In a previous incarnation, Art Wittmann and I ran a world-class IT research operation that published dozens of original surveys every year. We saw firsthand how IT professionals used data to nudge their companies along — showing decision-makers that 60 percent of more than 530 peers see an infected personal device connecting to the corporate network as the No. 1 endpoint danger has a way of focusing the mind. Maybe it is time to rein in that Wild West BYOD program after all.

Fascinating as the channel beat is, I miss digging into original data. So when 451 Research approached us about a partnership, just before Cloud Partners, we jumped at the opportunity. Now I’m pleased to call the partnership between Channel Partners and the 451 Global Digital Infrastructure Alliance, a division of 451 Research, officially launched.

Up first: Exclusive research on cloud-adoption trends based on responses by 1,449 members of the Global Digital Infrastructure Alliance. The report offers insights on overall spending, the percentage of applications and workloads shifting to the cloud, use of on- and off-premises cloud environments and more. When you click “download,” you’ll be invited to join the 451 Alliance, a members-only think tank driven by a worldwide network of technology professionals — now including our Channel Partners community.

What’s in it for you?

Registering for the 451 Alliance – it’s free – gets you weekly research reports, a bi-weekly newsletter and unlimited access to a wealth of archived reports on data center, cloud computing, information security, storage and more — the topics your customers are focused on. In return, we ask that you or an SME on your team take part in one short survey per month in a core area of expertise. You’ll be joining the conversation and shaping strategy for Alliance members. And, you can discuss what’s really going on in the market, backed up by some hard numbers.

Say a customer asks what IT services are being moved to the cloud and what’s staying in house. You could share anecdotes or data supplied by cloud vendors. Or, you could cite 451 Alliance research showing that the workloads most likely to be shifted to the cloud over the next two years are application development (33 percent currently vs. 57 percent in two years), media streaming and digital publishing (40 percent currently vs. 63 percent in two years) and database and data warehousing (33 percent currently vs. 55 percent in two years).

Stack a pile of white papers and product specs up against a chart showing exactly what peers and rivals are doing in the market, and see which one shakes loose budget first.

Interested? Apply here or click on over to www.451alliance.com/channelpartners.

If not, you’re still invited to download the report on corporate cloud trends. And check back often — we’ll be sharing three or more new reports every quarter. You’ll also see 451 analysts quoted in our news and trends stories, and you can meet up with Alliance representatives at the 2016 Channel Partners Conference and Expo.

We want your feedback on this partnership. What reports will be most helpful for your business? Want to get more involved? Interested in speaking with an analyst? Drop me a line with your thoughts, and I’ll send you back a report covering 451’s take on the Dell/EMC deal.

Follow editor in chief @LornaGarey on Twitter.