How to Adapt and Thrive in a Changing Partner Ecosystem

Kirk Horton

The channel landscape is going through a major transformation. Rapid consolidation, with larger service providers acquiring smaller players, has resulted in weakening the competition while equipping acquired companies with the expertise (and customer base) they need to dominate in their respective markets.

Private equity and investment are also game changers, with VC funding flowing into the IT channel like never before. All these moving parts have resulted in rapidly evolving vendor/partner relationships. There is still tremendous opportunity for midtier partners and independent consultants with expertise in niche markets such as telecom, security and cloud infrastructure services, etc., to bolster their reputation and help vendors expand the reach of their offerings beyond their respective comfort zones.

Quality Over Quantity

Another change that has shaken up the vendor/partner status quo is that today’s channel programs are all about quality over quantity. The old mantra of signing as many partners as possible and hoping this will lead to more deals was unrealistic, unsustainable and unproductive.

For channel programs to lead to successful outcomes, there must be material value and alignment for both the partner and vendor to justify the investment in the partnership. The relationship needs to have strategic value for both parties and be reciprocal in nature. This requires that both the partner and vendor make deep investments across all levels of their respective organizations to make the partnership mutually successful.

To build and maintain a thriving channel organization, the vendor must also vet and choose the right partners, making sure they’re a good fit from a portfolio perspective and have a proper program in place to support the partnership.

Why Vendor-Partner Relationships Fail

Before exploring the key elements for a mutually successful partnership in the highly competitive technology industry, let’s review some of the more common reasons vendor/partner relationships fail:

• The one-way street conundrum – Some vendors expect their partners to be lead engines. Partnerships are like any personal relationship in that they require good communication and an alignment of goals. This misconception commonly leads to a failure to live up to expectations and the eventual failure of the partnership.
• Misalignment of goals – The service provider may have an expectation that isn’t in alignment with the vendor’s partner strategy, or the vendor may provide services or products that don’t match up well with the partner’s core expertise. This creates false expectations, which are accelerated by poor communications.
• Poor training and enablement – There’s minimal chance for partnership success if vendors don’t provide the partner company with rigorous training and an enablement program that reinforces the vendor’s value proposition. Without proper training, the partner’s sales team won’t be equipped to ask the customer the right qualification questions and assess the opportunity correctly.

Bringing ‘Harmony’ to Channel Relationships

So how can vendors and their partners build mutually successful, long-lasting relationships? First, rather than having the direct sales team compete against their partners, which can degrade trust (and the relationship), the most effective approach to building a successful channel program is by using the “harmony” model. This entails the integration of sales organizations that enables direct sales through the channel and vice versa.

Not only does this create synergy and harmony, but vendor sales representatives are also incentivized to work with partners in a more collaborative fashion and partners receive the training they need “on the job.” This includes equipping partners with case studies, resources and a proper training regimen that includes …