By Guest: Simon Taylor (LinkedIn)
Company: Azul
Show: Java Reloaded
Topic: Cloud Native
Most enterprise software vendors play the numbers game—sign as many channel partners as possible and hope some stick. Azul took the opposite approach. Over three years, they evolved from 8% channel-driven revenue to over 51% globally, not by adding more partners, but by focusing ruthlessly on partner profitability. The results speak for themselves: 30% year-over-year growth, deal sizes up 46%, and their first managed services deal in North America.
📹 Going on record for 2026? We're recording the TFiR Prediction Series through mid-February. If you have a bold take on where AI Infrastructure, Cloud Native, or Enterprise IT is heading—we want to hear it. [Reserve your slot
Simon Taylor, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Partners & Alliances at Azul, didn’t follow the traditional channel playbook. When he joined, Azul’s channel motion was minimal—mostly transactional fulfillment hovering between 8-12% of new business. Today, the company works with over 370 partners globally, transacts through AWS and GCP marketplaces, and has built a mature ecosystem that includes OEMs, cloud service providers, systems integrators, resellers, and distribution.
But the real story isn’t the growth in partner count. It’s the deliberate progression through what Taylor calls the three phases of channel maturity.
Phase One: Disruption Through Margin
In the early days, Azul needed visibility. For a smaller vendor without an established channel program, that meant competing on gross profitability. Higher discount levels and attractive margins helped Azul break through the noise and earn mindshare with value-added resellers. This phase typically lasts a couple of years and is about getting partners to pay attention.
Phase Two: Accelerated Growth Through Incentives
Once partners understood Azul’s value proposition, the focus shifted to pipeline generation and deal velocity. Deal registration incentives, collaborative demand generation, and enablement programs drove scale. Taylor’s team invested over $150,000 in professional, avatar-driven learning management training to help partners understand what a good deal looks like and how to bring it to fruition.
“Enablement has helped people become more qualified in understanding what a good deal looks like, what doesn’t look like a good deal, and how to bring that deal to fruition,” Taylor explained.
But enablement alone doesn’t close bigger deals. What really moved the needle was collaboration—getting Azul account executives talking directly to partner AEs, aligning on customer strategy, and working deals together from qualification to close.
Phase Three: Strategic Bets on Tier-One Partners
Most vendors take six or seven years to reach the third phase. Azul did it in three. Now, the company is making what Taylor calls “bigger bets on bigger partners”—strategically focusing on tier-one platinum partners like SHI, SoftwareOne, Insight, CDW, NTT, and DXC globally.
“We’re at the stage now where we’re making bigger bets on bigger partners because, strategically, they’re in the multi-million-dollar range in terms of the value they can bring to us,” Taylor said.
This shift from volume to value is already paying off. Deal sizes have increased nearly 46%, and Azul recently closed its first managed services deal in North America—a significant milestone that opens new revenue streams.
The Payara Acquisition: A New MSP Motion
Azul’s recent acquisition of Payara isn’t just about product expansion—it’s about giving partners another motion that mirrors the success they’ve already had with Azul’s platform core product. Where Azul’s OpenJDK distribution targets Oracle Java licensing, Payara offers an alternative to JBoss, WebLogic, and WebSphere application servers.
For partners skilled in IT asset management engagements, Payara provides another conversation starter—one that fits into the same licensing optimization motion that’s already generating millions in revenue.
But Payara also unlocks managed services opportunities. Unlike traditional resale models where Azul contracts directly with the customer, MSP licensing allows partners to sublicense Azul solutions across multiple customer environments. This model, already common in security and IT asset management tools, gives partners flexibility to package Azul’s Intelligence Cloud solution into broader service offerings.
“We can sell to those partners, they can have a scope of license for a number of customers they want to work with—we’re effectively giving them sublicensing rights, and they’re our customer,” Taylor explained.
This is especially valuable in regulated industries like financial services, where compliance requirements mean customers need support not just for the Java runtime, but for the entire application stack.
What’s Next: Marketplace Transactions and Global Scale
Azul is also leveraging cloud marketplace strategies, including Channel Partner Private Offers (CPPOs) through AWS, enabling multi-tier transactions that bring distributors and resellers into cloud procurement workflows.
Geographically, the channel mix varies. Europe leads, with over 90% of business coming through the channel. APAC is around 70%, and North America—historically more direct-focused—is catching up. The exception is security products, where nearly all sales flow through security VARs.
Looking ahead, Taylor’s focus is clear: equip partners with the latest best practices, drive deeper engagement with customers, and capitalize on what BCG estimates is a $5-8 billion total addressable market for Azul.
At Azul’s upcoming sales kickoff in Miami, the company is hosting its first-ever partner pavilion—oversubscribed with partners eager to deepen relationships with Azul executives and account teams. It’s a milestone that reflects how far the program has come in just three years.
For vendors rethinking their channel strategy, Azul’s evolution offers a blueprint: start with disruption, scale through enablement and collaboration, and ultimately, make bigger bets on fewer, more profitable partners.
