Canalys identifies 12 vendor “Champions” of the EMEA channel

12 vendors have achieved 'Champion' status in the latest Canalys Leadership Matrix for EMEA, more than doubling the number from February this year. AWS, Dell EMC, ESET, Fortinet, HPE, HP, NetApp and Sophos become Champions for the first time in 2018, while Fujitsu, Lenovo, Palo Alto Networks and Veeam must be congratulated for the impressive feat of keeping their Champions’ crowns.

The Leadership Matrix combines partner feedback from Canalys’ Vendor Benchmark tool with an independent assessment by experienced Canalys analysts of each vendor’s momentum in the channel. This is based on their investments, strategy improvements and execution. Dell EMC, HPE, HP and Lenovo – four of the top six most important vendors in terms of channel revenue in EMEA – have all contributed to substantial growth for the channel over the last 12 months. Four of the 12 Champions are security vendors, highlighting the opportunity that IT security is creating for partners.

“These results reflect the increased importance that technology vendors are placing on their partner relationships in the era of digital and hybrid IT,” said Alastair Edwards, Chief Analyst at Canalys. “At the same time, vendors are becoming more selective in these relationships, while partners are pursuing more diverse, differentiated business models. This makes the vendor’s job of managing a channel even more complex and fraught with risk. In this environment, Champion status in the leadership matrix becomes an even greater achievement.”

With competition for the attention of the most successful channel partners intensifying, established channel vendors can no longer afford to be complacent. Canalys Analyst Robin Ody said, “This should come as a wake-up call to those vendors in the “Straggler” quadrant, or those that have seen their positions fall. As more vendors move up into the Contender, Grower or Champion quadrants, the Stragglers are at risk of being left further behind.”

The Leadership Matrix also recognizes vendors that have seen some of the strongest improvements in partner perception over the last 12 months. “Growers”, including Acer, Adobe, APC, Apple, Citrix, Juniper Networks, IBM, Veritas and VMware, have all benefited from their investments in operational improvements, simpler processes and more attractive financial incentives, as well as stronger commitment to their partners.