CloudBlue
Scale Your Subscription Business Effortlessly

As the subscription economy continues to expand, two critical aspects come into focus—the purchasing methods for licenses and subscriptions by end-users and the strategies employed by resellers, distributors and telecommunications to operationalize the entire selling process. Adobe Inc.’s impact here is profound, as they boldly transitioned their entire product suite to a subscription-based model.

Leveraging Adobe’s paradigm shift, CloudBlue, a leading monetization platform recognized by Gartner and Forrester, enables resellers, distributors, telecoms, managed service provides (MSPs) and independent service providers (ISVs) to scale and optimize their subscription businesses. The platform facilitates the creation of complex, multi-tiered, multi-channel marketplaces, allowing companies like Dustin and Exertis to effectively sell hundreds of products from Adobe and other cloud providers.

CloudBlue collaborates closely with Adobe to seamlessly integrate their products into its platform. This integration includes a comprehensive catalog encompassing stock-keeping units (SKUs), pricing strategies, provisioning capabilities, and the necessary rules, dependencies and prerequisites.

“Our extensive catalog is accessible to our network of resellers, distributors, telecom companies, MSPs, ISVs, and other channel partners, simplifying access and sales processes,” says Uddhav Gupta, President of CloudBlue.
Adobe's new Value Incentive Program (VIP) enhances the benefits for CloudBlue’s network partners by providing more flexibility in getting discounts based on specific tiering rules. The program also improves their ability to manage incentives and centralize all aspects of subscription management into a single place. However, the entire process remains complex for these partners to implement solely through their API.

In response, CloudBlue simplifies operations for Adobe resellers and telecommunications companies. The platform enables them to effectively capitalize on Adobe's promotions, maximizing their profit margins and the advantages they can provide to end customers.

CloudBlue also serves as a comprehensive platform for resellers, distributors and telcos, providing improved visibility into ordering processes, provisioning, billing and customer management. It streamlines the billing process for Adobe products by automating invoicing, which was previously considered complex due to multiple tiers and varying subscription start and stop times.

Expanding its offerings, CloudBlue has rolled out a unique program called “Seamless Moves” for Adobe, Microsoft, and other large ISVs. Seamless Moves supports the migration of customers from traditional licensing programs to subscription-based offerings like Adobe Creative Cloud.

However, converting existing licenses to a new subscription model at scale is no small feat for Adobe's diverse customer base; it is a significant challenge waiting to be tackled. The transitioning process starts with analyzing the customer's current Adobe licensing situation, along with usage patterns and business requirements. Based on this assessment, CloudBlue’s team develops a tailored migration plan outlining the necessary steps for the transition.

Our extensive catalog is accessible to our network of resellers, distributors, telecom companies, MSPs, ISVs, and other channel partners, simplifying access and sales processes

With the migration plan in place, CloudBlue makes the transition seamless and efficient. The platform reads the traditional licensing information from Adobe, converts the licenses to the subscription model, and equips customers and channel partners with the tools required to manage these subscriptions. The platform simplifies ongoing management, allowing users to easily add or remove seats, upgrade or downgrade subscriptions, and benefit the entire ecosystem through Adobe's incentives. CloudBlue optimizes licenses by reallocating and adjusting subscription tiers, benefiting Adobe, the customer, and the reseller or channel partner while maintaining a healthy margin for all parties.

It trains and supports end customers and channel partners, informing them about Adobe's new offerings. This reinforces the value of Adobe’s channel partners, with CloudBlue serving as a force multiplier to help them fully leverage these benefits.

Several Adobe channel partners have a robust traditional licensing business. When Adobe announced the time-bound Value Incentive Program that required partners to convert their licenses to the new subscription model, they faced significant challenges. CloudBlue works with these partners, onboarding them to the new system and seamlessly transitioning their traditional licenses to the subscription model.

While assisting channel partners monetize and manage the subscription model, CloudBlue also plays a vital role in maximizing their incentives and rebates, driving increased Adobe service consumption and boosting reseller sales. This support highlights the firm’s commitment to empowering partners to thrive and succeed in the competitive market, thereby facilitating the growth of the subscription economy.