Shifting buyer trends: Demystifying Wiz’s success on cloud marketplaces

When it comes to mastering cloud marketplaces, most software companies go about it the same way. List a product, wait for traction, and hope there’s revenue.

But Wiz, the fastest growing software company and cloud security platform, took a different path defined by deep buyer understanding, operational discipline, and relentless collaboration.

In a recent webinar, Wiz’s Steve Vaughn, Global Head of Alliances, and Marion Gurian, Strategic Partner Manager, joined Flywl CEO Ankur Srivastava to unpack how a buyer-first approach helped transform Wiz’s marketplace presence into a motion that actually moves deals.

“I saw a lot of great ISVs master marketplace adoption,” said Ankur Srivastava, Founder and CEO of Flywl. “But Wiz personified what I’d call near perfection."‍

The new cloud buyer behavior

Cloud marketplaces have evolved from convenience channels to strategic procurement engines. Buyers are no longer checking the boxes anymore; they’re intentionally aligning every purchase to cloud budgets and commitments.

“Customers are being even more intentional with their software spend,” Marion said. “They want buying to be simple, transparent, and really aligned with how they're already running in the cloud today.”

“They want to leverage existing cloud budgets and committed spend, and still meet all their internal procurement requirements. For us, as sellers and trusted partners, it’s also not just about the transaction or route to market anymore. It’s about that overall customer experience.”

That shift has elevated the marketplace from sales channel to strategic advantage. “The marketplace isn’t just a sales channel anymore,” she added. “It’s become a modern procurement and preferred channel for customers deploying and buying in the cloud.”

How buyer understanding became Wiz’s advantage

Steve explained that understanding buyers’ motivations was central to Wiz’s growth and why many ISVs still miss the point.

“At first glance, it sounds simple. You need to understand your buyers to position your product,” Steve said. “But taking a step back, there’s a lot to unpack. Customers are compounding their buying power and leveraging existing or even future contractual commitments as budget equity.”

He compared it to a personal finance decision: “If I have a mortgage on my home, and somehow my purchase of a new TV could be credited toward reducing that loan, I’m going to make sure that purchase works twice for me,” he explained. “It’s the same mindset in the marketplace.”

That insight and mindset helped Wiz scale with precision.

“We wouldn’t have grown at the rate we did if it hadn’t been for the operational infrastructure, ease of transaction flow, and new budget streams marketplaces enable,” Steve said. “Simply put, we wouldn’t have been able to book business and recognize revenue at the rate of our demand without them.”

From product-first to buyer-first

Many ISVs still operate with a “list and wait” mindset, but Wiz learned early that success required a buyer-first culture.

That internal shift meant removing friction, realigning compensation, simplifying deal desk processes, and building cross-team trust.

“Reducing friction systematically is the first step,” Steve added. “The rest will fall into place with a bit of good fortune.”

Turning partnership into pipeline

Marketplace listings alone don't drive acceleration, but collaboration does.

“Real acceleration happens when you treat the marketplace as part of your overall go-to-market motion, not just a transactional endpoint,” Marion said. “We focused on enabling internal teams, aligning with CSP field teams for co-sell, and joining programs that deliver value back to customers.”

For Wiz, that co-sell culture became its competitive edge.

“We built a better-together story that showed how Wiz, our partners, and the cloud providers could deliver better outcomes together,” she added. “And we constantly measured the impact, tracking how marketplace and co-sell influenced pipeline and revenue.”

Steve agreed: “Co-selling isn’t an engine on its own, it needs co-building and product cooperation,” he said. “It’s about giving cloud sellers confidence in the value you bring to their platform.”

Scaling multi-cloud momentum

Wiz’s success extends beyond AWS. From Azure to Google Cloud, Wiz stays buyer-focused and customer first. 

“When it comes to working with all three cloud providers, the team at Wiz has done a great job of focusing on what matters most across all. And that’s customer success in the cloud,” Marion said. 

Steve added that multi-cloud execution also sharpened internal alignment.

“Iron sharpens iron,” he said. “Having healthy competition between clouds keeps us sharp. Having that healthy competition internally within Wiz has been helpful to make sure that we’re getting the most out of our partnerships across all three.”

Getting marketplace-ready: A playbook for ISVs

For ISVs looking to follow suit, both speakers emphasized starting with introspection.

“Inspect internally,” Steve advised. “Understand your sales flow. Talk to customers, not just users. Apply that feedback. If you’re just listing and waiting, you’re already behind.”

For Steve, success starts with awareness. For Marion, it continues with execution. 

“Treat marketplaces as a strategic go-to-market move,” Marion added. “Ensure your product is marketplace-ready, align your systems, and start small if needed. Even one marketplace can teach you a lot about process and scale.”

Collaboration that builds retention

Later in the session, Steve shared a real-world example of Wiz and Flywl helping a mutual customer expand their deal through marketplace alignment.

“We had a customer who reviewed Wiz but could only budget for a one-year contract,” he recalled. “Flywl analyzed their purchasing power and future commitments and helped structure a deal that leveraged their cloud commitments as equity. That turned a one-year deal into a three-year deal—3x growth.”

Ankur noted that this kind of collaboration not only accelerates revenue but also strengthens long-term retention.

“Marketplaces actually protect churn,” Ankur said. “When you have associated your spend with a particular hyperscaler commit, that commitment often spans multiple years. It’s a powerful mechanism that guarantees annuity and reduces churn, as long as you keep building great tech.”

Where marketplace strategy goes from here

As the conversation closed, all three agreed: the age of buyer-first selling is here—and it’s rewriting how enterprise software gets bought and sold.

“If you’re selling enterprise software today and not thinking about marketplace strategy, you’re already behind,” Ankur said.

For Wiz, the formula was clear: understand the buyer, align the motion, and collaborate deeply. For Flywl, it’s a roadmap for helping the next generation of ISVs do the same.

‍Ready to build a co-sell motion that actually moves cloud marketplace deals? Get started with Flywl to start turning your cloud listings into revenue.