Independent Software Vendor (ISV)
What is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV)?
An Independent Software Vendor (ISV) is a company that develops, markets, and sells software products for commercial use. Unlike hardware manufacturers or service providers, ISVs focus on creating proprietary software that solves specific business problems or serves niche markets. These vendor companies distribute their products across various platforms, including cloud ecosystems, on-premises environments, and hybrid infrastructures.
ISV Meaning
It's simply the acronym of Independent Software Vendor and, just to reiterate, they are any organization that develop standalone software solutions to address specific customer or industry needs. ISVs should be tested and approved to operate independently of hardware, operating system, or cloud platform providers. Their products are often designed to integrate seamlessly with third-party platforms while retaining full ownership and control over the software’s development, distribution, and support.
What Does an ISV Do?
An ISV develops commercial software that is tailored to specific industries or business needs.
ISVs typically focus on designing their software for commercial use, meaning businesses or organizations are the primary users of their tools. Depending on the deployment model, these vendor companies may also handle updates, provide customer support, and ensure compliance with industry standards.
What is an ISV Partner?
An ISV partner is a collaboration between an independent software vendor and a platform, service provider, or software distribution solution that enhances the ISV’s ability to deliver its products effectively. Traditional ISV partnerships include cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, or AWS, which provide resources to optimize software for their ecosystems.
In addition to these platform providers, software distribution platforms like Glasskube Cloud have emerged as key ISV partners. These platforms specialize in helping vendors distribute their software to their end-customer environments. Whether it’s deploying standalone agents, delivering fully-fledged self-hosted solutions, or ensuring seamless integration with on-premises or cloud environments, such platforms are uniquely focused on helping ISV distribute so.
Glasskube Cloud and similar solutions enable ISVs to:
- Have a customer controlplane and offer management consoles to the end-customers too.
- Provides robust end-customer notifications to make sure they are always up to speed with ISV software updates.
- Provide tools for managing updates, health endpoints, troubleshooting and configuration changes.
By partnering with these specialized distribution platforms, ISVs can focus on building high-quality proprietary software while ensuring smooth delivery and reliable support for their end customers.
Who Does an ISV Serve?
The primary audience for ISVs are end customers. These include businesses, organizations, or individuals who purchase and use the software for their specific needs. Unlike service providers or open-source developers, ISVs create proprietary software intended for commercial use. End customers may choose ISV products for their reliability, tailored features, and the support provided by the vendor company.
What is an AWS ISV?
Just for clarity when the term AWS ISV is used, it's not usually intended to refer to a software vendor that builds software destined to soley run on AWS but usually it's used more in relation to the AWS ISV Accelerate (ISVA) Program, which is a global co-sell initiative designed for ISVs that provide software solutions running on or integrating with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This program helps participating ISVs grow revenue by offering co-sell support and exclusive benefits, such as access to AWS sellers and tools to enhance their marketplace presence.
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