I came across this great LinkedIn post by Jay McBain from Forrester and Gary Morris from Successful Channels reflecting the seismic shift that is happening in the Tech Channel globally.
Jay and Gary explain that a Shadow Channel has been forming alongside the one that Enterprise Vendors and Distributors recognise from 5 or 10 years ago.
I would argue that it has actually emerged from the shadows in the UK!
Some of the biggest influencers of tech spend are completely unknown by traditional Distributors. Here in Liverpool, they have mostly come from a Marketing or Creative background. They are multi-million pound companies with a really impressive client list and yet you won’t find them on any recruitment list.
Savvy Channel Execs are looking to engage these emerging players. However, buying “Lists” it’s likely to prove unsuccessful as most of them won’t have Tech SIC (Industry Classification) Codes. Platforms like IQBlade use other methodologies to find, analyse and engage them.
Business leaders are clearly looking for full-service solutions and are putting together the resources and teams to make it happen. They are increasingly relying on a new set of influencers or “shadow channels”:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rip-platinum-gold-silver-part
