Vendors looking to identify the ‘right’ partners need to examine a broad set of criteria.
A commonly heard phrase used around the channel by vendors is, “We don’t want to work with all the partners; we want to work with the right partners.” This is tantamount to saying that vendors want to work with only the best and most productive resellers, integrators, and service providers. And who wouldn’t? Who wants to engage with and support partners that don’t generate a return on investment?
The general rule of thumb in the channel is that partner programs and ecosystems operate according to the 80/20 rule, with 80% of the channel revenue flowing through the top 20% of partners. Channelnomics finds that this ratio is often closer to 90/10 or even 95/5. Channelnomics has even seen partner programs in which the top 50 partners out of thousands generate nearly all the indirect revenue.
While it’s easy to think that the best partners will self-identify through revenue generation, the operational reality isn’t so simple. Not all partners are created equal, and neither are markets, customer needs, or budgets.
So, how exactly does a vendor evaluate a partner’s value? How should it assess a partner’s performance, capabilities, and contributions?
