The factors that make strategic partnerships successful

Partnerships are key to the success of all channel businesses but in times of change the nature of alliances evolve. Here, channel leaders discuss what it takes to ensure the long-term success of vendor relationships and the factors that make a positive difference.

PETE TOMLINSON,
CEO, WINDSOR TELECOM

We look to build a close relationship typically with two to four vendors across each portfolio area. This hits a sweet spot where we can meet our customers' differing needs while still being focused enough to be expert in each of their offerings from a sales and support perspective. The partners we work with evolve over time as some vendors rise and fall in their technical and commercial innovation. We conduct a quarterly sweep of the market and a detailed annual review with the aim to build meaningful long-term relationships. We always look to work with great people who share our values and where we can be as strategically important to them as they are to us.

SEBASTIAN PATERNOSTER,
GROUP SALES DIRECTOR, DATAQUEST GROUP

As we evolve into a mature MSP our relationships with vendors become essential to delivering both our company's goals and those of our clients. When managing our portfolio of vendors we are constantly trying to align our core values. The most significant area is our belief in young talent. Dataquest has been running graduate and apprenticeship schemes for several years and our preferred partners will play a key role in each candidate's development. The vendors that provide the most support in developing our young talent contribute to their success and put their business at the forefront of everything we do. Over the past 24 months, our aim has been to reduce the number of vendors we work with to improve quality and bottom line numbers. 

PAUL HOOPER,
MD, UPLANDS ONETELCO

We value vendor partnerships that align with our vision to drive real change. Trust and transparency are non-negotiable, and a strong market presence is essential. Over the past three years we’ve seen our vendor relationships evolve into more meaningful, collaborative partnerships. We don’t just want vendors, we want teammates who work alongside us. We’d love to see vendors take an even more proactive approach, helping us stay ahead by co-creating solutions. We continuously review our tech stack and partnerships with an eye on future-proofing our business. In the coming year we’re likely to explore new partnerships driven by innovation and sustainability.

IAN WALKER,
DIRECTOR, FIFTEEN GROUP

People do business with people. Knowledgeable account managers who are on your side with a personality are great. Reliability and uptime of the provider is also key with support and responsiveness when you need it, backed up with a robust transparent SLA. The standard 9-5 Monday to Friday from vendors isn’t good enough because we offer seven day support from 8am to midnight. Vendors could also provide more proactive support, monitoring and alerting on standard DSL products with clear and transparent SLAs. It’s a big decision to move providers, and it would have to be a large failing or falling out to sack one of our suppliers off.

RICHARD BEESTON,
CTO, DIGITAL SPACE 

Strong vendor relationships are forged from open and honest working relationships at all levels. The best vendors understand our business and help support MSPs with new products, bringing them to market as soon as possible. Simple partner programmes are a must – we would like to see continued simplification, achievable rebate or investment opportunities, and support for high-performing partners. Over the past three years we have benefitted from co-investment initiatives, and we are forming closer ties with the vendors and their distributors. We continuously assess alternative vendors in the market and review our strategic vendors yearly. We are likely to seek some new partnerships in the AI sector in the next year. 

RICHARD SCOTT,
SALES DIRECTOR, START COMMUNICATIONS

Honesty, transparency, quality and alignment with our core values are what we value most with vendor partnerships. Often feature set and price are equal across most products within the industry, and therefore it is the added value that vendors bring that we find most important to our business. This helps us differentiate. Engagement with other stakeholders within our business is very important to us; and being part of our team helps drive positive momentum and pushes our business forwards. Our portfolio and suppliers are under constant monthly review and if something is presented that brings value to ourselves and our clients, we would move quickly to onboard and adopt new relationships. 

JACK MICHALSKI,
DIRECTOR OF CHANNEL PARTNERSHIPS, TSI

Relationships with resellers are evolving as we see partners and end users move away from physical products to cloud UCaaS platforms. Partners require help with strategically important deals and they also want to be able to self-serve for support. We’ve seen channel partnerships fail because resellers demand UCaaS platforms that are truly reliable, scalable and flexible. If they don’t receive these benefits, they move to a different provider. Within the channel, both the reseller and provider must benefit from the partnership through shared visions and objectives. The partnership will be successful if the provider continuously innovates to move with the market and changing end user needs. It is also important for the provider to be a true partner and bridge any gaps in the reseller’s capabilities. 

JAY BALL,
CEO, FLOTEK

We value vendor partners that are channel-focused, listen and act on feedback for innovation, and prioritise training for our team. We’ve prioritised winning more business over vendor loyalty by focusing on vendors who deliver better products and commercials. Vendors could add more support by listening to partners who engage with end users daily, supporting them to achieve greater success together. We regularly address market gaps or underperforming vendors. Vendor relationships drive our success, therefore average products and slow adaptation to demand is no longer enough for the growth we need.

GRAEME GORDON,
CEO, IFB

Having a responsive partner who understands that we work in days not weeks or months is critical. It’s good for business, reputation, trust and confidence for all involved. The key providers we use are all the same, there is little differentiation in terms of services and service. This is because the technology and platforms used to support us are all about the same, cloud-based ERP/CRM customer-facing portals and APIs and applications have levelled the playing field. Vendors should train and retain staff in the art and profession of selling and relationship building. Reviewing vendors is a constant for us because we seek better ways of doing what we need to do, and learning from the supply chain is a great way of breaking out of our own echo chamber.

SOHIN RAITHATHA,
CEO, REDSQUID

Industry partnerships are evolving and we value trust, flexibility and innovation. We regularly review our tech portfolio and supplier partnerships to keep us ready to explore new opportunities, especially as we expand into new sectors and services. Customer needs continue to evolve, and a positive partnership helps us stay at the forefront of trends like cloud migration and AI, ensuring our partners benefit from upgraded technology and increased productivity.

GREG EASTON,
HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, TOLLRING

Partners require assistance in training sales and pre-sales staff to identify customer opportunities and then help customers to realise the full value of these solutions. Resellers should partner with vendors who stay current on technology and align with them on market opportunities and strategy. It is then a vendor’s responsibility to provide strong sales enablement to motivate and inform sales teams.