Best Practices In B2B Tech Partner Portfolio Management

In the murky, maturing technology industry, vendor partner programs are in a state of constant flux and are difficult to control and align with corporate strategy. Only now are vendors beginning to take control of their programs and manage them strategically and top-down instead of tactically and bottom-up. In recent research, Forrester uncovered a series of best practices in vendor partner portfolio management programs to illustrate how these challenges are being addressed. Examples include Cisco's value-based incentive programs, IBM Software's high-flyer ISV program, and Microsoft's partner positioning Web sites. Technology vendors can take advantage of these best practices to reconfigure existing partner portfolios to the desired state: fully aligned to corporate strategy, under continuous improvement, and including only those partners that generate sales success for the vendor in its chosen indirect markets.