#136 Parul Chheda: ​​How to Successfully Partner w/ Hyperscalers

CoreStack is an exciting startup out of Seattle, celebrating its 5th anniversary, with a strong, ever-growing team of 45 brilliant minds working on autonomous and continuous multi-cloud governance. 

Parul Chheda, Vice President of Strategic Alliances at CoreStack, joins Chip Rodgers in this edition of the Ecosystem Aces podcast, talking about CoreStack, its future, and how it works closely with hyperscalers like GCP, AWS, Azure, etc. 

Parul discusses:

• CoreStack’s Partnerships with Hyperscalers
• CoreStack’s Technology & Process to Work with Hyperscalers’ Product Teams
• Offering the Ideal Value Proposition to PDMs and Co-Selling

CoreStack’s Partnerships with Hyperscalers

CoreStack develops cloud governance by instilling certain behaviors while delivering agility for enterprise users. They have three basic product offerings: FinOps, SecOps, and CloudOps. Parul focuses on a partner-first strategy through which the company goes to market with SIs, GSIs, MSPs and looks for strategic alliances with hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, Google, etc. Her main goal is to leverage the hyperscalers ecosystem for CoreStack’s benefits and build ideal solutions for customers. 

There are thousands of partners out there, and startups need to be creative to get noticed by hyperscalers. Any partnership should benefit both sides, and Parul wants to extract value in terms of product and technology from hyperscalers. Product recognition and lead support are two fundamental things she looks for in any partnership. 

Being a 100% cloud-native platform, CoreStack amplifies solutions provided by hyperscalers. For instance, say AWS is offering 30 different services, CoreStack leverages AWS’ fantastic solutions and uses their own products to develop more complete and impactful end solutions for user enterprises. Another important aspect of the partnership is getting leads from hyperscalers or getting lead support for existing leads from them. 

Each hyperscaler program has multiple tracks, and it is vital to tap into the most effective ones. So, CoreStack uses multi-cloud technology to work for enterprises with multiple clouds or with multiple services in a single cloud for problem-solving and ideal solutions.

CoreStack’s Technology & Process to Work with Hyperscalers’ Product Teams

Parul discusses how CoreStack becomes the end customers’ voice in front of hyperscalers’ product team and develops solutions that customers demand. Different teams at different hyperscalers have multiple solutions and perform beta testing. CoreStack joins their product launches and other events. Through information from customers and their demands, CoreStack uses service chaining to make products that optimize hyperscalers services, making them more impactful for end users.

For this, CoreStack works deeply with Partner Development Managers (PDMs), building a niche for themselves and showing the hyperscalers what value they offer to customers. People, processes, and tools are three things used for enhancing hyperscalers’ strategic alliances. 

• Having a dedicated team focused on working with a particular hyperscaler and responsible towards their niche or vertical. 
  
  
• Using tools like WorkSpan for automating certain processes and boosting efficiency. Azure partner center, APN, etc., help with automated lead generation and ensuring deals are there. 
  
  
• For the marketplace side of things, tools like tackle.io are helpful as hyperscalers are rapidly dropping the marketplace and listing prices. This optimizes lead generation and deal support for CoreStack. 

For the product side, brand awareness is vital, and there are other things CoreStack does like executive briefings, taking part in alpha-beta program testing, etc. So, choosing the right people for a process and automating it using certain tools is essential to work with hyperscalers’ product teams.

Offering the Ideal Value Proposition to PDMs and Co-Selling

CoreStack’s marketing team has done an outstanding job creating documentation and messages for the hyperscalers’ sales reps, offering value and showing that they are not here to compete. It is vital to show there is no competition, and the aim is to amplify and make the hyperscalers’ solutions better. 

Regular communication with PDMs is important because there are many other companies with the same goal as CoreStack, and being creative, being able to stand out is a must. Knowing what to get from a partnership and deciding whether it is worth it or not is important. Failure is a part of this and tells startups where to focus their energy. 

Parul stresses on both major aspects, that is, product recognition and getting leads and deals from the hyperscaler partners. When customers see that your products are featured by AWS or other big names, interest, and demand for your products will automatically grow. CoreStack’s direct sales team brings up customer leads to hyperscaler reps and coordinates deals with them. The sales and partner team at CoreStack work in tandem to collaborate with hyperscalers and co-sell to earn the end customers’ trust and solve their issues and requirements. 

Summing Up

Parul stresses the importance of learning and sharing information for successful partnerships. For ISVs that partner with hyperscalers, you need to have an obsession with solving customer problems and not just closing or winning new deals. Customers want agility and speed in public clouds, and hyperscalers have done great to provide that. 

So for ISVs, hyperscalers are really important, but they need to take the right steps, offer the right value proposition, and be persistent while partnering with big tech firms. Proving your company’s value and focusing on customers are the main criteria for successful partnerships.

To stay updated with Parul’s work and what CoreStack is upto in the future, you can follow her on LinkedIn and contact her through e-mail at parul@corestack.io. 

Links & Resources

• Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing.
• Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering.
• Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog.
• Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management
• Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds 
• To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: chip@workspan.com