Jay McBain: Top 5 Ecosystem Plays for 2024

Channel Journeys Podcast

We have entered the ecosystem economy where partners are critical for growth and resilience. Direct sales are suffering losses. Yet despite all the headwinds, partner confidence is high. Partners are hiring and almost two-thirds of partners are looking at revenue and profit growth. What is going on? Find out in this interview with Jay McBain, channel influencer and Chief Analyst at the technology channel analysis firm, Canalys. Jay shares his partner ecosystem predictions and more importantly, how you can position yourself to leverage the partner ecosystem in 2024.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Here are five things you can do in 2024 to grow your business in the ecosystem economy.

1. Develop your Services Multiplier. Partners are looking at the services multiplier; how much more can they make delivering services on the software you’re offering. Find out what your service multiplier is and what enablement your partners need to increase that multiplier.
2. Surround your buyers. To select vendors, customers rely on friends, eBooks, trade events and associations, and trusted partners who will likely have nothing to do with the transaction. Have an intentional strategy to make sure they’re endorsing your solutions during the 28 non-transactional moments in the buyer journey leading up to the point of sale.
3. Reimagine your Partner Program. The market value of resell has been dramatically lowered by Marketplaces who have now set the market rate at only 3%. If you haven’t already, you should be migrating your partner program to a points system that rewards partners for their contribution, rewarding their impact on post-sale success as much or more than point-of-sale success.
4. Catch your share on digital Marketplace. Customers are sitting on $303 Billion in future commitments to the hyperscaler marketplaces. Get your products on these marketplaces and develop your co-sell muscle to get your share of those enterprise credits.
5. Embrace the new age buyer. By the end of 2024, the majority of technology buyers will be millennials. And the average SaaS deal will have 7 layers, meaning 7 different vendor solutions. Learn how to sell to these buyers who are heavily influenced by brand reputation, available integrations, and an ecosystem team approach.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Connect with Jay on LinkedIn
• Read about the Strength in Partner Confidence going into 2024
• Listen to the McKinsey Company podcast on Strategies to win in the new ecosystem economy
• Get McKinsey’s take on Growth and resilience through ecosystem building
• Find out How to Turbocharge Your Channel Career
• Sign up for ImpartnerCon’24
• Try Impartner Partner Management

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