Insights
Blog
Channel Software Tech Stack 2021
^CLICK IMAGE FOR FULL SCREEN^ The channel software stack comprises a group of technologies that help companies develop, design, and execute plans to find, recruit, onboard, develop, enable, incent, co-sell with, manage, measure, and report on partners. Delivering automation of indirect sales processes, workflows, and partner programs, channel software is becoming increasingly critical to a […]
Read More
Blog
How Did I Score On My Channel Outlook For 2020?
In what was one of the most challenging years for many of us, the channel experienced more change in 2020 than in the past 39 years combined. Revisit our 2020 channel predictions, and see which of our calls proved true, which accelerated, and what it means for 2021.
That being said, many of the calls that I did make not only became true but accelerated due to COVID-19.
That being said, many of the calls that I did make not only became true but accelerated due to COVID-19.
Read More
Blog
The Ideal Partner Profile — A Channel Sales Leader’s North Star
B2B channel chiefs often forget or overlook the impact that partner profiling has on the indirect business. An ideal partner profile is a “job description” for hiring new partners, and this profile data is connected to every decision that a channel chief will make.
Read More
Blog
Channel And Ecosystem Leaders Are Demanding More From Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Solutions
As brands increasingly use different types of partners to reach, influence, transact, and retain customers, partner relationship management (PRM) solutions are being asked to serve both traditional and nontraditional channels at a new level of scale and personalization. Managing these growing ecosystems in a consistent, predictable, and productive way is critical to the success of […]
Read More
Blog
The Decade Of The Channel Ecosystem Accelerates With Massive Software Consolidation
A couple of years ago, I made the prediction that we were entering the third stage of sales and marketing — the decade of the channel ecosystem. With over 75% of world trade flowing indirectly, I started to sense an influx of investment in and attention on indirect sales by firms in all industries. Looking […]
Read More
Blog
Five Tips For Getting 2021 Channel Sales Off To A Fast Start
Even in the best of times, starting the new year off fast is important. With the continuing uncertainty and turmoil caused by COVID-19, channel sales leaders must act now to ensure their team can hit the ground running on day one of the new year.
Read More
Blog
Marketplaces Make Their Mark In The Channel
Online marketplaces have been around in one form or another for decades. Accelerating the trend is a myriad of factors including changing buying behaviors and demographics, companies shifting to subscription and consumption models, and the rising importance of ecosystems. Put simply, the future business buyer will look more and more like a consumer.
Read More
Blog
Channel Reimagines Physical Events, Looking To Reopen Slowly
In-person channel events are slowly returning, albeit in a modified form. Expect more of these physical/virtual hybrid events to pop up in the coming months.
Read More
Blog
Channel Software Tech Stack 2020 — PRM, TCMA, Ecosystem, Incentives, Channel Data, Learning, Readiness, And Pricing
Ecosystems don’t run on spreadsheets anymore. Principal Analyst Jay McBain provides a detailed look at the channel software market and its ability to help drive business and relationships.
Read More
Blog
Digital Business Models Mandate More Sophisticated B2B Pricing Processes And Applications
Industrial manufacturers need tighter integration with applications such as CRM and enterprise resource planning to price product and service bundles effectively.
Read More
Blog
Do Channel Vendors Need Public Relations Anymore?
The communications industry is facing a perfect storm of converging forces, from COVID-19 to the rise of influencer marketing and even AI. At Forrester, we research around 10,000 global technology vendors that utilize indirect sales and often get asked about the value of PR in the channel. A trend that is affecting many channel leaders […]
Read More
Blog
Quantifying COVID-19 For The Tech Channel — May 8 Update
With COVID-19 still spreading and broad quarantines, shutdowns, and other measures to contain it continuing, it is still impossible to make definitive predictions of its impact on the tech channel. Instead, we are using three scenarios that take into account different recovery start times and shapes of recovery graphs. More detail around these scenarios, tech […]
Read More
Blog
Quantifying Coronavirus (COVID-19) For The Technology Channel
How will the technology channel be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Read a list of likely scenarios and what it could mean for the long-term.
Read More
Blog
Measure What Matters: Unlocking The Power Of Partner Ecosystems Demands Powerful Measurement
Legacy metrics don’t reveal the true impact of partner ecosystems. Now more than ever, channel organizations must demonstrate the business impact of their budgets.
Read More
Blog
What I See Coming For The Channel In 2020
The ways B2B buyers and sellers transact are changing dramatically. Learn about the shifts ahead in 2020 and beyond.
Read More
Blog
Can You Deliver A Great Partner Experience Without Great Onboarding?
With the influx of new channel partner types across the ecosystem, moving them quickly and efficiently from recruitment to productivity relies on automated and scalable onboarding technology. Channel leaders can overwhelm new channel partners with too much information that is not relevant to their role or focus. The unfortunate, and too frequent, result is a […]
Read More
Blog
The 64 Best Channel Podcasts Of 2019
If you haven’t listened to a podcast yet, you’re now in the minority. According to Podcast Insights, 51% of the US population has listened to at least one podcast. Since the first podcast came on the scene in 2004, there are now over 750,000 podcast shows with over 30 million episodes. What’s behind this […]
Read More
Blog
Channel Automation Becomes Table Stakes For Partnership Success
Channel professionals want to talk about expanding their partner programs and building broad ecosystems, but the truth is that many of their basic program and channel management processes are still painfully manual and error-prone. Before accelerating their channel program, they need to apply basic automation technologies to get their front- and back-end systems to a […]
Read More
Blog
Channel Marketers Need To Become Community Marketers — Here’s How
With Google and numerous ratings sites at their fingertips, why do partners choose communities? During this time of growing electronic ubiquity, the need for trusted and expert sources of information has increased significantly.
Read More
Blog
Follow The ABM Road Map To Recruit The Right Channel Partners
As the artificial distinction between account-based marketing (ABM) programs and everything else we do in B2B continues to dissolve, more firms are realizing that they can leverage the same account-centric strategies, tactics, and technologies to improve the performance of every aspect of their businesses. That includes partner marketing programs, which face two significant challenges today. […]
Read More
More posts