Canalys Channel Leadership Matrix Names AWS, Cisco, HP Among 'Champions'

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco and Palo Alto Networks are among eight vendors that have achieved "Champion" status in the inaugural 2024 Canalys North America Titans Channel Leadership Matrix.

The full Channel Leadership Matrices for North America, APAC and EMEA are available here.

The Canalys North America Titans Channel Leadership Matrix considers the channel performance of vendors with at least $12 billion in global sales, with over 25% delivered through partners, or between $2 billion and $12 billion in global sales, with over 50% delivered through partners. The Matrix assesses both current channel management performance in North America and expected future momentum with partners.

Champions demonstrate the highest levels of excellence compared with their industry peers, as rated by a senior panel of Canalys analysts, and drawing on channel partner feedback in the Canalys Vendor Benchmark. This year’s Matrix also places a greater emphasis on vendors’ sustainability strategies and execution with partners.

Alex Smith, vice president of channels at Canalys, said there are a lot of vendors that are contributing to the global partner economy.

Canalys' Alex Smith

“The Leadership Matrix highlights a small number of companies that are driving big portions of this economy across a wide range of technologies,” he said. “While these are the companies that many partners build their businesses off of, there is another layer of technology companies across the industry that are also vying for their partnerships. Secondly, this is a reminder that technology companies need to compete at three layers – the technology layer, the customer mindshare layer and the partner mindshare layer. Vendors that succeed in all three have the best chance of winning in the market.”

The channel ecosystem accounts for 73% of total IT business globally, growing year over year, according to Canalys. Vendor success increasingly is dependent on the ability to support a complex partner ecosystem, which reflects rapidly evolving routes to market, the adoption of new delivery and consumption models, and the need to support partners across technology life cycles. This requires partner programs that reflect the broadening span of the partner model, supporting partner profitability in the face of macroeconomic challenges, and investments in enablement to ensure partners have the skills to meet new customer demands.

Leadership Matrix Qualifications

Champions demonstrate some consistent characteristics, including positive partner sentiment, a commitment to improving ease of doing business, a willingness to boost growth opportunities and increase profitability for partners, and a commitment to growing the share of revenue generated through and with the channel, Canalys said. Champions are thought and innovation leaders in the channel.

Other vendors are classified as Contenders (high leadership ratings in the areas assessed, but either yet to capitalize fully on channel opportunities, or have been outpaced by competitors or peers), Scalers (improvements in channel management and performance, but yet to achieve the highest levels of consistency in channel excellence) or Foundation vendors, which have the lowest ratings and have also suffered a deterioration in partner sentiment over the last 12 months.

“Some vendors may have had a down year from an execution standpoint, but have made the necessary changes that are starting to or will bear fruit in the future,” said Rodney Hur, Canalys research analyst. “Others are in the opposite position. What’s important to note is that vendors need to continue to invest in programs, relationships and people to stay at the forefront of partner minds because there is always another company out there looking to get more mindshare from this shared ecosystem."

Canalys' Rodney Hur

Scroll through our slideshow above to see who achieved Champion status in the Canalys North America Titans Channel Leadership Matrix and more.