The following is an excerpt from our 2016 State of Partnering report: 10 Trends for a 2020 Vision, using survey responses from over 100 vendors, 200 solution providers and years of industry data.
The data spotlight moves to channels.
Data has the power to change the world, or at least how we all interact with the world. From FitBits, Apple Watches, sales force automation and human capital management to customer relationship management (CRM) and partner relationship management (PRM), we all love data. The C-Suite now expects data-driven discussions and decisions based on facts and observable trends. You will be more successful in any initiative if you can provide supporting data, trends and insights.
Forrester Research has observed a trend over the past 20 years as companies shift their performance and accountability focus across business units. Forrester reports in the 1990s the organizational agenda was focused on increasing production performance, and Enterprise Resource Planning solutions were created to address the processes, policies and data needs. In the late 1990s, the organizational focus shifted to streamlining supplier relationships and the result was Supply Chain Management software. As we crossed the millennium, the focus moved to improving customer engagements and CRM was born. And lastly, as we make our way through the 2010s, Forrester is expecting organizations to shine the performance spotlight on their channel business – expecting more accountability and ROI from partnering. They anticipate Partner Relationship Management (PRM) systems will become more prevalent as organizations struggle to standardize policies and streamline processes.
| The '90s | Late '90s | The '00s-'10s | Next |
| Products, Production | Suppliers | Customers | Partners |
| Operations | Supply Chain Management | Sales, Marketing | Channels |
| ERP | SCM | CRM | PRM |
More investment in automation is needed to keep up with data needs.
The individualized love and attention we talked about in the previous section will require automation systems to scale. 68% of vendor respondents indicated they spend less than 5% of their overall channel budget on automation. How much do you think they spend on PAMs? Not only is it expensive to manage partner relationships with human resources, it also leads to inconsistent behavior. There could be thousands of connection points wrought with obstacles. Each manager utilizes their own processes, communication styles and materials to enroll, engage and inspire their partner accounts. The inconsistencies in partner managers’ behaviors ultimately leads to additional costs as well as confusion in the partners. Automating the partner relationship process standardizes the communications and drives repeatable business.
The top two roles for the PAMs – pipeline management and sales forecasting – didn’t make it into the top three uses of automation, as reported by the vendors. Training and certification management, co-marketing fund management and partner enrollment are the top primary uses of automation for vendors today. Those are three very good elements to automate, as they are complex processes that involve advanced workflows and notifications.
Leverage the data from PRM to create insights into your partner ecosystem. Who is performing well? Why? What do successful partners look – and act – like?
The expected automation investments for 2016 are more telling about the nature of partnerships and the increasing reliance on data. Three of the top five vendor focus areas for automation in 2016 are directly related to data gathering and reporting: dashboards, business planning and lead registration. These three systems alone can produce tremendous insights to your partnering ecosystem. The other two responses that made the top five support the partners’ and vendors’ priorities of increased demand/lead generation. The investments in automation for content syndication brings fresh and relevant content directly to a partner’s website, streamlining the processes and ensuring the accuracy of the message. A partner directory increases the visibility of your partners, leveraging your website presence to help promote the channel partners’ capabilities.
PRM systems provide a plethora of data that, when leveraged appropriately, can provide insights to help you enhance your partnering models, structure and programs. Data provides visibility into what is working well and what needs improvement, so you can act faster to fix problems or take advantage of opportunities. Access to data such as channel performance, ROI numbers and trends over time is one of the key drivers to organizations of all sizes implementing partnering automation solutions.
Download the full report to get all the data and context in our 2016 State of Partnering report, and register for our upcoming webinar with Forrester analyst, Tim Harmon, about how to gather the right data for your channel.
