IT Partner Programs Must Evolve to Meet Market Demands

By Schneider Electric Guest Blogger

The IT channel is a diverse ecosystem of companies with different skills and competencies serving an even more diverse customer base. Specialization for years has been a top priority for a preponderance of channel partners, but recently we’ve seen partners adopt a more comprehensive model by bringing different competencies – systems integration, managed services, software development, and hardware sales and service – under one roof. That’s why IT partner programs, which support IT solution providers, need to also evolve to mirror market demands.

The Evolving IT Market

The move is an attempt to adapt to evolving customer needs. The relentless pace of technology adoption has steered customers and providers down new paths shaped by the availability of advanced solutions in areas such as the internet of things (IoT), the convergence of IT and operational technology (OT), artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and edge computing.

Partners have had to adjust their roles and take on new competencies to serve customers in these areas; hence, the trend toward a more comprehensive business model. Adding competencies, whether organically or through acquisition, enables partners to widen their value proposition for customers. It’s no longer enough to just resell solutions.

Increasingly, customer engagement is a long-term affair. Partners stay connected with customers through service contracts to protect, update and continually optimize their environments. And those environments are getting more complex, combining on-premises assets with multiple clouds and fast-expanding edge networks that support real-time data collection and analysis.

To best serve customers in this evolving IT world, partners need the support of vendors that understand their needs and challenges. With vendor support through IT partner programs, IT solution providers are better able to take a consultative approach, addressing customer goals and pain points to plan and deliver the right solution. Vendors that focus only on selling aren’t likely to serve partners well.

New IT Partner Program Considerations

So, what should providers look for when choosing a partner program? In a competitive, evolving market, IT solution providers need vendors with partner programs that give them a competitive edge. For instance, they need access to service and software options to keep up with evolving customer needs for remote monitoring and visibility into distributed environments.

An Evolved IT Partner Program

For those shopping for a new partner program, I have good news. Recently, we revamped Schneider Electric’s partner program, and it checks all the above boxes. This decision stemmed from extensive research and understanding of what IT solution providers need in this dynamic market. We kept what worked well but made big improvements to better fit the needs of IT solution providers.

The new mySchneider IT Partner Program is designed to be an enabler to the IT solution provider’s growth and success by offering solutions and services that match the market, delivering the assistance IT solution providers need to serve customers and grow the business over various geographies and verticals. As we roll out this new program, we look forward to hearing from you.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.