The Keys to Orchestrating BigID's Cloud GTM Strategy
BigID has effectively propelled its revenue growth by capitalizing on Marketplace and co-sell opportunities. Hear how Connie Dodmead, Sr. Director of Tech Alliances, has leveraged Cloud GTM to streamline sales workflows and nurture BigID’s strategic cloud partnerships.
All right, we are here and we're live.
So thank you all so much for being here and my name is Ashley Stuchera.
I am one of our senior cloud go-to-market coaches here at Tackle and I have the
absolute pleasure
of being accompanied in this session by one of my favorite customers.
I'm only one of the greatest, most honest and funniest champions to work with.
Connie, Connie, I will let you introduce yourself and then we'll get right into
it.
Thanks, Ashley.
So hello everyone.
Connie Doddme, and I'm a senior director of technology alliances at Big ID.
And for those of you who might not be familiar with Big ID, we are a data
discovery and classification
platform.
We help customers have a better understanding of their data across the entire
enterprise
landscape, whether that be on-prem or on cloud or in a SaaS application so that
they can
make better data-driven decisions and improve their risk profile.
Perfect.
That was great to set the stage.
I was going to be one of my questions to just tell us about Big ID, but I think
now
that we've done that and we set the stage a little bit, can you elaborate a
little bit
on the role, the impact of cloud go-to-market at Big ID?
Yes.
So we really started our cloud go-to-market journey about the time that I
joined Big ID,
which was just shy of three years ago.
We had, we are a SaaS platform that is built on AWS.
And so we were looking to leverage that partnership, lean into that partnership
a bit more.
So cloud go-to-market was a no-brainer for us.
It was just a matter of how do we do that, right?
It sounds simple, but the actual rolling out of a cloud strategy can be quite
daunting
and difficult.
So fortunately, I had the privilege of working with Tackle at a previous
company where we
also started our cloud journey with you guys.
So I immediately said, "We've got to talk to Tackle," and we started to work
together
on getting our listings up and running and starting that Co-SEL process.
This was back in 2021, so middle of the pandemic, which I think was a great
time to be embarking
on this because it was giving customers another option for how they can
purchase.
And then since we've come out of the pandemic, I think we've all seen the
retracting of budgets.
But a lot of these companies still have these large cloud spends.
And so it's actually offered us an opportunity to help customers tap into those
cloud spends
and keep these different projects rolling forward, whereas they may have been
otherwise delayed
due to a new budget constraints.
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that one of the first things that you did coming into Big ID is let's
get this
started, let's get Tackle on board.
And that's a, that obviously speaks volumes to you having leveraged that at a
previous
organization, and then you saw how instrumental it was in getting it stood up,
that Big ID.
So I think you've already kind of hit on this, but was there any resistance to
the executive
or the leadership buy-in for getting Cloud but a market as a preferred channel
for Big
ID?
Talk to me about that at the start.
You know, I am, I can pleasantly say that there really wasn't at Big ID.
They were bought in, you know, and in fact that's part of the reason why they
brought
me on board.
But I can speak to that in terms of my previous company where this was, this
was completely
new.
I mean, it wasn't just new in terms of a new route to market, but it was also,
you know,
a new product strategy starting to launch more SaaS applications moving away
from the
traditional on-premise software sales.
So you know, you had the product angle of it that you had to consider, you know
, how
are we going to deploy, how is this going to be usable for customers?
But in addition to that, you know, we, that company, and I think a lot of
companies, you
know, had been a traditionally channel driven organization.
And so when they looked at their sales, they thought about it in terms of, you
know, direct
sales, distributor sales, and then resellers and VARs.
And you know, we were starting to dabble in the MSSP space as well.
Now when you start to think about adding in, you know, the marketplace as
another option,
well, that's now adding yet another channel.
And there was a lot of concern around the impact that this would have on the
existing,
you know, channel strategy.
You are they going to be, you know, damaging relationships with other resellers
You know, how is this going to work where we, you know, had, you know, already
two-tier,
you, uh, delivery models for sales?
So there was, there was quite a bit of, um, work that had to go into aligning
all of the
stakeholders getting their buy-in and being able to address their concerns.
Yeah.
I think you just hit on a really important point, um, which is the, what seems
to be
like an added layer of complexity, um, you know, from an optics view of like
getting
the sales team on board.
That is one of the trickiest topics, I think, for many of the ISVs that we all
work with
here is like, how do I get my sales team bought in on this?
Like this just feels, you know, obviously it's a top-down executive initiative.
We're here.
We're listed on marketplace, but like talk to me about how you got your sellers
to care
and really what it looks like to get them to lean in on this.
Yes.
Yes.
Well, that is, you know, in all transparency, that's an ongoing challenge,
right?
Like that is an, that was, I would not.
Not all some type of rainbow.
That project's not done.
However, you know, once you start to, you get that momentum going and you have
a few sellers
who get some good deals in and they start to see the power of the marketplace,
then,
then that helps to build the momentum.
But, you know, again, it's, it's a new, it's a new sales channel.
You know, it's not just new in terms of how customers are buying software, but
it's,
it's new in terms of how, um, sellers are partnering with other organizations.
So this is not, you know, the cloud provider sales teams, they're not reseller
sales teams,
right?
So it's, it's a very different conversation.
It's probably a lot more aligned to a tech alliance conversation where you're
talking
about synergies between your products or, you know, desired outcomes that
customers
can obtain by using your solutions, you know, together.
But with, you know, when you're thinking about that in terms of just going in
and networking
with a customer and understanding their landscape, that's one piece.
When you're starting to talk about actually transacting, um, you know, what I
find sellers
most often struggle with is that first conversation.
I like to call it the awkward first date where you are talking, um, and you're
just
kind of both sitting there trying to decide, you know, what do you want to do?
What do you want to do?
Like you're afraid to ask questions.
So getting over that fear of, you know, asking questions and asking for help
and saying,
you know, this is what I know.
This is what I don't know.
Can you help me navigate this channel?
That that's the hardest part.
So.
Yeah, that, that definitely resonates.
Um, the awkward first date, thanks.
Very funny.
Um, because it's probably really true.
And I'm sure there's a lot of people not in their heads and be like, yeah, no,
I feel
that and my seller told me that.
I think the one thing that you hit on that is worth just bringing back to the
forefront
is once a few sellers see the value and see the success.
And I think that that also probably really helps other people, obviously helps
other
people get on board.
But to your point, like in the asking for help and in the, well, hey, my peers
are doing
it and now I can lean and ask them like, what worked really well?
What didn't work well?
So I think the more that you're doing that, like broadcasting that is like
sales are having
the sellers are having success.
It gets them to not only lean into the process, but also to their peers to help
with that
enablement as well.
So I love that you that's one trend you're seeing is more sellers get on board.
It's continuing to grow and expand.
Yeah.
And I will say that when they find those sellers that they gel with and that
they have success
with and those sellers see the success that they can bring, then they tend to
stay in contact
and that can help open doors to other accounts that you maybe you're having a
hard time getting
a foot in the door.
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
So switching gears a little bit to going back to tackle.
So you're a two time tackler customer.
I'm a tackler.
I'm a tackler.
What up?
So in that, what are the most valuable tools to you?
Like what has really helped you in your in Big ID and your previous employer,
like the
cloud go to market strategy?
What are the tools that are using that are imperative for that success?
Yeah.
Okay.
Honestly, the one that you guys have in preview right now using gen AI to help
build out the
stories for submitting the co cells.
Huh, game changer.
Save so much time.
I am not a fan.
Yes.
So, but you know, outside of that, you know, tackle Co cell is a is a huge,
huge time saver.
You know, the challenge we had previously was if you wanted to co sell with AWS
, you had
to lock into a separate corner.
And you had to get your reps to see you were forced into two buckets, either I
enter everybody's
registrations for them or I forced them to register for the access and then
they do it.
Tough, tough, hill climb Microsoft Microsoft, same sort of scenario.
But if you're not an Azure shop, like if you're not in 365, good luck.
It is difficult to get everybody registered and signed up.
And I mean, if you think the AWS portal was a was a tough slog, then just
forget it.
Like don't don't even bother.
You're going to be doing it all on your own.
So if I having this all driven through tackle co cell right out of the sales
force, right
out of the opportunity pulling the the relevant information into that co cell
form, man, GCP
get on it.
Like I can't wait for like three clouds there because it's it's just a massive
massive
time saver.
So I knew I had a winner when I had a sales rep walk through it with me just so
I could
grab screenshots, you know, for a presentation I was going to do.
And then after two minutes, like that's it.
I'm done.
Yeah, you're done.
Yeah, that's it.
Love it.
I think it's a really it's super important to for a lot of ISVs that are
looking to scale
and go multi cloud.
Like what you just said, I'm sure really resonates, which is like the idea of
having to do it
in all of these different places and portals like the ease of having it all
with example,
like love hearing that or even all within sales force, if you're going to look
at it
as a perspective, yeah, they have so much thrown at them, so many different
sales tools
thrown at them, so many different, you know, different aspects to their job
that you asking
them to do one more thing, even if it is in their best interest, even if it is
helpful
to them, it's just one step too far and I get it.
Yeah, I get it.
I've been in sales myself, so I understand their pain there.
Yeah, can't be adding friction to that.
One question I do want to ask because it comes up a lot and it's one that I
think when we
worked with your team, your sales force team, it was it was certainly very
enlightening for
all of us to hear what we believe to be true, which is I think that there was a
little
bit of hesitation from the internal sales force team on implementing the tackle
co-sell
into your sales force environment as we understand, like if everyone's sales
force, we call it
as for me, it's a special snowflake, like there's a lot of like hesitation
around what
does this work really going to look like.
Yeah, Connie, what are you going to do?
Yeah, Connie, what have you signed us up for?
Yeah, actually, look, would you mind sharing just like what their, what that
experience
was like, like how you navigate it and like what their reaction was on the
other side?
Well, my way of navigating a lot of these things is just telling people we're
going
to do it.
Like, you're with me.
You're with me.
We can do this the easy way or the hard way, like either I'm going to nag you
until it's
done or you know, or we can just all work on this together.
But, you know, that slight joke aside, kind of true, you know, our sales, our
sales force
team had been implementing a lot of different sales tools that were connecting
in with,
you know, sales force for our teams, including a CPQ tool, which anybody who's
gone through
that nightmare, it's a heavy lift.
So the idea of having to do yet one more thing, they were concerned.
There was also concern because we had looked at another solution and the
feedback that
we were receiving from some of our peers in the industry who had signed up with
that
other solution was that, you know, implementation was taking six months or more
Like, it was really not simple.
So we went in, you know, conservatively hopeful.
And I remember the first call that we had with the team and, you know, we were
saying,
okay, maybe we can have this done, you know, by the start of Q4, you know, and
we can have
you know, an enablement session, you know, at the beginning of the year in Q1.
And in that was, that was going to give us about six weeks to get it done.
And then the next week, I got an email from them saying, hey, are you available
to test
this out?
We're done.
It took them three days, you know, like, and that was including scheduling the
call
with me to actually test it out.
It was so simple.
It was, it was, yeah, love to hear it.
I'll be using that soundbite for future conversations.
What do you think kind of just going back to now, just Connie, in your roles
previous
current in your experience working across the cloud, like what has changed the
most about
your relationships with the cloud providers from where you were to where you
are now?
Well, in some cases, I now have a relationship with the cloud providers.
That's fair.
You will, you will, you will very quickly learn if you're just getting into the
marketplace
arena.
The cloud providers are leaning more and more into marketplace as they're go to
market route
with partners.
You know, there is an understanding that not all the customers are going to
want to buy
there.
So not saying that it's like, you know, marketplace or nothing, but having that
listing there,
you and engaging with their sales teams in the Co-Cell process, it puts you on
the map.
So with some, with one provider, it's gotten us much deeper entrenched with
some of the
vertical teams because we've had a lot of successes in those verticals that,
you know,
when their teams look up to see who big ID is, they can see all the customers
that we've
sold and the value of those deals.
You know, with another provider, you know, they're finally talking to me.
They were, you know, they were very polite previously, but you know, their
hands were
tied until we got a listing in marketplace.
There was not a whole lot that they could do.
Now I'm getting invited to previews for, you know, new marketplace features
that are
coming.
So, you know, it really can help you get you on the map with these cloud
providers.
And that can stretch not just from sales, but also in new product launches and
other
initiatives that there's a lot of value for you as an ISV to be part of those
launch announcements
when they come out.
Yeah, absolutely.
Nope.
I mean, you invest in them.
They'll invest in you.
I think that's a really key takeaway.
Certainly one that we will always give the guidance around is like what you put
into it
is what you get back out of it.
And I think that it's really been awesome to see the big ID cloud go to market
strategy
evolve this year with that additional provider.
Yeah, so I actually sent an update to my CFO and his team yesterday.
I was just going through some of our reporting.
And so in the month of June, we will do more marketplace revenue just in the
month of June
than we did in our first 18 months on marketplace.
Why?
That's awesome.
Yeah.
I mean, it builds.
It builds.
Yeah.
So, you know, it's not going to, it's a marathon guys, right?
Like you got the time, you got to put in the training, you got to put in the
hours, but
there are beer and metals at the end.
So, you know, just why we're all running, let's be honest.
We're coming to the close.
So I do have one kind of like closing question that I think is, I always like
to ask and
I know that there are others out there watching that are at very different
stages of their
journey as Alliance leaders and in their different stages of maturity with
their organizations.
But what advice would you give to those other Alliance leaders who are in those
early stages?
Well, I will definitely, you know, I'm up.
I feel like I should be on the retainer with tackle because the first thing I
tell everybody
is if you're not working with tackle, you need to reach out to them.
And I say that because you guys really have become like part of the team.
You're an extension of our ops team.
You're able to get me in contact with the right people at the cloud providers
when I
do run into challenges.
You know, you take a lot of feedback.
I give a lot of feedback, but you take it really well and turn around some, you
know,
some great services.
So I would say, you know, having, I wish that when I started my journey and I
did start
it with you guys, but I wish that there had been conferences like this one then
to help
you give that insight into, you know, what are other companies doing?
How are they being successful?
You know, it's really about networking with your peers and then, you know, and
leveraging
them to get to the right people within the different CSPs so that you can, you
know,
get to market faster and just start growing your business.
It's not going to be, you know, it's not going to be a cakewalk, you know, but
once you start
to really, you lean in and get your teams behind you leaning in, then you too
will be
saying, holy crap, you know, my next month's going to be more than the last two
years.
And that's one month, you know, so it builds.
It does.
So you just really have to stay persistent and leverage your team.
Oh, love it.
That is a beautiful ending note.
And again, congrats on the success of the coming month of June.
We're excited to see all those deals come through and support you along the way
as we
always do.
And genuinely can't thank you enough for sharing your time and your advice and
wisdom
with the audience today.
Kind of this wonderful having you here.
Well, thank you for inviting me.
It was great to be here.
All right.
So I'm going to give another session following this or everyone stick around
and I hope you
have a great recipe event.
Thanks, Connie.
Thanks.
Bye. Bye.