Introducing Forrester's Vendor Partner Positioning Review

Technology vendors describe themselves in different ways across multiple channels, but their real position — and value — is defined by the perceptions of decision-makers across customers' and prospects' IT and business organizations. Vendors generate — or lose — this perceived value according to how clearly and tangibly strategists and marketers articulate the business value that their solutions generate. Forrester's new vendor partner positioning review (VPPR) methodology complements the vendor positioning review (VPR) and gives vendor strategists a tool for assessing their corporate and partner positioning via 17 criteria designed to reflect buyers' needs and business objectives. Strategists should conduct their own VPPR analysis of their partner marketing materials to ensure that their messaging is not just descriptive of their solution but is compelling to the combination of enterprise buyers that they must engage. The two important aspects of partner positioning are: 1) partner segmentation, by industry, geography, and/or solutions area; and 2) partner presentation in a taxonomy that is intuitive to all prospective stakeholders.