Architecting Credibility: Establishing Thought Leadership for Product Launch
How Thought Leadership, Developer Engagement, and Sales Enablement Repositioned an Enterprise Storage Leader for Cloud-First Growth
NetApp’s launch of ONTAP on AWS demanded more than a product announcement—it required a fundamental shift in market perception from legacy enterprise storage to cloud-native innovation. I led a comprehensive thought-leadership-driven go-to-market initiative designed to educate the market, engage developers and cloud architects, and align sales and engineering around AWS-centric value narratives. By combining deep technical content, hands-on hackathons, structured feedback loops, and executive-level enablement, we established NetApp as a credible cloud partner, accelerated early adoption of ONTAP on AWS, and built a repeatable model for cloud GTM success grounded in education before promotion.
Overview
Company
NetApp is a global leader in enterprise data management and storage, historically known for powering mission-critical workloads in on-premises and hybrid environments. As cloud adoption accelerated, NetApp sought to expand its relevance by positioning ONTAP as a modern, cloud-first data platform within the AWS ecosystem.
Challenge
Despite strong enterprise credibility, NetApp faced a perception gap in the cloud market. AWS buyers—cloud architects, developers, and technical decision-makers—did not yet associate ONTAP with cloud-native innovation. Internally, engineering teams needed structured, real-world customer insights to refine cloud workflows, while sales teams lacked AWS-aligned narratives and confidence to engage in modern cloud conversations. The market required education and trust-building—not traditional product-led promotion.
Objective
Reposition NetApp ONTAP as a credible, cloud-first data management solution for AWS by establishing market authority through thought leadership, hands-on technical engagement, and cross-functional alignment. The goal was to educate the market, influence product evolution through customer insight, and equip sales with cloud-native narratives that would accelerate adoption and create a repeatable cloud go-to-market model.
Strategy / Approach
The strategy centered on establishing NetApp as a trusted cloud authority by leading with education, not promotion. We built a thought-leadership engine that translated complex cloud data management challenges into clear, AWS-aligned frameworks for architects, developers, and enterprise buyers. This was reinforced through hands-on hackathons that created real-world engagement, surfaced authentic customer insights, and generated credible technical stories. Insights from these interactions were systematically fed back into engineering to refine cloud workflows and product direction, while sales enablement programs armed global teams with cloud-native narratives, use-case-driven talk tracks, and competitive clarity. By tightly integrating thought leadership, community engagement, product feedback, and sales readiness, the strategy created a unified, repeatable cloud go-to-market model that built trust, accelerated adoption, and repositioned ONTAP for the cloud era.
Execution / Key Tactics
Thought-Leadership Content Engine
Authored cloud data management frameworks, industry analysis, and technical explainers.
Positioned NetApp as a cloud partner and innovation leader.
Hackathons to Drive Adoption & Innovation
Hosted multiple hackathons with developers, engineers, and partners.
Generated prototypes, new workflows, and technical stories used across marketing.
Engineering Feedback Loop
Consolidated insights from hackathons, field calls, and customer interactions.
Provided actionable recommendations for UI changes, workflow automation, and AWS integrations.
Sales Education & Enablement
Built and delivered global training sessions focused on cloud architecture and AWS-aligned value propositions.
Created sales toolkits including talk tracks, competitive briefs, and use-case frameworks.
The results
The initiative materially shifted NetApp’s market perception from legacy enterprise storage to a credible, cloud-first data platform within the AWS ecosystem. Thought leadership and hands-on engagement increased trust and relevance with cloud architects and technical buyers, enabling deeper, more strategic sales conversations. Sales teams entered the market with greater confidence and clarity, improving alignment between marketing, sales, and AWS field teams. Customer and partner insights gathered through hackathons and engagements directly influenced product roadmap decisions, strengthening ONTAP’s cloud workflows and usability. Collectively, these efforts accelerated early adoption of ONTAP on AWS and established a repeatable model for cloud go-to-market execution grounded in education, credibility, and cross-functional alignment.
“What made this different was that it wasn’t marketing talking at us—it was marketing building with us. The hackathons and thought leadership gave us a real forum to pressure-test ONTAP in AWS, surface gaps in workflows, and turn those insights into meaningful product improvements. It helped engineering, sales, and customers speak the same cloud language—and that accelerated adoption far faster than a traditional launch ever could.” — Senior Cloud Developer / Solutions Architect
Key Learning and Case Study Insight
Key Takeaways
Successful cloud go-to-market execution is driven by credibility, not promotion. By leading with thought leadership, creating authentic developer engagement, and establishing tight feedback loops between customers, engineering, and sales, NetApp transformed a product launch into a market-education engine. The result was not only faster adoption of ONTAP on AWS, but a durable GTM model that aligned teams, influenced product direction, and positioned the company as a trusted cloud partner rather than a legacy vendor entering a new space.