Extending Private Offers on AWS Marketplace: An MPPO guide for ISVs
Extending private offers (sometimes referred to as marketplace private offers or MPPOs) on AWS Marketplace offers ISVs an opportunity to close more deals, but introduces a new set of challenges. For ISVs that have recently listed or are new to co-selling on and with AWS, navigating through the process of creating your first private offer – or creating private offers at scale – can be daunting .
Here’s an overview of everything ISVs need to know about getting started with expressing private offers on the AWS Marketplace.
What is an AWS private offer (MPPO)?
Private offers in AWS Marketplace are a purchasing program that allows ISVs and B2B buyers to negotiate custom EULA (end user licensing agreement) terms and prices for software solutions on AWS. AWS provides standardized EULA terms that you can use or modify for each private offer.
AWS Private Offer types
- AMI (Amazon Machine Images)
- Container
- Professional services
- SaaS products
- ML (machine learning) products
How to extend a private offer on AWS Marketplace
To express a Private Offer on AWS Marketplace, you will need to complete the following steps:
- Sign up for the AWS Partner Network on the AWS portal and become eligible for APN Customer Engagements (ACE). You will need to confirm eligibility with your PDM.
- Create and manage private offers on the AWS Marketplace Management Portal.
- When you’re ready to extend a private offer, you will need to specify 1) the product and 2) the AWS account ID (or IDs) of the recipient.
- Decide whether to Enable Flexible Payments, which allows you to create a payment schedule with multiple payments and preferred invoice dates. (Read more here.)
- Specify the Contract Duration.
- If the offer is for an AMI hourly or AMI annual pricing option, you will need to enter a custom duration, calculated by days. (The max duration is 1,095 days)
- If the offer is for SaaS contract pricing, AMI contract pricing, or a container contract, duration is calculated in months. (The max duration is 60 months)
- Enter the offer price, which is the number you negotiated with your customer
- If installment payments are a part of the private offer, specify number of units and payment schedule.
- If an existing subscription is being extended, select “Renewal.” You will also need to choose the Renewal Type.
- Upload custom EULA or choose an existing template from AWS (found here).
- In Offer Expiration and Acceptance Date, enter the number of days the offer will remain valid. After the deadline, the Private Offer will be void.
- Review your offer.
- If the offer is accurate, choose EXTEND OFFER
- If something in the offer is incorrect, choose EDIT offer and make the necessary changes
- The portal will generate a unique ID and URL for each Private Offer.
For a more detailed approach on how to create a private offer in AWS, check out Amazon’s documentation on the subject here.
Setting up the terms and pricing for a private offer can take quite a bit of time. You can express the same private offer up to 25 times. But don’t worry – your private offer customers won’t see the other recipients. It’s a private offer, after all.
Can a buyer request a private offer on AWS?
If your solution is well established on the AWS Marketplace, buyers can request private offers directly on the product detail page. private offers are a good option for organizations with unique use cases that require customization. Enterprises, who often require more usage than smaller businesses, can benefit from requesting private offers.
AWS private offer quirks
- private offers are not available for Amazon Machine Image (AMI) monthly, multi-AMI-based delivery using AWS CloudFormation productions, or for limiting customer usage.
- You can break upfront payments into multiple payments using the Flexible Payment Scheduler feature.
- If the buyer account is managed through a private marketplace, you must include both the buyer’s account and the account that includes their private marketplace administrator in the offer.
- private offers are not available for BYOL (Bring Your Own License) model or product types.
- You can attach up to 5 support documents customizing your terms, along with the EULA documentation.
Third-party financing for private offers
It’s not uncommon for customers to use third-party financing for private offers on AWS. Here’s how that process works, per AWS’s documentation:
- Upon credit approval, the customer selects a financing option and signs a finance agreement with the selected lender.
- The ISV creates and extends an AWS Marketplace private offer (MPPO) to the customer with upfront payment terms.
- Customer subscribes to the AWS Marketplace private offer (MPPO).
- AWS invoices the customer for the private offer, plus any applicable tax.
- Customer forwards the AWS invoice to the lender.
- Lender remits payment to AWS.
- Lender invoices customers per the finance agreement repayment schedule and terms.
If cost is a challenge for your potential private offer customer, they can check out financing options for a multi-year deal.
AWS private offer upgrades, renewals, and amendments
AWS recognizes that private offers might need to be changed, which is why the marketplace has a process for upgrades, renewals, and amendments for SaaS contracts. You can grant new entitlements, offer pricing discounts, adjust payment schedules, or change the EULA. You can also adjust the number of units a customer receives, add a custom end date, and change the payment schedule.
Note, however, that you can’t amend an agreement to specify a “seller of record” that’s different from the “seller of record” from the original agreement. In this rare instance, you will need to express a new Private Offer.
Amendable AWS Private Offer product types
You can amend AWS private offers with the following contract types.
- SaaS contracts
- SaaS contracts with cloud consumption
If your product type is one of the following, AWS does not support private offer amendments.
- SaaS usage-based products
- AMI-based products
- Container-based products
- Server contract
- Professional services product
Extending private offers on AWS Marketplace with Invisory
As you can see, the process of extending a private offer on AWS is no easy feat. That’s one of the reasons why ISVs are partnering with Invisory, a go-to-market platform that simplifies and streamlines the process of making a private offer. By working with Invisory, you’ll also receive access to hands-on support from Invisory’s in-house AWS experts. Benefit from our API integrations with AWS, our co-sell playbooks, GTM templates, and more.
If you’re interested in learning more, reach out today.
You can also download our AWS co-selling eBook to learn how to succeed in your first 90 days and beyond.
