Introduction
With 73% of the IT market passing through intermediaries, channel and partnership ecosystems have become critical drivers of business growth (Canalys, 2024). Yet, partner marketing is still widely misunderstood.
Partner ecosystems have become more complex over the last few years, creating pressure for already overburdened marketing teams to manage them. This can lead to partnerships not receiving the attention needed to drive positive outcomes.
At the same time, channel partner marketing is undergoing a rapid transformation thanks to technological innovation and the evolving buyer behaviors. For the foreseeable future, the focus has shifted to buyer enablement, collaborative ecosystems, and seamless integration through partnerships.
Therefore, it is time to define the next phase in partner marketing: an era where partners assist vendors in creating unified buying experiences that foster long-term growth and enhance client satisfaction.
This article explores the five factors impacting this development, and how to overcome the challenges of the channel to drive qualified demand generation.
1. The rise of the partner ecosystem
2024 has been a year of recovery and growth in the channel, reflecting a broader trend of companies shifting toward partner ecosystems to meet increasingly sophisticated buyer demands—and simplify client experiences.
While complexity has increased due partly to overinvestment in tech during the early 2020s, buyers now favor integrated, end-to-end solutions that reduce risk and improve clarity around spending.
Partner ecosystems empower growth by allowing vendors to expand existing client bases, reach new markets, and innovate faster.
The decline of traditional channel sales
Channel partnerships can no longer rely solely on independent reseller networks—they must be part of a broader ecosystem that delivers holistic solutions spanning independent software vendors (ISVs), managed service providers (MSPs), consultancy firms, and other channels.
Partner ecosystems must drive innovation through collaboration, empowered by cloud computing and connected data. This is fundamental to increasing market reach and supporting the scalability and agility needed to thrive and generate sustainable demand.
This has created an emphasis on delivering client-centric experiences that span the entire buyer's journey, prompting vendors to work closely with the right partners to deliver personalized, integrated, and data-driven solutions.
Nonetheless, partner ecosystems have become more complex as both vendors and partners face pressure from one another: vendors need their partners to drive growth, and partners are increasingly expected to deliver measurable results in minimal time.
At the same time, both parties must integrate multiple technologies, such as cloud and AI, to deliver the seamless solutions and experiences that clients expect.
Learn how to drive your performance with channel partners“Strategic partnerships are the key to long-term growth. There is a new focus on the deeper integration of diverse technologies, buyer behaviors, and touchpoints. These types of partnerships are pushing the boundaries as vendors continue to prioritize performance with lower funnel solutions and pipeline creation.”
INFUSE
2. The role of Cloud computing and AI
Cloud computing and AI have fundamentally reshaped partner ecosystems. Most organizations migrated to the Cloud years ago, but AI has become a force multiplier by making tech more accessible and scalable.
How Cloud marketplaces and AI are supercharging channel growth
Forward-thinking organizations are turning to the Cloud to build highly integrated ecosystems, augmented by AI-powered analytics that allow for enhanced insights, deeper personalization, and comprehensive buyer journey mapping.
Cloud marketplaces have become hubs for collaborative innovation, giving them a central role in channel marketing. Most computing infrastructures reside on platforms like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud—the “Big Three” hyperscalers that dominate a whopping 60%+ of the global Cloud market. These platforms are now partnering with hardware vendors, such as Nvidia and Qualcomm, to scale AI adoption in use cases like model training and advanced analytics.
The benefit of the Cloud is that it allows businesses to continuously improve and adapt their operations, capitalizing on emerging technologies in a way that is rarely feasible on-premise.
Additionally, AI-driven personalization has also become a key competitive differentiator in channel partner marketing. By migrating data and analytics to the Cloud, marketers can analyze vast amounts of information in real-time with the help of AI. This allows them to deliver targeted solutions at every stage of the buying journey.
By working with major Cloud vendors and AI, companies can standardize their offerings via an already-established industry-standard ecosystem.
Learn more in our Outlook 2025 AI chapter“We’ve been discussing data migration to the Cloud for years, but we’re still only scratching the surface. Organizations are working to reengineer their services around this migration and the value it brings. Acting now is crucial to staying ahead of the competition.”
INFUSE
3. Partner engagement and buyer enablement
Buyer enablement depends on the availability of information that supports every stage of the buying process, while also matching the unique needs of different decision makers in buying groups.
Therefore, partners must be equipped with relevant resources for each target audience to make a measurable impact, which includes personalization by buyer persona and Ideal Client Profile (ICP).
Below are two examples:
Collaborating with partners to understand their needs and ensure they are able to leverage relevant resources is key to channel partner marketing success. This, combined with deeply integrated partner ecosystems, empowers buyers and builds trust.
Adapting to expanded buying committees and cycles
As buying committees grow to include as many as 10 or more decision-makers, the sales cycle lengthens accordingly, now stretching to an average of 11 months (INFUSE Insights Voice of the Buyer, 2025).
Channel partners must adapt in order to engage multiple stakeholders in buying groups over this extended period.
AI-assisted decision making, behavioral analytics, and direct feedback (contextual and qualifying questions) can inform buyer engagement strategies and facilitate a seamless buyer experience.
Below is a framework of how partners can precisely align with buyer expectations:
“Partner ecosystems must be more aligned to how buyers want to buy. Vendors, (particularly Cloud providers) are relying increasingly on partners to drive their brand presence and expansion within existing accounts—as well as net new. It is about having everyone working together to meet buyer expectations to bring the best solution to the end client.”
INFUSE
4. Barriers to improved partner performance
B2B buyers expect integrated solutions and seamless experiences. In the face of buyer scrutiny and self-paced buyer journeys, partners can no longer deliver sustainable ROI without viewing and implementing demand generation holistically.
MDF and ROI challenges
There is often a substantial divide between partner engagement and funding. This impacts the availability of partner performance insights, making it challenging for vendors to identify and capitalize on the best partner opportunities.
This, in turn, can result in MDF being allocated to support ad-hoc, experimental demand generation campaigns, with no effective way to validate investments.
This challenge is compounded by the added pressure from vendors on partners to demonstrate measurable success and ROI.
Vendors must collaborate with partners to ensure that they have robust, integrated analytics tools necessary to track performance KPIs in real time.
Navigating a competitive partner landscape
Smaller partners, while potentially valuable, often face a lack of resources and funding. This creates difficulty in delivering seamless buyer journeys, ultimately incentivizing vendors to prioritize and reward more established partners.
Indeed, these larger partners are more likely to grant vendors the performance that stakeholders increasingly demand. However, smaller partners can also deliver value through their unique specializations.
While major players offer more generalist support, smaller partners can refer prospects more aligned with niche qualification criteria. These partners may need more time and resources to succeed, but investing in these relationships can be extremely beneficial.
“The great thing about Cloud marketplaces is being able to implement data unification while integrating multiple partnership layers to support your business. These form part of a larger partner ecosystem, where the smaller partners follow the larger ones to support big buying groups looking for approved vendors.”
INFUSE
5. Empowering partners to drive demand
The channel space is plagued by a common disconnect. Vendors expect partners to be proficient in creating their own demand, however, many partners lack the knowledge, tools, or resources—and are primarily focused on lead generation.
This often results in a poorer brand experience, as partners are unable to deliver the strategic brand-to-demand campaigns necessary to resonate with buyers. This also creates a prioritization of quantity over quality, as partners turn to familiar short-term lead generation strategies to utilize MDF.
However, without the capability to implement nurturing campaigns, programs can yield lower partner performance and Client Lifetime Value (CLTV). Not only does this highlight the need to provide partners with educational support on the buyer’s journey, but it also emphasizes the role of vendors in enabling their partners to meet buyers’ expectations.
To thrive in the new partner ecosystem, vendors must follow a strategic framework that aligns business goals with channel marketing efforts:
Ultimately, success in channel partner marketing is deeply rooted in strategic collaboration across partner ecosystems that are integrated and data-driven with the help of cloud and AI technologies.
“In today’s channel ecosystem, success hinges on delivering personalized solutions that truly resonate with niche audiences. ABX helps partners focus on creating meaningful, tailored experiences that generate demand and quality engagement.”
INFUSE
“Aligning content with specific buyer personas and buying stages is an essential step, yet very much still a work in progress. Vendors that are able to provide partners with assets that empower nurturing and late-stage outreach are likely to pull ahead of the competition—and propel their partner-driven growth.”
INFUSE
Key takeaways
To activate channel partner ecosystems, consider the following key steps:
- Focus on collaborative innovation: Instead of viewing partners merely as resellers, vendors should collaborate closely with partners to deliver integrated solutions
- Leverage the Cloud for scalable AI: AI has become a force multiplier of Cloud-based ecosystems and their ability to drive data-driven decision making and personalization
- Adopt buyer-centric strategies: Buyer enablement has become the focal point, and partners need the right resources to match engagement strategies to decision-makers
- Prioritize long-term value creation: Major partners can deliver quick wins, but small partners, through continuous engagement, can drive long-term success
ACTIVATE CHANNEL DEMAND AND ENGAGE KEY BUYERS THROUGH A HIGH-VALUE PARTNER ECOSYSTEM
INFUSE Channel is your trusted partner for activating demand generation in the channel space, with the right relationships and expertise to deliver a cohesive experience for your key buyers that enables long-term growth
Talk with a demand expert to plan your channel strategy
