Get ready to adapt to the new rules of partner engagement and ecosystem success.
The partner landscape is transforming at an unprecedented pace. In our annual partnering webinar where we answered submitted questions, Diane Krakora and Jay McBain unpacked the trends redefining partnerships, from the rise of non-transactional incentives to the growing dominance of marketplaces. As partners take on multifaceted roles and buyers demand seamless, data-driven experiences, vendors must evolve to stay ahead. Here are the top 10 takeaways from their discussion that every partnering leader should know.
- Broadening Definition of Partners: Traditional partner types like VARs, MSPs, ISVs, and SIs are no longer sufficient classifications. Partners increasingly play multiple roles and expect not to be pigeonholed, focusing on serving customers throughout their journey.
- Rise of Non-Transactional Incentives: Partners now demand incentives beyond simple transactions, emphasizing recognition and value for activities such as consulting, marketing, and customer success initiatives.
Partner Metrics Evolution: Organizations are shifting towards metrics that evaluate partner contributions across all stages of the customer journey, from early engagement to post-sale retention.- Customer Journey Complexity: There are numerous measurable touchpoints in a customer's buying journey, with partners playing crucial roles in many of these stages, especially in early- and post-sale phases.
- Marketplace Growth: Marketplaces like AWS and Microsoft have become central to transactions, with predictions that half of all marketplace deals will be partner-funded by 2025. These platforms are reshaping how vendors and partners collaborate.
- Shift from Resell to Services: The resell model is becoming less significant as partners transition to offering high-value services like consulting, architecture, integration, and managed services, which are now critical profit drivers.
- Importance of Second-Party Data: With the decline of third-party data, partnerships are becoming the key to accessing reliable second-party data, which is essential for influencing early customer touchpoints.
- Millennial Buyer Influence: As millennials become the dominant buying demographic, integration, transparency, and ecosystem collaboration are becoming critical to meeting customer expectations.
- Platform Economy Domination: Success in the future will depend on a company’s ability to operate as a platform or integrate effectively into existing platforms, emphasizing partnerships as a competitive advantage.
- Economic Multiplier Effect: The value of partners is measured by the multiplier effect they create. Successful partners generate several dollars of revenue for every dollar earned by the vendor, highlighting the need for robust partner enablement and support.
These insights underscore the evolving landscape of partnerships, requiring vendors to adapt their strategies to meet modern demands.
Amanda Hawkins is responsible for those marketing emails you get from PartnerPath and edits and designs our fantastic reports written by Diane Krakora. Have you taken a look at our archive of past research? Don't miss more great content in the Resource Center.
