The DXP Catalyst Update - Aug 19, 2025

INTRO
Welcome to This Week’s DXP Catalyst Update

This week’s DXP Catalyst Update explores how marketplaces are reshaping procurement strategies for complex solution ecosystems like digital experience platforms (DXPs). We examine why vendors such as Acquia, Adobe, Sitecore, and Contentstack have invested in marketplace listings, what it means for IT and marketing leaders managing budgets, and how marketplace visibility increasingly determines which platforms even make the shortlist.

LEADERSHIP GUIDANCE

The Growing Role of Cloud Marketplaces in DXP Procurement

DXPs have historically been purchased the old-fashioned way: direct negotiations, lengthy sales cycles, and complex contracts that spanned months of legal reviews. That model still dominates enterprise software, especially when it comes to solutions as complex as DXPs. Yet the landscape is changing, and cloud marketplaces from AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are increasingly shaping how procurement teams approach large-scale digital investments.

For marketing and IT leaders, the rise of marketplace listings raises important questions. Can an enterprise really procure an advanced platform like Adobe Experience Manager or Sitecore directly through a marketplace interface? Or are these listings more about procurement efficiency than about point-and-click purchasing? The reality lies somewhere in between, and it is worth examining how this trend is shaping the broader go-to-market strategies of DXP vendors.

Why DXPs Are Not a One-Click Purchase

It may sound obvious, but DXPs are not products you can simply add to a shopping cart and buy with a corporate credit card. They are not monolithic bundles sold as neat packages. Instead, they are collections of interdependent services and solutions that must be carefully configured, licensed, and integrated for each enterprise environment. Most vendors break their platforms into product tiers, modular add-ons, and distinct licensing SKUs. This complexity ensures that every purchase requires detailed scoping and planning.

Vendors also approach pricing with varying levels of transparency. Some publish standard tiers, while others take a more opaque path. Commerce systems have historically been notorious for this. SAP, for instance, once described pricing for Hybris Commerce Cloud as an algorithm that shifted quarterly, which is hardly the kind of clarity procurement teams prefer to hear. These dynamics underscore why one-click purchasing simply does not fit the reality of enterprise DXPs.

What cloud marketplaces do provide is an accessible entry point. Buyers can quickly identify whether a platform is available within their chosen cloud ecosystem, confirm procurement eligibility, and in many cases apply existing spend commitments toward the purchase. The listing streamlines early discovery and procurement mechanics, but it does not remove the need for vendor engagement, licensing conversations, or thoughtful integration planning. Marketplaces make the first step easier, yet the process that follows still reflects the sophistication and scale of the platforms themselves.

Why Vendors Still Choose to List

Since DXPs are obviously never one-click purchases, why do vendors go to the trouble of listing in marketplaces at all? The answer is visibility and speed. Vendors know that enterprise buyers increasingly start their search within the ecosystems where they already spend heavily. If an organization has standardized on AWS or Azure, they prefer to see what solutions are available within that environment before extending their procurement process elsewhere.

Listing in a marketplace also creates practical benefits. It can help shorten sales cycles by reducing the amount of custom contracting that needs to be done. In many cases, procurement teams can use pre-approved marketplace terms as the contractual backbone, avoiding prolonged legal red tape. It can also unlock budget tied to committed cloud spend, which is often significant in large organizations. Many IT leaders prefer to use those credits before asking for new allocations, which means a vendor listed in a marketplace stands a better chance of being selected.

Examples of DXPs in Cloud Marketplaces

Several well-known vendors have already established a presence in cloud marketplaces. These listings help highlight both the opportunity and the limits of this channel.

• Acquia DXP is available in the AWS Marketplace, marketed as an open DXP built on Drupal. Although the listing improves visibility and simplifies procurement logistics, buyers still need to engage with Acquia directly to finalize licensing and configuration.

• Sitecore Digital Experience Platform can be found in the Azure Marketplace, positioned as an end-to-end content and commerce solution. Like Acquia, the listing facilitates procurement processes but still requires enterprise negotiation for actual deployment.

• Adobe Experience Manager has marketplace presence as part of Adobe’s broader Experience Cloud ensuring that it remains discoverable for organizations with existing Azure or AWS commitments.

• Contentstack EDGE, which positions itself as a modern adaptive DXP, was recently listed in the AWS Marketplace. While I’d argue that it has not yet reached the maturity of a full DXP, its listing highlights an emphasis on deployment speed and advanced personalization capabilities. As with other enterprise platforms, the process still requires formal licensing and vendor engagement rather than a simple point-and-click transaction.

These examples demonstrate that while procurement cannot be reduced to a shopping-cart transaction, marketplace presence is becoming table stakes for enterprise visibility.

What This Means for Procurement Teams

For procurement teams and IT leaders, marketplace listings change the flow of software acquisition in several subtle but important ways. First, they allow cloud spend commitments to be leveraged toward software investments, reducing the need for new budget allocations. This can be particularly appealing in organizations where budgetary rules favor consuming existing commitments before releasing fresh funds.

Second, marketplace listings can shorten contracting cycles. Many organizations already have master agreements with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, and these agreements provide the legal scaffolding that software transactions can rest upon. This dramatically reduces the amount of legal review required, helping procurement move faster without bypassing necessary governance.

Third, the visibility of being listed within a marketplace affects how software is discovered and evaluated internally. A platform that is absent from these channels may not even make the shortlist for evaluation, even if it has competitive capabilities. Marketplace presence increasingly functions as a prerequisite for inclusion in enterprise-level consideration.

How Vendors Are Adapting Their Strategies

DXP vendors have not ignored these dynamics. For many, listing in cloud marketplaces has become a core component of their go-to-market playbooks. While the actual sale still involves custom scoping, the marketplace presence serves as both a marketing channel and a procurement accelerator.

Some vendors also use marketplace listings to bundle services differently than they might through direct sales. This can include simplified SKUs, packaged solutions for specific industries, or introductory tiers that make evaluation easier. Vendors recognize that the first impression counts, and a marketplace listing often serves as the first impression a buyer encounters.

Finally, vendors are aligning their sales organizations with cloud alliances. By partnering with AWS or Azure sales teams, they can take advantage of joint go-to-market programs, shared leads, and co-selling opportunities. Marketplace presence becomes not only a procurement convenience but also a channel for relationship building and revenue acceleration.

Final Thoughts

DXPs are clearly way too complex to be purchased with a single click inside a cloud marketplace. They require negotiation, integration, and thoughtful planning. However, that does not mean marketplaces lack importance. In fact, their role in procurement is expanding rapidly, and vendors who fail to participate risk losing visibility and slowing their sales cycles.

For IT and marketing leaders, the rise of cloud marketplaces should be seen as an opportunity. They provide a way to align software purchases with cloud commitments, reduce contracting friction, and ensure access to a broader range of potential solutions. While the purchase journey still requires significant work, the starting point has moved closer to the cloud ecosystem.

As DXPs continue to evolve, marketplace presence will become an increasingly important signal of vendor maturity and accessibility. It is not about point-and-click simplicity, but about meeting enterprise buyers where they already are. The organizations that recognize this shift early will be better positioned to procure and implement digital platforms that deliver measurable business outcomes.