Channel Priorities in a Service-Led Era: From Products to Outcomes

The UK channel is undergoing a major transition. The traditional CapEx-driven approach, focused on product shipments and licence sales, is giving way to a service-first model. Customers now seek agility, resilience, and scalability, rather than a collection of disparate products.

For partners, this shift requires more than a new business model. They must assess sales processes, address gaps in problem-solving, and train teams to prioritise customer outcomes over transactions. Adapting to this model is essential for continued relevance.

Service Neutrality Redefines the Rules

Compensation is the first area of change. Traditional incentives favoured CapEx-driven, one-time sales. Now, leading partners are revising incentive structures and working with stakeholders to introduce service-neutral rewards that align seller incentives with customer preferences, whether OpEx, on-prem CapEx, or hybrid models.

This change enables sales teams to prioritise the best solutions for customers, not just the most profitable ones. It represents a cultural reset, placing trust and long-term value at the core of partner–customer relationships.

The priority is clear: align incentives with customer outcomes. By linking compensation to customer success metrics instead of product preferences, partners can build credibility and foster strategic relationships. This approach enhances transparency and positions partners as trusted advisors in a trust-driven market.

Cyber Resiliency Moves Centre Stage

Given the recent spate of cyber attacks, resiliency has become non-negotiable. Customers no longer see security, backup, disaster recovery, and compliance as disconnected categories. They see them as inseparable pillars of business continuity.

But delivering that in practice isn’t straightforward. Partners should map required technology integrations, vet potential providers, and design unified processes and service agreements that provide customers with comprehensive, reliable, and easy-to-consume solutions.

Resiliency must now be embedded into every service offering. Customers increasingly expect security, recovery, and compliance to be delivered as a unified outcome, and partners must rethink how these elements are packaged and managed. Ultimately, resiliency becomes a value proposition that differentiates partners who can deliver peace of mind alongside performance.

Cyber resiliency delivered as a managed, outcome-based service is fast becoming table stakes. Those who can offer it as part of an integrated portfolio will not just add value, but become indispensable.

The Complexity Challenge

The biggest pressure point facing IT teams is integration. They want simplicity, but solutions often deliver complexity. Partners must bridge this gap.

Our latest global study of more than 800 senior IT leaders reveals that most are grappling with increasing complexity in cyber recovery planning. Partners must step in to simplify this challenge, not with a single silver-bullet solution, but by orchestrating multiple offerings into a seamless, unified experience that eliminates complexity for customers.

This is where simplicity becomes a competitive advantage. Customers are less interested in the underlying architecture and more focused on seamless experiences. Whether it’s connecting cloud platforms, streamlining data flows, or harmonising user interfaces, the ability to simplify complexity is what will set partners apart.

In this environment, the role of the partner evolves from implementer to orchestrator, curating ecosystems that work together effortlessly to drive business value. Success isn’t about controlling every element or owning every product; it’s about creating the optimal mix, managing interoperability, and being accountable for the results. That’s how trust is built, and trust is what today’s customers value most.

The Next Phase

The way forward isn’t about abandoning CapEx models altogether. It’s about balance. The channel of the future is defined by flexibility, neutrality, and above all, outcomes.

For partners, the opportunity is as significant as the challenge. Those who evolve quickly by integrating services, rethinking incentives, embedding resiliency, and building trust through simplicity will set the pace in this service-first era.