Not quite a big idea, but something that I wanted to highlight. Rich Freeman over in Channelholic looked at trends in vendor partner programs. A recent study by International Data Corporation revealed that half of the surveyed partners maintain fewer than five vendor relationships, highlighting a significant trend towards consolidation in the industry. Steve White, IDC’s program vice president for channels and alliances, noted that 76 percent of partners have an active relationship with Microsoft. In comparison, 49 percent engage with Amazon Web Services, and 43 percent with Cisco. As competition intensifies, White advises channel chiefs to avoid leading with lead generation, pushing generic portals, and focusing on product sales, as partners now seek to sell outcomes rather than individual products. He emphasizes the importance of personalized resources and unified partner programs.
Why do we care?
A key data point in a broader trend is that partners are streamlining their vendor relationships, which means vendors need to compete harder for attention. The days of sprawling partner ecosystems where companies maintain a dozen vendor relationships are fading—partners are looking for deeper, more strategic engagements rather than juggling multiple suppliers.
The concentration around Microsoft (76%), AWS (49%), and Cisco (43%) shows where the gravity is. These vendors provide platforms, not just products, and partners are gravitating toward ecosystems that offer a full-stack approach to solving customer problems. This reinforces IDC’s point: partners want to sell outcomes, not just SKUs. If a vendor’s strategy is still built around lead gen programs and portal-driven self-service, they fall behind.
