Uncover the Hidden Power of GSIs in Customer Retention and Growth
For years, technology vendors have wrestled with how best to engage global system integrators (GSIs). Giants like Deloitte, Accenture, TCS, and Infosys hold enormous sway with enterprise customers, but many vendors still struggle to define their true value.
Are GSIs strategic revenue engines, or just another partner type to be managed and incentivized?
The answer depends on how you measure success and how willing you are to expand your definition of influence.
The GSI Value Equation
Most vendors want GSIs to drive 25-40% of overall revenue. That target looks great on a spreadsheet, but it rarely reflects the complexity of how GSIs actually create value.
GSIs often don’t transact directly. Instead, they advise, architect, and embed technology solutions into massive digital transformation projects. The revenue comes later, sometimes much later, and often through another partner or the vendor’s own sales team.
So how do you track that? How do you quantify influence when the GSI’s contribution lives somewhere between “influenced” and “invisible”?
Some vendors build custom Salesforce fields or fancy PRM dashboards; others rely on spreadsheets and quarterly reviews that feel more like art than science. But even the best tracking struggles to capture the intangible because GSIs don’t fit into neat transactional metrics. Their true value lies in shaping strategy and driving adoption – work that rarely shows up in a sales report.
Influence Beyond the Sale
Forward-thinking vendors are starting to see GSIs as more than deal influencers, they’re renewal catalysts.
In complex enterprise environments, a renewal isn’t just a contract extension; it’s a revalidation of business value. And no one is better positioned to articulate that value than the integrators who helped design, implement, and manage the customer’s transformation.
If a GSI’s expertise helps a customer achieve results that justify renewal, that influence should count.
This broader view of value reframes the vendor–GSI relationship. It’s no longer about “who sourced the deal,” but “who sustained the customer.” That shift lays the foundation for a more collaborative, partner-first culture.
Building a Partner-First Sales Culture
Embracing this wider definition of influence doesn’t happen by chance—it requires an intentional cultural shift inside the vendor organization.
One company we’ve spoken with described its transformation as moving from a partner-friendly posture to a partner-mandated go-to-market motion. Sellers aren’t merely encouraged to bring partners into deals, they’re expected to. Partner collaboration becomes a measured behavior, reinforced through both carrots and sticks.
Of course, that shift can make some direct sellers uneasy. Many still see GSIs as competition for influence or as added complexity. That’s why education and enablement matter: helping sellers understand how to co-sell with GSIs, align incentives, and jointly serve the customer.
When done right, deals close faster and grow larger. One vendor in our roundtable group saw 25% bigger deal sizes and quicker close rates when partners were involved.
But cultural change alone isn’t enough. Vendors also need better ways to measure this kind of shared success.
Measuring What Matters
The old model of sourced versus influenced is breaking down. In enterprise ecosystems, most deals involve multiple partners: a reseller, a GSI, a cloud provider, maybe even an ISV. Trying to credit just one is a losing battle.
To support a partner-first motion, vendors are experimenting with multi-attribution models that assign proportional credit based on verified engagement. Some apply give-to-get principles, rewarding partners who invest in training, certifications, or marketing. Others use data dashboards to visualize influence across the customer lifecycle.
The goal isn’t bureaucracy, it’s clarity. When you can see where partners move the needle, you can invest where it matters most and reinforce the right collaborative behaviors.
From Short-Term Transactions to Long-Term Partnerships
Ultimately, GSI relationships are built on trust and time. They don’t deliver instant ROI, but they can fundamentally reshape how a vendor engages the enterprise market.
The payoff isn’t just top-line revenue; it’s customer stickiness. When vendors and GSIs align tightly, customers stay longer, expand faster, and advocate louder. That’s the real promise of GSIs: not just as channel partners, but as ecosystem anchors.
The challenge for vendors is to evolve how they define and measure that value; to look beyond sourced revenue and recognize the deeper influence GSIs have on adoption, expansion, and renewal.
Because in today’s subscription economy, the sale isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting point. And GSIs are part of your team.
Want to strengthen your GSI strategy? Contact us for insights and guidance on how PartnerPath helps vendors turn GSI relationships into true renewal catalysts.
