Channel 2025: A Year of Consequence

As the year wraps up, it's a great chance to celebrate our customers and reflect on our combined journey! We have experienced diverse accomplishments and challenges, all contributing to your/our growth and learnings. Our team gathered yesterday to reflect on the lessons learned and plan for an exciting new year! Operating in the same transparency that has led to our combined successes, we wanted to share some of those working minutes.

2024 played a pivotal role in connecting with a varied collection of technology vendors (OEMs), distributors, and partners across the globe.

Our team embarked on far more extensive travels than anticipated throughout the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia, immersing themselves in strategic go-to-market (GTM) sessions focused on enhancing our collaborative efforts. We established and nurtured meaningful relationships with partners and OEMs, fostering an environment ripe for knowledge sharing and the exchange of innovative experiences. These comprehensive initiatives strengthened our existing ties and significantly enhanced our collaborative strategies with key industry players, positioning us for greater success in the technology landscape in 2025.

Here are six (6) key lessons learned/reinforced that will influence the landscape of partnerships in 2025.

1. Good is the Enemy of Great: Entrenched organizational cultures and their natural reaction to change can be a naysayer’s paradise. What an organization has done to this point to find success (GTM execution) can act as a significant inhibitor to progress, and past successes may serve as blinders to future learning. To move forward effectively, it is essential to establish a consensus regarding the necessity for change and its rationale, even when it diverges from established practices. Without a clear vision for the future, it can be exceedingly difficult to persuade stakeholders of the need for change. 2025 will require change across the entire ecosystem

2. Decisions Require Real Evidence; Urgency the Unfair Advantage: In the channel industry, the importance of data in validating strategy, plans, and performance is well acknowledged. However, there is a prevalent issue of relying on substandard data and metrics. The channel ecosystem must improve its collection and refinement of accurate data into actionable intelligence. This was a foundational reason for creating ChannelSales.AI. Additionally, it is essential to engage in transparent discussions about the implications of this data. Making decisions without robust data risks disappointment and potentially more severe consequences. Strategies provide a roadmap and a foundation for your plans and models, but their success hinges on the channel organization's ability to implement and execute them effectively. Without the dedicated commitment and enthusiasm of the vendor organization and the channel team, any channel strategy or program will likely be ineffective. 2025 will be about measuring partner ecosystem ROI; still a blind spot for far too many OEMs. Many companies aren’t set up yet to measure common SaaS metrics, like CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value) and CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) despite the impact the channel can have on multi-partner influence and partner success via NPS scores. This is a big area of opportunity in 2025.

3. Embrace Authentic Curiosity; Reassess Your Go-To-Market Strategy: OEMs must ensure partners are adequately equipped and confident in their vendor collaborations. Frequently, partners may lack the necessary resources and risk tolerance that vendors possess, which can impede their success. It is imperative for channel leaders to delineate market opportunities and mitigate the risks for partners engaging in the marketplace. This entails instilling confidence in partners that their investments in the partnership will likely yield substantial returns. Vendors can facilitate this process by providing more precise guidance and support, thus enhancing partners’ ability to reach and serve customers effectively. What’s not changing in 2025 is the complex nature of tech buyer behavior, which involves dozens of points of contact along the buyer journey. These points of contact, often with the partner community, present a unique challenge. Buyers will increasingly depend on implementing multiple vendors’ products to solve their business problems. Channels require tight technology alliance integrations and fully enabled service delivery partners.

4. Speed Remains Elusive for Most: As military operators might suggest, "Smooth is Slow; Slow is Fast", far too many OEMs are seeking immediate results but haven't done the work to move with the same urgency and intensity. We understand management, boards, and investors are seeking immediate results, and in most cases, there are immediate "near-term" gains based on aligning people and processes; however, scale requires something else. Building meaningful relationships where partners act on your behalf involves time and dedication. In 2025, we must create the necessary time and space to develop these fruitful partnerships, ensuring that we are reacting with urgency and strategically proactive. Faster revenue growth occurs as partners gain experience—and success stories they can share with other customers. It comes from opening up new markets, such as being able to capture growth through MSP/MSSPs. Product innovation by these partners will also add to that revenue growth.

6. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid): Think of channel programs as playbooks that outline the roles, responsibilities, resources, and limitations of the vendor-partner relationship. However, complexity often sneaks in, skewed to favor vendors. Partners thrive on simplicity; as one of the Marine Corps’ core values suggests, "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome." We have found that ease of doing business drives productivity more effectively than monetary rewards alone. Partners are more likely to collaborate with vendors who simplify processes, even if it means accepting slightly lower profits. Vendors must be relentless in their pursuit to streamline partner programs and relationships, enhancing engagement in the process.

6. Less is More; Focus is your Superpower: Many vendors believe that acquiring more partners equates to future success. This mindset isn’t new; it’s been around for ages. However, the landscape for partners is shifting. Quality over quantity becomes paramount. Good partners consistently invest in their businesses, develop new capabilities, and create unique value propositions. As the saying goes, "Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” Too many partner programs have become overcrowded, leading to conflicts and diminished sales potential. In 2025, vendors must reassess their existing partners and work on optimizing their networks to carve out clearer pathways for mutual success.

   
   

Reflecting on these lessons from 2024, it's clear that success in the channel will require taking action, adapting to change, understanding value, and building value-based relationships. The evolving landscape requires continuous reassessment and refinement of our approaches to remain ahead of the competition. In 2025, we must prioritize these lessons and ensure they guide our operations and partnerships. By embracing these lessons, we can enhance our collaborative efforts and drive sustained success in the ever-changing technology market. Let's move forward into the new year, leveraging these lessons to build a more robust and adaptable channel ecosystem.