Marketplaces and aggregators for your global connectivity needs

In the world of enterprise networks, marketplaces and aggregators are both connectivity resellers. But that's how much they have in common.

Since the earliest trade routes, one feature has defined towns and cities: the marketplace. With good reason. Markets bring different merchants together, with a diverse mix of products; consumers can compare prices, with vendors competing for their business; and it’s convenient: it lets buyers get what they want in one place (or at least, get what’s available for sale).

In our world of enterprise networks, where demand meets an overwhelming offer, marketplaces have found their place. In the shape of online portals, marketplaces connect supply with demand, illustrate customer choice, and showcase their selection of connectivity products. Keyword here is “selection”, and we’ll touch on it in the next paragraphs.

On the other hand, you’ve got aggregators. Another type of connectivity reseller, often compared to marketplaces – but that’s how much they have in common, as they add a service layer to the products they sell. In this article, we’ll look at both models, with five reasons why aggregators may be the best option to meet global enterprises’ connectivity needs.

#1: The market bias

Marketplaces are businesses themselves, and what’s on offer is limited to meet a commercial goal – this goes for the one on your town’s square or where you buy your broadband.

They showcase the suppliers they have a paid relationship with: charging subscriptions and taking a percentage of each sale that runs through their website. It’s a fair model, and it’s been successful for decades. However, it is important to understand the mechanics and shortcomings of this approach.

• Limited selection of suppliers
• Supplier and marketplace looking to recuperate their cost leading to increased commercials
• Partial insight into selection criteria – which service or supplier would you pick, and why is one recommended over the other?

Or maybe look at the aggregator model. Not a sales agent, but a service provider in its own right. So its business doesn’t depend on paying partners or affiliate links, but on giving you a solution that WORKS.

Ideally, they will be carrier- and technology-neutral (although there are all kinds and sorts). They are not bound to any specific solution or supplier but can work with any supplier, local or global, to ensure you’ll get the solution you need. In other words, with an aggregator, the choice is yours; in a marketplace, to the highest bidder.

That’s our first salvo in favor of aggregators over marketplaces and carriers:

The aggregator is free to think outside the box – because what it sells doesn’t come in a box. And if your aggregator is carrier-neutral, the sky is the limit.

#2: The buyer’s burden: extra time and extra work

On a marketplace, you will find a great fiber broadband backbone, a reputable satellite reseller, and a choice of 5G wireless providers. Bingo. The trouble with those services, though, is that you are also acquiring a relationship with their suppliers and the task of managing them. Suddenly, you’re juggling site deployments, day-to-day operations, and fingers-crossed that nothing goes sideways. And when it does? Good luck hunting down the right support number from the sea of providers.

One more plus for aggregators. Again, it’s not a product you buy, but a network solution to your global needs. This means that aggregators will take that “burden” onto themselves – so you don’t have to: ensure your deployments happen on time, check. Managing and supporting your entire WAN estate, also check. One single support line if things do turn? No worries, they’ve got that too.

Because the aggregator’s business model is to provide outcomes, not components.

#3: The illusion of choice: high risk of diversity issues

Are you finding it difficult to compare different marketplaces? If that’s the case, you might not be mistaken. In recent years, many of them have converged. Several are owned by the same company, and some are owned in whole or part by the vendors on them. In other words: there’s a lot less customer choice than you imagine.

This sounds like a simple branding issue. In fact, it’s a technical limitation, too. You may think buying services from two marketplaces provides the bandwidth diversity your business requires… but behind the scenes, both may be effectively the same supplier, on the same infrastructure, compromising immediately your network diversity needs.

For an aggregator, by contrast, diversity is a core promise to its customers: it’s why so many choose an aggregator over a pick-and-mix marketplace. As with the other reasons here, the business drivers of a marketplace and an aggregator are fundamentally different: the former is a reseller, the latter a solutions provider. So, check which model is more aligned with your needs.

#4: A confusion of contracts

The complication of marketplace buying doesn’t end there. Imagine the ideal case, where all your internet bits-and-pieces work perfectly: cellular’s seamless, Wi-Fi wonderful, fibre fantastic. Everything’s a dream. Even here, you’ve still got a stack of separate agreements and contracts for each service. The SLAs probably don’t match up – creating bottlenecks and pinch points across your network – and may even conflict.

And because the best solution for each office is likely to include local ISPs, that problem will be repeated across your organization: every country, every city.

And there may be some people who enjoy dealing with a hundred contracts in different languages and legal frameworks – but we don’t know any.

Enter the aggregator model again. While it uses a similar mix of services under the surface – whatever works for your use case – that complexity is hidden from you, covered by a single contract valid worldwide. Standard SLAs. One invoice. You get the same seamless network connectivity, but without the stacks of paperwork. Pretty much what it says on the label.

#5: Their business model vs. your outcome

Last up: let’s remember a basic requirement for anything mission-critical – like business connectivity – is to know who’ll take responsibility in the event of a problem. (Or, as we sometimes put it, “One throat to choke”.) This is perhaps the biggest issue with online marketplaces: they’re about the sale, not the service.

If something goes wrong with one part of your network, it’s up to you to take it up with that provider. (Assuming you can dig out their SLA from that huge stack of separate contracts.) The marketplace will provide great service for its part of the puzzle – the initial sale – but you own the solution. Simply because they have no incentive to do so.

Aggregators turn this problem on its head. They are with you for the duration of your contract. They manage, monitor, and ensure you get support in case you need it. The one “throat” for any issue. Or, more politely: your single point of contact.

The value-add of an aggregator

If you were hazy about the difference between marketplaces and aggregators, we hope the above has provided some answers. Let’s recap:

• An aggregator gives you a complete solution, not just its separate parts.
• Its vendor portfolio is as big as your requirements, not the vendors’ contributions.
• It replaces the incentives and biases of a marketplace with the checks and balances of a full-blown service provider.
• It absorbs the complexity. It gives you a single point of contact for support, with a single contract to sign, and one invoice to pay.

GNX is an aggregator. You could have mixed us up with a marketplace because of our automated online platform, which helps you quote, compare, and buy from thousands of ISPs worldwide. But the sourcing feature (and a very good one, we must say) is only the start.

• We help you design, select, and source from the best local ISPs in 190+ countries worldwide, fully taking a carrier-neutral approach.
• We manage the onboarding, contracting, and deployment of your service to all your global sites.
• We’ll monitor, support, and be your single point of contact via our 24/7 NOC.
• And we’ll be your partner along your entire lifecycle: for new lines, changes, upgrades, and more.

Our GNX+ platform? Every task mentioned above works alongside our platform. It gives you access to our entire portfolio of products while allowing you to regain control of your networks, with service details and performance insights at your fingertips. And there’s so much more.

How about we schedule a call to discuss it further?