Predictions of What Will NOT Happen in 2018

At the beginning of each year the channel trade press, IT industry consultants and pundits take a stab at what will or may happen in the coming year. While so much has happened in the IT industry in recent years, it seems that some things never change. With that in mind, this year we thought … Continued

Forget About Disrupting and Just Get on with it

If “Cloud” was the most overused word in 2016, then “Disruption” would be my pick for this year’s winner. It seems that the mantra for the new breed of workplace warriors is “disrupt, or be disrupted”, and anyone who isn’t turning their business on its head is surely going to end up in the dictionary … Continued

Don’t Trust Your Partners? Trade Places

I’ve been in more than a few meetings with vendors where the question of trust has come up. Typically it sounds like this… “I’ve got an opportunity, and I want to give it to a partner, but I’m concerned they’ll make a mess of it or sell something else, so I’ll hold on to it … Continued

Getting Annuity fit – What a Gym Can Teach The IT Industry

As the IT industry moves further towards an annuity, subscription based model, it is worth having a look at other industries where this business model is more mature as an insight to a possible future landscape for MSPs. One such industry is surprisingly the gym and fitness industry. There are many similarities between the two … Continued

How To Grow Your Business Using Vendor MDF

Author: Grant Cleary MDF – it’s that 3 letter acronym many of us love to hear! Market development funds or MDF are used by vendors in the channel to enable service providers, resellers and distributors to market their products and solutions, and build brand awareness. MDF may be allocated to partners as a percentage of … Continued

The Value Of A Three Tier Pricing Strategy

We are currently working with a mid-market VAR/MSP on their business transformation process. In addition to looking at their sales team structure and size, we are also examining their overall profitability. Our first question was to determine how they set the price for their client offerings. Like many companies, they look at the cost of … Continued

How Not To Exhibit Yourself At Tradeshows

It’s an expensive exercise to exhibit your company at a trade show. Yet so many companies exhibit themselves poorly, leaving these events with little more than sore feet. So what should you do to maximise the return on your investment? At my recent visit to CeBIT I saw lots of examples of this, reminding me … Continued

Maybe It’s YOU That’s Not Adding Value!

It’s funny how things come in waves. In the last month, I’ve had four conversations with four different vendors, concerned that their sales team is not engaging the channel because their reps believe partners add no value. And while I agree that there are certainly partners who add no value, we obviously wouldn’t be in … Continued

The Journey of Partner Business Transformation

We recently did some work with the senior management team of a mid-market VAR/Service Provider on how they adapt their business model with the continuing growth of Cloud & XaaS. Our analysis identified several external forces acting upon their business, as well as internal pressures, and helped them create a set of priorities of what … Continued

Ten Lessons From Trump For Channel Managers

On the 20th January 2017, Donald J. Trump, an American businessman and television personality with no prior government experience, became the 45th President of the United States, in what many consider to be one of the biggest upsets in American political history. Since then, he has gone on to lead what many consider to be … Continued