An IT partner today is not just a sales channel, but a meeting point between two worlds – technology vendors and end customers. Both sides expect loyalty, but often in contradictory directions: the vendor wants a result, the customer wants independent advice.
Leaders of partner companies must therefore play on two fronts without losing their own identity. And increasingly, it is this ability that determines their market advantage.
Growing expectations of vendors
There is less and less room for informality in partnerships. Vendors expect concrete results: fulfilment of sales plans, participation in marketing campaigns, pipeline reporting, gaining certification. All measurable, verifiable – and increasingly conditioning partner status.
For many companies in the channel, this means increasing pressure. Partner models today resemble elaborate loyalty programmes more than relationships based on trust. A partner who does not ‘deliver’ quickly falls out of the vendor’s priorities – regardless of the history of the relationship.
From the perspective of a partner IT company leader, the question arises: how long can you be loyal to a manufacturer that only accounts for numbers? Especially when these numbers are not always in line with what the customer needs.
The customer wants a partner – not a sales representative
The end customer does not ask what kind of partner programme the integrator has. He asks if he can trust him. He expects a conversation about business challenges, not about which vendor has a higher discount in a given quarter.
Companies are increasingly seeing the partner as more than a contractor – they are looking for an independent adviser who can challenge the brief, not just execute it. A partner who ‘sticks’ too much to one supplier starts to be seen not as a consultant but as an extension of the vendor’s sales department.
This costs the relationship. Because where objectivity disappears, trust disappears – and without it, there is no room for strategic discussions or long-term cooperation.
Between loyalty and choice – how to manage tension
The best IT partner leaders know that vendor loyalty cannot mean losing credibility with the customer. The key is to skillfully manage expectations on both sides – and to set boundaries before the market does it for them.
This starts with clear communication: with the client – what the partner’s role is, with the vendors – where the manufacturer’s influence on consulting decisions ends. More and more companies are separating ‘product’ and ‘consulting’ teams to avoid conflicts of interest in client discussions. Others are formalising technology-neutrality principles in presales offerings.
These are difficult conversations, but necessary. Because if the partner doesn’t define his position himself, the vendor will do it for him – or the client, who stops to ask his opinion.
Building the value of your own partner brand
In a world where vendors are increasingly ‘spinning’ partners as if they were a sales channel, the one who stands out is the one who can put their own brand on the line. Not as a logo next to the manufacturer’s logo, but as a real value: know-how, methodology, an original approach.
Partner company leaders who invest in competence, build their own tools (e.g. configurators, integrations, add-ons) or introduce consultancy services independent of a specific solution gain more than a higher margin – they gain recognition and influence.
Vendors increasingly respect this. The customer – even more so. A partner who has something of his own to say is not just selling someone else’s technology. It helps the customer choose – and build something lasting.
