ZINFI Technologies, Inc.

ZINFI Technologies, Inc.
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ZINFI helps technology providers and their channel partners achieve profitable growth rapidly and affordably by automating Partner Relationship Management (PRM) processes globally.

  1. ٢٦ نوفمبر

    Future of Managed Service Providers: Automation, Security, and AI

    Future of Managed Service Providers: Automation, Security, and AI In this insightful episode, Sugata Sanyal, Founder & CEO of ZINFI, welcomes Michelle Accardi, CEO of Liongard, for a deep dive into the evolving world of channel partnerships and cybersecurity. Michelle shares her journey through significant scale-ups, offering critical insights on how managed service providers (MSPs) can maximize their business valuation. The discussion highlights the shift from one-time sales to recurring revenue, emphasizing the need for efficiency, automation, and a clearly monetized tech stack. They explore the impact of AI automation on service delivery and talent, concluding with a focus on human skills, curiosity, and the critical importance of a strong network in the channel ecosystem. Listen now to understand the future path for profitable MSP growth. Related Guidebook Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management Download your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM Best Practices Guidebook. How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management. Download for FREE Video Podcast: Future of Managed Service Providers: Automation, Security, and AI ✔ Chapter 1: Evolution of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Business Valuation The role of managed service providers (MSPs) has undergone a fundamental transformation over the last two decades. Starting as simple value-added resellers (VARs) focused on moving hardware, they evolved by adding services and, eventually, a software layer, creating new categories of service offerings. The key differentiator for success became the ability to capture recurring revenue, rather than relying on one-time sales. This transformation is critical because the central metric for valuing an MSP business today is its EBITDA (profit margin). Companies looking to be acquired for a reasonable multiple must establish strong fundamentals, focusing on growth and robust profit margins. Michelle Accardi, with her experience running roll-up MSP Logically, stresses that a healthy business is defined by its ability to generate revenue and maintain profitability. A crucial financial benchmark discussed for these service businesses is the “Rule of 40,” a metric commonly used in the SaaS world. This rule suggests that the sum of a company’s growth rate and its profit margin (EBITDA percentage) should roughly equal forty percent. Many MSPs, however, struggle to meet both growth and profitability goals simultaneously. To achieve this level of performance, MSPs must focus on driving profit through either growth (by adding new services) or improving efficiency (through cost-cutting/automation). Ultimately, businesses aiming for the highest returns should target an EBITDA margin of 15% to 20% combined with a growth engine of 15% to 20%. This strategic focus on financial health is crucial for achieving long-term success and a favorable business valuation. Driving efficiency is the cornerstone of a successful modern managed service provider (MSP) business. Outside of the Rule of 40 metric, core success attributes for an MSP include automation, a strong toolset, and the ability to leverage resources nearshore or offshore. However, the foundational element is having the right people in place who align with the core value proposition. Beyond operational efficiency, the most critical factor is the ability to monetize the technology stack. MSPs often experiment with new technology but fail to develop offerings around it to sell to their customer base. Every dollar spent on the tech stack must be viewed as an investment intended to generate more revenue and provide additional value to the end customer. This approach ensures that the business is not just technically capable, but fundamentally profitable and scalable for the future. ✔ Chapter 2: Cybersecurity, Asset Management, and AI Automation For growing managed service providers (MSPs), especially those with several hundred customers and a team of ten to twenty people, identifying areas for growth can be challenging in a brownfield environment where they must displace a competitor. Michelle Accardi suggests that the most critical first step, which sounds rudimentary, is for the MSP to understand what their customers truly have. This means taking a comprehensive inventory of all assets. From this inventory, MSPs can discover a wealth of information that informs them about what new, high-value services, particularly in security and IT automation, they should be selling. By understanding how a customer’s environment changes on a daily, monthly, or yearly basis, an MSP can help them rationalize their existing IT and security spending. This focus on a source of truth for assets, though unsexy, is where the real money is found in the services business. Liongard’s core offering aligns perfectly with this need for a source of truth, establishing itself as a cybersecurity SaaS platform. Their platform automates asset discovery, inventory, and monitoring of configuration changes to identify vulnerabilities and risks preemptively. The company targets MSPs and MSSPs with more than twenty customers, as complexity in asset inventory and risk management increases with customer count. A key feature is the use of AI to generate asset summaries for account managers, enabling them to discuss customer environments intelligently without requiring a technical background. By integrating with over 90 different IT systems, Liongard becomes a reliable, central source of truth for MSPs, enabling them to build their own automation on top, whether through RPA or agent-based AI. The discussion extends into the emerging concern of Shadow AI—users bringing their own unmanaged AI tools into the workplace, similar to the “bring your own device” trend. Managing these tools is complicated as they don’t fit into traditional hardware or human resource management systems. Michelle Accardi argues that the core focus for security shouldn’t be the AI tools themselves, but rather identities. Security must focus on identifying which identities have access to critical systems and underlying data and ensuring that access is properly tracked and controlled. Liongard is also integrating generative AI directly into its platform with the upcoming Answer IQ feature. This will enable partners to utilize natural language search to query the massive data lake for immediate insights, such as identifying which customers lack MFA-enabled accounts or determining which ports on a firewall pose a risk, thereby democratizing technical data for non-technical account managers. ✔ Chapter 3: AI in Service Delivery and the Future of Talent The immediate focus for managed service providers (MSPs) in adopting AI is two-fold: first, helping customers leverage available tools, such as Microsoft Copilot. Second, and more importantly for sophisticated MSPs, is utilizing AI internally to enhance their own service delivery and achieve efficiency. This internal automation, often achieved by mining data from a source of truth to identify new service offerings, must precede external services. Horizontal use cases, such as Copilot, are the current primary offerings, although some niche players are developing vertical-specific applications for industries like legal and hospitality. Ultimately, the goal is for MSPs to leverage AI to increase their efficiency before creating new bundled offers for their customers. A significant area of transformation is the use of AI agents to handle basic, high-volume customer requests. Instead of logging a traditional ticket, customers can use a self-service interface, such as a ChatGPT-like bot, to resolve simple problems and escalate to a human technician only when necessary. This shift is already evident in margin-constrained businesses, such as the hospitality and retail industries. For MSPs, this means the first line of defense—solving common, simple issues like Wi-Fi connectivity problems—can be automated. While this automation helps drive necessary profit margins, it also presents a risk to entry-level engineers. The changing landscape of service delivery has a direct impact on the talent pool. Historically, MSPs recruited frontline support from community colleges and trade schools. While new automation in the PSA (Professional Services Automation) industry created new categories and jobs in the past, the rise of AI agents means the path forward is complex. Michelle Accardi suggests a bifurcated path: some systems will utilize agentic AI to replace lower-skilled talent. In contrast, others will create new paradigms where talent focuses on roles such as training AI models. The consensus is that lower-skilled workers are most at risk. However, top-tier talent with critical thinking skills will remain indispensable for solving edge cases and complex problems that an AI model cannot efficiently address. The core skill set for future success encompasses not only technical knowledge but also curiosity, building a strong network, and understanding the economics of business.

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  2. ٢٥ نوفمبر

    Partner Data, AI, and Trust: The Future of Co-Selling

    Partner Data, AI, and Trust: The Future of Co-Selling The future of partnership success hinges on precision, data, and trust in a hybrid channel world. This discussion, led by Sugata Sanyal, Founder & CEO of ZINFI, features two industry pioneers: Dina Moskowitz, CEO and Founder of PartnerOptimizer, and Theresa Caragol, CEO and Founder of AchieveUnite and author of Partnering Success. They dive deep into how organizations can optimize their existing partner ecosystems and recruit the right partners by leveraging sophisticated partner intelligence platforms and AI-driven insights. The conversation emphasizes shifting from transactional partnerships to predictive Co-Selling powered by a foundation of trust and aligned business strategy. Listen now to gain key takeaways on achieving efficiency and effectiveness through more innovative partnering. Related Guidebook Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management Download your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM Best Practices Guidebook. How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management. Download for FREE Video Podcast: Partner Data, AI, and Trust: The Future of Co-Selling ✔ Chapter 1: The New Imperative: Efficiency and Precision in Partner Recruitment Partnership programs today face a critical need for efficiency and precision, driven by the current economic climate and the challenge of achieving “more with less.” Partner Ecosystem Optimization begins with the strategic task of identifying the Ideal Partner Profile (IPP) to avoid wasting time on the wrong alliances. Dina Moskowitz’s perspective on the common pain points is clear: companies struggle with an existing ecosystem but realize they are losing focus and wasting time on the wrong partners. The core mission of her platform is to develop innovative data mining techniques to profile companies, making it easier for partner organizations to target them precisely. This precision means understanding a partner’s average transaction size, their Ideal Customer Profile, and their ability to influence revenue, moving past a “wait and see and hope and pray” mentality. Theresa Caragol adds the essential strategic framework for this build-out, introducing the science behind Channel Partner Strategy. She emphasizes that getting the strategy right is the foundation of success, encompassing a joint vision, trusted relationships, business acceleration (where data intelligence serves as a key propeller), and community building centered on lifetime value, rather than just transactions. Achieve Unite’s approach, complemented by partner data intelligence, dramatically accelerates this process, ensuring that new builds and segment expansion efforts reach the right partners more quickly. This joint work enables companies to transition rapidly from a general strategy to identifying specific partners and geographies for recruitment, ensuring that the foundational business proposition is right before making a significant investment. The two use cases—building a new channel and optimizing a large, existing ecosystem—are both addressed by first getting the strategy right, then operationalizing it with data. Dina’s comprehensive database, which she refers to as a solution to map “Jay McBain’s blob of partners,” continuously mines B2B technology companies globally. This data is structured to allow granular searches across resellers, ISVs, MSPs, SIs, and more. The goal is to provide clients with a comprehensive view of their total addressable market of productive partners, enabling them to abandon the “spray and pray” approach and instead target alliances based on shared technical stacks (e.g., Cisco or Juniper partners) and customer objectives. This structured approach to identifying the right partners at the right time is the first step in accelerating successful partnerships. ✔ Chapter 2: Transforming Partner Enablement and Co-Marketing with Intelligence The success of any partnership program, once partners are recruited, hinges on effective enablement and Co-Selling motions. Theresa Caragol notes that generic training is no longer enough; enablement must drive behavior changes in people. This is where Partner Data Intelligence becomes a real-time, personalized tool. Partner Optimizer provides managers with territory-specific data and insights that can be used to form stronger, more relevant value propositions for the end customer and stronger business propositions for the partner. This intelligence, combined with AI, rapidly creates targeted messaging and strategic initiatives, such as identifying the best vertical markets to target, thereby accelerating the entire process from recruitment to activation. The difference is moving from talking at partners to talking with partners, building a foundation of trust based on a clear understanding of their business. In co-marketing, the traditional one-size-fits-all approach is obsolete. The key determinant of success for co-op or MDF investments is a partner’s marketing competency, which necessitates a more precise approach to evaluation. Teresa and Dina both stress the need for a maturity model, which defines different activities for partners based on their stage of engagement—from a Stage One partner needing basic growth activities to a Stage Five partner who receives custom, high-touch attention for campaigns. This precision, or “precision-based” approach, moves past the random acts of marketing that dominated the past. The shift in marketing spend is also a key theme. While 90% of buying research happens online, there is a resurgence of events, driven by the need for strategic, multi-party engagement. Theresa suggests that the future of go-to-market involves an ecosystem of partners (vendors, partners, hyperscaler) focusing on a strategic initiative, a set of accounts, and then a few highly strategic events, rather than a “peanut butter” spread of effort. This movement away from generic marketing and into highly targeted, account-based marketing, with digital channels like LinkedIn, is how to win. It acknowledges that direct selling is changing, as buyers use trusted advisors (who may not be transacting partners) early in the decision-making cycle, making influence and the Co-Selling motion more critical than ever. ✔ Chapter 3: The Co-Selling Revolution: AI, Hyperscalers, and the Human Element The conversation concludes with an in-depth focus on Co-Selling, emphasizing the roles of hyperscalers, AI in Partnering, and the irreplaceable human element. Dina explains that today’s Co-Selling often centers around hyperscaler marketplaces (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud). However, listing in a marketplace is not a “floodgate opener” for sales; it’s an infrastructure for transacting. Smaller companies still need to find partners within that ecosystem who match their IPP and can help them sell, as the hyperscalers themselves prioritize the top several hundred. Partner Optimizer’s intelligence, therefore, remains essential for identifying the best-fit co-sell partners for a given product or opportunity. Theresa Caragol details how her new Co-Selling programs leverage AI and data to train sellers and partner marketers. The mechanics involve collecting data from multiple companies, feeding it into a private AI, which then generates joint value propositions, targeted messages for specific customers (based on their market activity), and tailored business propositions for partner executives. This integration of data and AI in Partnering dramatically accelerates the seller’s process—allowing them to focus on networking and building the funnel, not on generic prep work. Both leaders agree on the critical role of AI in their platforms: Dina utilizes AI/ML for highly efficient data mining, finding partners globally, enhancing search algorithms, and transforming raw insights into conversational recommendations. However, a vital conclusion is that AI is a tool to augment the best human efforts, not a replacement. Dina cautions that while AI is great, without human intention and hypothesis—knowing why you are building a campaign—the AI can lead to “hallucinations” or simply a wrong path in partnership strategy. The future of Co-Selling lies in combining human intelligence with digital intelligence to deliver a quantifiable outcome, where trust remains the core driver of success.

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  3. ٢٤ نوفمبر

    Startups to Grownups: Scaling Cybersecurity Through the Channel

    Startups to Grownups: Scaling Cybersecurity Through the Channel In this insightful discussion, Sugata Sanyal, Founder & CEO of ZINFI, sits down with Douglas Brockett, Executive Chairman of Red Access and Cynet, to explore the rapidly evolving world of cybersecurity. The conversation focuses on the critical shift from traditional data protection to modern, agentless Security Service Edge (SSE) platforms, which are essential for securing today’s hybrid work environments. Brockett shares his journey as a leadership member of companies ranging from SonicWALL to Exablox to Cynet Security, offering key lessons on organizational scale-ups and integration. This episode highlights the essential role of the cybersecurity channel in driving enterprise adoption of next-gen platforms. Brockett outlines how to develop effective channel partner models and what constitutes sound cybersecurity governance as a company transitions from a startup to a large enterprise. Tune in to gain actionable insights on the future of security and a successful go-to-market strategy in the tech sector. Related Guidebook Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management Download your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM Best Practices Guidebook. How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management. Download for FREE Video Podcast: Startups to Grownups: Scaling Cybersecurity Through the Channel ✔ Chapter 1: The Evolution to Security Service Edge (SSE) Cybersecurity Channel Growth and the Shift to Security Service Edge (SSE) The discussion begins with Douglas Brockett explaining his career shift from scaling storage and data-protection businesses, such as Exablox and StorageCraft, to leading in the cybersecurity space at Red Access and Cynet. This movement reflects a broader industry change where the edge of the network has shifted, making traditional perimeter defenses less effective. Brockett’s experience in handling complex data stacks and focusing on the channel has uniquely positioned him to view the current challenges in the SSE market, particularly regarding simplifying technology for partners and customers. This introduction sets the stage for how Red Access’s agent-less, session-based SSE platform addresses the security needs of modern, hybrid work models. The focus of Red Access on an agent-less, session-based approach to SSE is a direct response to the difficulties companies face in securing the increasing number of SaaS and corporate applications used by a distributed workforce. Brockett discusses the company’s recent Series A funding round, emphasizing that the capital is primarily aimed at fueling U.S. expansion and, critically, a channel-led go-to-market strategy. This early focus on the cybersecurity channel is a key differentiator, as it leverages Brockett’s long history of driving channel execution and organizational scale-ups in previous roles. The discussion here establishes that technology innovation must be intrinsically linked with a clear and scalable channel strategy for successful market penetration. A critical part of this evolution is recognizing what remains constant in the channel partner ecosystem despite technological shifts. At the same time, the products and delivery models have changed—moving from on-premise hardware to cloud-based security services—the core necessities of trust, enablement, and profitable partnerships remain the foundation of a successful channel. Brockett discusses how his initial 90 days at Red Access prioritized laying the groundwork for this scalable, channel-centric operation. This section is vital for understanding the blend of cutting-edge technology and time-tested go-to-market strategy needed to succeed in the competitive cybersecurity landscape. ✔ Chapter 2: Leadership Lessons and Growth Playbooks Channel Partner Models: Lessons on Scaling from Startups to Grownups Brockett shares pivotal leadership experiences, citing the acquisition of Exablox by StorageCraft and the subsequent integration at Arcserve as significant inflection points in his career. The key lesson drawn from these successes is the necessity of quickly rationalizing operations, building a joint product roadmap, and ensuring clear communication to both internal teams and the cybersecurity channel partners during mergers and acquisitions. Leading a successful integration requires a focus on renewal and customer success, a habit that is often neglected when organizational attention is diverted toward internal restructuring. This focus on the external outcome—customer and partner success—is a crucial element of Brockett’s leadership philosophy. Conversely, the conversation delves into past challenges or setbacks, exploring how a high-growth company responds when things do not go as planned. Brockett emphasizes the importance of a transparent and responsive team culture, especially when navigating technical or go-to-market strategy barriers. Learning from setbacks involves not just fixing the immediate issue but also fundamentally restructuring processes to prevent recurrence. This willingness to pivot, often by simplifying complex technology stacks for easier partner consumption, is a consistent thread throughout his career. For companies trying to scale rapidly, the ability to adapt the product and the channel partner models is the difference between a successful scale-up and stagnation. This section concludes with a forward-looking view on the remaining barriers to the widespread adoption of agentless Security Service Edge (SSE) solutions in the market. These barriers are not just technical; they also involve educating the cybersecurity channel and enterprise customers on the shift from traditional security mindsets to a session-based, work-from-anywhere model. Brockett’s approach at Red Access involves actively working with partners to overcome these educational and deployment hurdles, proving that a strong channel partner ecosystem is necessary not just for sales but also for market validation and technical evangelism. His experience demonstrates that successful scale-ups rely heavily on both internal execution and external partner enablement. ✔ Chapter 3: The Future of Security and Partner Ecosystems The Role of the Cybersecurity Channel in Next-Gen Security Platforms The discussion shifts to the future of the security service edge, focusing on major industry catalysts, including the permanence of hybrid work, massive SaaS adoption, and emerging threats amplified by Gen AI. Brockett outlines that to stay ahead, companies must embrace platforms that can dynamically secure an environment where the user’s browser and application session are the new perimeter. This mandates a move away from relying solely on endpoint agents and towards more flexible, cloud-delivered solutions, such as Red Access’s Security Service Edge (SSE). The need for agility and simple deployment is paramount as threat surfaces continue to expand rapidly. From his vantage point, the channel is not just a sales pipeline; it is the primary vehicle for enterprise adoption of these next-generation security platforms. The channel provides the trust, professional services, and local expertise that enterprises require to implement and manage complex security migrations. Brockett predicts that channel partner models will continue to evolve over the next three to five years, becoming even more focused on deep security expertise and managed services, rather than simply reselling products. Partners will need to move up the value chain to provide comprehensive, end-to-end security solutions for the work-from-anywhere environment. The conversation emphasizes that securing enterprise adoption relies heavily on the willingness of security vendors to build truly partner-friendly platforms and programs. Vendors must simplify the technology stack to make it easier for the cybersecurity channel to sell and support, a principle Brockett has applied throughout his career. This ensures that the channel can profitably deliver next-gen security platforms to the mass market. This symbiotic relationship—where the vendor provides innovation and the partner provides implementation and reach—is the crucial dynamic that will define the future of the channel partner ecosystem in the security sector. ✔ Chapter 4: The Future of Security and Partner Ecosystems Effective Cybersecurity Governance: Scaling the Board from Start-up to Scale-Up Brockett offers in-depth insights into the evolution of cybersecurity governance as a company matures from an initial startup to a scale-up and ultimately to a “grow-up” phase. In the early stages, governance is often operational, focusing on tactical execution and achieving key milestones. As the company matures (e.g., post-Series B), the board’s role shifts more towards strategic oversight, financial accountability, and long-term risk management. He stresses that the composition of the board must evolve in tandem with the company, bringing in directors with experience in scaling operations, international expansion, and readiness for the public market. A key topic is the necessary balance between providing operational guidance and maintaining strategic oversight. Brockett suggests that while early-stage boards might be more hands-on, a strong board for a growth-stage company asks the right, tough questions and provides a framework for strategy, but does not micromanage the day-to-day execution. This distinction is vital for maintaining a productive relationship between the CEO and the board. The board’s primary value

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  4. ١٢ نوفمبر

    Modernizing Channel Marketing: AI and Ecosystem Enablement

    Modernizing Channel Marketing: AI and Ecosystem Enablement This episode explores the transformative landscape of the IT industry, focusing on how companies are modernizing their approach to the channel. Host Sugata Sanyal, Founder & CEO of ZINFI, is joined by Anthony Graziano, Senior Vice President, Marketing at D&H Distributing. With over two decades of experience in distribution and vendor partnerships, Graziano discusses the evolution from traditional "channel" strategies to dynamic "channel ecosystems." He highlights D&H’s investment in platforms like MKT+SHIFT to meet the changing needs of solution providers. The conversation delves into critical areas, including the impactful role of AI in channel marketing, strategies for engaging new talent amidst demographic shifts, and the essential lessons learned in aligning marketing, sales, and vendor alliances. Tune in to gain actionable insights into defining success in the evolving partner ecosystem. Related Guidebook Modernizing Channel Marketing: AI and Ecosystem Enablement How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management Download your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of Modernizing Channel Marketing: AI and Ecosystem Enablement Best Practices Guidebook. How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management. Download for FREE Video Podcast: Modernizing Channel Marketing: AI and Ecosystem Enablement ✔ Chapter 1: The Evolution from Channel to Ecosystems Anthony Graziano’s career has been at the forefront of distribution and channel marketing, providing a front-row seat to one of the industry’s most significant transitions: the shift from a traditional ‘channel’ approach to sophisticated, integrated ‘ecosystems’. This evolution is driven by the necessity for solution providers to deliver more comprehensive, consumption-based services and engage with a broader set of influencers beyond the traditional reseller. The modern channel marketing strategy must now support this complex web of relationships, recognizing that technology sales involve co-selling and co-innovating across multiple partners, rather than a simple, linear transaction. Graziano’s perspective, having moved from a global vendor role at Logitech back into distribution leadership at D&H, offers unique insights into how expectations for marketing have undergone drastic changes. Vendors now demand more quantifiable return on investment and broader market penetration from distributors, while partners require high-level enablement and accessible, modern tools. D&H Distributing’s investments, such as the rollout of the MKT+SHIFT self-service marketing platform, are a direct reflection of these changing needs and the move toward an ecosystem-driven environment. This platform empowers partners to modernize their go-to-market strategies by providing scalable, integrated digital campaigns and tools they can execute independently. It moves beyond basic content syndication to offer a true self-service capability that is critical for a diverse partner base with varying levels of marketing maturity and resource availability. In an ecosystem where speed and relevance are paramount, the ability to quickly deploy professional, vendor-compliant marketing assets is not just an advantage; it is a fundamental requirement for solution providers competing in the digital age. The platform’s success demonstrates D&H’s commitment to reinforcing its position as a trusted enabler, directly addressing the pain points of modern channel marketing. The transformation in the Information Technology landscape also necessitates a complete rethinking of how vendors and distributors collaborate on marketing initiatives. The old model of simply pushing products has given way to a focus on joint solution selling and value creation, requiring a deeper alignment of marketing efforts. Graziano’s experience underscores that distribution is no longer just logistics; it is an enablement engine that bridges the gap between vendor innovation and partner execution. This shift requires that distribution channel marketing not only drive demand generation but also provide the strategic guidance and technological infrastructure necessary for partners to thrive in specialized markets. The evolving landscape demands a blend of high-touch strategic support with high-scale, automated tools, ensuring partners, regardless of size, can effectively capitalize on growth opportunities. ✔ Chapter 2: Marketing Alignment and Avoiding Common Pitfalls A core component of D&H’s strategy is the successful deployment of self-service marketing automation, exemplified by MKT+SHIFT, while maintaining a crucial element of high-touch support. The most significant adoption and success in these self-service models are often seen with partners who are already digitally mature and understand the value of automated outreach and integrated campaigns. They leverage these tools to rapidly scale their outreach and capitalize on time-sensitive vendor promotions and emerging market trends. However, driving partner engagement can be more challenging with smaller or less digitally savvy partners, who may lack the internal marketing expertise or the time to integrate and utilize self-service platforms fully. For these partners, the high-touch support remains essential, focusing on education, co-development, and demonstrating the tangible return on investment of modern channel marketing practices. The lesson here is that technology adoption is accelerated when paired with accessible human guidance. Graziano’s decades of experience across major distributors, including Tech Data, SYNNEX, and now D&H, highlight critical lessons regarding the alignment of marketing with sales and vendor alliances. A key takeaway is the need for complete transparency and shared metrics across these internal and external groups. Marketing must be measured not just by leads, but also by its contribution to the pipeline and revenue, directly aligning with sales’ objectives. Furthermore, successful vendor alliances require marketing efforts that clearly communicate the value proposition of the joint solution, not just the individual components. The most successful channel marketing organizations are those that break down traditional departmental silos, ensuring that the marketing strategy directly informs and enables the activities of the sales team and reinforces the vendor partnership ecosystem. A common pitfall companies encounter when trying to modernize channel marketing is focusing exclusively on the technology platform without addressing the foundational issues of process and human capability. Another misstep is creating marketing programs that are too complex, too generic, or not specifically designed for the partner’s unique customer base, leading to low adoption rates. At D&H, the approach to avoiding these pitfalls involves three strategies. First, simplicity and ease of use are prioritized in the MKT+SHIFT platform to encourage broad adoption. Second, the focus is on providing highly customizable, regionally relevant content that partners can immediately leverage. Third, there is a continuous investment in training and communication to ensure partners understand how to use the modern tools to achieve their specific business outcomes, blending strategy with execution. ✔ Chapter 3: The Future: AI, Generational Shifts, and Ecosystem Success The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to fundamentally reshape both marketing execution and customer engagement across the channel. Anthony Graziano envisions AI as a powerful tool in refining channel marketing by enabling hyper-personalization at scale. This involves using AI to analyze vast datasets of partner and end-customer behavior, delivering highly targeted content, and optimizing campaign timing to achieve maximum effectiveness. For partner enablement, AI will accelerate the creation of localized and customized marketing assets, drastically reducing the time and resources required for partners to launch sophisticated campaigns. AI also promises to improve sales-marketing alignment by providing predictive analytics on which leads are most likely to convert, ensuring sales teams are focused on the highest-value opportunities within the channel ecosystem. The future success of channel ecosystems will depend on the ability to integrate AI responsibly and effectively into the entire partner journey. The IT channel is also confronting a significant demographic challenge, characterized by an aging partner base and a pressing need to attract and retain new, young talent. D&H is actively approaching this generational transition by ensuring its platforms and communication methods appeal to a new, digitally native audience. This means moving away from legacy marketing tactics and embracing integrated digital campaigns, social media engagement, and modern, accessible self-service tools. Channel marketing plays a vital role in engaging the next wave of solution providers by emphasizing speed, transparency, and a focus on emerging, high-growth technologies, such as cloud and security. By promoting a culture of inclusion, D&H aims to position the channel not as a traditional industry but as a dynamic, technologically advanced career path for the next generation. Looking ahead, success for channel ecosystems in the next five years will be defined by agility and the ability to drive co-innovation and consumption models. The winning distributors and partners will be those who can seamlessly adapt to rapid technological change, especially the integration of AI, and effectively manage the transition to subscription and as-a-Service models. D&H is positioning itself to stay ahead of these shifts

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    Building a Partner Ecosystem for Digital & Agentic Transformation

    Building a Partner Ecosystem for Digital & Agentic Transformation This episode features a discussion between Sugata Sanyal, Founder & CEO of ZINFI, and guest Alex Richards, VP of Partnerships at Quantum Metric. They explore the strategic shift required to build a modern Partner Ecosystem for digital success. Alex shares his experience from companies like Medallia and SurveyMonkey, emphasizing that a successful go-to-market strategy must move beyond just tracking the pipeline. The conversation highlights how Quantum Metric’s Behavioral Analytics and Customer Journey Orchestration platform helps enterprise clients solve friction points across websites, apps, and kiosks. They detail a strategic co-sell and Co-Keep model with ISVs, GSIs, and agencies. Key takeaways include the substantial services opportunity for partners (40-45% of the deal value) and the future role of Agentic Capabilities in fixing fragmented tech stacks and accelerating Digital Transformation. Listen now to learn how to partner for genuine impact. Related Guidebook Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management Download your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM Best Practices Guidebook. How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management. Download for FREE Video Podcast: Building a Partner Ecosystem for Digital & Agentic Transformation ✔ Chapter 1: Ecosystem Strategy: Moving Beyond Pipeline Measurement Alex Richards explains why he chose the “hard path” of an ecosystem-based go-to-market strategy over traditional direct sales and marketing. He characterizes the Partner Ecosystem approach as a relationship-driven world that offers a strategic advantage by working with adjacent technologies. This collaboration allows companies to essentially “hack the path to success” rather than operating as a lone wolf, saying, “We’re the best”. For Alex, this strategy is exciting because it is go-to-market led and focuses on leveraging multiple touchpoints to drive sales, marketing, and audience improvements, moving beyond the transactional nature of purely direct sales. The Partner Ecosystem approach is viewed as a means to create a unified value proposition that is significantly stronger and more appealing to enterprise customers. When evaluating a Partner Ecosystem, Alex insists that companies must look beyond simply generating pipeline efforts. Focusing purely on the pipeline is too narrow and misses significant opportunities for impact. A broader perspective involves leveraging partners to improve marketing activities, reach specific audiences, and build deeper integrations that enhance customer adoption. By telling a “better together story, Quantum Metric and its partners demonstrate how their combined solutions benefit customers and drive key performance indicators (KPIs), which is a much more compelling and strategic approach than just selling a single product. This strategy is particularly crucial when dealing with different geographic regions and specialized ecosystems. The effectiveness of a true Partner Ecosystem is measured by its comprehensive impact across all company functions. The structure of Quantum Metric’s partner program is designed to support this holistic view, including both technology partners and solutions partners. The technology relationships—such as with Hyperscalers like Google and major ISVs like Adobe—are focused not just on simple integrations, but on driving Co-Sale, account mapping, and referral programs that lead to mutual sales success and customer value. On the solutions side, relationships with global system integrators (GSIs) and agencies (like Accenture and IBM) are about strategic solutioning and complementing Quantum Metric’s services. This part of the Partner Ecosystem is vital for filling service gaps in regions and verticals where a physical presence or domain expertise might be limited, ensuring comprehensive market coverage and service delivery. ✔ Chapter 2: Behavioral Analytics and Customer Journey Orchestration Quantum Metric’s core value proposition is focused on providing deep Behavioral Analytics and Customer Journey Orchestration for enterprise clients. The platform targets personas in digital product teams, marketing, analytics, CX, and the contact center, all of whom face challenges with fragmented systems and digital friction points. The solution is deployed via a JavaScript tag or SDK, which tracks the entire user journey and enables precise recreation, known as session replay. Crucially, the platform acts as a workflow engine that maps these digital journeys and triggers real-time actions when a user encounters friction. This ensures that teams can immediately identify and fix issues—such as a broken button or a malfunctioning funnel—that would otherwise lead to lost revenue, user frustration, and decreased loyalty. The solution is far more robust than simple heat mapping tools, offering a highly secure and actionable “on steroids” version of session analysis. A strong Partner Ecosystem is essential for broad deployment. The application of Quantum Metric’s technology extends significantly beyond a traditional website or mobile app interface, covering both pre-login and post-login experiences. The platform’s ability to sit on and monitor Salesforce Lightning apps is a major differentiator. This capability allows customers to QA their customer service agents by seeing exactly where they get stuck, or to qualify that brokers are only accessing what they should within Salesforce. Furthermore, the platform can be deployed on self-service kiosks in locations such as Latin America, including ATM equivalents or ordering boards, ensuring that the self-service customer experience is optimized and frictionless. By covering such a wide range of digital and physical touchpoints, Quantum Metric provides a truly holistic view of the customer experience, which its vast Partner Ecosystem helps implement and customize. From a competitive perspective, partnerships are essential for overcoming larger brands like Adobe and Salesforce. Quantum Metric strategically partners with these ISVs to avoid positioning its product over the overall impact and benefit it drives. The winning formula involves utilizing the Partner Ecosystem to highlight where customers reside and how joint solutions can effectively connect fragmented data points. This enables a better customer experience, such as arming a contact center agent with real-time session information about a caller’s recent frustration on a mobile app, eliminating the need for a generic, time-consuming series of introductory questions. By deeply integrating with partners’ platforms, the company ensures that its insights are actionable and readily available where users and agents live, speeding up resolution and improving efficiency. ✔ Chapter 3: Driving Partner Services and The Co-Keep Model A crucial element of the company’s Partner Ecosystem strategy is the services component, often referred to as Co-Keep. Given that applications and websites are constantly evolving, customers require continuous services, making the one-time sale insufficient. The relationship with partners must ensure they possess the same customer-centric mentality and culture as Quantum Metric to properly onboard and service clients. The company generally passes the entire services business directly to the partner, only “sucking up” the recurring Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription contract on their end. This model ensures that SIs and agencies are fully incentivized to provide high-quality, ongoing support and project-based work. The long-term success and retention of customers hinge heavily on the quality of these complementary services offered by the Partner Ecosystem, making the enablement of consultative engagements a top priority. The financial opportunity for service partners is substantial. While the exact revenue is complicated to quantify due to varying customer needs and initiatives, Alex Richards estimates that the services component can represent a significant percentage of the total contract value in any given deal. Specifically, there is an opportunity for 40% to 45% on any deal where services are the equivalent value that an SI or agency could be sucking up. The scope can range dramatically; a full-blown Digital Transformation that spans 50 digital properties will generate far more service revenue than a retailer optimizing only one website and two apps. This significant and recurring service opportunity is what makes the Partner Ecosystem attractive to GSIs and specialized agencies, as it allows them to build a deep, profitable, and consultative relationship with the customer. Beyond services, ongoing activation and enablement are critical for Partner Ecosystem success. The company works to ensure partners are not simply certified once and forgotten, but are instead constantly engaged through activities that make them realize the value of jointly closing a deal. Co-sell success requires the right story and message. For GSIs, enablement involves equipping them with messaging, personas, and competitive analysis, enabling them to identify customer “trigger points” or signals and position Quantum Metric effectively within a consultative or reseller engagement. This continuous engagement and provision of resources are vital to ensuring the Partner Ecosystem constantly drives new business and supports existing customers with the best possible service. ✔ Chapter 4: The Agentic Future: Fragmentation and Geo-Political Data Challenges The futu

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  6. ٤ نوفمبر

    First Principles Drive Modern Partner Ecosystem Success

    First Principles Drive Modern Partner Ecosystem Success In this insightful episode, Sugata Sanyal, Founder & CEO of ZINFI, sits down with Nelson Wang, Founder of Partner Principles, to discuss the critical evolution of the partnerships landscape. Nelson Wang, who brings over 20 years of operating experience at fast-growth and large public companies, explains why today’s Partner Leaders need to move beyond old playbooks and embrace First Principles Thinking. The conversation highlights that the modern Partner Ecosystem is more nuanced and complex, requiring a customer-centric view and strong cross-functional alignment to drive successful business outcomes. The discussion also covers the essential need for Data-Driven Partnering and Automation with AI to Simplify Complex Workflows and Achieve Massive Productivity Gains. Key Takeaways include understanding how to apply core principles, such as customer centricity and "one team," across any organization, as well as the essential need for data-driven orchestration and automation with AI. The discussion contrasts the channel-heavy hardware approach of two decades ago with the multi-touch, complex nature of B2B SaaS and AI partnerships today. Listen now to gain the strategic frameworks needed to lead a thriving Partner Ecosystem. Related Guidebook First Principles Drive Modern Partner Ecosystem Success Best Practices Guidebook Mastering the Nuance, AI, and Cross-Functional Orchestration Required by Today’s CPO Download your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of First Principles Drive Modern Partner Ecosystem Success Best Practices Guidebook. Mastering the Nuance, AI, and Cross-Functional Orchestration Required by Today’s CPO. Download for FREE Video Podcast: First Principles Drive Modern Partner Ecosystem Success ✔ Chapter 1: The Critical Shift to First Principles Thinking in the Partner Ecosystem Nelson Wang founded his consulting business, Partner Principles, to ensure Partner Leaders have the lessons, principles, and frameworks they need to be successful. He observed that many leaders rely on tactics and playbooks that often fail to translate successfully from one company to the next. The significant “light bulb moment” for him came from mentors who taught him about First Principles Thinking and frameworks, which radically improved the quality and outcomes of his work. This approach allows leaders to apply universal principles to any company, regardless of the ideal customer or partner profile. The core goal is to share lessons from 20 years of operating in partnerships, enabling people to achieve success more quickly and effectively, ultimately reducing stress and long hours. The most important of these first principles is Customer Centricity. When consulting, Wang anchors companies on the customer by asking critical questions: Who is your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)? What is their customer journey? What specific pain are you solving, and what are the business implications of not solving that pain? Only by deeply understanding the customer problem can a company then determine the right partner types and strategy to put in place. A customer-centric view provides a clear focus on where to go, what resources to allocate, and where to invest energy, which yields a much better answer compared to testing multiple partner types and spreading resources too thin. This principle remains vital across the entire Partner Ecosystem and guides strategic decision-making. Another foundational first principle is operating as One Team. Far too often, partnership teams operate in silos and do not work cross-functionally with other teams to augment and amplify their efforts. Integrating partnerships into the core workflows of these teams, such as marketing initiatives, can significantly amplify efforts. For example, if a partner is included in a webinar, they might double the attendance among their customer base, thereby immediately doubling the business impact. This strategic alignment ensures that the collective impact on the industry is magnified because teams worked together toward a common core principle, demonstrating how partnership success can be supercharged through a one-team approach. ✔ Chapter 2: The Nuance and Complexity of the Modern Partner Ecosystem The ecosystem has undergone fundamental changes over the last two decades, evolving from the clear-cut “channel” of 20 years ago to a much more complex and nuanced model today. Companies like Cisco and VMware once scaled by routing a massive percentage (80-90%) of their business through resellers using distinct “swim lanes” for a simple resale motion. Today, many B2B SaaS and AI companies employ a direct, Product-Led Growth (PLG) approach with customers, making it significantly harder to decide on a comprehensive sales channel approach with a resale motion. This has led to the development of more granular and tailored swim lanes based on specific customer needs, making the approach more nuanced and compelling. The new swim lanes are often broken down by region, segment, capability, or vertical. For example, a region like APAC may be much more partner-led than the Americas. Segmentation can carve out services for the internal team that are upmarket, leaving all other services to partners, and targeting the mid-market and commercial segments. Capability-based swim lanes route customers to partners when there is a gap in a necessary capability that the vendor does not deliver. This deep understanding of the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and the pain points they are experiencing is required to map the right partners, making the current ecosystem much more complex, as a company could potentially have multiple swim lanes. Despite the complexity, the core principles of partnerships still apply: the outcome of what the partner needs to do remains the same—to make customers massively successful and tied to those business outcomes. However, the skill set required has evolved dramatically. While 20 years ago partners focused on reselling and implementation services (e.g., data center virtualization), today partners in the B2B SaaS and AI space must provide services on how to deploy AI within an organization 31 effectively. This requires guiding customers on a framework to identify AI use cases based on feasibility, resourcing, and business impact. Partner organizations must continually adapt their skill sets to serve customers better and achieve the desired business outcomes. ✔ Chapter 3: Data-Driven Orchestration and the Future of Partner Leaders The biggest challenge facing the modern Partner Ecosystem is the massive operational difficulty of managing partnerships through manual, repetitive workflows, often using unstructured content in Excel or Sheets 34. This approach suffers from poor data integrity, siloed processes, and a significant expenditure of time on low-value work to achieve higher-value insights. The opportunity to transform the business lies in embracing. Data-driven partnering and automation, specifically through AI, unlock a huge opportunity to accelerate automation and insights that were previously too time-consuming or overwhelming to tackle. Embracing this requires a new mindset for Partner Leaders to identify and automate all repetitive manual tasks, thereby achieving higher value. For example, manually building Statements of Work (SOWs) and proposals for Service Partners (SIs) can take a whole week. With AI, a recording can be ingested, the transcript analyzed, and an SOW and a fully customized proposal can be created in one to two hours, often 80% complete. This massive. A 10x productivity lift for the partnership company leads to high-value outcomes, including higher conversion rates, larger deal sizes, and improved customer satisfaction during the sales process. Today’s Chief Partner Officer (CPO) needs to be a highly proactive, cross-functional leader —a significant shift from the more rear-view, fulfillment-driven channel chief of the past. Because modern partner motions often account for smaller, more nuanced percentages of the overall business, the CPO cannot rely on default resourcing or organic alignment. They must proactively establish an operating cadence with cross-functional teams, such as Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success. The CPO’s role is to examine the entire customer journey—from awareness to purchase to retention—and identify where partners fill the gaps, providing a much broader view than a leader focused on a single partner type. This requires winning the hearts and minds of internal teams and getting them to agree to resource and prioritize partner-led initiatives as a unified “One Team” effort.

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  7. ٢١ أكتوبر

    HP Reinventing the Future of Work through AI & Partnerships

    HP Reinventing the Future of Work through AI & Partnerships This compelling discussion delves deeply into HP’s channel strategy and how it is adapting to the future of work, driven by AI and evolving customer demands. Sugata Sanyal, Founder & CEO of ZINFI, speaks with Meg Brennan (of HP Inc.) about her extensive journey from the early days of the software "channel" business to leading a modern, complex partner ecosystem. Meg Brennan provides key insights into how HP is leveraging its partners to launch the new AI PC, transforming hardware sales into solution bundles that include security and observability software. The conversation explores the massive changes in supply chain management and the shift from transactional metrics to a more strategic measurement philosophy, which Meg calls the "Artistry of ROI." Listen now to understand how the voice of the partner drives product design and go-to-market motions in a genuinely global, multi-segment enterprise. Related Guidebook Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management Download your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of Hybrid Cloud and Edge AI Computing Impacting the Future of PRM Best Practices Guidebook. How AI, Hybrid Cloud, and Edge Computing Are Transforming Partner Relationship Management. Download for FREE Video Podcast: HP Reinventing the Future of Work through AI & Partnerships ✔ Chapter 1: The Evolution of Partnering: From Channel to Ecosystem The foundation of modern partnering has fundamentally shifted from the simple definition of a “channel” to the complexity of a cohesive “ecosystem”. Meg Brennan recalls her early career in the nineties, where the channel was merely a sales route—a way to reach customers by selling physical, shrink-wrapped software. This transactional approach was based on the strongest distributors and resellers. Today, however, the concept is entirely different; a partner ecosystem is built around adding value. For a technology company like HP, this means relying on partners to add value in diverse ways, from selling products to designing software that works best on AI PCs. The modern ecosystem now includes ISV partnerships, MSPs, GSIs, and service partnerships, going far beyond the traditional reseller model. The core driving force behind this change is a dramatically increased focus on the end customer. Understanding who the customer is and how to reach them is paramount, requiring vendors to ensure they are present everywhere the customer is researching solutions—not just on their own site, but also robustly represented on partner and retailer sites. The speed of change in go-to-market motions has accelerated rapidly over the last decade, necessitating a corresponding change in how a global company like HP coordinates content delivery and campaign execution. While HP is a channel-centric company where over 80% of business goes through partners, the process still requires designing the direct content first and then adapting it for the channel. The modern toolset, particularly with advancements in AI, enables content localization and distribution to occur much faster than ever before. A significant part of the hardware world has also adapted, especially on the supply chain side, which has become significantly more nimble due to lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent use of AI-driven analytics to manage complexities like tariffs and manufacturing locations. This increased agility in supply chain management is now translating into a faster, more responsive go-to-market approach at the front end as HP advances its vision for the future of work. This shift toward an Artistry of ROI is necessary because the customer journey is no longer linear, and partnerships are about joint growth, not single-transaction attribution. The focus is on aligning with partners that will deliver growth in strategic areas. This requires HP to look across its broad market segments—consumers, SMB, mid-market, and enterprise—and its various delivery channels—retail, MSPs, and SIs—to prioritize where it can have the most impact. In areas of stability, the goal is to maintain course and capture organic growth. In emerging regions, such as the MSP space, there is a deliberate decision to “build the plane while we fly it” to gain momentum. This strategic prioritization is critical for effectively managing the vast complexity of HP’s global partner ecosystem. ✔ Chapter 2: AI PC, Software Bundles, and the AI Masterclass HP’s strategy for driving the future of work is centered on the AI PC, which goes beyond a typical laptop by offering core features like superior battery life and the ability to run AI models locally. The ability to run AI locally is a significant value proposition for customers, offering enhanced privacy, security in secured environments like healthcare, and reduced cloud costs. Meg provided examples of its local application, such as an AI-powered camera that manages background blur and follows the user. To ensure this innovative technology succeeds in the market, HP strategically focused on winning the “hearts and minds” of its partners, recognizing them as essential influencers in this new technology space. This approach was immediately operationalized with the launch of the Amplify AI program. A critical component of this enablement strategy is the AI Masterclass. This program was designed to educate partners on the fundamentals, such as what an LLM is and how AI works, effectively leveling up the entire industry together. The masterclass also provided partners with a sneak peek at HP’s own roadmap and how the applications on the AI PC would add value to their customers. The response has been overwhelming, with tens of thousands of partners completing the masterclass, demonstrating their enthusiasm and commitment to selling the new technology. This partner-centric launch successfully positioned HP’s solutions, where the value proposition is clear: even simple benefits, such as all-day battery life for frequent travelers, are a winning differentiator. The conversation then extended to the evolution of software, which has undergone a complete transition from perpetual licenses in physical boxes to a cloud-based SaaS model, often featuring consumption-based billing. Meg used the analogy of a customer wanting to buy “a glass of wine at a time” rather than the whole case, emphasizing that modern models allow customers and partners to purchase and pay how they want. This software evolution necessitates that HP package hardware and software as a complete solution, known internally as “OneHP,” to solve problems related to the future of work. The enablement for partners focuses first on understanding the customer problem the software solves—whether it is HP Wolf security or the observability software WXP—to ensure they can articulate its value to the customer. HP offers partners financial incentives and rebates to align with this “OneHP” vision, ultimately promoting a win-win scenario that grows the partner’s business by selling more than just a box. ✔ Chapter 3: The Artistry of ROI and Partner-Driven Strategy The third central theme is the evolution of metrics, which Meg Brennan refers to as the “Artistry of ROI.” In her early career, measurement was straightforward, focused only on how much a partner sold. This later evolved into the more intensive, transactional attribution model, which measures how much a partner initiates and attempts to tie every dollar of MDF investment to a specific deal. Today, Meg has shifted away from this highly intensive, transactional approach, recognizing that a customer journey involves 25 or more marketing interactions, making single-activity attribution less powerful and overly complex. The contemporary approach, the Artistry of ROI, is more nuanced and strategic. It focuses on overall program effectiveness and the success of joint “plays”. Instead of claiming “we caused that deal”, the focus is on whether HP’s investments influenced growth in the areas targeted by a strategic play. The key is to review the joint business plan and assess whether the investments are yielding growth in the business with those specific partners. This strategic mindset is critical for prioritizing programs across HP’s complex 4×4 market matrix, ensuring that the company focuses its investment where it can gain the most leverage and opportunity, such as the emerging MSP space or the federal system integrator market in Europe. The Voice of the Partner heavily influences this strategic approach. HP relies on Partner Advisory Boards (PABs) and local advisory councils to bring direct feedback to its product leaders. The partners—often high-level executives—do not focus on granular product details, but on high-level business requirements, such as the need for multi-tenancy for MSPs or FedRAMP certification for Federal System Integrators (FSIs). Finally, the evolution of the team driving this strategy requires leaders who are curious about differentiating the company, are action-oriented (preferring execution over just talk), and, increasingly, have technical skills. The future operational employee will become more of an “agent manager” than an administrative worker, leveraging AI to automate tasks and enable frontline staff to focus on more valuable, partner-facing work.

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    The Channel's Shift to Partner-Led With AI

    The Channel’s Shift to Partner-Led With AI In this episode, Sugata Sanyal Founder & CEO of ZINFI, sits down with Raegan Wilson, VP of Ecosystem Innovation and Solutions at Spur Reply. They delve into the dramatic transformation of the channel ecosystem over the last two decades. The discussion focuses on how the traditional model of “box builders” has given way to a partner-led approach, where partners now drive the go-to-market strategy for vendors. Reagan shares her unique perspective, having been in the channel for over 20 years, and offers insights into how new technologies, including AI, are further changing the landscape. The conversation touches on the importance of readiness and maturity for brands looking to build an ecosystem and the key role of automation in making the process more efficient. Related Guidebook The Channel’s Shift to Partner-Led With AI Best Practices How a new go-to-market strategy is transforming the partner ecosystem Download your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of The Channel’s Shift to Partner-Led With AI Best Practices Guidebook. How a new go-to-market strategy is transforming the partner ecosystem. Download for FREE Video Podcast: The Channel’s Shift to Partner-Led With AI ✔ Chapter 1: The Evolution of the Partner Ecosystem: From Box Builders to Partner-Led Raegan Wilson describes her experience with the evolution of the channel over more than two decades, starting from the era of “Box Builders”. Back then, partners were primarily value-added resellers who would build computers and servers by assembling various components. Raegan recalls visiting partner offices and seeing their framed certifications and branded swag from different vendors. This was when vendors were in the driver’s seat, pulling partners along, and partners were seen as an extension of the vendor’s go-to-market efforts. The market has changed dramatically since then. Partners who failed to adapt to new technologies, like wireless networking, often went out of business. This shift highlights a critical lesson in the channel’s history: partners must continuously morph their business models to survive and thrive. This same pressure appeared with the change to cloud services and is now a factor with AI. The most significant change Raegan notes is the shift in power, with partners now driving the solution for the end customer. Instead of vendors leading, the partner-led model puts the partner in the proverbial driver’s seat, loading up their solution with vendors that fit the tech stack. This fundamental shift requires brands to change how they engage with their channel, acknowledging the partner’s central role in the solution delivery. The modern channel is more complex than ever, moving beyond traditional reseller models to include various services, solutions, and integrations. The days of simply building a box are replaced by a focus on value-added services that solve complex customer problems. Raegan points out that this evolution has led to a higher barrier to entry for entrepreneurs in this space, as the risks and necessary security checks are much steeper than they were in the past. She also notes a trend towards consolidation, with larger organizations growing even bigger as they deliver value across the entire ecosystem. This environment demands that brands provide a clear value proposition to partners, making it easy for them to understand where they fit in, how they can make money, and where the opportunities are. The success of a partner-led strategy depends on the brand’s ability to communicate value and follow the partner’s go-to-market strategy rather than imposing its own. Sugata and Raegan also discuss the differing maturity levels between IT and traditional manufacturing industries. While newer IT companies quickly adopt ecosystem strategies because they don’t have legacy tech debt, many conventional manufacturers struggle with antiquated systems and processes. This often makes it harder for them to get modernized and optimized. The interview highlights that even well-established enterprise companies, which one might expect to be well-oiled machines, often face significant challenges in implementing simple changes. Raegan reassures that this struggle is common and not unique to a single large player. The conversation also touches on the convergence of IT and OT (operational technology), particularly in manufacturing. It introduces new challenges like cybersecurity and data centralization that require a more comprehensive, leadership-level approach to automation. This complexity underscores the need for expert guidance in navigating the modern ecosystem. ✔ Chapter 2: Technology and the New Go-to-Market: Marketplaces and AI The discussion then pivots to the role of technology in the new partner-led reality, focusing on marketplaces as a critical go-to-market channel. Raegan explains that once seen as just a place to list an app, marketplaces have evolved into a channel with significant velocity. Partners are now instrumental in helping end customers manage their marketplace spend and private offers, making it easier for them to acquire technology and access budgets they might not have known were available. The challenge for vendors is understanding their partners’ readiness and maturity level before jumping into marketplaces. A brand might be four steps behind a competitor and should therefore consider other routes to market where they have higher partner engagement or readiness. Prioritizing a marketplace strategy should be based on looking at internal capabilities and resources, not just what a competitor does. It is also essential for brands to understand their position in the tech stack—are they the “burger” or the “ketchup”? Understanding where a solution fits the customer’s overall stack helps a vendor identify the right partners and opportunities for an attach play. Raegan emphasizes that while finding complementary partners in the new ecosystem has become easier, the sheer volume of vendors also makes it harder to rise above the noise. A strong story and clear value proposition are essential to capture a partner’s attention. This is where the strategic use of AI comes into play. AI can be leveraged to find the right partners by analyzing data and creating detailed profiles. Using the right prompts, brands can get a list of potential partners, build value propositions, and tailor their recruitment messaging. This automation helps the recruitment process, but Raegan stresses that the following steps must also be automated to handle the influx of prospective partners. She also notes that the methods for reaching partners have changed, with phone calls being less effective and LinkedIn and email becoming more critical. Looking at the technology platforms themselves, Raegan acknowledges that they have made significant strides over the past decade. However, she notes that the channel has always been a bit behind in adopting technology and that vendors often need to understand their customers’ specific needs better. Many companies are tempted to put the platform first, but Raegan argues that a solid foundation of people, processes, and programs is necessary to leverage technology successfully. Without this foundation, automating a flawed process can lead to problems. Raegan’s five P’s—People, Process, Programs, Partners, and Platform—provide a clear roadmap for success. ✔ Chapter 3: Optimizing Go-to-Market with AI and Partner Programs Raegan highlights key areas where AI is already significantly impacting partner-led strategies, starting with content. She calls content the “Achilles heel of channel” and explains that Gen AI is a game-changer for content creation and partnerization. One of the most powerful use cases is localization and translation. In the past, translating content into multiple languages was a costly and time-consuming process. Still, Gen AI has made it faster and more cost-effective, allowing companies to meet their global partners in their local language. Another key use case is making content more useful for partners. Gen AI can take internally facing training materials and shorten them to be more concise and practical for partners with limited time. The content can be tailored to acknowledge the partner’s expertise, a key element often overlooked in traditional training materials. Beyond content, Raegan sees a massive opportunity for internal-facing AI agents to improve efficiency for channel account managers. These agents can help with various tasks, from aligning partners with specific opportunities to tracking compliance and identifying underperforming partners. For example, an internal agent can look across a CRM and other data sets to find the best partner in a region, check their performance, and even draft an email about relevant promotions. This is much faster than a human manually digging for this information. The ultimate goal is for these agents to become more partner-facing, providing real-time insights to partners about promotions, new products, and customer renewal opportunities across their entire vendor ecosystem. However, Raegan notes that this will require better data governance, as the channel has long struggled with data quality. Raegan also discusses the evolution of partner compensation, which has shifted away from being tied to partner types or tiers. Instead, some brands reward partners based on the number of customers they touch rather than the size of a single deal. This incentivizes a broader reach and rewards behavior that aligns with the brand’s goals. This change reflects that many partners, like Raegan’s own firm, prefer to be compensated for their services and expertise rather than through vendor referral fees or incentives. Th

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ZINFI helps technology providers and their channel partners achieve profitable growth rapidly and affordably by automating Partner Relationship Management (PRM) processes globally.

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