Channel Leaders
Tech giants post record revenue while cutting jobs significantly
The tech industry is experiencing a notable corporate paradox: the largest suppliers are posting record revenue and profits while simultaneously making significant layoffs to fund massive infrastructure investments. Omdia's latest report shows that the combined quarterly revenue of 18 tech giants rose 28.3% year-over-year to $694 billion, with net profit up 64% to $234 billion, but they cut 58,000 jobs during the same period.
Channel vendors face customer account management challenges
IT and telecom vendors grow customers through partnerships, but customer retention faces challenges. Channel partners report that vendor direct sales teams bypass technical advisors (TAs) during renewals, and cutting support staff degrades customer experience. Industry experts call for stronger alignment between account management and partners.
Microsoft licensing model changes spark channel battle for mid-market
Microsoft's E7 365 suite launched at $99 per user per month, but economic uncertainty makes customers cost-sensitive, and large value-added resellers (VARs) and licensing solution providers (LSPs) are actively vying for small and medium-sized business (SMB) and mid-market share, triggering channel conflict.
Dell Adjusts AI Partner Program, Strengthens System Integrator Incentives
At its annual conference, Dell announced a reshaping of its partner program, aiming to incentivize system integrators and consulting firms through closer collaboration and an AI-driven platform to drive AI solution sales. New policies include premium rebates on select products starting in August and recognition of system integrators' roles in multi-party transactions.
High-Growth MSPs No Longer Measure Success by Tickets
New-generation MSP leaders such as Paco Lebron and Antwine Jackson believe that the traditional ticket-centric operational model can no longer meet customer needs. They emphasize achieving scalable growth by empowering teams, integrating automation tools, and focusing on business outcomes. Industry data shows that the managed services market will grow from $430 billion in 2026 to $704 billion in 2031, with an average annual growth rate of 12%.
Cognizant acquires Astreya to strengthen AI builder strategy
Cognizant announced on Wednesday the acquisition of Astreya, aiming to deepen its AI-first managed services capabilities. Astreya has 25 years of data center management experience, a proprietary AI operations platform, and partnerships with six major cloud giants. The deal is expected to close in Q2, with the amount not publicly disclosed.
Kaseya Launches Agentic AI Support Platform for MSPs
Kaseya announced on Tuesday the launch of an agentic IT management and security platform, trained on over 1 billion service desk tickets, 3 exabytes of backup data, and 17 million managed endpoints. It can autonomously perform ticket triage, threat containment, backup verification, and service desk optimization. The platform is now available to Datto Autotask Ultimate subscribers and is embedded in Kaseya's hybrid cloud cyber resilience portal and SIEM solution. This launch comes less than a year after new CEO Rania Succar took office, and the company recently opened a Silicon Valley R&D center to accelerate AI innovation.
The Next Growth Engine for Channels Is No Longer Products, but Outcome Delivery in the AI Era
The traditional product-driven model for channels is facing bottlenecks. As AI amplifies complexity, enterprise customers are no longer satisfied with purchasing more tools but need a single responsible partner that can integrate data, govern workflows, ensure security, and scale AI operations. IDC predicts global public cloud spending will exceed $1 trillion by 2026, while data from McKinsey and IBM shows most enterprises are still in the AI experimentation phase, with a clear execution gap. Omdia expects the enterprise agentic AI software market to surge from $1.5 billion in 2025 to $41.8 billion by 2030. The future of channels lies in providing 'outcome-oriented' solutions rather than mere product stacking.
AI is easing the burden on channel marketing: from content personalization to go-to-market planning
The complexity of channel marketing has long troubled brands and partners. At the Channel Marketing Association annual summit, Structured CEO Stacey Epstein, ServiceNow Global Partner Marketing Director Maisa Fernandez, and Microsoft Global Partner Marketing General Manager Colleen Tyler agreed that AI can significantly reduce process friction, but security risks and human trust cannot be overlooked.
Microsoft adjusts partner ecosystem, promotes AI and agent-based Microsoft 365 bundled solutions
In preparation for the May 1 launch of Microsoft 365 E7 and Microsoft Agent 365, Microsoft is adjusting its partner ecosystem, adding new specialty certifications, and updating distributor standards to help partners better sell AI and agent-based bundled solutions.