The cloud world moves fast, and if you’ve been selling software for a while, you know that staying ahead of customer demands is crucial. AWS Marketplace has become a key player in helping vendors get their products in front of the right people. Since its launch, AWS Marketplace has grown into a global service, sporting the following statistics:

• Over 300,000 active customers
• 4,000 vendors
• More than 15,000 listings.

From basic AMI listings to sophisticated SaaS solutions, containers, and machine learning models, it’s come a long way, and it’s not slowing down any time soon.

So, where did it all begin, and how did we get here? Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane, and I’ll give you a sneak peek into what’s coming next. Spoiler: 2025 is shaping up to be a game-changer, but you’ll have to stick around for future posts to get all the details.

How It All Started

AMI Listings and Self-Service SaaS

Back in the day, AWS Marketplace was all about Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). The idea was simple: vendors could package their software into an AMI, and customers could deploy it directly into their AWS environment. It was quick, easy, and saved everyone a lot of hassle.

But as cloud adoption increased, the demand for more flexible options grew. Vendors wanted to go beyond static images, they needed a way to offer software that could scale and evolve with their customers’ needs. That’s where SaaS (Software as a Service) came in.

The introduction of SaaS listings was a big leap forward. Now, vendors could offer subscription-based services with flexible payment models, including consumption-based billing. Customers loved the flexibility, and vendors could better align their offerings with real-world customer needs. This was also when the first Marketplace API was introduced, giving sellers a bit more control over their listings.

The Next Chapter

Containers, Machine Learning, and Private Offers

As AWS expanded its services, AWS Marketplace followed suit. Recognizing the growing need for containers and microservices, AWS rolled out support for containerized software, allowing vendors to package their applications into containers that customers could deploy seamlessly within their environments.

Then came the rise of machine learning (ML). Vendors could now list pre-trained models and algorithms on Marketplace, making it easier for businesses to integrate AI without having to build models from scratch. This brought in a whole new audience of data scientists and engineers, looking for ways to accelerate their AI projects.

On top of all this, AWS launched private offers for SaaS and containerized products, giving sellers the ability to create custom pricing and terms for specific customers. It was a win-win: vendors could tailor their offerings, and customers got exactly what they needed.

APIs for Sellers

Catalog and Discovery

By this point, AWS Marketplace was growing rapidly, and keeping listings up-to-date was becoming a challenge for vendors. Enter the Catalog API, which allows sellers to update their product listings programmatically. No more manual updates, vendors could tweak their pricing, descriptions, and metadata with just a few API calls.

At the same time, AWS rolled out the Discovery API, designed to help customers find the software they needed faster and easier. Now, customers could filter products based on their specific needs, improving the overall shopping experience.

Together, these APIs empowered sellers to scale their businesses without getting bogged down by operational headaches, while also helping customers navigate the ever-growing pool of software.

Itoc/Thoughtworks and AWS Marketplace

Since 2021, Itoc, now Thoughtworks since our acquisition, has helped many customers get onto AWS Marketplace.

We’ve developed an AWS Marketplace SaaS accelerator to fast-track the onboarding of customers’ SaaS products and have also sped up the implementation of AMI listings. This involves the usage of the Catalog APIs, mentioned previously, as part of our customers’ CI/CD pipelines, ensuring smooth, automated updates to their listings. We’ve also worked with customers to help them list their Professional Services on AWS Marketplace, alongside their SaaS or AMI listings, where further consultancy may be needed to be sold.

In fact, our very own Marketplace Accelerator is sold via AWS Marketplace.

2023 and Beyond

Making Life Easier for Sellers

Fast forward to today, and AWS Marketplace has put a major focus on making life easier for sellers. Two of the biggest areas of improvement are reporting and reducing operational complexity.

Reporting with QuickSight: AWS has integrated QuickSight dashboards into Marketplace, giving sellers a deep dive into their metrics—disbursements, customer trends, and usage patterns. It’s like having your own business analyst, helping you make data-driven decisions to optimise your listings and pricing.

Less Operational Overhead: Managing listings can be a time sink, but AWS has streamlined the process. Sellers can now create and update listings with far less manual effort, freeing up more time to focus on building great products and engaging customers.

Wrapping Up

From its humble beginnings as a platform for AMI listings to its current status as a multi-faceted software marketplace, AWS Marketplace has evolved to meet the needs of both vendors and customers. With exciting updates on the horizon, 2025 is shaping up to be an important year for anyone selling software in the cloud.

Whether you’re already listing your products on AWS Marketplace or thinking about jumping in, now is the time to get up to speed with the latest features and improvements. Stay tuned for more updates and deeper dives into what’s coming next!

More information on this topic can be found at:

• AWS Marketplace - (https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace)
• Thoughtworks Marketplace - (https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/search/results?searchTerms=Thoughtworks)
• Marketplace Customer Portal (https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/partners/management-tour)