This body of vendor-focused research contains a broad assortment of reflections on the challenges, priorities, metrics and investments of technology vendors as they attempt to invest and go to market with and through various indirect channels. In an unprecedented response of 100 unique vendors globally, our respondents this year reflect not bullish, unbridled growth but a refreshing optimism on the impact and strategic value of partners.

1. A Year for Sales
Training and People
Executive Summary
Amazon Consulting 2011 1
Elevate the Impact of Your Partners
The only company that takes a holistic approach to designing,
implementing and automating partner models to increase awareness
and sales
Based in Mountain View, CA
• Boston, Florida, Portland
• London, Dubia, Singapore
Founded in 1998
• 14th year of business
• Over 300 satisfied clients
Variety of partner types
• System integrators
• Solution providers
• Alliances
• Distributors
• Retail
• Developers
• OEMs
• Cloud
Amazon Consulting 2011 2

2. Research Overview
 5th Annual Study
 100 unique vendors responding
 heavy software orientation
 larger organizations (>$1b)
 34% outside of N. America
 Global perspective (51%)
 Broad array of plans and priorities
Amazon Consulting 2011 3
What Continues? What’s New?
 Increased focus on
 Resellers are still Service Providers and
ures
primary focus
engage  Q lit vs. quantity; no
MSPs
rtner program structu
Quality tit  Cloud engagement
widespread recruitment models emerge
 Big focus on enablement  Priority of sales training
 Clarifying services and certification
enable engagement models  Sharing of services IP
Global par
Focus on business  Planning to drive
planning profitability
evaluate High ROI expectations for  Investment in high-touch
partnering investment partner-facing staff
Amazon Consulting 2011 4

3. Resellers Are Still Most Strategic Partner Type
MSPs and service providers growing in importance
2011 2010
Resellers
Systems Integrators (regional or global)
MSPs
Service Providers/Carriers
ISVs (including Saas developers)
Influencers/Consultants
Corporate resellers (large account resellers)
OEMs
Direct marketers (DMRs)
Training partners (creating curriculum and/or
delivering training)
Which partner segments are most strategic to your company’s partnering efforts in 2011?
Amazon Consulting 2011 5
Service Providers and Carriers
Vendors are actively engaging these partner types
Existing partner type, we will continue to
recruit and enable
Not applicable to our partnering model
Big focus for us, we will actively engage and
recruit them
Not strategic to our partner segmentation, we will
continue to be handled opportunistically
Handled as a customer (sell-in), we are
transitioning to be managed as a partner
segment
Describe the positioning of Service Providers/Carriers to your partnering program in 2011?
Amazon Consulting 2011 6

4. SaaS/Cloud
Nearly half plan on exclusively leveraging partners
Sell tech. to partner to build
p
their own services; no direct
services
Direct cloud service, with
partners as agents or brokers
Direct cloud service, with
p
partners as resellers
Still formulating our cloud
partner strategy
What is your company's position on offering IT as a service or cloud-related services in 2011?
Amazon Consulting 2011 7
Overall Priorities – 5 Year Trends
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
1. Partner 1. Partner 1. Delivering 1. Increase 1. Increasing
Recruitment enablement sales & sales sales
2. Building a 2. Ease of technical competency competency
global doing training 2. Recruiting 2. Partners
partner business 2. Value- partners to investing in
program 3. Profiling of based fill market build solutions
3. Overhaul of partners programs gaps 3. Being easier to
main 3. Ease of 3. Increase do business
channel doing technical with
program business competency
Amazon Consulting 2011 8

5. Skills Improvement
Pre-sales prospecting skills and selling to LOB
Doing effective pre-sales discovery
Understanding needs and selling value to
line-of-business decision makers
Developing a vertical solution or vertical
selling approach to key industries
Enhancing technical skills with some
deeper product technical specialization
Selling and marketing an annuity-based
service based on our technology
Enhancing post-sales professional
services delivery
Where do you feel your channel partners have the greatest areas for skills improvement in 2011?
Amazon Consulting 2011 9
Holistic Partner Enablement
Marketing skills
Partner Self-Sufficiency
Service delivery skills
Industry expertise
Technical skills
S
Sales/prospecting skills
Business Acumen
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6. Partner Profitability Plans
Focus on business planning and lead generation
Engaging in business planning - build new or
more profitable services
Doing more lead generation for/with partners
Offering new services for partners to sell or
deliver
Offering more performance incentives (front
or back-end)
2011
Simplifying our programs or reduce
administrative costs 2010
Streamlining our training and certification
EODB
programs
Reducing the number of partners - more
exclusive selling regions for our top partners
Working to eliminate P2P channel conflict
What are your major plans in the area of partner profitability for 2011? (check top three)
Amazon Consulting 2011 11
Professional Services Engagement
Sharing of services IP and co-selling to mentor continue to be prioritized
Partners as
sales agents
Co-sell and
co-delivery
Sharing of
IP; partners
deliver
Partners sell
and prime
2009 2010 2011
Amazon Consulting 2011 12

7. Partner Coverage Model
Increase in field-based sales, technical SE resources
Add field partner reps
Add bz. dev. reps for business planning &
enablement
Add SE's to work with on deal support &
architecting solution
Add phone partner reps
Change coverage ratios (+/-)
Add phone-based help desk to support program
What changes are you planning to make in 2011 to your partner coverage model?
Amazon Consulting 2011 13
Return on Investment
Partner mgmt. staff, discounts and deal registration return highest ROI
Partner facing staff
Reselling discounts
Deal registration incentives
Market development funds
Performance incentives and rebates
Subsidized sales/technical training
Funded headcount
at the partner / distributor
Channel financing programs
Which of these various partnering financial investments gave you the greatest ROI in 2010? (choose top four)
Amazon Consulting 2011 14

8. Declare Your Cloud Strategy NOW
Develop a clear vision and engagement model to motivate partner
investment
Do Real Planning, Not Profiling
Create a collaborative process with mutual accountability
Holistically Enable Partners
Create a scorecard to measure and advance overall skills: business
acumen sales, marketing, technical, services and solution development
Radical Simplification
Audit
A dit program complexity t understand specific bottleneck processes
l it to d t d ifi b ttl k
Optimize Partner Support
Assess spend across all options: discount, enablement and support
Amazon Consulting 2011 15
Research Background
We had a record-breaking 100 unique vendors respond to this year’s study. Their profiles in aggregate are detailed below:
Annual Revenues Geography Focus Product Mix
The Complete Report
This eBook encapsulates an Executive Summary of the findings from this research. The complete report is available for free to all
subscribers to the Amazon Consulting PartnerG2 market intelligence subscription service. Visit the Amazon Consulting Resource
Center at www.amazonconsulting.com for full details.
Established in 1997, Amazon Consulting, LLC, (Mountain View, CA) increases the impact of partnering by designing, implementing
and automating effective partner models. Amazon Consulting’s clients entrust them to formulate growth strategies, build route-to-
market models, perform competitive benchmarks, design partner programs, facilitate partner advisory councils, and provide
temporary experts for project management and program execution. For clients looking to optimize the partner relationships and
improve organizational efficiencies, Amazon Consulting offers PartnerPath, a modular partner management automation system.
For more details visit us at www.amazonconsulting.com.
Amazon Consulting 2011 16
16

9. Channels and Alliance Intelligence Service
Research, Analysis, Tools and Expert Advice
To Guide Your Partnering Success
Sample Topics and Tools in the PartnerG2 Library
Exclusive
Primary Research • Partner Collaboration and the Impact of Social Media
studies based on critical • Training and Certification Investment ROI
partnering topics - today’s
• Innovative Partner Segmentation & Business Models
and tomorrow’s
• Effective Multi-channel Strategies
• Optimizing Go-to-Market Models
Thought Leadership
Briefs • The IT Talent Shortage & the Impact on Channels
Best practices and • Global Partner Program Models
partnering trends • Partner Training & Enablement Strategies
• Two-tier Distribution Models & Service Trends
• SI Management: Best Practices
The Complete Library
• Managing Channel Conflict
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templates and thought • Three Stages of Partner Development
leadership materials • Standard contract templates
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