In 2024, the IT services channel experienced massive disruption. As Jay McBain, chief analyst at research firm Canalys explained on LinkedIn, from sea change in the managed services software market to the hundreds of thousands of tech layoffs to a shift in the way value is delivered.
And these shifts will continue into 2025.
"As we enter 2025, the companies that thrive will be those that master ecosystem expansion. Gen AI and platform economics are reshaping how technology value is created and delivered - and it's happening through partnerships, not traditional organizational structures," McBain wrote.
Here's what our experts predict for MSPs, IT services and the reseller channel in 2025.
The End of the Traditional Reseller Model?
Michelle Hodges, the senior vice president of global channels and alliances at Ivanti, said one big change she sees coming in 2025 is a significant decline in use of the traditional reseller model in favor of a more communication- and sales-driven model.
“More and more of Big Tech is moving in this direction to delve further into the customer lifecycle,” said Hodges. “As such, we will see an increase in value messaging and positioning indicative of a concerted effort to drive enablement. Underpinning the entire effort, though, must be the feedback loop between vendors and their partners. Listening to partners is not only a relational skill but a strategic imperative that they must organize around.”
As part of this, Hodges said she also expects heavy investment in partner communications, “with vendors leaning into programs like roundtable discussions and advisory boards that foster that deeper level of communication. Ultimately, we believe 2025 will become the year that elevates partner programs away from being simple sales enablement functions to strategic growth engines.”
The ‘V for Value’ in VAR Makes a Comeback
Matthew Grantham, the head of worldwide partners at Nasuni, said he sees Value-Added Resellers (VARs) getting some new attention in the new year.
“In 2025, the market will locate the ‘V for value’ in ‘VAR’ which has gone missing for so many years,” said Grantham. “The days of retailer-style, mass-market technologies are not over yet, but they are dwindling. Customers no longer need volume approaches to technology but instead want forward-looking vendors and insightful channel partners that ask: ‘What challenges are you facing and what help do you need to resolve them?’”
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, businesses experienced the cloud and collaboration wave, as well as the pandemic’s unique pressures which led to unrealistic expectations of what technology could deliver, said Grantham. “Companies are now taking a more pragmatic approach, gaining a better understanding of how to operate their business efficiently and better leverage their resellers’ insights. Nobody ever lost their job for using an insightful, outcomes-driven channel partner that truly focused on their business challenges and needs.”
Because of that, there is greater interest today from vendors and customers in cloud and systems integrator-focused partners that deliver long-term value, said Grantham. “These resellers quickly adapted their service and product offerings to the cloud era’s flexible economics, or are helping customers consolidate their data to prepare the ground for AI.”
Expanding the Partner Ecosystem for Enhanced Customer Outcomes
Jenni Flinders, the senior vice president of worldwide partner programs at NetApp, said she sees 2025 as a pivotal year for channel innovation and ecosystem expansion, where technology partnerships and AI-driven solutions will shape the future of the industry.
“Ecosystem collaboration is increasingly essential as companies unite to deliver comprehensive, tailored solutions,” she said. “I encourage all channel pros to combine and diversify their offerings, enabling partners to achieve stronger outcomes through co-selling and co-engineering. In 2025, these models will drive innovation and deepen value, positioning partnerships as key industry differentiators.”
What will also be important next year is that channel partners must more deeply understand the needs of their customers, said Flinders.
“As AI becomes an increasingly important use case for partners, data scientists are gaining more power in technology buying decisions,” she said. “AI-first partners have been able to adapt to this changing sales dynamic by focusing more on outcomes than on storage products. Other partners that want to tap into this market opportunity will need to develop the competencies and tactics to apply this strategy in conversations with their potential customers.”
Also important in the new year is that channel companies must offer flexible engagement models for diverse partner strategies, according to Flinders. “In 2025, I see channel programs that prioritize flexibility, allowing partners to engage according to their business models. As businesses switch from static CapEx to more agile OpEx ways of operating their IT budgets, partners need to keep up.”
These ideas have been gaining traction in the channel over the last year, she said. “I have seen more organizations work to enhance the flexibility of their IT operations by expanding or migrating their virtualized environments or going all-in on the cloud. This approach not only enhances alignment but also boosts partner success and customer impact.”
