Channel Rehab:  Putting the "V" Back in VAR

Channel Rehab: Putting the "V" Back in VAR

There is a morphing going on with partner types today. It seems like just yesterday we could put a clear definition of a VAR, SI, MSP, etc, on a ppt slide and it all worked. Then came cloud and the Chicken Little cry of “disintermediation” and impending channel doom. And yet here we are years later with no doom. Although the lines have blurred, and what it means to be a VAR has changed, I believe that now – more than ever – the channel is needed to pull all the different saas, mobile, cloud, and IoT strings together in a package that is consumable by the end user. There is plenty of room - if not more - value to be added to a single instance of a technology sale.  Enter the need for some professional services that didn’t exist before. Enter the need for the “Technical Channel Account Manager”. Enter a new era of the channel.

The new era will have fewer partner choices, with a younger generation at the helm. CompTIA figures there has been a 36% decrease in the number of new partners entering the market since 2008, and that of the existing space 40% are approaching retirement age. That makes room for M&A, more consolidation and Millennials to enter at a rapid pace.

When you combine the market force, with the changing demographics of the partner space, there is no way we can put hard and fast definitions of partner types on a page now and call it done. The “V” in VAR just got a whole lot more interesting and there are new rules for both sides of the equation.

New Rules for VARS

  1. Invest in Pro Serve – if you want to bring value, you need to help your clients sort through all the saas, cloud, mobile, IoT interoperability and availability issues. This is no laughing matter, and the success of your ability to add value to your customer depends on this expertise. Saas products come and go with ease. If you can help your customers add/move/change products and make it all work together, then you have some VALUE to add to the RESALE.
  2. Own Your New Identity – With all this new-found value, you may just cross over into MSP land. But that’s ok. As you morph into a trusted advisor, your clients will, no doubt, look to you to bring more value to their business. Here’s your chance to either build it out – or acquire it. Remember, market demands are creating M&A opportunities. This could be a good time to go for it.
  3. Don’t Race to the Bottom – There is value in what you bring to a client, and believing in and investing in your breadth and depth of value will set you apart. Not to mention drive your profit margins up! Even though components of your total solution are racing to the bottom (like cloud compute and storage)and thus driving out margin and competition, don’t undervalue what you can provide. If you can hold your own, your reputation will grow, and so will your lead list!

New Rules for Vendors

  1. Invest in a TechCAM- With your VAR partners adding all this technical depth, they are going to need a trusted contact back in vendor-land to help them navigate this. If you can identify these break-put VARs, and give them the support they need, you will have the opportunity to ride this wave with them. While a Technical Channel Account Manage (TechCAM) won’t carry a quota, they will influence a TON of choices and be the technical sounding board to your VARs. Having a resource like this is a huge plus to your program, and your partners will be more apt to spec your product, knowing you have their back.
  2. Place Value on Education – If you haven’t already put some type of training certification or accreditation in place, or if your enablement materials are not up to par, you should invest in the training and enablement of your partners. If they are trained correctly, then they can support your product correctly. Don’t forget to include training on integrations with other products because, most likely, your product will be used in conjunction with another. A highly trained partner base equals a highly loyal partner base.
  3. Be a Matchmaker – If you have an internal M&A expert, you need to get them to lend some expertise to your partners. Now is the time – with all the changes happening, the switched-on partners will recognize M&A as an opportunity to grow. You should be having these strategic conversations with partners and act as matchmaker where you see synergy. This again will only strengthen your position of value with a partner and keep your solution the top of mind with them.

So, no disintermediation, no doom. The opportunities are even more plentiful now for those that are willing to change, adapt and act. Don’t be left behind in this new channel marketplace. Find your VALUE and capitalize on it.

Jessica Baker is the Chief Consultant and Strategist at The Valuable Channel, a boutique consulting firm dedicated to driving value into channel programs.  Check out The Valuable Channel and follow her here on LinkedIn.

John Baez

Driving digital transformation with a cloud first, modern applications focus to deliver a simple, best in class, customer experience.

7y

Channels need to be able to tell their story quickly and adapt to present over social, mobile and web quickly and efficiently. Keep MDF costs to a minimum and build showcases for channel solutions to grow your brand quickly and maintain your digital presence from one place. Take a look at InXero. That is exactly what they do.

Colleen (Smith) McMillan

VP WW Channel Sales, Programs & Alliances at BlackBerry

7y

Spot on Jessica. For the partnership to work and continue to evolve, there are new behaviors and expectations for both the partner and the vendor!

Claudio Ayub

Channel Strategy | Incentives Automation | Ecosystem Management | SaaS |

7y

Valuable insight Jessica

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