The number of tech vendors looking to develop channel partner relationships or to increase their partner wallet share is on the rise. Yet the growth in the number of channel companies is just not keeping pace; in fact, it is in decline. Thus, channel partners are becoming more discriminating and more fickle; and the laws of supply and demand dictate that channel investment levels need to increase to account for what is competition over a constrained resource. Channel marketers may be initially inclined to throw more financial incentives at channel partners, but channel partners indicate that it's increasingly the relationship elements of tech vendors' channel programs that keep their fires lit.