the rise, as 88% organizations agree that using multiple public cloud providers delivers strategic benefits for their organization. (Google and Enterprise Strategy Group)
5. 39% of companies said that their top reason for investing in a multi cloud approach this year was AI and ML. (Google and Enterprise Strategy Group)
6. Gartner cites AI as a key driver of continued investment in cloud growth, predicting 21.5% growth in 2025.

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And that's 24 total, and a wrap on 2024!

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What do you think? Are there other key stats we’re missing? What should we be looking for in 2025?

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If you don’t want to become just a statistic yourself, see how Apptium’s Cloud Commerce Platform can help you launch your own cloud marketplace in 2025 and tapinto the incredible growth this market is seeing.

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