Help for Vendors to Manage the Channel

The old 80/20 rule – you know, 20 percent of your business produces 80 percent of your revenue – seems like one of the IT channel’s laws of nature. As sure as rivers flow to the sea, most IT vendors commit the majority of their budget, resources and focus to the 15 to 20 percent of partners that drive the most revenue. These are the relationships with the greatest vendor engagement – strong channel programs, training and education platforms, industry insight, peer-to-peer events, and so on.

Meanwhile, engaging the 80 percent of their partner base that drives smaller revenue streams always has been more challenging – and less lucrative. The channel is awash in the constant ebb and flow of smaller companies, a steady stream of start-ups, upstarts and business reinvention that can erode vendor and brand loyalty over time like current carves river banks and reshapes sandbars. Especially during these recent tough economic times, establishing strong and profitable relationships with the 80 that prosper like the 20 has seemed just as unmanageable as riding roaring rapids.

Listen to our podcast on how IT vendors and distributors can maximize free CompTIA resources to help bring that 80 percent into the fold.

[podcast]http://www.comptia.org/media/voicesofit.mp3[/podcast]