The Move From Agents to Strategic Advisors
The traditional role of the agent is continually transforming. Channel partners are now expected to be true advisors rather than resell partners, bringing their customers strategic insight, technical expertise, and long-term business value. It’s not just about sourcing technology anymore—it’s about executing strategy and achieving outcomes.
Successful advisors now build practice areas (e.g., cybersecurity, AI, connectivity) and support the entire customer lifecycle—from design to implementation to optimization.
Accenture’s, B2B Buying Study stated that 70% of buyers want partners who understand their business and offer consultative guidance. It has never been more important for partners to deliver on this value.
AI Services are Needed
From cybersecurity to contact centers, AI is shifting from hype to hands-on value. Anurag Agrawal, Chief Global Analyst at Techisle, says partners must adopt AI internally (i.e., eat your own dog food) before building AI-powered services for clients. Those partners who embrace AI internally and understand the shift in the services model are best set to thrive. Those who fail to adapt risk becoming the next Blockbuster.
Beyond offering AI tools, leading partners re-architect how they sell, support, and deliver services—making AI integral to their business models. Cato Networks, Dialpad, and Fortinet shared how AI enhances threat detection, automates customer support, and proactively monitors environments.
According to the latest Salesforce State of IT Report, 84% of CIOs believe AI will significantly improve business outcomes, yet only 11% feel they’ve adopted it effectively. This is a HUGE channel opportunity.
Addie Finch, VP of Channels, Cato Networks, commented, “We’re moving into the third generation of cybersecurity. AI is helping MSPs consolidate services, reduce complexity, and unlock new growth models.”
Still not convinced AI is for you? Canalys predicted the Agentic AI market will reach $7bn by 2025, and over $5bn will be driven through the channel.
Data Is the New Differentiator
Top-performing TSDs (Technology Services Distributors) and partners use data science teams and customer insights to drive cross-sell, upsell, and smarter engagement. The bottom line? Data-driven partners outperform. Whether through customer behavior analytics, usage patterns, or sales insights, data enables smarter decision-making and better customer engagement.
Advisors use predictive models to see where cross-sell opportunities lie before the customer asks. This is the utopia of data insights and marries with Forrester’s Partner Ecosystem Trends, which states that 71% of channel partners increased analytics usage in 2024 to better understand customer needs.
Forget About the Transaction; Focus on Services
According to Anurag Agrawal, Chief Analyst at Techaisle, 59% of new business is coming through services for partners.
See CallTowers’ latest acquisition of Inoria. They have added SIGNIFICANT services expertise to their proposition and are offering partners commission on that opportunity.
However, outliers still exist in the resell market. Softcat, the most prominent IT reseller in the UK, announced a remarkable 19% year-over-year increase in gross revenue, reaching £1.5 billion for the six months ending January 31. This marks the company’s strongest first-half performance since 2022, primarily fueled by product resale despite persistent market challenges.
Software and cybersecurity are driving Softcat’s growth in software resale, which surged 23% year-over-year and now represents 63% of total revenue. On the hardware side, infrastructure components like networking, servers, and storage climbed 19%, although PC sales continue to lag. Not bad given the UK’s sub 1% GDP growth over the past year.
Complexity = Opportunity (If You Know How to Navigate It)
With 5-7 technology partners involved in a typical deal, complexity is the new norm. TSDs and top advisors win by simplifying vendor sprawl, bundling solutions, and acting as orchestrators across the customer lifecycle.
The roles of “practice leads” and multidisciplinary sales teams will become increasingly important. This aligns with the growth of solution selling vs. product selling. Advisors who can simplify procurement and integration will win customer loyalty.
Scott Evars, Co-Founder of Bridgepointe Technologies, said, “The magic happens when you look like a consulting firm, not a product catalog.”
Demand Generation Is a Shared Responsibility
Lead generation shouldn’t just come from vendors or TSDs—advisors must own their own brand and take steps to gain visibility. The most successful partners treat demand generation as a core business competency, supported by but not reliant on distributors.
IDC agrees. In their 2024 Channel Trends Report, they stated that scaling partners generate 70% of their new revenue from services they market themselves. In the channel, a few scaling partners are getting this right… which means there are more static partners not investing in their brand enough.
Future-Proofing Means Thinking Beyond Tech
It’s not just about UCaaS or CCaaS—it’s about how tech empowers better employee and customer experiences. Buyers want partners who simplify complexity, tell compelling stories, and deliver measurable business outcomes.
Healthcare and finance CIOs on stage emphasized the need for storytelling, solution framing, and avoiding tech jargon. What matters is how UCaaS, AI, or SD-WAN drives business value—not the tech spec sheet.
Ecosystem Collaboration Is Non-Negotiable
In today’s hyper-connected market, no partner can do it all alone. The best growth stories are being written by those who co-sell, co-market, and co-innovate with other ecosystem players—vendors, SIs, ISVs, and peers.
“We need partners with deep domain expertise in retail, healthcare, and logistics. That’s how AI becomes real.” — George Fischer, T-Mobile for Business.
The Buyer Is Changing
Whether it’s Gen Z employees, AI-native users, or digitally empowered patients, today’s buyers are different. They expect frictionless experiences, omnichannel access, and partners who understand their world, not just the tech behind it.
Buyers are tired of cold calls and templated pitches. What wins today? Avoid one-size-fits-all sales tactics and stay relevant. Do your research and speak in your client’s language. Frame solutions through their industry, their pain points, and their business goals—not acronyms.
Gary Sorrentino, Global CIO, Zoom, probably put it best.”If you show up to sell me SKUs and acronyms, don’t even come to the building. If I have to rewrite your deck to present it internally, we’re done.”
Wrap-up
Channel Partners are always a great litmus test for the market as a whole. In 2025, it became clear that partners that can unify tech and data and play an advisory role are in a great position to understand value-driven experiences and ultimately win. With new technologies like AI hitting the workplace, the channel needs to understand how to leverage the technology in their chosen verticals and help customers solve their adoption challenges.
There are market concerns surrounding the Trump Tariffs, which shortly come into effect and are impacting PC sales in a year which should be a growth year (the 4-year refresh cycle since Covid). We looked deeper into how they might affect the UC market here. However, in a market which is seeing significant tech spend across the board the channel must adapt once again to what is in front of them.
As Craig Walker, Dialpad’s CEO, put it, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
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