3 Types of Cloud Marketplaces And How They Work
Sometimes, you don’t have the flexibility or option to create your own website or build your online business presence from scratch. Due to this, many businesses will use cloud marketplaces to help them monitor, create and grow their online brands. If this sounds appealing, then we want to talk about three types of cloud marketplaces and how they work.
Three Cloud Marketplaces
Let’s start by looking at three popular cloud marketplaces to see what you should look into with these types of websites.
AWS Marketplace
The Amazon Web Services Marketplace gives you access to many tools that work with Amazon’s cloud. The AWS Marketplace focuses on making it easy for you to find specific programs that will meet your needs. As you go on their website, you can look at the different topics available to find something you can use.
For example, you have easy access to the popular categories, but you can also look into topic areas and solutions for industries. If this approach won’t help you out, you can always use the search bar instead. Either way, this marketplace allows you to browse based on popularity and categories to find something that will help your business.
GCP Marketplace
The Google Cloud Platform Marketplace takes a similar approach, except its programs and tools work on the GCP. Interestingly, the front page lists various tools from the get-go to help you find something useful. For example, the Featured section will highlight some nice tools while the Blog and CMS sections will focus on content creation tools.
As an added bonus, this marketplace will allow you to narrow your search with categories on the sidebar. This includes ones with free trials alongside other points, like virtual machines or datasets. In short, this one wants to highlight specific programs and tools while also helping you narrow your search as needed.
Microsoft Azure Marketplace
Microsoft also has its own cloud marketplace you can check out. The Azure Marketplace focuses on giving you solutions to common problems people face on the platform. For example, you have analytic tools, security software and migration programs. If this doesn’t work for you, then you can search for apps based on industries, like retail or financial services.
If you look deeper into the marketplace, you can also look at popular app categories and some of the featured apps. Just like with the others, you can search for specific apps to meet your needs, or you can look through the different categories to find something ideal.
As you can see with each of these marketplaces, they all focus on improving your experience with the cloud platform.
How Do Marketplaces Work?
While cloud marketplace allows you to purchase tools, you may question how they function, so let’s address this point.
Providing Third Party Content
These marketplaces focus on providing a vendor service to its users. This means marketplaces function by allowing third party companies to sell their own products to users. This includes the various tools and software you will come across on the platforms, as long as they aren’t made by the marketplace owner.
Not only does this allow other companies to share their products on the marketplace, but businesses can find affordable options that work for them. The businesses just have to go on the marketplace, look at the approved software and pick out what they want to use. From here, they can utilize those services on the cloud platform to improve their businesses.
The Approval Process
However, random software can’t appear on these platforms. Instead, the creators must submit their software or tools to the software owners for inspection and consideration. From there, the owners can determine if they want to include that software on their platform for sale.
This also gives the owners the chance to look at the software to ensure none of it includes viruses, malicious content or anything else. They can also make sure the tools meet their quality standards and they will work with the platform. Once the software receives approval, the platform owners will put it on the marketplace for sale.
Make It Easy to Find
Once the software or tools become available on the marketplace, users can easily find them. The marketplaces include search features that allow the user to find specific software based on his or her needs. For example, if the user needs help with website security, he or she could look that up on the marketplace or in the security category.
Since you can easily navigate the marketplace, you can find exactly what you need to help your business. While the navigation will vary in certain ways, most marketplaces will include categories and a search bar to help you find what you want. In short, the marketplace allows you to search its catalogue to find something useful to your business.
Focus on Compatibility and Convenience
Since cloud marketplaces only offer software and tools that apply to the platform, you will have an easier time finding something you can use. For example, some systems will struggle with compatibility, so these platforms will ensure that your business’ content on the cloud will work with the software you purchase.
Not only can you rest easy knowing your software will work with your business, but you can also make things convenient for yourself. For example, you can just look through the marketplace, pay for a tool you want and activate it. Afterwards, you can immediately start using the tool, making it straightforward for anyone that needs it.
Wrap Up
Remember that cloud marketplaces focus on providing you more tools and ways to effectively use the corresponding services. After you identify a cloud system you like, you can look through the marketplace to further improve your business. Feel free to look into the various cloud services and marketplaces to find the ideal one for your situation.
