Faces of the Partner: 5 Technology Advisor Firms Scaling, Pivoting

Leading partners in the technology advisor channel are working to build teams, expand their market visibility and provide deeper services to their customers.

Channel Futures in May commenced a series on the shifting demographics of the channel titled “Faces of the Partner.” The series currently focuses on the technology advisor community. These partners, colloquially known as agents, source vendor-managed, as-a-service,  offerings to their customers and earn a residual income from supplier referrals. First we read about new technology advisors who have arrived on the scene in the last two years. Then the spotlight shone on partners who chose to sell their business, retire or transition in some other way.

Now Channel Futures is focusing on the agents who are in the prime of their careers. They’re no longer newcomers, but they aren’t leaving any time soon. These companies have moved past the struggle to establish their base of recurring revenue and are eyeing ways to scale. Many of them have reached the conclusion that in order to scale, they must build teams.

Staff expansion looks different for each of these partners. Some of them are making a push in marketing. Others are investing more in their sales teams. For others, it’s all about the backend, with hires in operations and account management.

Some of these partners differ strikingly from one another. One can see that in how they brand themselves to the end user. A couple describe themselves to customers as technology advisors. One takes the consultant moniker. Another calls itself a telecom department as a service provider.

There’s also diversity in the types of technology these partners view as their specialization, from POTS replacement to contact center to cybersecurity to AI.

But despite their differences, these partners also registered similar pain points. Getting on the same page with vendors, both in pre-sales and post-sales, represents an ever-present problem for many partners. And the investment many partners are making in building their own operations teams represents the professional services gaps that exist between them and their increasingly rationalized vendor partners.

To get the full picture on these partners and the challenges they face, read about them in the five images above.

Or check out the article on new technology advisors and retiring technology advisors.